Public Safety: Prop. Q Bond Includes Oversight

Voters will have an important opportunity on March 5 to strengthen public safety throughout Los Angeles when they vote yes on Proposition Q, the 911-emergency response measure.

Proposition Q will provide funds to repair, renovate or replace police stations and fire stations throughout the city. Many of our police stations are so overcrowded, police detectives are forced to work from cramped trailers, in converted broom closets or at off-site locations. Important police records are stored in makeshift stacks in the halls. And many of our fire stations lack the proper equipment to protect the firefighters who are stationed there from diesel emissions. Other older stations are so small, the ambulance must be parked outside.

A yes vote on Proposition Q will mandate that the city move ahead with specific projects that have been carefully selected and evaluated. They include a new, earthquake-proof emergency operations and 911 dispatch center; four replacement police stations (West Valley, Hollenbeck, Rampart, Harbor); two new police stations (Mid-City and San Fernando Valley); and two new bomb squad facilities, one in the Metro area and one in the Valley. Q also provides funds for vitally needed repairs and renovations of fire and police stations.

This proposition includes special provisions for independent financial audits and a citizens oversight committee to ensure that the projects are completed on time and within budget, a committee that I will join City Council President Alex Padilla in appointing. I urge voters to join me in a yes vote on Proposition Q.

James K. Hahn

Mayor, Los Angeles

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Would someone please enlighten Mayor Hahn? How long will it be before he seeks an opinion from the city attorney’s office to take legal action against the people responsible for wasting the hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars of our bond money?

Don’t worry about the dollars wasted by city bond issues, Mr. Mayor. You can just go back to the taxpayers and have them write you another check. Not! We have been waiting 13 years for a new police station in the Valley alone. Where’s the money? More officers, more accountability--not buildings, not taxes. Oh, pardon me, we call them bonds. No on Q. Period.

James “Jamie” Cordaro

Van Nuys