The recently-completed City of Los Angeles Parks Needs Assessment clearly showed that our parks are starving and on the verge of collapse. Maintenance is lagging, enforcement of park, conservation and environmental rules is inadequate, and we lag far behind peer cities in park investment in general. Many of the problems in our own Sepulveda and Hansen Dam Basins stem from this underfunding.
The Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) is one of only two city departments—the other being the Library Department—for which the City of Los Angeles Charter explicitly provides financial support. Specifically, RAP receives .0325% of the assessed value of property within city limits – a formula which has been in place since 1937. The hollowing out of RAP began during the “2009 Great Recession” when the City began charging both RAP and the Libraries for their “indirect costs”. The loss of funding for Libraries had immediate consequences of library closures, and the lost funding was quickly replaced by Measure L in 2011.
Unfortunately, the negative consequences for city parks from loss of funding were not so obvious or sudden. Rather, they quietly metastasized. Well over a billion dollars has been diverted from RAP’s charter-mandated funding since 2009. This has resulted in staffing shortages, a demoralized and understaffed Park Ranger force, billions of dollars in deferred maintenance, and decades of environmental degradation. Wildlife regulations are rarely enforced resulting in unfortunate and horrifying situations. The Los Angeles Fire Department has been forced to step in to assist RAP with land maintenance to avoid dangerous wildfires, in addition to putting out hundreds of fires in the parks. Funding has been unavailable for proactive management of resources, resulting in further deterioration. Safety of park users, wildlife, and surrounding communities is a concern.
There is finally an opportunity to replace RAP’s lost funding in a recommendation from the Los Angeles City Charter Reform Commission, which is currently being considered by the Los Angeles City Council Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee. Note that the City Charter has not been comprehensively amended since 2000 – truly a different era. One of many recommendations of the Charter Reform Commission is to amend City Charter §593 to double the minimum budget allocation to RAP from .0325% to .065% of assessed values of city property. We at San Fernando Valley Audubon Society urge the Mayor and the entire City Council to support the proposal to amend City Charter Charter §593 and get it on the November 2026 General Election ballot. You may review the documents at CF 26-0489 and CF 26-0489-S2. Of special interest is the analysis from the RAP General Manager Jimmy Kim, and the council motion requesting approval. Unfortunately, at this point it is questionable whether a sufficient number of City Council members are in support. You can voice your support by making a public comment using this link. You have an option to enter your name (or not) which will be public record. You must put in an email and click the verification link you receive, that does not go in the record.
