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Padilla, Chu urge Biden to LA County board adopts final expand San Gabriel Mountains National Monument changes to $43 billion spending plan By City News Service
By City News Service
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the sheriff's department, to "oversee and monitor consent decrees, deputy gang issues, audit and investigations, compliance, risk management and policy development." Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a statement she is "supportive of the funds allocated to Care First Community Investment projects and programs." "A total of $88.3 million is included in the approved budget, bringing the county's cumulative investment in CFCI since 2021 to $676 million," Barger said. "These funds will continue helping our county build a newly envisioned justice system -- one that prioritizes giving individuals the
en. Alex Padilla and Rep. Judy Chu announced an effort Monday to expand the boundaries of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in an effort to protect and preserve nearly 110,000 acres. Padilla, D-California, and Chu, D-Pasadena, are urging President Joe Biden to issue a proclamation expanding the monument's boundaries under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Speaking at a news conference, Padilla urged Biden to take advantage of one of the "best opportunities before him to protect one of our nation's greatest environmental treasures, and expand outdoor opportunities for millions of Angelenos." He said the expansion would also mark "tremendous progress to achieving our 30-30 goals both at the federal level and at the state level to better protect 30% of our lands, 30% of our waterways." The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument was created in 2014 by President Barack Obama, covering roughly 346,000 acres. The proposed expansion would be an almost 33% increase in the monument's size, stretching it generally to the southwest and closer to communities such as Sierra Madre, Tujunga and Altadena. Padilla and Chu both said the expansion would help preserve a pristine mountain region while bolstering available park space for residents. "Los Angeles is amongst the most park-poor regions of the country, despite the natural treasures right here in our backyard," Chu said. "Underserved communities without access to green spaces miss out on the proven natural and physical health benefits associated with recreation and the outdoors." In a letter to Biden requesting the expansion, Padilla and Chu noted that more than 15 million people live within a 90-minute drive of the San Gabriel Mountains, and expanding the monument is critical to protecting the open space. "These protections would increase public lands access and protect clean drinking water supplies for Los Angeles County, as well as enhance conservation of the area's rich cultural resources, unique geological features, critical wildlife habitat, and threatened and endangered wildlife," according to the letter. They also noted the move would bolder the Biden administration's "America the Beautiful initiative, which is intended to address the three interlocking crises of nature loss, climate change, and inequitable access to the outdoors." Environmental advocates quickly endorsed the proposed monument expansion.
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The Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey. | Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County Probation Department
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he Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved final changes Monday to its $43 billion budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year, while acknowledging the spending plan will leave critics of its jail system unhappy as the county tackles major issues such as homelessness and juvenile justice reform. "After a year of recovery and progress, Los Angeles County is now facing a leaner budget," Supervisor Hilda Solis said in a statement following the vote. "That means we will largely have to rely on savings from the previous fiscal year for new projects -- doing more with less and making our dollars stretch further. Despite this tighter budget, our work must continue."
During three hours of public testimony Monday, residents largely blasted plans to direct funding to the sheriff's department, the troubled Probation Department and the jail system. Some in the audience invoked the names of people who have died in sheriff's custody. They also spoke of Bryan Diaz, an 18-year-old detainee who died of a drug overdose earlier this year at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar. Diaz's death was the most recent black mark on the county's juvenile justice system, and played a key role in a recent vote by state regulators to declare the Nidorf and Central juvenile halls unfit to house youth offenders. Among the budget-
ary changes adopted by the board Monday was the allocation of roughly $118 million to renovate Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, where most detainees from Nidorf and Central halls will be relocated. Roughly $30 million in "Care First Community Investment" dollars were earmarked for efforts to move low-risk and mentally ill people out of the county jails, with additional funds allocated toward provision of mental health services in psychiatric units inside the jails. The spending plan also included roughly $6.6 million and the addition of 24 non-sworn positions to establish an Office of Constitutional Policing in