Closing The Budget Deficit By Touching The Public’s Nerve

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The city of Los Angeles doesn't have enough money - we're $406 million dollars short to be exact, the largest budget deficit in city history. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has proposed a $7 billlion dollar budget that focuses on the city’s core needs. Also tonight, dock workers all along the west coast shut down ports on a one day walkout.

Image Credit: May Day protesters march towards Los Angeles City Hall, ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

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Closing The Budget Deficit By Touching The Public’s Nerve ()

The City of Los Angeles has to find a way to cover a $406 Million dollar budget deficit. Today, we are going to look at two ways the city will attack the problem. One is by slashing the city library budget, cutting $2 Million dollars from it's book buying funds and eliminating jobs. Another solution is to sell naming rights to everything from small parks to golf courses to the Greek Theatre and even the L.A. Zoo.

Guests:

Jack Kyser: Chief Economist, LA Economic Development Corporation
Kim Cooper: Local writer and historian; Co-founder, saveapl.org
Joseph Mailander: Writer and Blogger

Making News

Dock Workers Shut Down Ports In Protest Against The War ()

As thousands of protesters flooded onto Broadway in downtown Los Angeles today in Mayday protests in support of immigration reform, tens of thousands of longshoremen from Seattle to San Diego walked off the job today as another mayday protest to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the waterfront, all was quiet from 8am to 5pm as the dayshift longshoremen stayed home. This is reportedly to protest the war in Iraq, but there were no signs of protest, just empty cranes and trucks.

Guests:

Kris Hanson: Port reporter, Long Beach Press-Telegram

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