In their next meeting Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will consider a motion to freeze the LA County Sheriff’s $3.5 billion budget, which ran at a $63.4 million deficit in Fiscal 2018-2019.

Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis introduced the motion, which would require the Sheriff’s Department to adhere to a spending “mitigation plan.”

The plan would include a payment plan to reimburse the county for what the supervisors termed “excess spending” in the last fiscal year, and put new controls in place to prevent spending over budget in the future.

Budget compliance would be achieved without reducing the number of sworn deputies who patrol unincorporated county territory and cities in the county such as Santa Clarita that contract with the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement.

On Friday afternoon, Sheriff Alex Villanueva issued a response to the proposed freeze, in all caps, which follows:

“THE MOTION PROPOSED BY SUPERVISORS KUEHL AND SOLIS SEEKS TO CUT $143 MILLION FROM OUR BUDGET AND IMPLEMENT A HIRING FREEZE. IF THE MOTION IS PASSED BY THE BOARD, IT WILL CRIPPLE THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT.

“CRITICAL FIRST RESPONDER VACANCIES GREW TO OVER 900 POSITIONS AS I TOOK OFFICE, AND THE OVERTIME EXPENDITURES NEEDED TO COVER THEIR ABSENCE MAKING IT THE BIGGEST DRIVER OF THE DEFICIT. WE ARE WELL ON OUR WAY TO ADDRESSING THIS CRITICAL SHORTAGE, AND ANY MOVEMENT BY THE BOARD TO FREEZE OUR HIRING WILL EXACERBATE THE OVERTIME COSTS AND HARM PUBLIC SAFETY IMMEDIATELY.

“IT IS UNCONSCIONABLE FOR THE BOARD TO PLAY POLITICS WITH PUBLIC SAFETY, PARTICULARLY WHEN THEY ARE SITTING ON A BUDGET SURPLUS OF MORE THAN 2 BILLION DOLLARS. I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING COLLABORATIVELY WITH THE BOARD TO RESPONSIBLY RESOLVE THESE ISSUES IN THE INTEREST OF THE COMMUNITY’S SAFETY.”

Read more about the proposed budget freeze, “Enhancing Internal Processes and Establishing Controls within the Sheriff’s Department to Ensure Accountability and Achieve Fiscal Responsibility (Item 10).

The Supervisors’ Oct. 1 meeting will start at 9:30 a.m. and will be live-streamed here.

See the full agenda here.

Agenda highlights follow:

Presentations & Proclamations:

• * Los Angeles County Fire Department, in recognition of “Fire Prevention Month” and to Captain Jason Nuesca, the recipient of the Annual Fire Prevention Perpetual Award of Excellence
• * Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, in recognition of their centennial celebration
• * Louise Jandura, in recognition of her induction into the 2019 CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-American Hall of Fame
• * ABC7’s VISTA L.A., in recognition of their 25^th Anniversary
• * Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, in recognition of their 90th Anniversary
• * Ebell of Los Angeles, in recognition of its 125^th Anniversary
• * Gesele McBroom-Marsh, for her courageous journey from homelessness to homeownership
• * Department of Public Health, in recognition of “Domestic Violence Awareness Month” (Item 20)
• * Proclaim the Month of October 2019 as “Disability Awareness Month” (Item 4)
• * Proclaim October 2019 as “Fire Prevention Month” (Item 5)
• * Proclaim October 5, 2019 as “NAMIWalks Day” (Item 8)
• * Proclaim the month of October 2019 as “National Physical Therapy Month” (Item 13)
• * Proclaim the month of October 2019 as “Girls Empowerment Month” (Item 17)

Special Districts Agenda:

• * 18 Multifamily Affordable Rental Housing Development Funding Agreements (1-D)
• * Employee Health Plans for the Calendar Year 2020 Contract (2-D)

Board Motions:

• * One-Time Housing Funds for Whole Person Care Pilots (Item 2)
• * Amelia Mayberry Skate Park Project (Item 3)
• * Enhancing Internal Processes and Establishing Controls within the Sheriff’s Department to Ensure Accountability and Achieve Fiscal Responsibility (Item 10)
• * Los Angeles County to Join Legal Opposition to the Final Rule on Public Charge Inadmissibility (Item 11)
• * Stemming the Rise in Hate and Violence (Item 12)
• * Implementing an Enhanced Structure for Probation Oversight (Item 16, CEO Report, PRIT Report 1, PRIT Report 2)
• * Opposition to HUD’s Proposed Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Disparate Impact Standard (Item 19)
• * LACERA Election Results for the Board of Investments and Board of Retirement (Item 24)

Community Services:

• * Martin Luther King, Jr. Child and Family Wellbeing Center Project Construction Contract (Item 37)
• * Pearblossom Highway Road Improvement Project Agreement (Item 38)
• * Final Maps in the Unincorporated Community of Stevenson Ranch (Item 42)
• * Emergency Water Service Interconnection Agreement (Item 47)

Public Safety:

• * Report on the Expansion of the First Responder Protocol and Advocacy Services for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (Item 49)

Ordinances for Adoption:

• * Woolsey Fire Disaster Recovery Urgency Ordinance Amendment (Item 54)

Miscellaneous:

• * Settlement for the Matter Entitled, Earving Gonzalez v. County of Los Angeles, et al. (Item 58)
• * Settlement of the Matter Entitled, William Cordero v. County of Los Angeles (Item 58)

Fiscal Year 2019-20 Supplemental Budget Resolution:

• * Items from Previous Board Meetings Deferred to Supplemental Budget Resolution:
  • * 71.1 Report
  • * 71.2 Report
  • * 71.3 Report
  • * 71.4 Report
  • * 71.5 Report
  • * 71.6 Report
  • * 71.7 Report

Budget Matters:

• * Final budget adjustment for FY 2018-19 – Auditor-Controller (Item 72)
• * Final budget adjustment for FY 2018-19 – Health Services (Item 73)
• * Budget resolution supplementing the FY 2019-20 budget adopted on June 24, 2019 (Item 74)
• * Adjustments to the FY 2019-20 Adopted County Budget to reflect various supplemental changes and authorization to execute funding agreements (Item 75)
• * Adopt the final budget resolution confirming supplemental changes to the County budget for FY 2019-20 (Item 76)

Closed Session:

• * Heriberto Rodriguez, et al. v. County of Los Angeles, et al., United States District Court Case No. CV106342 (CS-1)