When the City of Los Angeles laid off 100 employees from the Bureau of Street Services (BOSS) at the start of the fiscal year in July, the city lost the capacity to repair broken irrigation pipes, and many parts of the city were left without anyone to maintain medians. Yet, no one realized those layoffs would have these effects until the grass on the San Vicente Boulevard median had reached waist height.

Facing a budget deficit of almost $500 million, the city has laid off thousands of employees already this year, and departments continue to lose workers to early retirement and transfers to other departments. With another budget deficit and perhaps more layoffs expected next year, at least some departments remain unsure of their own capacities.

City Councilmember Paul Koretz, 5^th District, a member of the Budget and Finance Committee, opposed many of the layoffs. He instead favored improving efficiencies, which he said has already saved the city close to $100 million, to help close the budget gap.

“It was beyond stupidity, not planning who to lay off,” Koretz said. “Not only did we lay off 350 people we didn’t need to lay off, but we didn’t realize what services we would be losing.”

No single city department was responsible for overseeing the effects of the layoffs. Rather, each department conducted its own inventory and reported to the Office of the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA).

“We rely on the general managers to tell us what the impacts would be,” said Sharon Tso, executive officer in the CLA’s office. “Somehow or another, the Bureau of Street Services did not proceed in that manner, because when they lost staff, they also lost basic services. I’m not aware of any other unanticipated consequences of the layoffs. This is the only one that has needed more scrutiny.”

Even with increased scrutiny, though, not all city departments agree on the effects of the layoffs at the BOSS.

The report from the budget and finance committee stated that the city “no longer has the ability to repair broken irrigation pipes,” and it also mentions several instances when “the Department of Water & Power has turned off electricity to sprinklers over unpaid bills.”

However, Richard Lee, public information officer for the BOSS, disputed some of these claims.

“It’s not true that city sprinklers have been turned off because of unpaid bills,” Lee said.

The CLA and the Chief Administrative Officer are now working to find funding for median maintenance. Project funds from council district 13 will provide most of the $500,000 needed to maintain medians for the rest of this fiscal year. However, Tso said the only realistic source of funding for median maintenance in the future would be the city’s general fund.

According to Ben Golombek, deputy controller of communications for the controller’s office, it is almost impossible to effectively track every department’s use of resources because of ongoing transfers and early retirements.

“Things are literally changing on a day-to-day basis,” Golombek said. “Analysis we do one day is out of date by the next.”

Staff reductions at the controller’s office and other departments have also made it more difficult to accurately track the city’s finances.

“In our department, there has been a reduction in accountants,” Golombek said. “For the last eight years, our department received the federal award of excellence for accounting. That is going to be a lot more challenging this year.”

Waist-high grass at the San Vicente Boulevard median is one of many city services issues that remains unresolved due to city employee layy offs in July.