Occupy L.A.'s City Hall Damage Bill Downgraded to $120,000: Arguments Made For End of Occupation

By Dennis Romero Wed., Nov. 9 2011 at 3:22 PM

Ed Carrasco

In this photo, you can almost hear the damage being done to City Hall.

The Occupation of Los Angeles is costing you, the taxpayer, money. And while it was just revealed today that a city firefighter got $77,000 in overtime, vacation and bonus pay, city parks honcho Jon Kirk Mukri wants you to know that occupiers have done $120,000 worth of damage outside City Hall to date.

Mukri, the general manager of Recreation and Parks, obviously doesn't like the occupation.

In a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (quoted at The City Maven), he says:

Some individuals have compromised the park's irrigation system by disabling sprinkler heads, and vandalizing the various irrigation valves located throughout the park.

Additionally, the persons now living on the grounds of the park have: 1) created several unsafe conditions; 2) monopolized the park grounds, thus limiting access for other park users; 3) greatly impacted (Recreation and Park's) ability to properly maintain and irrigate the park; and, 4) caused damage to the park grounds including landscaped areas, hardscape areas, and trees.

Who are these individuals? This guy sounds like Dean Vernon Wormer. He's going to put Occupy on double secret probation any minute now.

Anyway, $120K is a far cry from the $400,000 he estimated in damage last month.

And it's a long way from the oh, $52 million the city is giving to billionaire Eli Broad to build a parking lot for his art museum and foundation offices downtown.

(He's a 1 percenter, right? Remember way back when the L.A. City Council said it's with you? Remember that when you're getting your head beat in by a baton.)

Oh well. Don't say we didn't warn you occupiers. The city is building a case against you as we speak. Maybe they want to roll up the red carpet before the OWSers from New York get here for winter.

Better stock up on gas masks.

[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com/@LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

City Hall, damage, Eli Broad, Los Angeles, Occupy LA, OWS, Recreation and Parks

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Working man

Even funnier is the fact that Americans are willing to pay an athlete, a pop star, an actor, or a reality star several million dollars a year for entertainment and you worry about the people willing to risk their lives to save yours........I'm just saying!!!!

Working man

Wtf does a fireman's overtime have to do with Occupy? It's is well known that the Los Angeles Fire Department has not hired new employees in several years and they continue to have retirements. As I understand it, firefighters have been working overtime to fill the voids left by city politics created by the mayor. I don't know about you, but I don't want to have a closed fire station when my house is burning or when my loved ones are in need of emergency help. I know the city isn't hiring firemen because it is wayyyy cheaper not train new members and pay out more benefits to new employees. You are writing about an isolated case of a fireman and his bonus for being more educated and qualified ....what a bunch of s@@t. I am looking forward to the eviction of the so called protested on city hall lawn. They should spend as much effort trying to get jobs and education than bad mouthing the people that work their tails off to have a better life...

Red Herring and Hot Potato

Concrete it over and save irrigation and gardening costs. Wasn't much of a park anyway. Over the last few years, City Council authorized payment of over 120 million to settle lawsuits against the LAPD for corrupt enforcement parctices during the Rampart era. Just recently, they authorized 20 million to 4 LAPD officers from Rampart for unlawful termination. Plus millions more to several harrassed LAPD motorcycle officers who didn't write enough tickets. 2.5 million to an openly Gay LAPD officer for sexual harrassment who used to work in LAPD's Public Relations Office. Almost 2 million to an SLO from Echo Park. And more LAPD officers' lawsuits against the city are in the pike. What's a measly hundred thousand or so to keep even more overpaid city workers employed laying a slab of concrete? Don't have it? Let the City Council members ante it up from their proprietary "Slush" funds.

anonymous

But, 100 SEIU city employees' jobs depend on keeping the lawn green. Where will they go if the area is paved or xeriscaped? Guess they could be transferred to the cornucopia DWP where water & power rates could be raised to keep them in clover.

WezVoo

Sounds like a pretty good plan to me dude. Wow.web-privacy.au.tc

Frawsty

If the city council and the mayor really support the protestors, they can repair city hall by taking the money out of their own personal back accounts.

Apples

Uh - Dennis: what about this letter is incorrect, exactly? You can read the whole letter at the LA Times ( http://documents.latimes.com/o... ), and none of it sounds incorrect. It all sounds like it falls within the purview of Rec and Parks. And Rec and Parks had nothing to do with the criminal give-away to Broad. Get a grip, Dennis.

anonymous

Mukri is making a case for his department to be dismantled. City services cost too much. The same lawn & sprinklers can be repaired for a fraction of the cost if city employees are not involved. Rid Los Angeles of City Hall & its overpriced city departments.

Apples

Excuse me? Rec and Parks along with Libraries are the only two departments viewed as important enough to be explicitly mandated to receive City taxpayer dollars by the Citizens of Los Angeles in the text of the City charter.

anonymous

Then keep these two departments & dismantle the others. Why should we pay for non-essential departments.