*cracks knuckles, opens Notes*

It’s 10pm and and I’m read a 232 page budget analysis by the LA Department of Disability, so you damn well better believe I’m gonna make a thread and speak about my newfound knowledge with absolute confidence.

One of the hardest things for me about the LA City budget is that I don’t know what most departments *do*. It’s why I did a thread on the LAFD and EMD‘s budgets compared to LAPD. I know firefighters need equipment and they shouldn’t have to fundraise for it. https://twitter.com/AmandaRTubbs/status/1270233033979777025

When I looked at the $4.5 million budget for the Department of Disability from 2019, I had no sense of what they do or how much money they really need. Maybe $4.5 million (0.26% of LAPD’s budget) is enough.

Then I read the audit’s description of the DoD’s responsibilities.

I just keep staring at that list of responsibilities, and then I stare at the budget, and then I look at the size of their department which is 22 people. 22! I’ve never been mad before that you can’t put numbers in all caps, because my brain keeps yelling “22 PEOPLE.”

I mean, when you look at it staffing wise, I guess it makes sense that the LAPD has a budget of $1.733 billion, since they have 9,000 uniformed officers plus civilian staff.

But I bet you could knock that $1.733 down to $1.729 billion and double the DoD’s staff to 44 people.

The city has 19,000 disabled members of the unhoused population. Think about it: just by focusing on the unhoused, two times as many people as uniformed officers could be served by the DoD, and the Dept gets 0.26% of the LAPD’s budget to do its job.

The DoD takes calls and complaints about ADA and accessibility, and they’re so overwhelmed there’s a 2 week lag bc they don’t have the staff.

You don’t want to help the homeless? Fine. Imagine waiting 2 weeks for a call back about accessible affordable housing.

This isn’t as fun and flashy as my LAFD thread but also COME ON SERIOUSLY 22 PEOPLE AND THEY HAVE TO COORDINATE TRAINING FOR ALL OF LA CITY ON ADA COMPLIANCE *AND* MONITOR THE NEEDLE EXCHANGE

ON A $4.5 MILLION BUDGET.

You might be thinking “But Amanda, what about outside grant funding” and to that I will say, “they’ve received $25k in grants which is like the daily wetnaps budget for the LAPD.” The audit recommended that the DoD ask the Mayor’s office to help bc they’re so understaffed.

$4.5 MILLON DOLLARS and the Department of Disability trains the *entire city’s staff* on ADA compliance.

$1.733 BILLION and apparently the LAPD still needs to spend four hours in a lecture hall being told “being racist is bad.”

If you work for the city & need equipment to make your office ADA compliance for a new hire, one of the 22 person staff handles it! And another makes sure that unhoused people get wheelchairs!

And then they can ride the Pirates of the Caribbean because the boat occupancy is 22.

To be clear, it took me longer to find occupancy stats for any Disney ride than it’s taken me to read this pdf. But I really wanted to make that joke.

Ok back to services for the unhoused.

The DoD doesn’t work alone. It partners with other city organizations but does vital work to make sure people with disabilities are cared for. The man in DTLA in a wheelchair the LAPD shot with a rubber bullet? He’s who the DoD helps.

Despite having no money and not enough staff to fill a baseball roster, this is the DoD’s goal as it looked to 2019-2020.

$4.5 million to help people with their benefit applications, help them find housing, assist with disability accommodations.

All that, before 2020 struck.

When you look at 2020-2021, here’s what lies ahead:
- more people with disabilities unemployed and in need of affordable housing
- more people with disabilities unhoused because of evictions
- more people with disabilities bc the long term health effects of Covid are unknown

And @MayorOfLA’s budget gives the DoD nothing.

The city of LA is facing a humanitarian crisis, and he expects 22 people to be able to handle it. They can’t even staff up enough to return calls, but the LAPD needs 9,000 officers and $1.7 billion a year.

I thought I’d get to the end of this thread and feel fired up and righteously angry, but I’m ... just so sad. 22 people. Making sure that people with disabilities get basic dignities from the city and their employers. And the LAPD got $40 million of overtime for the protests.

The city’s budget is broken. I keep thinking of that phrase”he’s got his thumb on the scale.”

Well, the LAPD’s foot is on the scale.

And this isn’t about removing $150 million from their budget. This is rotten, all the way down.

I’m new to all this. I’ve had an easy, privileged life. I haven’t done the work, and now I’m running to catch up.

Thank you to the people who have put the time, thought, and heart into the #PeoplesBudgetLA. You’ve spent the hours doing what I’m barely scratching the surface of.

It’s time to #DefundTheLAPD and get the Department of Disability enough staff members that they can have exceed the occupancy of an In n Out patio.

Forgot to include sources:
- 2019 DoD Budget report https://disability.lacity.org/sites/g/files/wph581/f/a_DepartmentOnDisability-FY19-20-Budget.pdf

- 2019-2020 LA City Budget Summary http://cao.lacity.org/budget/summary/2019-20BudgetSummaryBooklet.pdf