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Community Corner

Op-Ed: Can Jobs Bill Help Redondo?

The City Council supports the congressional legislation but whether it will help retain municipal staff here remains to be seen.

With one dissenting vote from Councilman Steven Diels, the Redondo Beach City Council approved the following item on its May 18 agenda: Consideration of Support for HR 4812, the Local Jobs for America Act working its way through Congress.

The discussion was brief. The councilmen and mayor didn't have a lot of details to share. It's hard to imagine how support from a small city like Redondo Beach for a bill in the Congress would have much effect. It might if our city's voice was added to a chorus of other cities' opinions; together we would make a louder sound than anyone made alone.

HR 4812 would "… provide funds to states, units of general local government and community-based organizations to save and create local jobs through the retention, restoration or expansion of services needed by local communities, and for other purposes."

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HR 4812 would make money available to states, cities and community organizations. Recipients could use the money to pay full-time employees who provide services to the community.

The city does get state money from time to time. Unless I'm mistaken, the city qualifies as a unit of general local government, although we could all come up with some more attractive ways to describe our quaint little city by the sea. So Redondo Beach has the potential to get money directly from the federal government and/or the state if the bill passes.

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The bill has some interesting features. It specifically sets aside money for law enforcement, emergency personnel and educators' on-the-job training. It also limits the amount of money that can fund executive, administrative or professional positions.

In a nutshell, HR 4812 is intended to help state and city governments as well as qualified community organizations retain or hire employees who actually work in communities providing services to citizens.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez). It has 162 co-sponsors from a number of states, including California. Not one co-sponsor among the 162 has an R as in Republican after his or her name.

I'm sure there are some ideological reasons for Democrats and Republicans to line up on opposite sides of this bill. Perhaps Diels' comment will shed some light on the matter: "I don't trust it. I might support it if I got a commensurate cut in my income taxes, but the free market is not getting supported."

The city has actively pursued stimulus money and received awards somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million for street resurfacing and other purposes. That's been good for Redondo. As far as I can see, HR 4812 could also be good for any city like Redondo Beach that's been forced to cut staff positions to offset shrinking revenue. It would appear four out of five city councilmen agree.

Harry Munns is a Redondo Beach resident and a Harbor commissioner.

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