Eddy S Tanaka

In a $33-million victory for welfare rights organizations, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved general relief payment increases for thousands of people, many of them homeless, who do not qualify for any other form of public aid. Without discussion, the board unanimously approved the boost to settle a 2-year-old lawsuit charging that the payments, made to about 40,000 people per month in Los Angeles County, are inadequate to meet basic needs.

Leaving their fiscal fate in the hands of cash-strapped state budget negotiators, Los Angeles County supervisors on Wednesday ended hearings on their own spending plan with an assumption that their record $2.2-billion deficit will only get worse in the weeks to come. The supervisors, who get most of their revenue from the state, will wait until the governor and the Legislature complete their budget before resuming deliberations July 27.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday for pay boosts ranging from 3% to 12.9% for 24 general managers and department heads as part of a management incentive program. However, the supervisors decided against awarding a $350-a-month "professional allowance" to themselves and top executives. Current Pct. New Official Salary Raise Salary Richard Dixon, chief administrative officer $123,760 9.4 $135,355 Ronald Kornblum, chief medical 111,842 6.

As Los Angeles County officials pleaded for budget help in Sacramento, the first of many expected job actions by county workers threatened with layoffs occurred Tuesday at welfare offices throughout Los Angeles. Employees in at least six welfare offices called in sick or walked off their jobs in protest of the county's efforts to cut as many as 18,255 jobs and slash services in an effort to resolve an unprecedented budget deficit of $1.2 billion.

After struggling to survive its worst-ever fiscal crisis this year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors was told Thursday to brace for a "tidal wave" of bad news in the coming months, as Republicans in Congress push to dramatically slash funding for social programs.

Chaos reigned at welfare offices on Monday as Los Angeles county workers staged a one-day sickout to protest working conditions and stalled contract negotiations. The walkout came on a day when thousands of homeless and indigent people were scheduled to pick up welfare checks and food stamps at 31 regional offices of the Department of Public Social Services. County officials said they asked clients to leave the offices and return today unless they faced emergency situations.

In preliminary budget documents released this week, senior managers have drawn a bleak picture of a Los Angeles County government beset by outbreaks of violence and subject to lawsuits as the population grows increasingly frustrated with long lines, reduced services and deteriorating facilities. That grave assessment comes as county officials gear up for what promises to be a bruising budget battle, with predictions of dire cuts in services and staff.

Daylong waits for assistance, lack of attention paid to the mentally ill and cutoff of benefits without warning are just some of the problems in Los Angeles County's welfare system that keep homeless people on the streets, a group of prominent attorneys told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday asked Police Chief Daryl F. Gates not to arrest people for sleeping on the streets of Skid Row if no alternative housing is available. Responding to an announced police crackdown on homeless encampments, scheduled to begin Thursday, the council stopped short of blocking plans to arrest homeless people who live in tents, cardboard boxes and other makeshift shelters throughout the downtown Skid Row area.

A $7.2-billion Los Angeles County budget more than doubling the amount spent this year on the local fight against AIDS, but at the same time cutting deeply into other forms of health care, was proposed Friday by Chief Administrative Officer Richard B. Dixon. His spending blueprint also calls for the elimination or phase-out of about 1,800 county positions--mostly from health and welfare programs--as well as cuts in mental health programs.