María Lou Calanche cast the only vote against granting a salary of $460,000 to the new LAPD Chief, Jim McDonnell, instead of the $507,509, which was being offered to her, without her knowing that information.
“I did not have the opportunity to comment [previamente]” Calanche told his Police Commission counterparts, addressing Commissioner Fabián García directly, who opened the brief debate on McDonnell’s salary.
“This is the first time I have seen the salary, and I think it is an inadequate situation, given the conditions [económicas] of the city,” said Calanche. She suggested offering McDonnell’s salary at the lowest end, contrary to Garcia’s position.
After a motion within the Police Commission, Calanche highlighted the other members of the panel: the president, Dr. Erroll G. Southers, who proposed the salary of more than half a million dollars, the vice president, Rasha Gerges Shields, the judge Teresa Sánchez Gordon and Commissioner Fabián García regarding the “high salary” offered to McDonnell “for his career and experience.”
Even at $450,000, McDonnell’s annual salary would exceed the $400,000 earned by President Joe Biden, who could retire with a pension of $413,000 a year, according to the National Taxpayer Union.
The amount would also be higher than interim Chief Dominic Choi’s compensation, set at $436,746 during his eight-and-a-half-month tenure at the head of the LAPD, following the retirement of former Chief Michel Moore.
McDonnell’s salary would begin to take effect on November 14, when he takes his oath of office.
McDonnell’s proposed $450,000 salary surpasses that of Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, who earns about $397,340. It would also be above the $400,000 annually that President Joe Biden earns.
Tug of war over salary
The Police Commission is responsible for setting the department chief’s salary within the range limits for that position, and, according to them, that range was between $440,875 to $507,509
McDonnell’s $450,000 salary was set taking into consideration the current salary paid to Acting Chief Choi and McDonnell’s “experience and qualifications,” which included “having risen to the level of deputy chief of the LAPD, becoming chief of the LAPD Long Beach and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, the largest in the country.
“president [Dr. Erroll G. Southers ] and vice president [Rasha Gerges]given the situation the city is in, why wouldn’t we start at a lower level [de salario]?, questioned María Lou Calanche. “I feel it is an adequate salary for a boss. Why not start from the bottom?”
Southers argued his disagreement with Calanche on the basis that the Commission had increased former Chief Michel Moore’s salary to $436,746, and recommended the final $450,000, echoing “his experience and qualifications” for the position.
Given this, Calanche reiterated his concern about the city’s budget crisis, and indicated that it would be prudent to save money, in addition to the expectations that McDonnell will get salary increases each year.
Deficit and money leaks
According to the city’s chief financial officer, Comptroller Kenneth Mejía, Los Angeles has a budget deficit of $476 million: $289 million in expenses, and $187 million less in expected revenues.
The overspending occurred in three departments: police and fire, primarily due to staffing issues, excess paid overtime and liability claims or lawsuits against the city.
Additionally, the city’s payroll payments in 2023 were just over $8 billion, of which $878.71 million were in staff benefits; $621.23 million in “other payments” and $1,000 million in overtime payments!”
The big money “leaks” occur at the Department of Water and Power: $1.45 billion in base salary; $415.19 million in overtime pay; $289.02 million in “other payments” and $282.41 million in personal benefits.
At the LAPD, the city spent $1.37 billion in base salary, in 2023; $247.69 million for the payment of overtime work; $145.71 million in “other payments” and $1,094.62 million in benefits.
“There is the detail”
On the contrary, in housing the city of Los Angeles allocated $61.58 million dollars in base salaries; $115,206 in overtime; $2.15 million in “other payments” and $72.64 million in personal benefits.
Thus, in comparison, the city of Los Angeles invests billions less in housing than in the LAPD.
“It’s not just about the police chief making more money than our president, but that’s where they affect the working class,” said David Huerta, president of the SEIU-USWW union.
“That’s the problem. We are always told that we are concerned about the problem of homelessness, but we do not talk about fiscal responsibility in the city’s expenses,” he added.
However, McDonnell would not be the city’s highest-paid employee. In May, the City Council confirmed Janisse Quiñones, a longtime Pacific Gas and Electric executive, as general manager of the Department of Water and Power with an annual salary of $750,000.
“A lot of money in lean times”
Salvador Sanabria, executive director and president of the non-profit organization “The Rescue,” said that, without a doubt, Jim McDonnell’s salary “is worse than a double slap to taxpayers in a time of lean times and the [mala] fiscal health of the city.”
Sanabria said that there is a contradiction between the balance of resources that are allocated “to a police force of a repressive nature and the lack of preventive resources to strengthen the less favored and weak communities in society.”
In this way, the activist and defender of immigrants highlighted that he stressed that being vigilant with McDonnell for the LAPD does not violate the civil and human rights of USC and UCLA students, who were repressed by the police during their protests against what they called “ genocide” by Israel in the Gaza Strip, and for its past close collaboration with federal immigration authorities.
“We must be vigilant about the professional performance of the new police chief, because we already know that he is not a friend of respecting the rights of the weakest,” said Sanabria.
Martha Arévalo, director of CARECEN, an organization that recently spoke out against the nomination of Jim McDonnell as the new chief of the LAPD, announced that she was “not available” for an interview.
For his part, Apolonio Morales, deputy director of Programs and Campaigns at the California Immigrant Policy Center, considered that Chief Jim McDonnell’s salary “is a lot… a lot of money.”
“In times where we must save money, I think it is better to put our tax dollars in places where it has an impact, to help the community, in service for people who are homeless or suffering from mental health problems,” Morales added .
He asserted that, although the Latino community knows that the Los Angeles police represent a shock and control force, a better relationship would be expected from McDonnell’s subordinates, with respect to police brutality and respect for the civil and human rights of ordinary citizens.
“We don’t know what he will do until his administration begins. But, as far as we know from[Jim McDonnell’s]past, he has not treated the immigrant community very well, and that does not give us much confidence right now.”[deJimMcDonnellnohatratadomuybienalacomunidadinmigranteyesononosdamuchaconfianzaenestosmomentos”