Chairman Jack Orswell and Co-Chairs Mary Dougherty and Peter Ulrich welcomed Judge Ann I. Jones who spoke to an interested full house in the Chamber Conference room at the May Government Affairs Forum this morning regarding the impact that the closing of eight courthouses and loss of 511 staff positions as of June 14 will have on L.A. County businesses and residents.
“This is bad,” she said, noting that there are “huge human consequences.” Anyone and everyone with a legal issue will be affected, whether it’s to pay a traffic fine, file a small claims lawsuit or waiting for a case to be heard. Some civil cases could take up to five years to get to court.
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Judge Jones said that after $535 million in reduced funding since 2009 and the loss of 800 staff members, along with the elimination of juvenile courts, the County now had to find another $56 million in cost-savings. And this is all impacting the nation’s largest trial court system in the nation with 10,000 jurors per day. Judge Jones said she used to get jury pools of 125, which have now been reduced to 35.
Starting June 14, the current 26 traffic court locations will be reduced to 17. One of the remaining is in Pasadena, which will now get very crowded, she said.
Despite all of that, the judge said that businesses will not be impacted quite as much although it may become less convenient to drive further. Repo’s and collections will be reduced to two facilities in Norwalk and Chatsworth, and small claims will still be served, she said.
Also providing monthly updates:
- Congresswoman Judy Chu’s rep., Tommy Tseng, spoke about the Congressional Art Competition in Pasadena and the identification of two possible locations for a long-planned Small Business Development Center office by the end of this year – either at Pasadena City College or LaVerne Community College.
- Sen. Ed Hernandez’s rep., Iso Nakasato, announced the La Puente Sixth annual Community Block Party on May 4th, where attendees may receive free health screenings, food, and clothing along with additional preventive health-care information, games, music and more.
- Assemblyman Ed Chau’s rep, Olivia Lee, spoke about the move to their new office in Monterey Park (1255 Corporate Center Drive — 323-264-4909) and the Consumer Assistance Fair on May 18th in Alhambra.
- Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich’s rep., Brian Mejia, announced the Supervisor’s annual Trail Duster’s Ride on May 19 and the 16th annual Honoring our Veterans Fair on May 25. Mejia also expressed ongoing concern about the 14,700 parolees and 11,043 offenders who have been transferred by the State of California to become the responsibility of the County. “Unfunded liabilities, such as ObamaCare, prisoner realignment, and storm water issues should not be pushed on the County,” he said. Finally, the County is ramping up security on light rail in light of the recent bombings in Boston by making County Sheriff’s more visible and promoting an emergency number to call: .
- Arcadia City Councilman, Bob Harbicht and Arcadia Economic Development Mgr., Jerry Schwartz confirmed the plan for the empty buildings on Santa Anita Ave. to be torn down and noted progress on Rusnak Mercedes Benz dealership purchasing the property to expand their showroom and lot.
- Metro Gold Line rep., Rodrigo Gonzalez, explained a three-week delay of the bridge project is due to the additional time needed to complete the installation of the underground utilities.
- Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte Town Council reps. John Nicoloro and Linda Sells spoke again about the much-needed upgrades to the Live Oak Library which also serves as a place for area kids to go for after school activities. Donations are gratefully being accepted.
- Joan Schmidt of the Mountain Views News proudly announced students from Holy Angels School raised $11,000 for the recent St. Baldrick’s Childhood Cancer Research fundraiser at Matt Denny’s Ale House.
