Funding

CITY HALL — Community development officials on Tuesday will send a proposed federal spending plan that includes less money for social service nonprofits to the City Council and Housing Authority for final approval. Most of the $6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is earmarked for ongoing housing assistance and homeless services, but it is the relatively small $480,000 allotment for social service nonprofits that is sure to receive the lion’s share of attention and political scrutiny next year.

A mental health agency that services clients throughout the Southland has experienced a deluge of clients in Glendale since opening here last summer, far outpacing its 10 other locations in Los Angeles and Orange counties. “We realized there was a need, because there is not a comparable agency providing mental health facilities for children and adults, but we had no idea how pent up the need was,” said Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services President Kita Curry. Since opening in May 2011, the nonprofit has seen about 50% more people in Glendale than Didi Hirsch's next largest site in Inglewood.

The plan to build a bullet train has so many funding uncertainties and so many other details that remain unclear that the state should delay any decision this year to commit billions of dollars to the project, the nonpartisan research branch of the Legislature recommended Tuesday. The tough advice came on the day before two key legislative committees are to examine the plan and an accompanying request by Gov. Jerry Brown for funding to start a $6-billion construction segment in the Central Valley.

DOWNTOWN — The Glendale Unified School District will dig into its own funds to pay for the completion of a previously state-funded construction project at Columbus Elementary School, the Board of Education decided Tuesday. Trustees agreed with administrators, who suggested that the district use leftover funds from Measure K — a $186-million bond measure for facilities improvements passed by voters in 1997 — to makeup for the interruption of funding from the state, Supt.

Federal funding cuts continue to impact the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, where 40 workers were laid off last week, the latest notch in a prolonged period of cutbacks for the agency. It was the second round of layoffs this year for NASA's JPL, which cut its workforce by 250 people in February and March, agency spokeswoman Veronica McGregor said. The latest round of layoffs affected the business and facilities divisions, McGregor said. No science or research jobs were affected, she added.

Tim Willert NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- The state has restored $4 million in funding for 10 domestic violence shelters, including one operated by the Glendale YWCA. The YWCA will receive $414,000 over the next two years to operate its shelter, which offers a variety of services, including a 24-hour hotline, a 45-day crisis center and two traditional housing programs "This is excellent news," YWCA Interim Executive Director Wayne Page said Tuesday.

CITY HALL — Nearly $500,000 in federal grants are headed to 16 local social service programs after the City Council on Tuesday voted 4-1 to confirm its funding recommendations. Local homeless shelters, food banks, youth work programs and immigrant services will share $487,920 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the annual rite of Community Development Block Grant funding allocations after a relatively seamless hearing Tuesday. Since funding requests from the nonprofit sector typically far outstrip HUD’s annual allotment to Glendale, competition for funds sometimes provokes political battles and infighting, but not this time.

Karen S. Kim NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Officials at Glendale YWCA breathed a sigh of relief Thursday as about $350,000 in state grants was restored to its domestic violence program. But the sigh of relief was short-lived. The funding will only sustain the YWCA's program for one year, and application guidelines dictate that it will be three years before the program can apply for funding again. "We're excited and pleased, but only temporarily," said Edwina Dunlap, director of development for the YWCA.

CITY HALL — Nonprofit organizations, from food pantries to low-income child care centers, stand to receive a financial jolt in the coming weeks if recommendations from city commissioners Wednesday on how to spend thousands in federal aid pass muster with the City Council. The Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee on Wednesday divvied up nearly $1 million in federal stimulus money and grant funds among more than a dozen nonprofits that have been strapped for cash amid growing demand for services in a down economy.

CITY HALL — The City Council on Tuesday is expected to allocate nearly $400,000 in state funding for youth and adult employment programs. Most of the money, or $300,000, would go to the Glendale Youth Alliance, which would be used to help 90 low-income youth in Glendale, Burbank and La Cañada find work, according to the proposal. The Glendale Youth Alliance, a nonprofit established to provide employment opportunities for at-risk residents ages 14 through 24, place clients in office and retail jobs and a summer brush clearance program.

Glendale and Burbank school districts are facing structural deficits of $19.5 million and $6 million, respectively, in 2012-13 officials said this week, even if California voters pass a November tax initiative meant to bolster state coffers. The district projections came on the heels of Gov. Jerry Brown's May revision to the state budget, which now includes a $16-billion deficit. The governor's plan to balance the budget depends in part on a tax initiative that will go before voters in November and is expected to generate more than $6 billion in revenue.

With pressure mounting on city resources in the wake of redevelopment's demise, several Glendale City Council members this week expressed second thoughts about several major downtown area projects that were approved more than a year ago. The Museum of Neon Art planned for the 200 block of South Brand Boulevard across from the Americana at Brand, and the Laemmle Lofts, a five-screen movie theater below 42 residential units at the corner of Wilson...

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Wednesday granted the release of former City Councilman John Drayman from jail after his supporters agreed to pay a $16,000 bond. All that remained Wednesday afternoon was for a bondsman to provide the $200,000 bail to the court, and hammer out details to secure Drayman's release. Prosecutors allege Drayman used his position with the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. and the Harvest Market on Sunday to embezzle between $304,000 and $880,000 over the course of roughly seven years.

It came down to a battle among senior services, Armenian nonprofits and a family counseling center as the City Council divvied up a smaller pool of federal grants Tuesday. In the end, senior services won. Every year, the city gets funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help pay for community social services that address the underserved. For fiscal year 2012-13, funding was cut 35%, leaving the city with just $296,000 despite having received nearly two dozen requests totaling about $1 million.

The far-reaching impact of the state's decision to dissolve local redevelopment agencies could end up walloping Glendale, inflating the city's budget deficit to $15 million and forcing widespread layoffs. In a two-page letter sent to city staff this week, City Manager Scott Ochoa mapped out the dire situation that includes the probability of layoffs in June before the start of the next fiscal year. About half of the budget shortfall comes from the loss of redevelopment - a steady stream of incrementally higher property taxes that helped bring in the Americana at Brand and affordable housing.

The plan to build a bullet train has so many funding uncertainties and so many other details that remain unclear that the state should delay any decision this year to commit billions of dollars to the project, the nonpartisan research branch of the Legislature recommended Tuesday. The tough advice came on the day before two key legislative committees are to examine the plan and an accompanying request by Gov. Jerry Brown for funding to start a $6-billion construction segment in the Central Valley.

A mental health agency that services clients throughout the Southland has experienced a deluge of clients in Glendale since opening here last summer, far outpacing its 10 other locations in Los Angeles and Orange counties. “We realized there was a need, because there is not a comparable agency providing mental health facilities for children and adults, but we had no idea how pent up the need was,” said Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services President Kita Curry. Since opening in May 2011, the nonprofit has seen about 50% more people in Glendale than Didi Hirsch's next largest site in Inglewood.

The Glendale City Council this week unanimously approved spending $800,000 on two bridges, one of which will connect the Glendale Narrows Riverwalk to the other side of the Los Angeles River and an expanse of parkland there. The riverwalk has been discussed for more than a decade and is part of a larger effort to beautify and restore the Los Angeles River for recreational use. Its components range from equestrian amenities to bike and pedestrian paths. About $1.7 million in construction work for the first phase of the project, from Bette Davis Park on Paula Avenue to the edge of DreamWorks Animation near Flower Street, is already underway.

Eighteen people got a collective $11,470 back from the city at the last minute Tuesday before about $157,000 in unclaimed checks got shuffled into the city's General Fund, which pays for public services. The City Council unanimously approved moving the balance to city coffers on Tuesday after Glendale held on to the unclaimed checks for years. The city had issued several calls leading up to the meeting to give the public one last chance. “We got several calls from people [Tuesday]

Facing possible federal cuts to an affordable housing program known as Section 8, Glendale officials have approved a new policy that could be used to start terminating the program's rental subsidies. The policy, approved Tuesday by the City Council in its dual role as the Housing Authority, will only be put into action if funding shortfalls occur. For now, officials said, it's unlikely any rental terminations will be needed. But while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has increased Glendale's share of funding for 2012 by $1.1 million, or 8%, federal housing officials have warned Glendale to have a policy in place in preparation for future cutbacks.