In February, President Obama unveiled a $3.55 trillion budget for Fiscal Year 2010, beginning on October 1, 2009. In his remarks, he called the budget “an honest accounting” of costs being racked up that for too long had remained hidden off the books.

The previous week, Obama signed a far-reaching $787 billion federal stimulus package intended to help jolt the American economy out of its most serious downturn since the Great Depression. The compromise measure is officially titled the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Read the full legislative text here; see the White House ARRA page for full background, including state-specific details, tables and fact sheets on the 407-page package.

County budget officials are still analyzing the potential net county impact of the budget actions, but Supervisor Yaroslavsky cited the following Third District projects as special priorities for federal stimulus package funding:

• Tujunga Wash Restoration – Add an additional ¾ mile to the existing mile-long stream course alongside Tujunga wash, offering environmental enhancement, water-quality improvement and recreational opportunities in the right-of-way adjacent to the County’s Tujunga Wash Flood Control Channel

• L.A. River Headwaters – Transform a flood control maintenance road into a greenway with native landscaping and a walking trail, and plant rain gardens to capture, treat and recharge storm water runoff

• Strathern Pit Multi-Use Project – Capture and use wetlands to treat storm water runoff in 2.2. sq. mi. of the Sun Valley Watershed on a 46-acre site incorporating open space, habitat and recreation purposes, and recharge the underground aquifer beneath the Sun Valley Park recharge basins

The County’s Department of Consumer Affairs is offering a variety of information and assistance for homeowners and property owners at risk of foreclosure, trying to refinance, or otherwise navigate through today’s economic turbulence.

According to DCA figures, foreclosures jumped from 14,000 homeowners in 2007 to 40,000 in 2008, a 186% increase. Rising unemployment, expiring foreclosure moratoriums and falling property values can be expected to impact many more homeowners in 2009.

DCA can help homeowners save their homes through a comprehensive program that involves counseling, loan modifications, complaint investigations, and community outreach. For more detailed information on the range of homeowner-related programs and services DCA offers, visit the Department’s homes page.

Supervisor Yaroslavsky and his Metro Board colleagues have moved quickly to line up priority transit projects in the Southland eligible for federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the economic stimulus bill recently signed by President Obama.

Transit officials estimate that Los Angeles can expect an infusion of federal cash totaling between $800 million and $1 billion for desperately needed road and rail transit improvements throughout the County. Adding some urgency to the process is a “use it or lose it” provision that gives the County 120 days to commit at least 50% of the highway project funding, and 180 days to commit at least 50% of public transit and grant program funding.

Yaroslavsky cited a number of key projects of particular interest and benefit to the Third District.

Bus Operations
The stimulus package contains $301 million for bus operations and capital investment in the County’s regional and municipal bus systems, with the lion’s share – 73.3%, or some $219.5 million – designated for Metro’s Countywide bus system. Metro plans to purchase 100 new buses, rebuild and repair 200 more in its aging fleet and contract for 53 additional buses to expand various bus line services around the County.

Rail Modernization
Rail passengers can also look forward to some improvements. Riders on the downtown-to-Long Beach Blue Line light rail will benefit from a $14 million traction power substation project to upgrade the electrical system and ensure continued reliable operation of the Blue Line, which first opened in July 1990. The Metro Board also approved a $5.3 million project to begin work on a train collision avoidance system after several devastating Metrolink commuter train crashes in recent years.

Road Work
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has officially released $26.7 billion in ARRA highway formula funding appropriated for the states, with California’s share at $2.57 billion. The County of Los Angeles is due to receive at least $215 million allocated by population, and possibly up to $315 million with additional state legislation, funding hundreds of local projects throughout the County’s 88 cities. Another $200 million has been set aside for an ambitious HOV lane project on the northbound San Diego Freeway (I-405) between the Santa Monica (I-10) and the Ventura Freeways (I-101).

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky speaks at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting on January 8, 2008 on Project 50, an ambitious demonstration project to house the 50 most vulnerable residents of the streets of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. Yaroslavsky has championed the plan, modeled after a highly successful program to reduce homelessness in New York City, particularly in Times Square. That effort was coordinated by Common Ground, a New York social services agency, which was hired to shepherd the Los Angeles project through to completion.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky speaks at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting on January 8, 2008 on Project 50, an ambitious demonstration project to house the 50 most vulnerable residents of the streets of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. Yaroslavsky has championed the plan, modeled after a highly successful program to reduce homelessness in New York City, particularly in Times Square. That effort was coordinated by Common Ground, a New York social services agency, which was hired to shepherd the Los Angeles project through to completion.

On average, Topanga residents carry around four or five library cards. Soon, they’ll need just one, thanks to the long-awaited construction of the Topanga Library. Scheduled for completion in the summer of 2010, the library is expected to be one of the most heavily used in the L.A. County library system. The $12-million project, funded through the Third District office of Supervisor Yaroslavsky, will include a 40,000 volume library, community meeting room, teen homework center and artwork by Topanga locals. The structure also will meet the latest in green-building standards. Ground was broken in 2008.

The barren concrete channel has been transformed. Native plants and trees are thriving. Water that once flowed into a flood control channel has now been diverted into a meandering stream that feeds an aquifer and supplies drinking water. Walking paths and bike trails line the restored wash between Vanowen and Oxnard streets in the Valley. This $7-million project—a blend of conservation and recreation—is a model for revitalization efforts all along the L.A. River.