Los Santos Insider | Q1 State Budget Appropriations

[Remington]

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 Q1 State Budget Appropriations 

 

Written by Kate Park - 21st December 2023

Published by Scarlett Remington

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(Pictured: San Andreas Capitol with Senators present). 

 

The 20th of December 2023 saw Senator Andrew Brandenburg host the first quarter of 2024's San Andreas State Budget. Joining him was Senator Diana Jones, and Senator Branch Goodwater. This raises the question of where were the other Senators. Given that many important agencies were turning out to discuss such important funding for 2024 we should be asking where these senators were during this time. Amongst the agencies and departments were the Los Santos Police Department, Los Santos Sheriffs Department, Los Santos Fire Department, The District Attorney Office, ULSA and the Department of Corrections. The discussions focused on a reflection of the year for said agencies, how they had been managed in terms of manpower, and some questions about there budget requests to the government. Below the Insider have documented summaries of what was said by each department in the interest of the public. 

 

(Pictured: Assistant Chief Michelle Li & Sheriff Gregory Reznik). 

 

First to sit in front of the Senators were representatives from Los Santos Police Department & Los Santos Sheriffs Department. Assistant Chief Li led the discussions through stating that the department had been dealing with a surge of criminal activity which has led to heightened police presence and proactive measures. The Chief mentioned that the last three months had been particularly challenging namely the protests and the inauguration of Mayor Hank Preston. The Department requested a mere $590,000 for fleet services and expenses rationalizing that her department's vehicles spend the majority of the time on patrol, and in use leading to wear and tear. Sheriff Reznik and his aides were next up to discuss there department with Bradenburg crediting the team for even turning up given a recent history of not attending such events. Sheriff Reznik similarly to Chief Li mentioned the difficulties in the year but focused more on the internal problems it had tackled in Rezniks first year as Sheriff. Despite being arguably a smaller agency that the LSPD, the LSSD requested $5.3 million for fleet expenses, and $7.1 million for property expenses. The Sheriff went on to state that this was to complete current projects including a new training facility, Senora Station as well as bringing in a new variant of Vapid Scout as the patrol vehicle. 

 

(Pictured: Los Santos Fire Department's Casey Harper and Sage Fowler). 

 

Next we heard from Los Santos Fire Department Casey Harper, and Sage Fowler. Assistant Chief Harper opened by stating that it had been a difficult year for the organization that covered pre-hospital care and firefighting for the city. They reported twice as many callouts this year as the last year placing a huge strain on their resources. With a large number of staff retention issues, Harper reported that several stations had been closed to ensure that stations are manned efficiently. They continue to struggle to recruit individuals but state they will continue despite these challenges to staff the department. 

 

Assistant District Attorney Luis Ocasio took the table to take questions from the senate afterward with a short discussion. Impressively Mister Ocasio boasted that they had prosecuted a total of 640 cases, several of those being high-profile complex investigations. Naturally with the LSPD & LSSD reporting increased problems this year the DA also reported difficulties with prosecutors coming under increasing demand. In an attempt to bring more individuals into the organization a new role will be created allowing paralegals to progress through the ranks and build a career of their own. 

 

Chancellor Arthur Scarpino from ULSA took the stand next and came under question from all three senators who up till this point remained idle, and quiet with a lack of questions towards the other organizations. Mister Scarpino opened with a positive speech highlighting the year that the University has had including renovations to the campus, expanding the prospectus for incoming students as well as new professors and staff. There appeared to be some problems relating to the financial aspects of the discussion with Scarpino reporting an error from the treasury with Senator Goodwater probing the $20,800,000 request for student loan funding, as well as an additional $39,429,551 to support special expenses. Senator Goodwater asked that these figures are looked at by the Department of Education in at timely manner. 

 

(Pictured: San Andreas Department of Corrections - Warden George McLaughlin & Captain Randy Townsend).

 

Finally, The San Andreas Department of Corrections ended discussions with Warden McLaughlin being present for the discussion. The Warden reported a positive success towards the new institution with the department reporting a successful rehabilitation and incarceration. As well as benefitting the inmates he reports a benefit on other law enforcement agencies in a time of demand and increasing crime. Surprisingly the Department requested $48.5 million for payroll versus $1.7 million for upkeep of the prison.

 

Following the long discussion and hearing it was then noted that given that the committee did not reach a quorum this evening then a vote could not take place. It was decided that the committee would reconvene following the discussions held tonight regarding the budgets. 

 

 

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Edited December 21, 2023 by Remington

[Dama]

Name: OrlandoSalvador

Message: God bless ADA Ocasio.

[Waldur]

 

 

 

 

 

Username: Anonymous

Comment: "how they had been managed in terms of manpower"

 

> stop sending 10 cop cars to a low priority calls

> legalize weed to free up more manpower chasing potheads

> ????

> profit