Ed Fuentes

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — It's Monday, January 26, and City Council's back into the swing of things after taking a few days off for MLK Day and the Presidential Inauguration. On the agenda this week is the removal of parking validation at the Central Library, ideas for reuse of the Lincoln Heights jail and city funding for cash-strapped MOCA.

MONDAY: Budget and Finance is the only committee on the docket today, with a special meeting at 6pm in Studio City. It's the first in a series of regional meetings designed to encourage more input into the budget process. Upcoming sessions will take place in Westchester, El Sereno and Exposition Park.

Measures to close the budget gap dominate the agenda. One of the cuts under debate as part of CF 08-0685 is the removal of validated parking at the Central Library. The validation program is budgeted at just over $200,000 per year. A report on the subject cites increased transit and the nearby city-owned Pershing Square garage as reasons not to validate in the Maquire-owned Westlawn Garage.

TUESDAY: Four committees and a council meeting are out with agendas.

In Council, item 13 is CF 08-2944, a motion dealing with the city's bicycle licensing program. The city recently started ticketed some cyclists without the city-issued license decal, but only makes the licenses available at two stations during very specific hours and has discussed disbanding the program several times. The item on the agenda would put a moratorium on enforcement while the City Attorney prepared language to repeal the ordinance.

At Information Technology and General Services committee, CF 08-3263 is an item exploring potential uses of the Lincoln Heights jail, located just north of Downtown. Mentioned is a possible mixed-use housing project.

WEDNESDAY: One committee and a council meeting are scheduled.

Housing, Community and Economic Development committee will consider CF 08-3462 an item on financing for the Panama hotel that was agendized but not heard two weeks ago.

Also on the agenda is CF 07-0332, the ordinance creating a special taxing district for the Grand Avenue Project. This district would capture parking tax money for reuse in the project. The ordinance had an incorrect address, so the current consideration is a purely technical one.

Also previously agendized is CF 08-3430, a motion regarding $2.8 million in city funding for MOCA.