The City of Los Angeles should develop a long-term plan to create more digital services for residents and make teleworking even easier for city employees in a post-pandemic world, Controller Ron Galperin argued in a report published Wednesday.
Despite its adverse effects on the city’s economy and workforce, the coronavirus pandemic has forced Los Angeles city leaders to quickly innovate on dozens of city services that were traditionally in-person interactions. The city quickly moved 10,000 employees online at the onset of the pandemic in March, and it’s since set up virtual city council meetings, neighborhood council meetings and telemedicine programs on behalf of the city’s fire and aging departments. But Galperin says there’s “substantial room” for improvement in expanding the array of digital services that the city offers, with the first step being the need to form a concrete plan.
