A joint Los Angeles City Council panel will consider whether to award a total of $367,000 in grants to fund eight money- saving ideas submitted by city employees, including a proposal to set up an online portal for the public to report lost or stolen property.

The grants would come out of a $1 million “innovation fund” Mayor Eric Garcetti set up last year to encourage employees to come up with ideas to improve the way the city operates.

City officials said the response to the mayor’s call for ideas “exceeded our initial expectations,” with more than 250 ideas submitted.

One of the proposals calls for staffing an ambulance with a nurse as a way to cut down on emergency transports for patients with minor injuries that could be treated on the spot. This way, paramedics would be freed up to respond to more critical emergencies.

City officials are recommending that $147,000 be awarded to hire the nurse and allow the fire department of test the idea for six months.

A $50,000 grant is also being recommend for an online system that allows the public to file lost or stolen property reports to the police department. The idea is inspired by a similar system implemented by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Other ideas include a $60,000 proposal to redesign parking signs to make them less confusing and a $10,000 request to buy a 3D printer to cut down on the time and resources needed to for city architects to create models.

The proposals will be taken up during a joint meeting of the Innovation, Technology and General Services Committee and the Audit Committee.

—City News Service

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