Beverly Hills Council Adds $650K to Subway Fight

The Beverly Hills City Council on Tuesday designated an additional $650,000 to pay for consulting fees and any other possible expenses connected with efforts to prevent the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from .

"I wanted to raise the possibility of increasing the subway consultant funding. I'd like to put this up in the range of $1 million," said Councilman Julian Gold, who proposed the idea. "I would really like to see us take a more aggressive posture in terms of the funding of the subway consulting and subsequent actions."

The additional $650,000 comes from the previous fiscal year's revenues that exceeded budget projections. Beverly Hills Mayor Barry Brucker said the funds provide a financial safety net if future policy recommendations require the council to invest more than the  to address the subway issue.

"I think it puts us in a much more powerful position if we know that we have an adequate reserve to fund whatever we need to do as we begin to explore what we're going to do as it relates to the subway," Gold said.