The Thorn West

Thorn West: Issue No. 177

State Politics

• Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed political consultant Laphonza Butler to fill the US Senate vacancy left by the death of Dianne Feinstein. The choice has been criticized because Butler — whose resume includes consulting gigs for AirBnB and Uber, as well as many years as head of an SEIU local — was not a resident of the state at the time of the appointment.

City Politics

• Councilmember John Lee has been formally accused by the Los Angeles Ethics Commission for playing a role in the corrupt conduct of former councilmember Mitch Englander. Lee worked for Englander, who served time in prison for obstruction of justice, and was long suspected of being the unnamed “City Staffer B” in Englander’s written indictment. The commission’s written accusation makes it clear that this was indeed the case.

• At the most recent meeting of LA City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee for Government Reform, the committee finally came to a decision on a proposal for an independent redistricting committee. But a decision on the implementation of council expansion remains out of reach.

Incarceration

• In 2022, voters passed Measure J, which set aside 10% of the Los Angeles County budget for alternatives to prison and police. However, the county has entered into a $9 million contract with Accenture, a consulting firm that has done work for ICE, to design a pretrial jail diversion program using Measure J funds. LA Public Press covers the Accenture contract, which sidelines the work of local activists, who have already done substantial work designing a pretrial system.

• Knock LA is gearing up to launch their Incarceration Reporting Initiative next month, after platforming the work of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated writers earlier this year. The platform is doing some online fundraising for the endeavor this weekend, for more information, see here!

Labor

• WGA members vote on their tentative agreement with the AMPTP, while SAG-AFTRA negotiations with the AMPTP continue. Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA members have voted to authorize another strike, this one against 10 major video game studios. Issues underlying this dispute include stagnating wages for video game voice and on-camera performers, as well as worker protections against being replaced by AI. Statement from SAG-AFTRA here.

• Starting this past Wednesday and concluding tomorrow morning, 75,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities are conducting the largest healthcare worker strike in US history. The primary demand is that Kaiser address massive worker shortages, which place undue burdens on existing employees. More details available from the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions.

• SB 799, which makes striking workers in California eligible for unemployment benefits, as they already are in New York and New Jersey, was vetoed by Governor Newsom. The bill passed with a two-thirds majority in both houses, meaning that the bill’s supporters technically have the votes to override the veto. However, the California legislature has not overridden a veto in 40 years.

• Workers walked off the job at eight hotels near LAX, the latest in a rolling wave of walkouts as hotel workers negotiate for fair pay and benefits. Unite Here local 11, which represents the striking workers, is also organizing a Saturday-morning protest calling out the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are in town and have habitually disrespected the union’s boycott of hotels that have not worked out a new contract. Meanwhile, in Orange County, a low-turnout special election resulted in the failure of a ballot measure that would raise the minimum wage for hotel workers to $25 an hour.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• LAPD’s plans to test a new weapon, called the BolaWrap, on passengers of Los Angeles public transit have met with opposition from Metro Board and the mayor’s office.

Housing Rights

• This weekend, an Eastside local branch of the Los Angeles Tenants Union organized a tenants rally, in opposition to the coming citywide rent hikes on rent-controlled units. The rally, though peaceful, was assaulted by LAPD officers. Firsthand reporting here.

Environmental Justice

• The Los Angeles City Controller’s Office has released an analysis of the city’s Green New Deal, passed in 2019. Calling it “a promising start for climate action,” the office concludes that it “is in urgent need of a reboot.” The report can be found here.

Thorn West: Issue No. 176

State Politics

• Governor Gavin Newsom continues to progress through the flood of legislation that was passed at the close of this year’s legislative season. This week Newsom vetoed a bill that would have taken into account parental acceptance of trans children’s gender during custody hearings. And he signed a bill that raises the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour. CalMatters tracks more of the legislation on Newsom’s desk.

• California Senator Dianne Feinstein has died after 31 years in office. After being filmed scolding a group of children who confronted her with concerns about climate change, Feinstein came to potently symbolize a class of politicians who were holding on to power past the loss of their ability to empathize. Her replacement will be appointed by Governor Newsom. He had earlier pledged to nominate a Black woman the next time he was in the position of appointing a senator.

• Another two months, another issue of California Red, the newsletter of California DSA!

City Politics

• Wednesday, Alex Johnson’s appointment to the Ethics Commission was confirmed 10–2. Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Tim McOsker voted no, citing conflict-of-interest concerns over Johnson’s status as vice president for a consulting firm that does campaign work.

• On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Unified School Board passed a resolution to create a district policy on charter school “co-locations.” The motion was supported by United Teachers Los Angeles, DSA-LA, LAANE, and LA Students Deserve. LAUSD Board Member Dr. Rocío Rivas elaborates.

Housing Rights

• A 100% affordable housing project in Sherman Oaks will move forward despite objections from nearby homeowners after the LA City Council voted 8–5 against revoking its permits. The project had previously been approved by-right under Mayor Bass’ executive order to streamline affordable housing and shelter, but her order was then amended to exclude single-family-zoned neighborhoods. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield brought forward the motion to revoke permission, despite the project being in his district.

• Meanwhile, an advocacy group for wealthy homeowners has sued the city to overturn some of Mayor Bass’ housing initiatives, as these new rules have made it more difficult for fringe groups to block the development of affordable housing.

• A peaceful protest led by Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment was disrupted when a California Highway Patrol officer assaulted a protester and pulled his gun on the crowd.

• Monday, October 2, is the final day for renters to apply for the Measure ULA–funded “Emergency Renters Assistance Program,” which transfers state funds to landlords to pay off rent debt accrued during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor

• After 148 days on strike, the WGA has won a tentative agreement with the AMPTP that the WGA negotiating committee called “exceptional” in an email to members. Guild members will vote on the contract, and in the meantime, will stop picketing. SAG-AFTRA members remain on the picket line, and AMPTP leaders will meet with their negotiating team beginning next week. More details about what’s in the proposed agreement here!

• Another victory for workers! The Millennium Biltmore Hotel has become the second hotel to reach a tentative agreement with hotel workers represented by Unite Here Local 11, since the union has been holding a series of rolling strikes.

Thorn West: Issue No. 175

City Politics

• The results are in for DSA-LA’s Phase 1 endorsement cycle! Membership has voted to endorse Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is running for re-election in CD4, and Ysabel Jurado, who is running in CD14. Members in good standing can read more about the election results here.

• Weeks after the Los Angeles City Council drew criticism for its unanimous rejection of the city controller’s nominee to the Ethics Commission, the city council will consider Alex Johnson, the nominee put forth by Council President Pro Tem Marqueece Harris-Dawson. The LA Times considers Johnson’s status as a longtime political insider.

• Kevin de León, who has ignored widespread calls to resign since being caught making a variety of racist remarks on the LA Fed tapes, has announced a re-election bid for his city council seat in CD14.

Housing Rights

• Residents of Los Angeles who owe back rent can now apply to an emergency renters assistance program paid for with funds collected by Measure ULA. Applicants must live in Los Angeles and make less than 80% of area median income. The program will cover up to six months of back rent owed to your current landlord. Applications close on October 2. See here for more on eligibility, as well as how to apply.

• Martin v. Boise is a district court ruling that moderately restricts the ability of municipalities to displace unhoused people where there is less than adequate shelter capacity. CalMatters covers the semantic games local government plays with the term “offer of shelter” in order to talk its way past this ruling. The League of California Cities has joined with other entities in petitioning the Supreme Court to narrow the scope of Boise, while, in a mask-off moment, Governor Gavin Newsom expressed his hope that the Supreme Court would act to strip legal protections from unhoused citizens. “And that’s a hell of a statement for a progressive Democrat,” said the governor, unironically.

• LA Public Press gives voice to the frustrations of tenants at Hillside Villa Apartments. Over a year after the city approved a plan to initiate the purchase of their building in order to maintain affordable rents, a series of delays have kept them in limbo, while the building’s current private owner continues to file eviction notices. More from the Tenants’ Association, which held an action at the Mayor’s office today.

Labor

• The WGA and AMPTP issued a joint statement this week that they had begun negotiating again after several weeks apart. Union leaders and advocates have cautioned the public against interpreting this as a sign that a deal is imminent and called for an increased show of attendance at picket lines.
  
• Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Nithya Raman, seconded by Hugo Soto-Martinez, introduced a motion to draft legislation requiring Los Angeles area hotels to inform and offer full refunds to guests whose reservations might be affected by construction or a picket line. This motion comes as UNITE HERE Local 11 nears the end of its third month on strike against dozens of LA-area hotels.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• In the aftermath of a federal investigation being launched into alleged rampant criminal behavior of the LAPD’s Mission District Gang Unit, LAPD Chief Michel Moore insisted that the practice of officers improperly switching off body cams is not widespread, but this is demonstrably false.

Environmental Justice

• Governor Newsom has until October 12 to veto any of the legislation currently before him, but he has already indicated that he will sign two bills that force large corporations to disclose their carbon footprints.

• As climate change increases the frequency of wildfires, insurers have declined to provide insurance to homeowners in California wildfire zones. This week, Governor Newsom issued an executive order that attempts to address that.

Thorn West: Issue No. 174

State Politics

• Thursday was the deadline to pass bills at the California state level, prompting a flurry of activity. CalMatters is tracking which bills have advanced to the governor to sign or veto. More below.

City Politics

• More on LA City Council expansion from LA Forward, which also maps some of the activist groups that have been pushing for reform. Both the Forward piece and this article in the LA Times note one elephant in the room: the latest report from the city’s Chief Legislative Analyst recommends delaying implementation until 2032, the first election after the next scheduled redistricting. The other key area of debate among sitting councilmembers is how many new seats to add, with Councilmember Nithya Raman pushing for doubling the size to 31 members, while others are calling for more limited expansion.

• DSA-LA membership is currently voting on three potential LA City Council endorsements, following a member forum last Sunday. If you are a member in good standing, you should have received an email ballot, and you may view the recording of that forum in the Member Portal.

Labor

• This week the Legislature advanced a number of bills that would benefit workers, all of which are now before Governor Newsom. AB 1228 slightly scales back the strength of a fast food workers council bill passed last year; but in exchange the fast food industry will withdraw a ballot measure that would fully overturn the worker’s council bill… SB 525 raises the minimum wage for tens of thousands of healthcare workers to $25 an hour, but prevents municipalities from raising it higher than that for ten years… AB 1 allows state legislative workers to collectively bargain; many similar bills have failed to advance out of the legislature… AB 799 allows workers who have been on strike for two weeks to claim unemployment benefits.

Housing Rights

• The state Legislature advanced two bills — SB 555, a study bill, and AB 309, a pilot program — that would take small steps to advance the cause of social housing in California. Both bills originated in the Legislature’s new “renter’s caucus,” but were significantly watered down from their original versions.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• SB 50, a bill introduced by Senator Steven Bradford that would combat racial profiling by prohibiting the police across the state from pulling over vehicles for pretextual stops —– a policy Los Angeles instituted last year — was pulled from consideration for this legislative year. Last year, a similar bill, also authored by Bradford, was also unable to overcome police opposition.

• Nearly 700 LAPD officers have joined in a harassment lawsuit against the city over the city’s compliance with a public records request last year. The release of records resulted in the publicly available headshots of every LAPD officer being made available in one searchable database — a measure intended to increase police accountability. (The plaintiffs are not “undercover officers” as the LA TImes repeatedly refers to them.)

Transportation

• SB 253, which will allow local governments to implement speed cameras, has advanced to the governor. Speed cameras have shown to be an effective deterrent against vehicle speeding where they have been tried. The bill was heavily qualified to accommodate opposition.

Environmental Justice

• SB 253, which would require business entities with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion to publicly disclose the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their operations, has advanced out of the legislature.

• Under AB 1572, now before the governor, ​​California businesses and institutions will have to stop irrigating decorative grassy areas with drinkable water.

• In April, a federal court ruled that Berkeley can’t ban gas in new construction. Now 25 California cities, including LA, have sent a letter to Governor Newsom saying he needs to step in to create a statewide zero-emission building standard.

Thorn West: Issue No. 173

State Politics

• As the state legislative session drawing to a close this coming Thursday, many bills have been approved by the legislature this week, to next be signed or vetoed by Governor Newsom. These include a measure to legalize certain psychedelic drugs, as well as a first-in-the-nation law to ban caste discrimination.

• The legislature also approved two proposed constitutional amendments to be placed on the 2024 ballot. ACA 1 and ACA 13 both address the difficulty in passing housing and infrastructure bills at the municipal level, thanks to high voting thresholds imposed by past ballot measures. While 2022 only saw seven statewide measures on the ballot, there are already nine qualified for 2024.

• Across California, the positivity rate for COVID-19 has continued to rise.

City Politics

• The New York Times recapped the city’s corrupt 2020 redistricting process that drastically redrew the district of Councilmember Nithya Raman, and it provided a few updates on Los Angeles City Council’s plan to draft ballot measures to expand council and move to independent redistricting.

• The DSA-LA candidate forum for Phase 1 endorsements is this Sunday from 10am to 3pm. Three candidates for Los Angeles City Council will be present for Q&As: Ysabel Jurado, who is running in CD 14, Nithya Raman in CD 4, and Jillian Burgos in CD 2. The voting period, during which members can vote on whether or not the organization should endorse each candidate, will begin after the forum. RSVP or submit questions here!

Labor

• Last weekend, Star Garden Topless Dive Bar celebrated its reopening as the nation’s only unionized strip club!

Housing Rights

• The Los Angeles Housing and Homeless Committee advanced a motion to discuss with the city attorney whether the city can do more to prevent bad-faith Ellis Act evictions. The Ellis Act is state law that allows landlords to evict tenants from rent-controlled apartments if they take the units off the market permanently. The Los Angeles Housing Department has claimed there is little the city can do to prevent Ellis evictions that strongly appear to be in bad faith, such as the massive eviction underway at Barrington Plaza. Audio from that meeting is here, and is actually quite clarifying.

• Councilmembers Soto-Martínez, Harris-Dawson, and Hutt introduced a motion to eliminate “public facilities zones,” a zoning classification that severely restricts the ability of the city to utilize public land for affordable or new public housing.

• Knock LA published “LA’s War on Public Housing,” a multi-part series on the dismantling of public housing in Los Angeles that has been taking place since the 1980s.

• The City of San Francisco attempted to appeal a preliminary injunction preventing the displacement of unhoused people who have not been made a realistic offer of shelter. This week that appeal was denied.

Environmental Justice

• $2.5 million in funding was approved for Skid Row cooling stations to help unhoused Angelenos stay safe in the summer heat. But massive delays prevented most of them from opening until the summer was almost over. LA officials say it was the result of a miscommunication.

• The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project will end when it runs out of money this year. In its place, the state will expand a program next year that provides subsidies only to low-to-middle income residents.

• A new study finds that climate change has increased the risk of explosive wildfire growth in California by 25%.

Thorn West: Issue No. 172

State Politics

• Today is the state Legislature’s second of two yearly “suspense days,” when the progress of many proposed bills can be suspended until the next year’s session. At the end of the day, here’s what advanced.

• CalMatters covers this summer’s continuing increase in COVID-19 cases, including how to know if you are optimally vaccinated.

City Politics

• A long-awaited report from the chief legislative analyst contains proposals on how to expand the number of city council seats, as well as how to move to an independent redistricting commission. The Ad Hoc Committee on City Governance Reform met this week (video here) to begin reviewing the report.

• Former LA Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas was sentenced to 42 months in prison for corruption that took place when he was a member of the LA County Board of Supervisors.

• With the next primaries in March, the first debate in a Los Angeles City Council race was held in District 2. DSA-LA has also begun its endorsement process, and will be considering the endorsement of several candidates for council. On September 10, members are invited to meet and ask questions of these candidates via Zoom. RSVP here!

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• The LAPD Mission Division gang unit that is being federally investigated is suspected of routinely stealing from people at traffic stops, as well as slipping tracing devices into their cars.

• Days after approving a new LAPD contract which unbalances the budget by giving massive raises to police officers, Councilmember Traci Park spoke gleefully about cutting the budgets of other city departments.

Housing Rights

• Los Angeles City Council passed a $150-million spending plan for funds raised by Measure ULA on Tuesday. The funds will be directed to six programs, including tenant protections and affordable housing production. City officials said ULA money can be spent only as it comes in, so the city won’t be able to use the full $150 million until the tax generates $150 million.

• Recent court orders have temporarily prevented the displacement of unhoused people by cities that do not provide viable shelter alternatives, citing the decision in Martin v. Boise that this practice violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In response, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, speaking at an anti-unhoused rally staged at the courthouse, demanded that judges reverse this decision in order to allow the city to resume displacing encampments regardless of whether or not viable shelter alternatives exist. Governor Gavin Newsom suggested publishing the personal contact information of judges who refused to do so.

Labor

• The Nation offers praise to Los Angeles as the country’s “leading union town.” Join DSA-LA’s Westside Branch this Saturday in support of workers on the picket line at the Fairmont Miramar, where hotel security have attacked striking workers for demanding more dignified working conditions!

• In advance of Labor Day, Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez and Tim McOsker introduced a package of legislative motions intended to crack down on wage theft in Los Angeles.

Environmental Justice

• The California Public Utilities Commission voted 5–0 on Thursday to let Southern California Gas increase the fuel storage at the Aliso Canyon gas storage field, eight years after a methane gas leak forced thousands of San Fernando Valley residents to evacuate their homes for months.

Thorn West: Issue No. 171

City Politics

• Los Angeles Public Press covers last week’s surprising unanimous vote to reject City Controller Kenneth Mejia’s nomination to the City Ethics Commission, which occurred without debate. The nominee — the president of the Reseda Neighborhood Council — rose to prominence last year as a proponent of lobbying reform. Statement from Mejia here.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• The Los Angeles City Council voted 12–3 to approve a new LAPD contract that could add nearly $1 billion to the budget in increased salaries for officers over the next four years. The LAPD has been operating well below its targeted staffing numbers; this has not led to an increase in crime. Public comment was relentlessly opposed to the new contract. Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez, and Nithya Raman were the dissenting votes and spoke against the contract at a press conference before the vote, along with activists from Black Lives Matter – Los Angeles, La Defensa and DSA-LA. Chapter statement here.

• Federal prosecutors and the FBI’s civil rights division will investigate an LAPD gang unit in the Mission Division. Many details are still unknown, but among the subjects of the investigation are the unit’s systematic failure to record stops on body cams.

• During an interview, Mayor Karen Bass repeated a long-debunked myth, widely believed and circulated by law enforcement officers, that merely touching fentanyl “could kill you.”

Housing Rights

• A package of tenant protections passed in Los Angeles this January requires landlords to send notice to the Housing Department every time they file an eviction. Six months and 40,000 eviction notices later, the controller’s office has taken this newly public data and released a database showing that the vast amount of evictions are for unpaid rent — and that the median amount owed is only $2,678.

Labor

• The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) leaked the terms of its most recent offer to the Writers Guild of America (WGA). In a letter to its membership, WGA leadership called the terms “neither nothing, nor nearly enough” and said that the offer contains ”too many loopholes.”

• The text of SB 799, proposed state legislation that would allow striking workers to collect unemployment insurance, has now been released to the public, and can be read here.

Transportation

• In 2022, a coalition of transit activists collected enough signatures to put Healthy Streets LA — which will require the city to implement its mobility plan whenever it repaves a street — on Los Angeles ballots in 2024. In response, the City Council asked for a similar but competing measure to be drafted by the City Attorney within 15 days. Fourteen months later, the city’s legislation has finally been drafted. Streets for All analyzes its shortcomings.

Environmental Justice

• Though Los Angeles was fortunate that the impact of Tropical Storm Hilary was relatively mild, there is still a lot to criticize about the city’s response, particularly the failure to proactively inform and provide necessary resources to the unhoused community.

• Meanwhile, with the storm approaching, Texas Governor Greg Abbott continued the practice of transporting asylum seekers from Texas to Los Angeles. “It displays a complete and total lack of common humanity,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.

Thorn West: Issue No. 170

State Politics

• The California State Legislature is back from recess this week for the final five weeks of the 2023 legislative session. All new bills will need to be voted on before September 14 in order to pass along to Governor Gavin Newsom to be signed or vetoed.

Housing Rights

• Residents of the Aetna Street encampment in Van Nuys successfully blocked a sweep. LA Public Press has firsthand coverage.

• A change in federal regulations will eliminate a significant bottleneck that prevents unhoused people from moving into available permanent housing units while working on their applications, causing units to remain empty for months while the application process drags on. Mayor Karen Bass lobbied for the change.

• After being heard at the Budget and Finance and Housing Committees this week, the initial spending plan for funds collected by Measure ULA, developed by the ULA Citizens Oversight Council (COC), was advanced to full council with a full $150 million of front-funding.

Labor

• Among the bills under consideration by the California State Legislature will be legislation that would give striking workers the right to collect unemployment benefits, as is already the case in New York and New Jersey.

• A report from the Writers Guild of America calls for antitrust agencies to regulate streaming platforms.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• In LA Taco, a report on how two-thirds of Los Angeles’ $1.3 billion in COVID-19 relief funds went to fund the police and fire departments, with none of it going toward housing.

• Next week, LA City Council committees will begin discussing the proposed tentative agreement between the city and the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which increases the starting pay for LAPD officers by nearly 13%.

Environmental Justice

• Los Angeles received its first-ever tropical storm warning, as Hurricane Hilary is predicted to pass through the area over the weekend. LA Public Press spoke with mutual aid groups that are concerned the city has not done enough to help the unhoused community prepare for the likelihood of torrential rain and flooding. Updates from the city and county noted here.

• This month the LA Times is running a special series focusing on the effects of climate change across the state and city, and what can be done on both the individual and governmental levels.

• Politico rounds up some of the climate-related bills that the state legislature will consider in the upcoming final few weeks of this year’s legislative session.

Thorn West: Issue No. 169

DSA held its biannual national convention over the past weekend, with over 1,000 socialists gathering in Chicago to set the direction of the organization for the next two years. The Los Angeles chapter sent over 60 delegates, the second-largest delegation, and one of its members was elected to DSA’s 16-person National Political Committee.

City Politics

• This Tuesday the Los Angeles City Council’s Personnel, Audits, and Hiring Committee will meet for the first time in several months, as the absence of Councilmember Curren Price has led to several cancellations. This week the committee will discuss impediments to the Targeted Local Hire Program, which the city relies on to staff open civilian positions.

Labor

• Los Angeles city employees represented by SEIU Local 721 staged a 24-hour walkout on Tuesday in response to alleged unfair labor practices by the city. The union also used the opportunity to draw attention to the city’s thousands of staffing vacancies, which for numerous reasons the city has been slow to fill. “If you’re our members, there’s immediacy — if you’re working mandatory overtime every weekend, if you haven’t seen your family,” said union president David Green.

• The LA Times reports on numerous instances of violence being used against striking hotel workers by the security forces employed by hotels. Jacobin also has continued coverage of the hotel workers’ strike, with articles on a strike-breaking app and a strike-breaking conference of political science academics.

• Last Friday representatives of the WGA and AMPTP met to discuss the possibility of resuming negotiations. Though initial reports indicated that there had not been much progress to restart negotiations, it has since been announced that negotiations would resume today.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• Meanwhile the city has moved with feverish speed to address a parallel staffing decline in the LAPD, offering double-digit percentage pay bumps for starting pay in the latest contract. (Having fewer police officers has not corresponded with an increase in crime.) Los Angeles Police Protective League officers will vote to ratify the tentative agreement next week, after which the LA City Council must vote to approve it, first in the Personnel Committee and then in full council.

Housing Rights

• In 2022, years of tenant organizing at Hillside Villa led to a historically successful result, as the LA City Council passed a motion to acquire their building through eminent domain to maintain affordable rents. In the year since, the city has made very little progress on following through. Last week, the building’s owner delivered dozens of pay-or-quit notices to tenants. Thread from tenant rally here. 

• In July, reporting from ProPublica and Capital & Main uncovered several residential hotels — in which units are supposed to be kept as affordable housing — renting to tourists, violating the rules in plain sight. The Los Angeles Housing Department has responded by sending out notices to noncompliant owners. A motion from Councilmember Bob Blumenfield also aims to strengthen what has been lax enforcement of the ordinance, which LAHD claims is the result of departmental short-staffing.

• Relatedly, KCRW covers the city’s failure to enforce its tenant anti-harassment ordinance.

Environmental Justice

• The South Coast Air Quality Management District board approved new regulations to help the Southern California region hit federally mandated targets for reducing nitrogen oxide emissions. It is a first-of-its-kind rule that will require dozens of food manufacturers to soon begin replacing their gas-powered ovens with cleaner electric models.

Thorn West: Issue No. 168

State Politics

• CalMatters details early industry spending on 2024’s public ballot initiatives, including a massive expenditure from the fast-food industry on a measure that would overturn a state law establishing a fast-food workers’ council to set wages and work safety standards.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• Measure J was an LA County ballot measure that mandated 10% of the county budget be spent on social services, and not police or jails. After it passed in 2020, a lawsuit successfully had it overturned in the courts. Now, in a reversal, Measure J has been found constitutional on appeal. “Measure J was our response to what we think public safety is and what it should look like,” said Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who co-chaired the electoral campaign for the ballot measure.

• The mayor’s office and the Los Angeles Police Protective League have come to a tentative agreement over the next labor contract for the LAPD. The agreement includes a 13% increase in starting pay for new officers, who will now start near $86,000. This is meant to address the fact that the number of LAPD officers has dropped by 1,000 as it has struggled with recruitment. The decrease in police officers has not corresponded with an increase in crime.

• Los Angeles took another step toward initiating a pilot program based on the CAHOOTS model of unarmed response to people experiencing mental health crises. A funding mechanism passed this week, as the city council returned from summer recess.

Incarceration

• LA Public Press has continued in-depth coverage of last week’s planned disruption of a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting demanding the closure of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall. The protest captured more attention this week after several of the children interned at the facility attempted to escape.

Labor

• Today, representatives from the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers met for an hour, the first such meeting since the writers strike began, three months ago. The meeting lasted one hour.

• Hotel workers in UNITE HERE Local 11 continue to organize walkouts as they seek fair contracts from 60 area hotels. This week, the union, along with many California politicians, called on singer Taylor Swift to delay her Los Angeles tour dates this weekend, in solidarity.

Housing Rights

• The LA Times editorial board asks if City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto is deliberately obstructing the construction of a supportive housing project on a city-owned parking lot in Venice.

• A town hall meeting to discuss 30 proposed units of interim shelter in CD 5 was overrun by opponents of the units.