Month: March 2022

Issue No. 102 – March 25, 2022

City Politics

• Another mayoral debate was interrupted by protests from a coalition of activists. The action took a similar form as the protest two weeks ago at Loyola Marymount University, with each candidate being heckled in turn, to express that none of the candidates on stage offer humane platforms on homelessness or policing. There are mayoral candidates with more progressive platforms, but they have yet to be invited to any of these debates due to the importance of meeting preconceived thresholds of support.

• A court had issued a restraining order barring former council president Herb Wesson from serving as interim councilmember in CD10 while Mark Ridley-Thomas faces federal corruption charges, as Wesson has already termed out. Last week that ruling was set aside.

• On March 30, Knock LA is co-hosting a forum for the candidates for Los Angeles City Attorney.

Housing Rights

• On the anniversary of the police displacement of the encampment at Echo Park Lake, the Echo Park Research Collective has released a report that tells the story of the encampment, the eviction, and its aftermath, relying on first-person accounts from the people who lived there. Most prominently, the report drives a final stake through the heart of Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell’s repeated claims that the displaced residents of the encampment were provided “housing” by the city. For this and much more, read the report here. Coverage here.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• L.A. Taco covers: The city has used half of the funding received under the American Rescue Plan Act on LAPD payroll — $317 million. The city did not disclose this in its public-facing records on how ARPA funds were being spent, and this information was only revealed by a records request from candidate for comptroller Kenneth Mejia.

• The Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission is launching a seemingly large-scale investigation into deputy gangs in the Sheriff’s Department. Earlier this week, a letter sent to the Sheriff by Inspector General Max Huntsman indicated that there are 41 known gang members in the department.

Transportation

• Governor Gavin Newsom has finally unveiled the details of his plan to respond to high gas prices. Included is a $400 payment for car owners ($800 if you own two cars), a pause on increasing the gas tax, and $750 million in grants toward suspending fares for public transportation. Streetsblog LA critiques: “It’s a mess.”

• Investing in Place tries to figure out how Metro fell so far short of ambitious goals, stated in 2020, to expand LA-area bus service.

Environmental Justice

• The State Water Resources Control Board announced it was sending letters to farms and cities that draw water from California’s rivers, warning them to prepare for mandatory cutbacks. Similar curtailments were also put in place in 2021, but not until late August.

• This week, California proposed lowering the standard for hexavalent chromium, the “Erin Brockovich chemical,” to ten parts per billion in drinking water. While even lower would be better, the costs of cleanup in cities where the water routinely tests at three times that rate are onerous.

Issue No. 101 – March 18, 2022

State Politics

• In response to rising gas prices, some state legislators have now proposed sending a $400 rebate to every California taxpayer (not just drivers). Curbed LA promotes a more impactful approach: a federal buyback of gas-powered cars.

City Politics

• With petition numbers now finalized, it’s clear that DSA-endorsed candidate Eunisses Hernandez will be incumbent Gil Cedillo’s only challenger on the ballot in Council District 1. This means the primary on June 7 will decide the winner.

• LA Podcast’s newsletter highlights a particularly substantive mayoral debate from last week, organized by the Los Angeles Provider Alliance to End Homelessness.

• Knock LA talks with “The Defenders of Justice,” a slate of public defenders running for judgeships in the Superior Court of LA County.

• Cat Packer, the head of Los Angeles’ Department of Cannabis Regulation, resigned last week. Packer had been battling the city for more personnel in the department, which has struggled to process licenses in a timely fashion. The city’s licensing program prioritizes social equity applicants who have had undue exposure to the criminal justice system, many of whom have been left on the hook leasing storefront space they cannot use.

Housing Rights

• Housing Is Key Rental Assistance Program, a fund that helps pay off back rent for Californians affected by COVID, will be closing for new applications on March 31 at 5 PM. (Apply here.) The program has so far struggled to disburse its funds to tenants in need.

• A planned sweep displaced an encampment at Toriumi Plaza in Little Tokyo this week. Councilmember and mayoral candidate Kevin de León, who ordered the sweep, embraced the full Orwellian playbook, conflating temporary shelter with “housing,” while demonizing on-the-ground activists as “agitators.” Disgraceful.

Labor

• A second Starbucks location in Los Angeles has announced an intent to unionize, and DSA-LA is organizing its members in support.

Environmental Justice

• Despite a drought emergency being declared and the state pleading to cut back water usage, ​​Californians used 2.6% more water in January 2022 compared to January 2020. Newsom has yet to issue a mandatory conservation order.

• California legislators have been given a “D” grade for their actions (or lack thereof) in 2021. EnviroVoters — an environmental group that has been evaluating politicians’ voting records, budgets, and policies since 1973 — gave California its lowest marks ever, writing that “state legislators are taking money from fossil fuel companies and dragging their feet on climate action.”

Issue No. 100 – March 11, 2022

State Politics

• Governor Newsom has suggested pausing a scheduled increase in the gas tax as a response to soaring gas prices, but legislators warned this would harm the state’s ability to maintain roads. During Tuesday’s State of the State Address, he shifted focus to a proposed gas rebate that would be paid to California’s car owners. (Biking in LA addresses the unfairness of that.) Newsom also resisted calls to increase oil drilling in the state.

City Politics

• Across several races, Los Angeles’ political incumbents have, predictably, begun trying to leverage the crisis in Ukraine to score points against any challengers who are supported by the DSA (whose calls for peace in the region they deride as utopian). If you would like to learn what the left actually stands for regarding Ukraine, join the DSA’s panel this Sunday at 2pm, where you’ll hear from Ukrainians and other folks with ties to the region. The panel will be followed by a hybrid in-person/online fundraiser for civilian relief and refugee support efforts.

• A great resource from UnrigLA on Twitter: a calendar of all upcoming Los Angeles candidate debates.

Labor

• Writers for animated TV shows are arbitrarily paid far less than their counterparts in live action television. With contract negotiations underway with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the Animation Guild is pushing for fair compensation using the hashtag #Rally4Animation. The guild is holding an in-person rally on March 20 (with DSA Hollywood Labor support).

Housing Rights

• Streetwatch LA and J-Town Action are rallying in opposition to another displacement of an encampment — and the fencing off of more public space — this time at Toriumi Plaza in Little Tokyo. Petition here.

• The Homelessness and Poverty Committee unanimously approved a motion for the city to purchase from Caltrans many of the vacant homes along the abandoned planned 710 freeway extension for development as housing. These are the same homes that were occupied by the Reclaiming Our Homes movement before a police eviction conducted over Thanksgiving in 2020.

Education

• The Los Angeles Unified School District released its Second Interim Financial Report this week, showing $2.8 billion in unspent reserves and a projected year-end reserve of over $3 billion, even as the Superintendent’s office is currently proposing to close a number of schools.

Environmental Justice

• The Biden administration has restored California’s authority to set emissions rules for cars and SUVs that are tougher than federal standards, reversing a Trump administration policy. 

• The Environmental Science and Technology Letters published a study on Wednesday that showed a correlation between past redlining and current air pollution in communities such as Boyle Heights.

Los Angeles Media

• Happy 100 issues of Thorn West! We are always looking for new writers, new sources, new friends, as well as new ideas for longer-form content. Email us at dsalathornwest@gmail.com.

Issue No. 99 – March 4, 2022

State Politics

• Governor Newsom’s new homelessness plan, called CARE Court, empowers the courts to forcibly compel unhoused people with mental health or drug addiction issues into treatment. “Subjecting unhoused people to forced treatment is extremely draconian,” said one critic from the ACLU. “It’s morally wrong.” Mayor Garcetti has already expressed gushing support for the plan, which will need the approval of the legislature.

Coronavirus and Relief

• Los Angeles County is one of several California counties that have magically had their risk of COVID infection set to “low,” thanks to new guidelines from the CDC that weight hospitalizations more heavily than infections. Today the county dropped its indoor mask mandate, though masks are still “strongly recommended.” CalMatters speaks with immunocompromised people who have been left behind by the rushed return to “normalcy.”

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• The Los Angeles Police Commission approved reforms that prohibit officers from making “pretextual stops” for minor offenses without first recording on bodycam why they believe a more serious crime may have been committed. The policy has been called “the middle ground” by LAPD officials and has drawn criticism from activists for its loopholes.

Transportation

• Knock LA wants Angelenos to know about the city’s Metro Micro pilot program, a $1 rideshare program currently being tried out in a few areas around the city.

Education

• LAUSD officials have presented plans to displace the students at Orville Wright Middle School STEAM Magnet, in Westchester, to make way for a charter school. They also plan to close Pio Pico Middle School in the Mid-City area, where students are 90 percent Latine, and over the past five years the share of the student body qualifying for free and reduced-price meals has increased from 75% to 90%.
• LAUSD has committed to installing solar panels on 30 schools by 2027, and on another 50-to-70 more schools by 2030. With enough available roof space for solar panels to meet the LAUSD’s power needs and then some, the program is a potential revenue earner for LA’s public school system — but has fallen behind schedule. Plan details here.

Environmental Justice

• After the driest consecutive January and February in the Sierra in recorded state history, the statewide snowpack has dropped from 160% of normal to 63%. LAist covers the season’s wild weather swings.