Month: August 2024

Thorn West: Issue No. 212

State Politics

• The California State Legislature has returned to session; August 31 is the last day that any of the remaining bills can be passed this year.

City Politics

• Days after withdrawing a motion to spend $2 million on private security to quash Palestinian solidarity protests, Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky and Bob Blumenfield have introduced a motion to implement 100 foot radius “protest buffer zones” around “sensitive sites.” A parallel motion was introduced at the county level on Monday. Both of these motions, and most of the media coverage of them, avoid mentioning that the incident that directly motivated this legislation was a protest of the illegal sale of Palestinian land in the West Bank.

• LA Public Press analyzes the 35-page document listing the county level government reforms that LA County will vote on as a package this November.

Housing Rights

• The Housing and Homelessness Committee has advanced a motion guaranteeing a right to counsel for Los Angeles tenants facing eviction. The City Attorney’s office, after being directed to draft “right to counsel” legislation, nevertheless returned language that explicitly refused to use the word “right.” That language was restored at Wednesday’s meeting, which was attended by advocates organized by DSA-LA.
  
• A service provider contracted to be a part of the city’s Inside Safe program is now being investigated for fraud after an audit conducted by the City Controller’s office determined that it was providing “unacceptable meals” to residents.

• Last week, Los Angeles officials pushed back against Governor Newsom’s executive order that state agencies prioritize the displacement of encampments. This week, Newsom threatened to strip funding from cities that refuse to ramp up the criminalization of homelessness. On Thursday, he came to Los Angeles to have himself filmed throwing away personal belongings at an encampment sweep on a local Fox news outlet.

Transportation

• Metro will conduct three hearings next week, beginning Saturday, about three proposed routes for the extension of the K Line. The K Line connects several stops in Inglewood and South Los Angeles and will eventually extend north to Hollywood. Though building is not scheduled to begin until 2041, there is some discussion of accelerating the timeline.

Thorn West: Issue No. 211

City Politics

• BIG:LEAP was a guaranteed basic income program that provided $1,000 a month to 3,200 Los Angeles families with incomes below the federal poverty program. One year after the program’s close, a study reports “overwhelmingly positive” results.

• A ballot measure authored by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors that would expand the board from five to nine members will also, if passed, establish a county ethics commission. Critics say the ballot measure as written does not establish a truly independent ethics commission.

• A motion to spend $2 million subsidizing private security for faith-based institutions has been withdrawn. The motion, which was originally presented as a means of suppressing protest of the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, drew widespread public opposition.

Health Care

• A sharp increase of COVID infections in Los Angeles, driven by new, rapidly mutating variants, shows no sign of subsiding.

Housing Rights

• In San Francisco, the “very aggressive” sweeps that were promised by Mayor Breed as a result of the Grants Pass Ore ruling have begun. In Los Angeles County, there has been a different reaction from officials; the Board of Supervisors just unanimously passed a motion containing a resolution to “affirm Los Angeles County’s Care First approach to encampment resolution.”

• Per California’s Tenant Protection Act of 2019, every August 1 a maximum rent increase for most apartments is calculated, based on inflation. LAist explains this year’s calculations. In Los Angeles, the Rent Stabilization Ordinance limits rent increases on many apartments even further.

• A continuing audit of the city’s Inside Safe program, conducted by the city controller’s office, has revealed that one of the program sites was not providing any fresh food to residents, and was primarily serving instant noodles.

• San Francisco became the first city in the nation to pass an ordinance banning Real Page, the price fixing software that landlords use to maintain higher rent.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• [Content warning: police violence] An LAPD officer was filmed punching a man in the face. Bodycam footage released later in the week revealed that officers had escalated what began as a parking violation. More via @sahrasulaiman on X.

• Mayor Bass’ veto of a police reform measure will stand. Bass, and others, opposed the reform measure for not being comprehensive enough. A motion to challenge the veto this week failed 9–5.

Environmental Justice

• The Park Fire has burned 400,000 acres in Northern California, becoming the fourth largest wildfire in state history.