Good morning and welcome to LA on the Record, our City Hall newsletter. Rebecca Ellis will be bringing you news about the upcoming election. My colleague, David Zarniser, will be bringing you the latest from City Hall.
Two left-leaning members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors pitched their vision for the future of local government to fellow Democrats this week.
It just so happens that what they wanted was completely different.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell and Lindsay Holbert The guest star appeared on Monday as county Democrats debated whether to approve Measure G, a ballot measure to reform county government that will go before voters on Nov. 5. It was created by Holbert and the supervisors. Janice Hahnwould nearly double the size of the oversight board and create an elected position to oversee its day-to-day operations.
Holbert said the reforms would bring much-needed checks and balances to one of California’s most powerful political bodies.
wear Kamala Harris Holbert, who wore a T-shirt for the partisan event, told the group the measure was a “once in a generation opportunity to give power back to the people.”
Mitchell slammed the proposal, arguing the associated costs would drain the county’s coffers.
“I want people to actually read the bill,” countered Mitchell, who had emailed party members before the meeting warning them that the bill was a mistake.
“Vote no.”
But her party leaned in favor.
For the party to approve the bill, at least 60% of voters – in this case, the party’s 108 elected officials – needed to vote in favor. With just over three-quarters voting in favor, the bill had the support of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.
“I don’t recall an opposing supervisor of the same political party coming out and taking an opposing position,” the Monterey Park mayor said. Thomas Wong“It’s pretty unusual to have such strong Democrats on both sides of an issue like this,” said the party’s elected representative.
Mayor of Arcadia Michael KaoSpeaking in opposition to the measure at Monday’s meeting, he told The Times he was ambivalent when he first heard about the measure.
He demanded to meet with each supervisor individually, and took it as a warning sign that two normally like-minded politicians were taking opposing positions. Supervisor: Katherine BergerRepublicans agreed.
Both Mitchell and Berger argue that the newly elected chief executive officer will have too much power and that the position will lead to infighting because the CEO will have to answer to a political base rather than reporting only to the five auditors. Currently, the chief executive officer is appointed by the board of directors.
“They were in different positions but came to the same conclusion,” Kao said.
Supporters say electing a chief executive, one of the most powerful positions in county government after the supervisor, would give voters more influence over how the county is run, and increasing the size of the board from five to nine members could allow some groups to be better represented on a board so powerful that its members have been nicknamed the “Five Little Queens.”
Notably, Wong said there has never been an Asian American Pacific Islander supervisor before.
“Five seats does not provide adequate representation,” he said.
Opponents say an elected executive would politicize the bureaucratic ranks, and the unknown costs of expanding the board and creating a new ethics committee could mean cuts to the county’s social security contributions. The county auditor estimates the one-time cost of implementing the ballot measure will be about $8 million. That doesn’t include ongoing costs, such as salaries and benefits for the four new supervisors and their staff. Annual salary per supervisor is currently about $280,000.
The county would not be allowed to raise taxes to cover the costs of the changes.
“I asked the board how we were going to pay for this and didn’t get a clear answer,” Mitchell told party members.
Mitchell suggested that paying for Measure G could lead to county workforce cuts, an argument quickly picked up by labor union opponents.
“I am asking you not to divide the Democratic Party.” Dave Gillott “There’s no other way we can pay for it,” the head of the Los Angeles County firefighters union said at a party convention on Monday.
current situation
— Reaching ZeroHow much money would it take to get Los Angeles to “virtually zero” homelessness? City leaders have spent the past few years weighing the costs. A draft analysis prepared by the housing authority in January and recently obtained by The Times estimated that it could cost $20.4 billion over 10 years to achieve that goal. That means the city would need to raise an additional $12.5 billion in local, state and federal funding.
— Let the oil see you: A Supreme Court justice who was supposed to phase out oil production in Los Angeles ruled that the state, not the city, has jurisdiction over many aspects of drilling. That ruling could soon become meaningless if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill allowing cities and counties to curtail or eliminate oil and gas operations.
— Duel for DADistrict Attorney George Gascon And his opponent, former federal prosecutor Nathan HochmanGascón has waged a fierce battle in the runoff election on Nov. 5. Hochman said Gascón has led “extreme policies” that have made the county less safe. Gascón has defended his record while laying out a progressive vision for his second four-year term.
— Agree with TVCA $1 billion plan to redevelop the Television City site in the Fairfax District has been presented to the Planning Commission, which voted unanimously to support it Thursday. Katie Yaroslavsky The city also gave its approval for the TVC project after obtaining concessions to reduce its height and floor area. The TVC is now before the City Council.
— Underground puppy trade: A Times investigation found that truckloads of French bulldogs, doodles and other expensive dogs are being imported from the Midwest by commercial mass breeders and then ending up on a black market where they are resold by people posing as small-scale local, family breeders.
Speaking of dogsCity Council members voted 9-5 to establish an LAPD K-9 unit three months after the city’s governor ordered it. Bob Blumenfield In June, Blumenfield expressed concern that the company that donated the dogs, Adlerhorst International LLC, had the same name as Adolf Hitler’s bunker in Nazi Germany, calling it “creepy.”
On Tuesday, Blumenfield took a different path and voted with a majority of his colleagues in favor of the donation. He said that after talking with Adlerhorst’s owners and the Anti-Defamation League, he concluded there was no “real connection” between the company and Hitler or anti-Semitism.
— Best Price: Longtime residents living along the now-canceled 710 Freeway extension that was originally planned to run through El Sereno, South Pasadena and Pasadena are getting a chance to buy a home — or, for some, the only way they could have afforded it.
— Less secure storage: Los Angeles County paid nearly $500,000 to an LAPD officer and his daughter after the officer’s 15-year-old son killed himself with a gun found in a safe in the home of his mother and stepfather, both LAPD officers, and a therapist had previously filed a neglect report with the county’s Department of Children and Family Services.
Police Commission candidate withdraws
Raising funds for congressional representatives. Adam Schiff’s The U.S. Senate is campaigning this week for seats on the Police Commission, but a day before that came a skeptical response from the commission’s Public Safety Committee.
mayor Karen Bass Nominated Carl ThurmondThurmond, an attorney and co-chair of Schiff’s finance committee, joined the five-member panel that provides civilian oversight for the LAPD. On Tuesday, Thurmond answered questions from the Public Safety Committee about his background, officer hiring and other issues.
Some council members expressed dissatisfaction with his responses, or sometimes the lack of them. Tracy ParkAs a member of the committee, she told colleagues she was reluctant to vote for Mr Salmond because he had not taken the time to meet with police officers.
Park said he could change his mind before the full city council votes, but said he hasn’t heard anything from Thurmond on a range of public safety issues.
“Today I have heard nothing from you about combating the rampant crime crisis in our city,” she added. “I have heard nothing from you about holding criminals accountable.”
Mr Salmond told Ms Park he was concerned about all the issues she had raised.
“I wish I had the opportunity to spend more time talking one-on-one with police officers about the challenges they face, but I just didn’t have the job or the position to do that,” he said.
A few minutes later, the councilman Monica Rodriguez He extended a helping hand to Mr Salmond and suggested that his colleagues put his nomination to the council without a recommendation, a move that avoided a “no” vote from the committee just before the final vote.
Rodriguez, the committee chair, invited Thurmond to visit the LAPD station before the full council vote, to which Thurmond replied, “Of course.”
The following day, Mr Salmond submitted his resignation as a candidate for the committee.
Mr Salmond did not respond to requests for comment from The Times. A spokesman for Mr Bass said: Zach SeidlAsked whether the mayor had instructed Mr Thurmond to resign, he referred The Times to his resignation letter, a document which can be found .
“There is nothing else to reference,” Seidl said in an email.
Quick Hit
- Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s plan did not include any encampments this week, according to his team.
- Plans for next week: The big day has arrived! Friday, Councillors Marquise Harris Dawson Became chairman of the council, Paul KrekorianHe held the position for nearly two years.
