Los Angeles City Council Meeting Summary - February 12, 2025
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Los Angeles City Council Meeting - February 12, 2025
The Los Angeles City Council convened on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, at approximately 9:31 AM. The meeting included public comment on multiple agenda items, discussion of a rent gouging ordinance, a motion to expedite a fire infrastructure bond study, and votes on several items including a temporary eviction moratorium for wildfire-displaced persons and pets. The meeting also featured announcements regarding relief efforts, weather warnings, and community events.
Consent Calendar
- The council approved the minutes of February 11, 2025, without objection.
- Items 2 through 6 were voted on as a block and passed (vote tally not specified).
- Item 9 (revised ordinance codifying anti-rent-gouging rules) was adopted unanimously (15-0) after a motion by Councilmember Park to adopt the revised ordinance dated February 11, 2025.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Campbell Hall Financing (Item 1): Multiple speakers opposed the $65 million financing to Campbell Hall, an Episcopal school, arguing it violates the California Constitution and the First Amendment's establishment clause. One speaker demanded a no vote and called for investigations.
- REAP Property Removal (Items 10, 11): A speaker supported removing properties from the REAP system, but suggested the funds should be redirected to repair inoperable fire department vehicles. Another speaker criticized Councilmember Tracy Park's involvement in property vacating, accusing her of racism.
- Homeless Outreach Funding (Item 17): One speaker expressed concern about waste, fraud, and abuse in homeless services funding, specifically questioning a $250,000 allocation to Special Services for Groups, Inc., and urging audits.
- Eviction Moratorium (Item 19): A speaker supported the temporary eviction ban but urged broadening it to include any occupancy below legal maximums, criticizing landlord credit checks and background checks.
- General Public Comment: Several speakers from the Push LA Coalition (Chauncey Smith, Shelby Richardson, Leslie Johnson, Dr. David Turner) urged the council to act on Council File 20-0875 regarding non-law enforcement alternatives to traffic safety, noting a 90-day feasibility study deadline had passed. Speakers from the Salvadorian community (Elsa Marino Marroquin, Noemi Perez) requested help to find a permanent market space, stating they pay taxes but are being harassed. Raúl Claros thanked Councilmember Tracy Park for her work on mutual aid and criticized Mayor Bass and Councilmember Hernandez for lack of action in MacArthur Park.
- A speaker whose home burned in the Palisades fire asked the council to clarify whether rebuilt rent-controlled apartments must be offered to former tenants and whether they remain rent-controlled.
- Grace Hutt (Strategic Actions for a Just Economy) urged extending the rent gouging ordinance's duration from 30 days to one year and passing an eviction moratorium for fire-impacted tenants.
Discussion Items
- Boyle Heights Library Renovations (Item 7): Councilmember Jurado introduced a motion seeking a report on expediting the Boyle Heights Library renovation and interim services, citing community input that the library (closed since COVID) is a priority for seniors, youth, and gang reduction. The motion passed (roll call vote not specified).
- Budget and Finance / Fire Bond (Item 8, Amendment 8A): Councilmembers Rodriguez and Park introduced an amendment to instruction the CAO and fire department to report within 60 days on a potential fire infrastructure bond. The council president moved to refer the amendment to the Rules Committee for a broader discussion of bonding needs. After debate (Councilmember Blumenfield suggested expanding the underlying motion; Councilmember McOsker argued a bond needs careful pricing and should not be slowed), the council voted 10-5 to refer amendment 8A to the Rules Committee. Subsequently, a motion to refer recommendation F (infrastructure bond information) of item 8 to the Rules Committee failed (vote not specified, but failed based on the transcript). The council then passed the main item 8 (budget and finance committee report) as presented.
- Rent Gouging Ordinance (Item 9): The council adopted a revised ordinance codifying rules and penalties against rent gouging during emergencies. The ordinance will be in effect for 30 days after the emergency declaration ends.
- Eviction Moratorium for Wildfire-Displaced Persons (Item 19): The council approved a motion to temporarily prohibit residential evictions solely based on housing persons or pets displaced by the January 2025 wildfires. Councilmember Price recused himself because he is a landlord. The vote was 14-0.
Key Outcomes
- Item 9 (Rent Gouging): Adopted unanimously (15-0).
- Item 7 (Boyle Heights Library): Approved.
- Item 19 (Eviction Moratorium): Approved 14-0 (Price recused).
- Amendment 8A (Fire Bond Study): Referred to the Rules, Elections, and Intergovernmental Relations Committee (10-5).
- Item 8F (Infrastructure Bond Information): Motion to refer to Rules Committee failed; the provision remained in the budget and finance report, which was adopted.
- Councilmember Rodriguez and Park committed to continuing efforts to get the fire bond study started quickly; the Rules Committee chair said the matter would be taken up at the next scheduled meeting due to backlog.
- Announcements: Councilmember Lee reported distributing $5,000 checks to 60 families affected by fires. Councilmember Hutt postponed a food giveaway to February 20. Councilmember Raman urged volunteers for the homeless count (Feb 18-20). Councilmember Padilla promoted the "Love of Literacy" program. Councilmember Park warned of heavy rain and potential flooding in burn areas, urging residents to avoid PCH and Palisades.
- Adjourning Motion: Honored Barbara Jean Hale, a longtime resident and Department of Defense employee, who passed away at age 83.
Meeting Transcript
And said I want to put up 25,000 to help out informal service workers throughout my district. We matched the council with 25,000 to create a $50,000 loan poll. We might not realize the number of workers in the Palisades and in the other areas who were the gardeners who cleaned the homes, who took care of the children. And many of those individuals were not just individual workers, but actually had small businesses. They might have attended to five or ten homes. Please follow us on social media at CD6 Los Angeles. And you can also follow our website for more information. Community members in Pacoima got to enjoy the celebration with much needed essentials. Today we're at Pacoima City Hall where we have this wonderful collaboration with Hanui Bank and the Korean American Federation, my friend Robert On, who's brought all of these incredible resources to help make sure that we're closing the gaps for a lot of families that are in need. We had um different types of foods and treats and essentials that they might need in their day-to-day lives. A lot of folks out here have also been affected by the recent wildfires. A lot of the attention has been on the Eden and Palisades fires, but also we had the hearse fire out here in this district. And so we also want to be cognizant and mindful of those folks that have impacted out here. These wildfires have devastated a lot of communities. Not just the immediate burn areas, but the economic impact is something that is being felt throughout the region. So we've got a one-stop shop with FEMA that is here as well, so that we can make services more accessible to the people that need them. So I'm just grateful that as Angelinos, we are come together as one Los Angeles to make sure that no one gets left behind. And so we wanted to make sure that we are also being very intentional about bringing our resources to other parts of the city so that we're helping those that are most in need. Oh, I just got good groceries from good people, you know. Easy access. Just pull it up, get in line, wait, you know. I receive good water, I've received rice, all healthy food, I receive milk. I receive a lot of good stuff that I need because right as of right now today, I don't have nothing to eat. So you know it was a good gesture. I really appreciate it. I always say the one thing that binds all of our communities, regardless of what your ethnic background is, is rice. So it's really wonderful that we have all of these incredible ways of sharing what we all know to be familiar at a time when we all need that sense of security. It's that time of year again. Welcome to tax season. This need not be painful on your pocketbook, as the city can help with free tax preparation. LA's community investment for families department explained how you can get earned income tax credits. And the child to tax credit. Today we're launching our 2025 Free Tax Prep LA campaign, which offers free tax preparation services to low and moderate income families. This is a service that the city offers. People should not have to pay for this if they qualify. Anyone that makes less than $67,000 a year qualifies uh for this program. It doesn't matter if you have a social security or ITIN number, we want you to come in, use our service because if the IRS owes you money, we want to make sure you get it in your pocket. Take advantage of the available tax credits. There's upwards of $10,000 available for families who qualify, both federal credits and state credits. For example, the earned income tax credit is something that was passed many years ago that has been the number one sort of driver to get people out of poverty. People could get up to $10,000 in their pockets if they qualify. We're very proud that we offer multilingual certified IRS trained staff that is available throughout our 45 locations that can help people. We want folks to just please see the city as a place where they can get many different resources, including getting their taxes done. We are here to serve people. For anyone that is interested in learning more or finding the location nearest to their home or to their place of work, they can visit Free Taxprep LA.com or our website at LA4Families.org. Don't pay to pay when you can get one-to-one guidance and assistance on your tax case at the library. We went to the branch at Lincoln Heights to find out more. We are here at the Lincoln Heights branch library, offering free tax preparation services in partnership with Cal Center Lay. We are super thrilled to be offering this free service to support the financial well-being of our community. This is all free.
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