Los Angeles City Council Meeting - February 28, 2025
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Los Angeles City Council Meeting - February 28, 2025
The Los Angeles City Council convened on Friday, February 28, 2025, at Van Nuys City Hall. The meeting included routine approvals, two presentations honoring a retiring transportation engineer and a champion high school cheer team, public comment on a motion to exempt Olympic-related projects from environmental and planning reviews (Item 12), and discussion of immigration enforcement raids. The council passed Item 12 with multiple amendments.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes of the February 26, 2025 meeting.
- Approved commendatory resolutions.
- Voted on Items 1, 3, 4, 6 through 11, which had public hearings held previously. (Councilmember Price recused from Item 5; Item 5 passed 10-0 after recusal.)
Public Comments & Testimony
- Several speakers opposed Item 12, which would draft an ordinance exempting Olympic-related projects from CEQA and city planning approvals. Speakers from the Stop the Gondola Coalition, the Historic Cultural North Neighborhood Council, and the Encino Neighborhood Council argued the motion is vague, could enable permanent developments without community input, and sets a dangerous precedent. A representative from Unite Here Local 11 requested clarity and assurances that only temporary essential projects would be covered.
- A few speakers expressed support for ICE enforcement, calling for law and order and criticizing sanctuary city policies.
- Multiple public commenters criticized the firing of the fire chief and urged the council to reinstate her, blaming Mayor Bass and Council President Harris-Dawson for inadequate wildfire preparedness.
- A speaker from the Original Pantry Cafe requested support for workers facing potential job loss.
- One commenter asked the council to hold budget hearings in the San Fernando Valley for greater accessibility.
- Another raised concerns about dangerous e-bike riding on sidewalks.
Discussion Items
- Presentation for Brian Gallagher (Retiring Principal Transportation Engineer): Councilmembers praised Gallagher's 40 years of service, innovation in traffic signal operations, mentorship, and ability to find solutions that prioritize people. He was presented with a plaque.
- Presentation for Arleta High School Cheer Team: The team won first place at the inaugural California Interscholastic Federation State Championship in cheer. Councilmember Padilla, a former cheerleader, recognized the team's dedication and diversity. Head coach Teresa Becerra and senior captain Ashley Penate spoke about rebuilding after COVID and the team's resilience.
- Immigration Enforcement Raids: Councilmember Hernandez reported aggressive ICE raids in her district and others, calling on colleagues to hold know-your-rights trainings and support immigrant communities. Councilmembers Price and Harris-Dawson echoed the need for solidarity and community action.
- Item 12 – Olympic Exemptions: Councilmember Park motioned for Item 12, which aimed to draft an ordinance waiving certain regulations for Olympic projects. Councilmember Blumenfield introduced a friendly amendment (12D) to keep the instruction to draft the ordinance but stipulate it would not be considered until required reports are completed. Councilmember Hernandez introduced an amendment (12B) to exclude large-scale permanent cable-guided transportation projects. Councilmember Soto Martinez introduced an amendment (12C) requiring clear definitions and reports on what qualifies as an Olympic project. After debate, all amendments were adopted.
Key Outcomes
- Item 12 as amended (by amendments 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D, 12E) passed with a vote of 11-1 (Councilmember Padilla voting no). The approved motion directs the city to draft an ordinance exempting Olympic-related projects from certain approvals, but with definitions, reports, and exclusions for large-scale permanent cable-guided transit.
- Council members committed to holding know-your-rights trainings and supporting communities impacted by immigration enforcement.
- The meeting was adjourned in memory of Brother John Thomas Crow, a longtime advocate for at-risk youth at Rancho San Antonio.
Meeting Transcript
In the mornings, and we also have a few other beach cleanups throughout the year, including Earth Day. That's our next one coming up on April 19th. It's pretty low-key. You come out here, we have materials ready for you, we have gloves, we have bucket, and we just encourage you to spend a little time outside on the beach cleaning up, helping out, but also appreciating this habitat for yourself too. How do we foster a love of reading even in the youngest Angelinos? The Central Library Family Storytime will do just that. With stories carefully chosen to draw in everyone, these little ones will learn to love reading and all that goes with it. Carmelita stops to look in the window. Let's go in to get some cookies for Mama's egg. So today we were doing our family story time. This happens most Saturdays here at the Central Library at 2 p.m. On the days it doesn't, it's because we have a special program. For example, last week we had a puppet show at the same time. But today we were doing our family story time, which generally means that we are reading a bunch of books, singing a bunch of songs, and then doing a craft afterwards with kids of all ages. We love including multiple languages in our story times. One of the books we read today was Say Hello by Rachel Isadora, which includes languages like Chinese, Italian, French, Arabic, to really bring in kids who speak multiple languages. They love learning about things, and the more stories you have, the more you're able to figure out what their interests are to help them develop their little personalities. Stories are really really important, especially from that early age before a kid can read. Hearing stories is what gets them interested and excited about reading books later when they can. This is super important for families to have not only the space, the books, but also programs that they can go to for free, giving them extra opportunities both for kids to hear more stories, hear more words. So like I said, family story time here at the Central Library at 2 p.m. on Saturdays. The amazing program. Come by, come see us and come hear some really amazing stories. The Venice Branch Library takes the books to the streets as it joins the Venice Farmers Market. In a new approach to community outreach, the library is bringing story time and more outside. Let's take a look. So instead of having people come into the library, we are going out to the community, and this is a wonderful outreach opportunity to bring books and stories and crafts to the community. So we started this about maybe three months ago. This is a brand new program. We do it every second Friday of the month from 9.30 and to 11. And we had a wonderful crowd today. Everybody was really excited to celebrate Valentine's Day with us. I love you. Yeah, so I think the program's a really nice idea. I put two kids, a two-year-old and an eight-month old. Um and it's really nice that there's something to be to them. So the story time and then the ox and crop. So today we'd be making Valentine's Day cards. And yeah, sitting out in the sunshine. Yes, English Espanol. It's the niños. It is open to everybody, it's free of charge. They just need to come. If they want to sign up for our email list, they can do that. We're targeting like the younger crowd, but it's really open for everybody. For more information, please go to WWW.org. In this week's feature story, the Los Angeles Central Library has a wealth of culture on display. In fact, there is a tour of the art and sculpture and other points of interest in the interiors. Let's go beyond the books and learn more about the buildings that house the Central Library.
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