The Los Angeles City Council convened for a lengthy session focused primarily on the city's response to ongoing federal immigration enforcement raids and a debate over state housing legislation. The meeting featured detailed testimony from immigrant rights organizations, significant public comment on housing and land use, and several key votes.
We're here on Team Boulevard, really celebrating the revitalization of this area. We've got new sidewalks. We've got trees, new mediums, really encouraging folks to come out and enjoy the open space and clean air. I'm excited about coming out walking in the community around friends and family. And the block party is just the caveat to the day. The Black Party is going to feature games, information for kids and for families. There's gonna be some food. And just a real chance to celebrate. I'm from this area, so the C the City Beautifier by today. I can help but be a part of what's going on. I think it's important to walk at my age to getting out and continuously moving and being involved versus sitting down doing nothing and just getting older is so important to continue to move. I rode my bicycle here. I live right down the street. And so I want to really encourage uh folks to uh appreciate and enjoy the open space. So come on, get your body moving. Let's have a great one. Schools are back this week, but there was just enough time for one more event on summer break. Council members Eunicius Hernandez and Isabel Herado gathered with their local community to help everyone get ready for that return to school. Today we are on the border of CD1 and CD 14, celebrating our annual Lincoln Heights backpack giveaway, where we are giving over a thousand two hundred backpacks out to community and families here in Lincoln Heights, as well as have over 30 resources and organizations here providing access to health care, access to food. We're doing everything we can to support our families, and we're doing it in partnership with our neighboring districts. I want to let all the families and our students or children know that get ready for school because our schools are ready for you. Our teachers, your principals, everyone in schools are ready for you to come back and start learning, start connecting and playing with your classmates, and you know, making sure that you're safe. So all the families and parents, I want to let you know that the safest place for your children is in site school. So they will be safe, we will protect them, and everybody's ready for the first day of school. I know these are hard times, and our communities are afraid, and rightly so, but in these moments, getting together and seeing one another and sharing space makes me feel safe, and I hope you all too. No matter what, our community has to continue showing up, and that's what our offices are doing. We're providing backpacks, a safe space. We haven't had free haircuts down the way, and that's the kind of thing our community members want to feel right now. I know Councilmember Hernandez and I are committed to making sure that you have more safe spaces here in the city of LA, Lincoln Heights, and beyond Councilmember Adrian Nazarian breaks ground on new tiny homes. The city marks a clean energy milestone, and a top score for LA City's housing authority on Section 8. The stories up next on City Beat. Council Member Adriana Zarian has broken ground on new tiny homes in Van I's, which he says will add 100 beds and help give unhoused neighbors a path to stability. The 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count reported that the unsheltered homeless population in Nazarian's district had decreased by 36% since 2024, according to Nazarian. In the last eight months, interim shelters and a navigation center in his district have provided services to more than 1,500 individuals and shelter to 866. In addition, Nazarian says the new tiny homes support his goal of helping those living in dangerous conditions and will help residents enjoy a cleaner and safer neighborhood. For more information, visit CD2.lacity.gov. Mayor Karen Bass announced the completion of the ELAN Solar Plus Storage Center, one of the largest solar and battery energy storage projects in the country. Eland is the latest addition to LA's clean energy sources from the Baron Ridge Renewable Energy Corridor in Mojave. According to Bass, this center pushes the city's clean energy share above 60%, marking a major milestone in LA's transition to 100% clean energy by 2035. The ELAN project can provide enough power to supply more than a quarter of a million households across LA. For more information, visit mayor.lacity.gov slash press. With bonus points added, HACLA attained a score of 102%. According to HACLA, the score represents the above and beyond dedication of its team in administering the Section 8 program. The authority added that Section 8 is a lifeline to over 50,000 low-income Angelinos who might otherwise find themselves out on the street. For more information, visit HACLA.org. Surfs up at Venice Beach. When the ocean calls, Reckon Parks wants to make sure everyone can answer. Parasurfing is an all abilities program that teaches young Angelinos how to paddle out and catch the waves. And the surfing people are surfing there. Play LA is all about getting kids from all over the city, all ability, all ages, to come and truthfully just have fun.