Los Angeles City Council Meeting: Immigration Raids, Restroom Funding, and Homelessness Metrics - August 26, 2025

Hello, everyone.

I'm Susan Huckle, and here's what's happening in LA this week.

Highlighting the impact of immigration raids on West LA, Mayor Karen Bass joined councilwoman Katie Yaroslavski and community leaders who stood in solidarity.

They were advocating for an end to unconstitutional federal immigration sweeps.

We're here today to call attention to the ongoing unconstitutional ice raids that are happening across our city and all the different ways that we as uh local government and community members are working to make sure that people know what their rights are, and really just to call attention to the fact that there was a ninth circuit decision upholding a temporary restraining order, and despite the fact that it was upheld by the Ninth Circuit, the federal government is continuing to engage in unconstitutional stops and frisks and seizures of people without any due process.

This is something that cannot continue.

We know the next step is to go to the Supreme Court, but the question looms before us.

Even if we do have a positive court decision, will the administration follow the rule of law?

But we're all here today in solidarity to say that we will continue to resist.

We are not going to accept this behavior from this administration, and that Los Angeles stands united.

I think the message is uh one that we stand behind uh Mayor Bass and the efforts that she's doing to push back in the administration, and two to say it doesn't matter where you live in Los Angeles and whether or not you are an immigrant, but that there are people here who want to stand up for you, use their voices to say this isn't right.

Yesterday at a car wash, uh ICE agents descended, arrested several people.

Looked like they didn't have any warrants, no probable cause, no reasonable suspicion, which is unconstitutional, and which the temporary restraining order expressly says you cannot do, right?

You can't target people based on their race.

And so there's a lot of fear right now across the city.

Uh there's a general sense of unease.

And you know, I never thought we'd see the day where people were afraid to send their kids to school because they were afraid of government acting in ways that are really more befitting of an authoritarian regime than the United States of America.

I'm here because, as my t-shirt proudly announces, immigrant justice is a Jewish value.

You should not oppress the stranger, the immigrant, for you know the soul of the immigrant.

For you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

I think the community is horrified about what's going on.

I think the community understands that the way these new policies are being enforced are in violation of the Constitution of the United States of America, and we need to make sure that it stops.

If you think about it, it's a domino effect that this is having on our economy.

Think about it.

If people aren't able to work, they're not able to pay their rent.

They may be evicted.

They may not be able to go to the grocery store and provide meals and support for their families.

We're here to support you.

And even for small businesses, we're giving out grants.

Last week I distributed 75 grants to small businesses in LA.

And these are mom and pop groups, and many of them, all of them, pretty much came forward and said that they were impacted by the raids.

And whether it was for $5,000 or $10,000, it was to help them keep their doors open or to purchase supplies or to keep maybe someone employed to keep their business going.

So for anyone looking for more information, go online and tag me at Hilda Salise, and they can go on Facebook, Instagram, social media, and they'll find us.

New students of every age, new classes, it's a new school year.

And that brings some stress.

So that includes leaving early in the morning.

Give yourself some time, because that reduces stress, and as we know, during stressful times we end up making mistakes.

Second, please drive with more alertness.

We're gonna have kids that are super emotional to go back to school.

And so it's important that uh drivers are more aware of that.

They take precautions, they drive slower.

When school buses have a flashing yellow lights, it's basically a warning to drivers that the bus is about to stop, either gonna drop off kids or going to pick up kids.

So it's a it's it's it serves as a warning to drivers to slow down and be prepared to stop when the stop sign arm comes from the bus when uh the stop sign is red, when it's flashing red lights, it's very clear you have to stop.

So all drivers within with in both directions have to stop to ensure that kids are able to delay safely and able to cross the street if they need to safely, and you are not able to go until the school bus driver retreats the stop sign back and continues on its way.

It's also important uh to not use your cell phone, especially in these areas.

Our advice to parents whose kids are walking to school, we advise uh parents to do the route with them before the first day of school.

That way the student feels uh more at ease and more comfortable doing the route themselves.

We always advise students to go in groups, never walk alone.

If there's a stranger in the street, if you don't know them, don't approach.

If they approach you, don't talk to them, just walk away from them.

It's always also important that after school's done, have a meeting point.

Know where you're gonna meet your kid, know where you're gonna meet them, so that way they're able to go to that direction with ease.

So our advice to cyclists as well is to always wear a helmet and protect yourself so that includes uh wearing gear that is visible to other drivers.

If anyone needs any more information, you're able to go on LAPD Online.org for more information.

You're also able to follow us on social media at L A P D H Q.

LA City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto joined the midnight mission to celebrate the opening of a new recovery center on Skid Row.

The center and its programs are specifically for women who have not had a safe space for their recovery until now.

Today is a historic event in Skid Row.

We are in the midnight mission celebrating the opening of the first and only 12-step recovery program for women in Skid Row.

It's called the Claire E women's Recovery center.

The recovery center that we are opening is the first 12-step based recovery center for women here in Skid Road.

And it is a long time coming.

It is a long time coming.

We had a men's recovery program since the 70s, and it's been a great success.

Almost 13 years ago, I was displaced to a community called Skid Row.

Because like others, I had no other place to go.

Recovery treatment are words that need to be spoken about more and more as relate to the needs of women here in Skid Row.

So for a long time, homelessness solutions have been one size fits all.

It didn't matter whether you were male or female, old or young.

It was here's a shelter, here's what we're doing to get you off the streets.

It's really wonderful to see an organization such as this focused on a safe space for women.

We have 12 rooms, there's two women to a room.

The floor has been designed by women for women.

It will be run by women.

This program is exciting today because it's focused on women.

Women are interested because women don't just pull themselves along, they take everybody with them.

So if they have children, they have grandparents, mothers, fathers, nieces, nephews is the woman who is the hub of all the spokes recovers.

Then everybody else will be better off because of it.

This recovery center, the Claire E.

Women's Recovery Center.

This represents hope.

This represents joy.

This represents light.

This will be a refuge.

Hannah, a path forward for people who might not have otherwise had that.

If you are a homeless woman in Skid Row, you are not being violated occasionally.

It is a regular occurrence for you.

So it's really important that we created a space that feels safe and warm and welcoming and creates a sense of family and community.

Coming in here to the Claire E.

Women's Recovery Center run by the Midnight Mission is a dream coming true, at least for 24 women at a time.

Girls build LA at Los Angeles World Airports.

And fall registration for recreation and parks programs.

These stories up next on City Beat.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, LADOT has begun phase one removal of peak hour traffic lanes in low traffic areas.

According to LA DOT, the project will enhance safety, improve access, and support surrounding businesses with additional parking.

Future phases of the project will include dedicated bus lanes, protected bike lanes, and expanded pedestrian zones.

The map and full list of corridors selected for phase one is available on the website.

For more information, visit LADOT.lacity.gov.

Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles World Airports, Lawa celebrated the completion of the Girls Build LA program.

The three-week program introduces high school girls to careers in construction, engineering, and other in-demand aviation trades.

Program participants toured aviation and infrastructure projects at airports and gained hands-on experience with women in the field.

According to Mayor Bass, Girls Build LA expands the possibilities for young Angelinos and is an investment in the future of the city.

For more information, visit Mayor.lacity.gov slash press.

Registration is now open for the fall season of Play LA at all LA City pools and recreation centers.

LA City's Department of Recreation and Parks provides play LA programs for youth ages 5 to 17, and the programs are open and adaptable to all abilities.

88 recreation centers and 36 city pools offer programs for a $10 registration fee while other sites have fee waivers available for qualified Angelinos.

Fall sessions are beginning as soon as September 8th.

For more information, visit LA Parks.org slash play-LA.

With renovations completed, it's time to celebrate.

As Play Day can now be every day at a park in South LA.

Council President Marquis Harris Dawson joined Wreckin Parks and the community to declare this park ready for play.

Today we're opening up the playground here at St.

Andrew's Park.

We've been working on this playground since before the pandemic.

So back in the 2010, we've been working on it.

It's finally open today.

We're very excited.

The park is beautiful.

We're having movies tonight.

We got our families here.

We got the police department here.

We got a sports league here brought to us by the Wrecking Parks and the Balmer Group.

Inside safe, the mayor's program made sure everybody that was homeless around this area got housing and so the streets are clear.

So we're just very excited.

We couldn't be happier this evening.

Every Thursday through Saturday, we have some of our lives going on.

Basketball, games, free food, music, jumpers, the community coming together for a positive cause.

I encourage the parents to just come out and just see for themselves.

You know, other people always think that this park is a bad park, but at the end of the day, we have fun.

We have good coaches that are here, you know, to teach the kids the fundamental and just come out and just see for yourself and trust and believe every staff here.

They care and love the kids.

We encourage the parents to come out, bring their kids out, and uh not just bring them and drop them off, but participate as well.

We have a lot of fabulous programs going on.

After school program, the football, baseball, the basketball, the seniors with the line dancing.

It's a real safe, fun place to be.

We uh come out and we have a good time seven days a week.

Another park, but a different story in the Pacific Palisades.

After the wildfires, the ribbon cutting and joy here mark a stepping stone on the road to the community's recovery.

We are so excited to be back home at Palisades Rec Center with our community that we love so much.

We have our brand new playground that we're gonna do the ribbon cutting for today.

We are coming back in this space.

It brings community together, it brings love together, it brings joy.

We get to sit and talk and reconnect like we did in the old days.

It's a stepping stone of the future of the Palisades.

Make no doubt we are back and we are coming back even more so.

So it's an exciting day with the opening of the playground and the other facilities that are available.

So meaningful to us.

The Rex Board and everybody who's committed their time and their heart and soul to it.

We we can appreciate you more.

The kids love it.

The kids will flock to it.

And uh, we're so happy and so grateful that we got the donation to build this.

This is the center of the community.

This is our town square, but we need to keep it going, keep it alive, keep it open during construction as people repopulate and rebuild.

We'll see more and more people.

We need hope and inspiration.

We need to know that we're gonna come back.

Today's critical.

These are the wins that we need as a community.

So, very important day, and just feel great.

I'm honored to be a part of this process.

Running this park has been one of the greatest joys of my life, and just getting to know this community and watching the kids grow up.

It being taken away like the way it was was truly heartbreaking.

And to be a part of this rebuild and this reinvention is something I'm really excited about.

A new monthly series at the Barnesdall Gallery Theater is pulling focus to movies not represented in the mainstream.

Lens on Life is highlighting independent movies in the heart of Hollywood.

We are here at the Barnstone Art Gallery Theater, uh, right in the heart of CD 13.

This is the second monthly edition of our Lens on Life series where we come together and highlight a different theme, a different movie, a different kind of conversation.

So in City 13, we know it's home to Hollywood.

Uh, it's home to a lot of creative, a lot of artists, uh, and this space that we are in uh was pretty underutilized, and so it's a beautiful space that belongs to the city of Los Angeles.

My team and I are gonna be showing a movie here every third Wednesday of the month.

So we want to bring people from all across the city to come and enjoy the space and watch the movies.

So tonight's event is open to the public.

It is a partnership with several different organizations, including the new filmmakers of Los Angeles to highlight and showcase films made by members in our community.

Tonight's movies are highlighting the queer identity and something that's so important as we're coming off the heels of LGBTQ Plus Heritage Month as a way to further continue that celebration and those discussions around queer identity.

So New Formig is Los Angeles, we're a nonprofit organization.

Really, our mission is to bridge the gap between independent filmmakers to the film industry at large.

So through our various programs, we're mostly known for our monthly film festival hosted in downtown LA, but we also have other programs throughout the year.

And really, we're having a spotlight on those kind of independent filmmakers who are not represented in mainstream media.

So I think it's just a great way to build community, a great way to get connected and show representation.

I feel very grateful and honored.

I was invited to be a part of this.

So Sunflower Nikki is a story about freedom of expression and young black boys.

It follows the eight-year-old boy Nicholas and his journey of wanting to own a doll and the implications that brings into this conservative black household.

So it truly discusses topics of freedom of expression, vulnerability, and gender norms in young black boys.

You know, getting people to understand the differences in human beings by finding that little piece of connectivity.

Because like in Sunflower Nikki, it's about freedom of expression and young boys, but a lot of different kids, whether you are born male, born female, black, white, whatever, you understand what it's like to have your freedom infringed upon.

You understand what it's like to be told that you cannot behave or act a certain way because you are perceived a certain way.

So that's something that everyone can connect to, and that's what I hope to continue to create in my art.

Looks like a Home to Me is a vibrant exhibition at LA Public Library's Getty Gallery, which is drawing visitors and praise.

The studio supports 80 artists whose work invites everyone into their creative home.

We are in the beautiful Getty Gallery here in Central Library.

It is our major exhibit space, and I am so excited about our newest exhibit, and it is uh called Looks Like Home to Me inside the Progressive Art Studios.

Progressive Art Studios are inclusive spaces where um artists um people with any kind of disability, intellectual developmental disability, are given tools to create and get inspired with no pressure or expectation.

And it features incredibly beautiful, vibrant, wonderful artwork by over a hundred artists.

Anyone who walks into this exhibition is just blown away by the vibrancy of the exhibition and the joy.

As you can see, we have murals that were created specifically for this exhibition.

The artists came and drew them on our walls here.

I love the textiles.

I love these ceramics.

We have representations of all kinds of art forms.

I just love the photos of the artists proudly pointing to their piece on the wall or in a display case.

I've gotten so much feedback from this exhibition already, which isn't the norm.

I literally got a call yesterday from someone from the Los Virgines School District who uh who is a teacher of um uh students with developmental disabilities, and she was so heartened by this exhibit and wanted to bring a field trip in.

I think you know, thinking about the title, it looks like a home to me.

I think that creates feelings of warmth, certainly, and being at home and sort of arms wrapped around, and I think there's a certain special feeling about this exhibit given the story of how the art was created and the artists themselves, and I think it will leave people inspired and with a sense of warmth.

I hope all Angelinas will find time between now and December the 7th to be able to come and explore this beautiful exhibit and experience it for themselves and also wander through uh this incredible gem of a library here in downtown Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Fire Department's interim chief Ronnie Villanueva shares his career journey.

A veteran firefighter who had just retired.

Villa Nueva answered the call and returned to serving Angelinos as the interim chief of the LAFD.

Former chief deputy and as interim fire.

Los Angeles is back with the most of destructive wildfires in its history.

These fires happened, and I was asked to come back to help.

And I said, Well, of course, I'm not gonna say no.

During that time, the mayor asked me to come back as the interim chief.

And here I am.

Our heroic firefighters are in the experienced and expert hands of Chief Villanueva.

I have to tell you, when she asked me to do that, it was a great honor for me.

Uh, my family, even at the swearing inn, you know, were in tears uh and just so proud.

The love that I have for this department is the reason I'm coming back.

Leading them is an honor of a lifetime.

I have a radio in my office.

So I monitor just about everything.

First thing that pops in my head is safety for the young firefighters that are out there.

Know your profession, be passionate about it, and be very good at it because a lot of people are relying on you.

The public, your family, and your comrades.

We average 1,500 calls a day, 600 transports.

That's just an average.

I know there's days that we have over 2,000 calls a day, and we have over 750 transports.

We want to make sure that we respond quickly, that we're well trained, we're prepared, we're calm, we're able to be decisive in our actions to take care of ourselves, our fellow workers, and the public that we served.

The fire service is a dangerous job.

It could be glamorous at times, you know, to where, oh, you're the firefighters and everybody's waving at you, and it's all great.

Um, but I had a friend of mine, actually grew up with him.

His name was Ben Pennell, and uh he died in a proud bird fire in 1984.

I think it was five o'clock in the morning, and then you get that phone call.

Oh, there was a firefighter fatality, and Ben died.

What goes through my mind is that I see his daughter all the time.

She was just a baby at that time.

From the past, we would never ever say that we needed help.

We could see the most gruesome things, and I'm good.

No cat might come in and say, Hey, you guys, good.

We just saw this, you know, pretty bad incident here.

We're all good.

Today, the firefighter, the captains, all the all the members.

They're much more aware that we have behavioral health.

We have department psychologists, we have therapists, we have people that could help you, and people are more courageous and brave today.

In this week's things to do, celebrate Lamert Park and Jazz.

Take a story walk at the LA Zoo, and Flex at the Muscle Beach Championship on Labor Day.

All this up next on Things to Do.

What began as a block party is now in its sixth year as a family-friendly community festival taking place on Saturday, August thirtieth.

Enjoy a wide variety of jazz acts, including We Exist, the DD Bridgewater Quartet, Sasha Berliner, the Melanin Horns, and the World Stage Big Band.

And your festival co hosts are Rhonda Hamilton and Jose Rizzo.

Head to Baldwin Hills Mall to celebrate the Lamert Park Jazz Festival on Saturday, August thirtieth, beginning at twelve thirty PM and running until eight thirty PM.

For more on the lineup and the concert, visit Lamert Park Jazz Festival.

On Saturday, August 30th and Sunday, August 31st, discover a new story or two at the Los Angeles Zoo with the Los Angeles Public Library.

Stop by the Winnick Family Children's Zoo on your next zoo visit and follow the pages of Signorita Mariposa and Not a Monster for a self-directed story walk.

Zoo admission is required for this activity, but City of Los Angeles residents may be able to reserve free tickets to the zoo through the Los Angeles Libraries Explore LA program.

Enjoy a story walk at the Los Angeles Zoo on Saturday, August 30th, and Sunday, August 31st.

For more information, visit LAPL.org.

It will be all muscle with bodybuilding, classic physique and wellness happening at the Venice Beach Recreation Center on Ocean Front Walk.

This annual contest is in conjunction with the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

Competitors pay to take part, but the contest is free to view.

Prejudging begins at ten AM with the finals at one PM.

The Muscle Beach Championship is on Labor Day, Monday, September first, beginning at ten AM.

For more information, visit the events tab at LA Parks.org.

And that's a look at some things to do.

And that's all for this week.

I'm Susan Huckle, and from all of us here at LA This Week, thank you so much for joining us.

Remember that you can watch us online anytime at LACity View dot org.

We're also on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

See you next time for more LA this week.

Okay.

Schedule meeting for Los Angeles City Council.

Today is Tuesday, the 25th, 26th day of August in the year 2025.

My name is Marquis Aristas, and I serve as chair of this council.

Public comment will be taken in person in this council chamber for this morning's meeting.

Madam Clerk, let's begin our proceedings by calling the roll.

Yes, sir.

Bloom and Phil Harris, Dawson, Hernandez Hutt, Herado, Lee, McCosker, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Rahman, Rodriguez, Sotomartinez, Yaroslavsky, 14 members present and according Mr.

President.

First order of business.

Approval the minutes of August 22nd, 2025.

Councilmember Raman moves.

Councilmember Yaroslavski seconds.

What's next?

Commit commendatory resolutions for approval.

Council Member McCosker moves.

Councilmember Hernandez seconds.

What's next?

Mr.

President, today's Tuesday.

It's time for the flag salute.

Alright, I'll ask everyone in the chamber to rise, face the flag, and follow along with Councilmember Judato.

Thank you, Council President.

I too America pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

All right.

Yes, sir.

Item one is an item notice for public hearing.

Items two through 13 are items which public hearings have been held.

Items 14 through 23 are items which public hearings have not been held.

Items 24 through 29 are closed session items for which public hearings have been held in budget and finance.

Finally, item 30 is a closed session item for which public hearing has not been held.

10 votes are required for consideration.

Alright.

Uh those items are before us without objection.

Uh members, are there any specials?

I see council member Padilla.

Yes, I'd like to hold item two on the desk, please.

All right, hold item two until after public comment.

Okay.

Uh yeah.

Okay.

That works.

Uh Councilmember uh Rodriguez.

I uh item 23 for questions and an amendment.

Okay.

Councilmember Rahman, are you standing for a special?

Same, same one.

Okay.

Uh any other specialist on this side?

Uh all right, Councilmember Hernandez.

Thank you, Council President.

I would like to uh call item 14 special for a substitute motion.

All right.

Councilmember Judato?

Um, Madam Clerk.

Item 14.

Councilmember, substitute.

Is that correct?

14.

Yes.

Yes, substitute motion.

Um also when we vote on 21, I'd like it to be forthwith.

So I'll ask again for just a council member who auto.

I'd like to call item 22 for comments.

All right.

Councilmember McCosker.

Thank you very much.

I'd like to call item 13 special uh for an amendment and comment.

All right.

Any other special?

Mr.

McCosker, five and thirteen.

Thirteen.

Just thirteen.

Just thirteen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Any other specials members?

Mr.

Price.

No specials today.

All right.

Councilmember Lee.

Uh, thank you, Mr.

President.

I just want to make sure.

I think I heard it, but item number 23 for possible questions and 23 for discussion.

Yes.

Okay.

Uh all right.

Madam Clerk.

Uh, what items are available for the council at this time.

Mr.

President.

Council may now vote on items three through twelve, sir.

All right, those items are now before us.

Let's open the roll.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

14 ayes.

All right, what's next?

Correction for the record, Mr.

Nazarian is in the chamber, so that should be 15 ayes for items three through twelve, sir.

All right.

Mr.

Nazarian makes it perfect.

All right, uh, what's next?

Uh next, council uh may vote on items 24th through 29, and that was heard in budget and finance committee.

All right, uh, council member Yarosowski.

Thank you, Council President.

Budget and Finance Committee considered and approved items 24 through 29 in committee uh on August 19th, and I recommend we approve these items today.

All right.

If we can uh read the details into the record and call the roll.

Yes, sir.

Item 24 in the case entitled Sabrina Neely versus City of Los Angeles et al.

There is a recommendation to expend up to 115,000 in settlement.

Item 25 in the case entitled Julio Martinez versus City of Los Angeles at all.

There is a recommendation to expend up to 137,500 in settlement.

Item 26 in the case entitled Sarah Marin versus City of Los Angeles.

There's a recommendation to expend up to 475,000 in settlement.

For items 27 and 28 in the cases entitled Vladimir Rivera, et al.

versus City of Los Angeles et al.

And Joseph Roosler versus City of Los Angeles et al.

There's a recommendation to expend up to 4,750,000 in settlement.

For item 29 in the case entitled Armin, Barrayan versus City of Los Angeles et al.

There is a recommendation to reject the offer in settlement.

All right.

Before we call the roll, I want to give the city attorney.

All right, so we can open the roll on these items, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Fifteen eyes.

All right.

What's next?

Mr.

President, counsel me.

Now go into public comment, sir.

All right.

Otherwise, oh, before we go to public comment, as we have done every morning, for now what's going on three months.

We're close to 90 days of unprecedented enforcement actions by the federal government in our city.

From individuals in districts or from members about how things are taking shape in their district and how it's impacting our quality of life.

And so this morning we'll hear from Councilmember McCosker from the 15th district.

Thank you very much, Mr.

President and members.

This morning, as part of a testimonial, I'd like to show you a short video.

It was recorded yesterday, yesterday morning by the Harbor Peace Patrol in my district on Terminal Island just outside the Coast Guard terminal.

Go ahead and we'll go.

So the take the taker of the video is in a group, a group of men and women, but the officer said, Good morning, ladies.

A kidnapping, we will go.

This video taken yesterday shows immigration enforcement officials, I suppose, or somebody claiming to have the authority of the federal government leaving the Coast Guard base on Terminal Island as members of the Peace Patrol group, a group I've spoken to about several times, were monitoring their activity.

This is important because attorneys, as recently as last week, the advocates of civil rights group that you brought in, Councilmember, have advised us that the one of the best things the public can do, one of the most powerful ways we can protect our communities is to document, take video, record, create a record of the actions that we see in our communities.

And what you just saw in that video, agents or somebody on behalf of the President of the United States mocking community members at best, mocking community members.

At worst, making a criminal threat.

As if tearing families apart is a is a is a joke.

Violating civil rights is a joke.

And what are they talking about?

Kidnapping, a crime.

And to be clear, removing people off the street without agents wearing proper identification without a warrant, can rise to kidnapping.

Folks have told me don't call it kidnapping unless you're sure of it.

They just called it kidnapping.

For immigration enforcement agents to joke about kidnapping highlights the lack of humanity in the Trump administration.

This behavior starts from the top down.

Encouraged by Trump, Vance, Miller, a cruel administration, all the way down to the clowns that they hire as their henchmen.

This is a culture of arrogance and ignorance.

These are real families.

To them, it's a joke.

To us, it's real families being torn apart.

Fathers and mothers taken away from their homes with their families left behind, not knowing where they are, not able to contact them, not sure if they will ever see them again.

And think of the hypocrisy of what we just saw in this video.

These agents claim that they have to wear masks to protect themselves and their families from being doxxed.

Yet they are so brave when they're inside their air conditioned band, hiding behind their mask and on their microphone, mocking people that are standing out in the heat recording their activities.

These are spineless cowards.

These are cowards.

This is the act of cowardice.

So take off your mask, show your faces, wear your badge.

As I show this video, it's exactly the type of gross and cruel behaviors that these agents display out in the field.

And it's been happening for months.

I'm going to encourage folks to continue to document.

Documenting is evidence that can be used in court.

It's proof when someone is taken without a warrant, when officers fail to identify themselves when their rights are violated.

Without documentation, this just happens in the dark, in the shadows, and that's what I think Trump wants to have happen.

We've got to shed light on this.

And this video does shed light on it.

Today there's going to be a motion in council where we are asking for a clear guidelines and communication procedures regarding these federal immigration enforcement activities and how they relate to the port police.

I'm going to be amending that motion on the floor today.

I'm going to be asking that when the report back comes from the Port Police, which is not today, but is after we adopt the motion, that they receive additional evidence, this evidence, and there are other videos they will receive.

And I'm also going to be asking members that the Port Police participate with our office, my office, and with community members who witness this to submit this evidence and other evidence to the district attorney, to LAPD, and to the U.S.

attorney's office to show proof and bring charges of criminal threats.

Driving down the street like cowards and announcing we are going out to conduct kidnappings is a criminal threat.

And so I'll be asking for an amendment and I'll be asking for your I vote today.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr.

McCosker.

City Attorney, Madam Clerk, if you could prepare us for public comment.

Yes, Mr.

President.

To people providing public comment, when it's your turn to speak, please state which of the agenda items you'd like to speak to.

You will have one minute per item, up to three minutes total for the items open for public comment.

Members of the public may also speak for up to one minute for general public comment.

During general public comment, members of the public may speak to any of the items or anything else in the city's subject matter jurisdiction.

When speaking on the agenda items, you must be on topic.

Our goal is to get through as many speakers as we can.

If you are not on topic, or if we cannot tell whether you are on topic, you will get one brief warning from me or the council president.

At that point, you need to get immediately and clearly on topic.

If you do not do so, or if you again stray off topic, you will forfeit the rest of your speaking time, and we will move on to the next speaker.

The items open for public comment on the agenda are items number one, 14 through 23, and item 30.

So again, the items that are open for public comment on the agenda are items one, items 14 through 23, and item 30.

Well, a couple more announcements.

If I can have the interpreters make this first one aloud to the room, please.

If you require a Spanish language interpreter, please make sure to pause every few sentences so the interpreters can interpret.

Don't worry.

We will pause your time while the interpreters are interpreting, so you will get the same amount of time as everyone else.

Thank you.

One final announcement.

I would just ask that in order to help us run an efficient public comment period.

Please wait until you hear the name that you signed up under read aloud before lining up.

So after you hear the name that you signed up under read aloud, you can line up in any order on your left hand side of the council chambers.

Thank you.

I will begin by calling names.

Audit LA Jason Reedy, Cardi B.

Dana Marissa, Big Show.

Good morning.

You have three minutes for the items and one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Start with item number 14.

Dung Chu Tian Zai Da Shou.

Now move on to item number 15.

Wei ni da kai shian the so jangaio shirkuguo shinguo.

Dung na i tien lo ye ching pyo yen.

Fu the shuan.

Wei ni ta kai shij and the so jang I to yo buy ta shufu mayo to bui wo pain e ti.

Guo chu wei lai ching ching chong di chingu tienda yele can she ching shang you need saigfu the shuan chien.

Dana.

Now let's move on to item number seventeen.

Fong banja hua shelle yokai.

Ba in le lo shan da hai shenza wo timing by ni bau ja zu tam shensa tangtai chen chhen hua sheng woman sho ng wong sho ja he de yangwong.

Nanguo chia chong jen chang.

Dung dai the e ni be woo yung gan chhen hua shang e chit so yo yumang wong, need a wen ro shi yang wong, bow the way la tia man, teaching wo hwa shang chanzai, jo shang, dana.

Uh general public comment.

So I am aware recently on the news that uh smoking scan is working with the Trump administration, trying to get a lot of the National Guard into the Chicago into the Portland.

Yes, I'm a support the uh Trump administration and our smoking scan.

And then I do believe that uh the crime in the city of Los Angeles is out of control.

We need a National Guard, we need a Marine Corps, we need an army, we need FBI, we need a CIA on the street of Los Angeles.

We need uh LAPD is like three thousand officers short.

LA Sheriff's three thousand deputies short.

We cannot deal with the crime, rioter, violent protester, illegal uh gang bangers on the street anymore.

We need more help from the Trump administration.

Uh, thank you, uh, I just want to thank you for uh my friend Dana.

I did not go to Figaroa because Dana told me do not go to Figaroa, it's not a safe.

Thank you very much, Dana.

Thank you for very much for your advice.

Thank you, Dana.

Before the next speaker begins, I will call a few more names.

Big Uno, Candido, Cardi A, Cardi C, Goat Puppet, and Harriet Elliott.

Okay, that's just good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Okay, number uh 30.

I see, you have one minute.

Go ahead.

I see you're having closed session items again.

The big problem with these is that it prevents the public from seeing if someone's making mistakes.

There's no good reason you couldn't release recordings of closed sessions after settlements are reached.

But I guess you just aren't interested in restoring public confidence in things the public paid for.

We're supposed to trust that you're being given good legal advice when it's stupidly obvious that you're being fed bad legal advice.

A few weeks ago, you approved a rule change which violated the first amendment.

An eight-year-old could tell you that it violated the first amendment.

A few minutes with an AI chat bot could tell you that it violated the first amendment.

But apparently, some attorney told you that it was somehow okay to bet to ban bad words at public meetings.

I suggest that whoever told you that was using a technique known as lying right to your face.

You need to ask yourselves why your legal advisors are giving you such obviously bad advice.

Violating the First Amendment probably won't cause anyone.

Speaker, your time is expired.

So you requested for item 30, and I believe your comment was actually best suited by general public comment.

The closed session item is not a general opportunity to talk about just closed sessions generally.

So your time is expired.

We have to move on to the next speaker.

Before the next speaker begins, I will call more names.

Jason and Ritz Katie, smoking scan, T Carter, the Undertaker.

So Mr.

Herman, this is your only warning again.

I know that you have a ton of delay tactics that you like to use at council.

Hold on.

This is not your opportunity to speak.

I am providing you instructions.

Do not disrupt this meeting again.

If you do it, then you will one more time, you'll be subject to removal and exclusion pursuant to rule seven and rule twelve.

So you stay for the entirety of our meetings, but you are more than welcome to do so.

There is no reason for you to bring all of your things up to the pews just to waste time while we're waiting for the other speakers.

So please do not do it again.

I see you bring your stuff up and sit down.

There's no need for that.

So you have three minutes for the items and one minute for general public comment.

Go ahead.

The guy knows how to count, folks.

But here in um, regarding the street banners, for our favorite new councilman, our strict new councilman who follows the law, abides by the law, and who's probably the best immigration lawyer in the world.

Doing business as an immigration lawyer.

We're gonna hang these banners high in Los Angeles.

Not that Los Angeles has any excuse about getting high under measure 64, because these banners represent council District 14 in C D one.

Yeah, big fat burger up there in her pink big dress is gonna tell you how she's gonna be defeated by Wayne Spindler for C D 1 on the banners.

Then, because uh Jackass up there who doesn't comb his hair, wants me to stay on topic.

Look at here on 15 asshole, is that on topic?

Mr.

Bloomfield, the Juju who's not here, I believe.

Um regarding the 438 general city purpose funds.

Well, fuck the funds.

Fuck every city fucking fun.

The city is bankrupt.

The city is constantly paying for all the mistakes they made on Scientology on the fucking sidewalking streets.

We want them return, Groat, Jonathan Phillip, comb your fucking hair.

You're not a fourth grader.

Thank you, smoking scan.

It's not on topic.

This is your only voting.

Regarding the Sambo regular meeting for Council and Van Nuys, fuck that meeting.

Now on to my general public comment.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Hey, smoking scan.

Hey, Katie, what?

K A T I.

I know it's your birthday.

I'm giving a shout out to you in all the time.

So this is not within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city.

This is your only warning.

Speak to something within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city, or you will forfeit your time.

Hey, fool, I'm on non-agenda public comment.

I'm talking about streets.

Can I go into an introduction or do I have to stay specifically on topic like Brandenburg versus Ohio?

Or what about Phelps versus Snyder or Snyder versus Phelps?

We all know that priests rape boys.

We all know that LAPD fuck cadets.

So Mr.

Jonathan Phillip Grote on behalf of Smoking Scan and all his population of good listeners and happy birthday, Katie.

Once again, fuck that attorney.

Get a haircut, bro.

You look like my bald dick.

Next speaker.

All the more reason not to bring your things up to the front, Mr.

Herman.

Last time, before last, the uh city attorney said what does uh the directed energy items would you like to speak?

I'm gonna speak on 14 because two uh was uh you said two is not uh to vote on.

So 14 says poemas arte poems and musica event.

Okay, here is my uh contribution.

Um I want to read uh okay.

Um, they aquí and adelanted and mill 900.

All our wars from here on out depend on Durant.

Hold on, do we?

Oh, sorry, go ahead.

Uh and 1900, cuatro presidential Ronald Reagan next to Cola, get us today as fire wars, in 1984, President Ronald Reagan commenced the Star Wars war.

Say this, and you got a key.

They're gonna construct robo missiles that blow up before they come here.

Okay, now I'm going to public comment.

I'm going to public comment.

Minute.

Okay.

Um, I uh uh, oh, you know, I have two more seconds on my other thing, and which is I'm telling my manager, if you don't let me get Home Depot, uh, by the way, I believe Home Depot is uh going along with uh uh raids.

Anyway, but this has nothing to do with that.

I want them to uh uh measure my window and give me Venetian blinds.

It's a new name for Venetian blinds these days, and I told them if you don't, I'm gonna paint my window.

Okay.

Anyway, uh uh the manager uh the city council member asked me about directed energy, and therefore, here I have another one.

Oh, oh, in the I sent a letter to the commission on women saying I have male chauvinists presenting preventing me from protecting my privacy through Venetian blinds.

Wait, so speaker, your time has expired.

Speaker, your time is expired.

We have to move on to the next speaker.

Good morning, speaker.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Uh, general public comment.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Good morning, counsel.

My name's Jason Enright.

Um, I uh am a member of the North Hollywood Northeast Neighborhood Council in District 2.

Um today I want to upgrade the story of one of my constituents, Geiker Santos.

He can't uh be here today because he works, but he wanted me to share his story with you all.

Um he's an in-home service provider.

Uh he put himself through school, he works very hard.

Um he lives in an IRSO unit with his mother and his two sisters.

One of his sisters is disabled, and between the work that his sister him and his mother put together, they can't afford anything more than the apartment they live in.

Um he's wanting to move out, but he can't afford anything in our district.

Um, even though they live in an RSO unit, their rent went up a hundred dollars over the last year.

And uh they can't afford any more huge rent increases like that.

So he's asking us to uplift his story and ask you all this year to cap the rent at 3% uh with a zero percent floor and remove the additional bumps for utilities so he doesn't get hit with another big increase.

Thank you.

Have a great day.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

I will be when the chair is.

Hi, what which item would you like to speak to?

I would like to speak when the chair is attentive.

I'm gonna be speaking on item number 22.

We can hear you even if he's not looking at you.

22 and 23.

22 and 23, and I would like to speak when everyone is attentive.

Just let me know when to begin when everyone is attentive because they're everyone's busy.

Okay, so you have two minutes for the items.

Go ahead, Mr.

Dawson.

I would like for you to hear this if you could please.

I'm sorry, he's speaking.

I'll just wait until he can address this.

Mr.

Dawson.

So you your time is going.

I you need to speak to the items.

I'm here.

I'm here today to speak on items 22 and 23 and also general public comment.

Um I will start out with general public comment.

I contacted Mrs.

Do you hold his time?

Sorry, I so I don't know if you uh you've been here before, but but please focus on the items first.

That's for the remaining one minute and 39 seconds.

Then we'll switch you over.

You'll have a separate minute for general public comment.

Go ahead.

Okay, for item number 22, it's regarding the motion for Mrs.

Gerardo Rodriguez um implementing more money for Skid Row.

I believe Skid Row needs to be um revamped.

The sidewalks are unsanitary, so it's like putting an old band-aid on top of a wound.

Skid Row should be revamped.

It's unsanitary.

You can't keep just painting over a wounded area.

So I don't think just putting more money for bathrooms is going to change the conditions of an area, and I think that be should be um looked into.

Also, her office discriminated against me, so someone like this making these type of decisions and making these type of motions, I think should be addressed.

Also, item number 23.

Um, I have been having issues with LEHD, and the director Tiana Hall has not responded in over five months.

So implementing more things with LEHD without actually contacting and dealing with the root of it, which is the director who's implementing things.

I don't think that having a provision like this is going to affect things when citizens are actually filing complaints to the director, Tiana Hall, and she has not responded in over seven to eight months.

So I think that you should start it from the top in order to correct things to move um forward for um contracted agencies like LAHD to work in a better fashion.

I think you should start at the top, and the city should look at these complaints that are coming in instead of just pouring more money into LAHD.

And I would like to use the rest of my time to talk about uh the general public comment in regards to Mrs.

Gerardo's obvious.

So you have one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Okay, so in January 17th, I contacted Ms.

Gerardo's office.

I thought she was just gonna be this great person coming into downtown LA to assist.

January 7th, no one responded.

April 28th, I contacted Mrs.

Gerardo's office.

I emailed Amber and I emailed Ashley.

Miss Mr.

Dawson, if you can please, um, if you could please, Mr.

Dawson, it's gonna get to your office also.

If you could please be attentive, I would appreciate that.

Um, Amber, I emailed in Gerardo's office, no response.

Ashley, I emailed no response.

I also went upstairs and discussed this to Mrs.

Gerardo while she was on the parks committee.

She just looked at me and let me leave out of the room without even sending one over to speak to me.

Fast forward, June.

I went to her Boy Heights office.

It was all Hispanics in the office.

I have Hispanics for I don't think people should be harmed, but it should be a first come, first serve.

Not just in our resources to illegal immigration.

There are other Americans that look like me, lighter and doctor, and we're not getting certain forms of assistance because illegal immigration takes the forefront, and it's a form it's biased.

Her office has discriminated against me from January to now, no assistant, and I have emails to show.

I went to Mr.

Dawson's office, it's female after the American chief of staff who's there or there and think it's gains, hung up the telephone in my face.

So I think the city council needs every vamp amongst themselves as of in regards to ethics.

Next speaker.

Before the next speaker begins, I will call the last two names, Jenny Cox and Kirsten Peterson.

Excuse me.

General public comments.

Okay.

And before you begin, sorry, we won't start your time yet.

Mr.

Herman, you have already been warned.

I would note that your use of the banana.

I don't know if you're going to throw it.

I don't know what you're using it for, but it is disrupting my ability to moderate this meeting.

This is your second warning, Madam Chair, that Mr.

Herman is eligible for removal if you would like pursuant to rule seven or rule twelve.

Sorry, Mr.

President.

Yes.

Mr.

Herman, you're removed pursuant to rule seven.

Please exit the premises immediately.

Continues to disrupt the meeting in violation of rule seven.

So my banana is all big.

Can I do that on my banana?

Please.

So sorry to the speaker.

Uh you can resume and uh we can start our time.

General public comments.

As you know, we have many problems in the cities.

Fortunately, some of the problems that are going on, you may be able to resolve in the homes of the people.

So my turn.

I believe so, yes.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Um, all items and public comment, please.

Okay.

And I will read out the items that are available just because of the semi-traumatizing experience with Mr.

Herman.

Uh, the items that are open for public comment are items number one, items 14 through 23, and item 30.

So again, that's item number one, items 14 through 23, and item number 30.

So you have three minutes for the items and one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Well, uh, first of all, thank you for saving us from a banana peel.

Much appreciated.

Um, that was traumatizing.

Okay, so let's start with uh the banners.

I I mean banners are nice, right?

You know, in the city, it helps celebrate what's going on in communities.

Uh the only thing is is that you know, I would like a banner to say no more kids in Scientology because of the abuses that are going on.

Um I would like to see banners reflect that if there are any of these are in the East Hollywood division.

Um I also want to talk about um, you know, uh Mr.

McCoskers, the group of what he's putting through, right?

The group of governments in his area.

I think that's great.

And I thank you, sir, for listening all the time.

We're you know, Mr.

I wish you could poke Mr.

Can't you elbow Mr.

Lee and just say, you know, listen once in a while.

I mean, you listen.

Um I'm glad my Nazarian listens, right?

That you please stick to the agenda items for the first three minutes.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Well, I I was just saying how, you know, like I was just trying to say that I support Mr.

McCosker's and you know, and I think uh smoke and scan and Tony would agree with me that they should be listening, right?

And that that it's not a big request.

It's not i you know, how is it such a hard thing to just three minutes, a minute and thirty-one more seconds to just freaking listen to what I have to say because so Mr.

McCosker, I agree with you.

Can you get I think the others should all have more, you know, like areas where it's like the neighborhood council.

I don't know exactly what your program is, but I think any time you get like the community together, right, and and trying to resolve issues at the ground level because this city's huge, right?

And and you know, like what works in your area may not work in uh district two, right?

It could be different.

So, Mr.

Nazarian, I think you you know you should learn from Mr.

McCusker too, because you're new, but I think it's a great idea to really work on getting all the different neighborhood councils together and and you know, and all that stuff, or whatever it is you're doing.

So I'd support that.

Um I think Mr.

Lee should do that too.

Uh, but I also think that Mr.

Lee should listen uh to the public and not have so much disdain.

But that's just my own personal opinion.

But I bet smoke and scan agrees because it's just you know, we all want to be heard.

And um, I forget some of the other stuff.

I see there's a bunch of closed sessions.

I guess that's a lot more money we're gonna be paying out, but are we allowed to talk on the closed sessions?

Oh, he's not listening to me.

I'm shocked.

You know, he always listens.

What about that smoke and scan?

Like he's not listening.

He can't even tell me if I'm off topic or not.

Okay.

So, did you hear what I said?

I asked the question.

You want to move you to general public comment?

You have one minute.

No, I asked a question.

You can't move me to general public.

I have 10 seconds left.

Am I allowed to comment on closed sessions?

I guess not.

Okay.

Well, he finally got him not listening.

Okay, it's public comment.

Um, just to let you know that the victim that we find, you know, victims of um Scientology are stepping forward, and things will be coming out, and uh hopefully I hope the media gets involved as well.

So you're just on notice.

Of course, that means that people like Kirsten Peterson, the head of uh the local um Scientology, um, you know, OSA is stepping up things and stepping up, you know, their fair gaming, but it's okay.

Uh we'll get through it because this is very important.

Okay, um, we are fighting for the victims who have never been heard.

You guys don't even hear us.

Like you don't hear the public, but you're not hearing the victims either.

We've been going right, Mr.

Um Martinez.

We've been coming to your office for how long now?

Two years.

I've been coming here for how long?

We've gone to LAPD for how long.

It was LEPD, I had to give them some credit that finally is opening up the door for victims to come through, the first people that are willing to really listen.

And after this comes forward, you guys are gonna have to listen.

You guys are gonna have to separate yourselves from this cult.

Good morning.

You have three minutes for the items and one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Welcome back in IG.

Number one, CD 15.

Fuck the buckethead.

Big old fat white headed motherfucker.

Number one wants to establish the Dave Aryan Raceway.

I went Nazi motherfucker.

I say no to that motherfucker.

And then we have the annual Eunicis Louisa Hamburger Hernandez Annual Eating Musica y poemas.

Uncarta y nada de este dinero.

Es una sucio.

Una sucio uso di dinero.

Este es no quiere nada.

Todo nada de judios.

Nada de negros, nada de pinche putos en este consejo.

No quiere esto.

Asta porta negado esto.

Fucking in English.

Yunesis Hernandez.

Over eats.

Now, number 15.

The special Jew recognition for the Juju Bear.

The Israeli agent, Bob Blobenblood, for statehood.

California statehood.

Why crazy NIGGE.

Ah, we already got statehood.

What you want is to have California.

Madam Clerk, please pause the speaker time.

Speaker, uh you have used a derivation of the N-word, which is in violation of Rule 7.

This is your only warning that use of this word in any of its variations, including spelling it as described in Rule 7 may not be used again in this council meeting, any council meeting in the future, or council committee unit meeting.

If you violate the rule again, you will forfeit your speaking time and be subject to removal from this chamber.

You're falling in the trap, little bitch.

Number 16, we're gonna hold a fat meeting.

Hosted by Big Fat Amelda Polinda, a number 16, Sylvan Street, fuck August 29th, and fuck Van Eyes.

We don't want to go to Van I's Harris Dawson, known as Jane Go does not want to drive all the way to Van Ice.

Why, you see people more paw than those South of the 10 Freeway.

That's all you get with a Melda Luisa Padilla Chinchilla is nothing but homeless drug use, needles, tents all over fucking Van Eyes.

And you want to bring these white motherfuckers on this council over there to see that.

Nobody wants to see that.

If I want to see that, I just go outside City Hall and go down to 2nd Street.

I see all that shit for free.

I don't have to buy gas.

And then we've got the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council.

Eagle Rock is beautiful neighborhood.

However, the woman representing Eagle Rock is a demon.

You're a demon.

You will go to hell, General.

And now for the general comment.

See what he did.

You see what he did, Hugo?

He violated my first amendment rights.

See, Hugo, something worse, Moni Cow.

Cause she's looking.

What am I gonna do about that ban?

And when am I gonna make my move on that ban?

Well, don't worry, it's coming.

See, I'm not gonna do it like you thought I'm gonna do it.

I'm gonna do it with the help of the United States attorney herself, Miss Bondy.

Now we're gonna take your bar card away there, Mr.

Fucking Pumpkin Head that can't comb his fucking hair correctly to business meeting.

We're gonna take away your chairmanship there, Mr.

Django that can't wear a fucking tie to a business meeting, and all you unprofessional motherfuckers.

Because you see, you can't receive a dollar of federal funds if you don't allow me to say that word.

Think about that.

Your funding will be cut if you continue the ban.

Speaker, your time has expired.

Alright, uh that concludes public comment for today's meeting.

Madam Clerk, what items are available for our consideration at this time.

Mr.

President, there's a request to continue item number 30, two weeks to September 9, 2025.

All right, without objection, that'll be your order.

What's next?

And council may now vote on items one as well as 15 through 21, sir.

All right, those items are now before us.

Let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Mr.

City Attorney.

Uh just real quick.

Uh just wanted to confirm, Councilmember Hernandez.

Item 21 was uh adopted forthwith, correct?

Yes.

Without objection.

Yes, Mr.

President.

So, with regards to one of the closed sessions that was already approved by council, under a few other instructions uh that were part of the recommendations coming out of BNF that need to be reported out.

So I will read those now.

Um, this is with regards to the case entitled Joseph Rosler, the City of Los Angeles et al.

Los Angeles Superior case number 23 ST C V 27185.

The additional instructions include one, authorize the city attorney's office to pay a total of 200,000 in settlement of the above entitled matter in exchange for a dismissal with prejudice and general release.

Two, authorize the controller to transfer $200,000 from the liability claims fund number 100 slash 59, account number 00978, miscellaneous liability payouts, to fund number 100 slash 59, account number 009797, transportation liability payouts, and three, authorize the city attorney to draw a demand from fund number 100-59, account number 009797, transportation liability payouts as follows.

Payoli and Purdy, PC, client trust account in the amount of 200,000 dollars for Joseph Rosler, the City of Los Angeles et al.

Los Angeles Superior Court Case Number 23 STC V 27185.

And that concludes the announcements to the members of the public and to the members here.

No vote to reconsider is required as all of the recommendations coming out of committee were already approved.

This was simply to satisfy a reporting requirements under the Brown Act.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Mr.

City Attorney.

Madam Clerk, what's next?

Mr.

President, item number two is before council.

That was called special by council member Padilla.

All right.

Councilmember Padilla.

I got the information I needed.

We can continue.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Alright, let's open the roll on that item.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

All right.

What's next?

Next is item 13, and that was called special by council member McCosker.

And there's an amendment, McCosker Rahman that has been submitted and circulated.

All right.

Any comments on this, Councilmember McCosker?

All right.

Let's open the roll on this item as amended.

Close the roll, tabulate the votes.

Fifteen eyes.

All right.

What's next?

Oh, Mr.

McCosker.

Forthwith, please.

Without objection.

That'll be the order.

What's next?

Next is item 14, and that was called special for a substitute motion and substitute motion.

Umfortunately, I have not received that yet.

So all right.

Let's let's come back to that.

Yes, sir.

Uh next would be item 22, and that was called special by council member Herado.

All right, Councilmember Herada.

Colleagues, during this year's budget process, I introduced a motion to secure funding for the 14 public restrooms across the city.

Though these restrooms are in critical areas like Skid Row where the need is urgent.

But that motion came back with nothing.

No funding, no explanation, no centavo.

That meant every restroom was set to close, including the four that thousands of Skid Row residents rely on every single day.

Closing them would leave our most vulnerable neighbors without access to the most basic human need, a safe, clean place to go to the restroom.

That's not just a pub uh budget cut, that's a public health crisis.

For our unhoused neighbors, these restrooms aren't amenities, they're necessities.

A safe place to go, to wash, to access clean water, simple needs but essential ones.

That's why I've committed 200, 4,000 from CD 14 discretionary funds to keep these skid row restrooms open for the next six months.

Because I could not in good conscience let these doors close.

But let's be honest, one district can't carry this alone.

Skid Row shouldn't have to fight year after year to keep restrooms open while the other restrooms across Los Angeles are left to shut down.

That is a failure that must be a priority for all of us.

The funds in this motion will keep Skid Row restrooms open for six months, but let's be clear that's a stopgap measure, not a real solution.

In that time, I will keep pushing for a longer term sustainable solution to protect public sanitation services across our city, and with major international events on the horizon, Los Angeles must show that our values are more than just a slogan clean streets, safe facilities, and dignity for every Angelino, not just for visitors, but for the people who actually live here.

Because this isn't just about bathrooms, it's about who we are as a city.

Do we invest in health, safety, and humanity for the most vulnerable among us, or do we just turn away?

Colleagues, I urge your support not just for this motion, but for a broader commitment to essential public services.

We must invest in the dignity of the people who live here every single day.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilmember.

There are no other comments on this item.

Let's open the roll, close the roll.

Tabulate the vote.

Fifteen eyes.

All right, what's next?

Next is item 23, and that was called special by several members.

Uh that was called special by council member Rodriguez, Rahman, and Lee, and there is an amendment, motion Rodriguez Park that has been submitted and is before council, sir.

All right, Councilmember Rodriguez.

Thank you.

So, colleagues, uh, the item before us today is about the establishment of performance metrics as it relates to expenditures associated with homelessness.

And I'm a bit conflicted about where we are today, largely because I feel like we're a bit with the cart before the horse, because what we're not addressing is the elephant in the room.

I'm sorry, excuse me.

Uh Mr.

Harris Dawson, if I could ask the sergeants to please, I can't hear myself with the back conversations around here.

Thank you.

So we have a situation, in my opinion, where it appears that we've got the cart before the horse because the elephant in the room that has still not been addressed is the source of the information that we are now going to propose LAHD evaluating.

And it's derived from LASA, which, as we know, has not been forthcoming with data.

It's been questionable what much of the data has actually, whether or not it's accurate.

We have data that is derived from a variety of sources and service providers, but we have not been able to secure very honest outcomes.

And so my concern is that if we're gonna have a conversation about performance metrics, we have to talk about where the source of the data is being derived from.

And so, while we have a circumstance right now and at this juncture, where time and time again, we've not only had not only the city of Los Angeles has uh identified the challenges with Lhasa.

The county has also identified the concerns around Lhasa and have subsequently pulled their resources from funding that institution.

And while we need to evaluate the performance of the service providers that are garnering millions and millions of dollars for services that they're supposed to be delivering on our streets, we still have the same agency in charge of monitoring and evaluating and reporting out the work associated with those contracts, and so I don't believe we can really have an honest conversation about performance metrics until we have an honest conversation about what the path going forward looks like and who is going to be managing all of the contracts around homelessness, and so I have an amendment that I have uh introduced, and I want to thank Ms.

Park for your second on this, asking LEHD to report back on how the metrics will be used to trigger the corrective actions from fail for failures to perform among some of these service providers, and I hope I will get your support on this, because what we have to have an honest conversation on is that if it's not working, we must seize funding these contracts, and that's one of the fundamental trust issues that we have with this system that is broken, and we need to work on correcting it.

So I want to thank Ms.

Rahman for scheduling the CLA report on the motion that I introduced seeking to seize using LASA as our contract manager for the service providers, and I know Mr.

Blumenfield and Miss Hernandez have also introduced a motion uh seeking consideration that whether or not we just ask the county to do that for us.

What's clear is that we know that LASA doesn't work.

That is clear, and whichever path this body decides to go forward with, that's the real salient conversation that we need to be having right now.

Because where we definitely agree is that LASA isn't working, the county has corroborated that by their action, and clearly the motions that we've introduced and the report that the CLA has brought back has reflected that there are more efficient ways to use our dollars and ensure service delivery is happening on our streets.

We have to tighten the belt on this issue, and we need to really start focusing on honing in on the problem that is not being addressed.

We can't defend the status quo of what is not working.

The failures of LASA are well documented, and that's the conversation that I'm hoping will drive will move quicker in the subsequent weeks, and so while I appreciate the work around performance metrics, where we are sourcing the data from is not a trusted source, and that is part of the concerns that I have with respect to the dilemma that I'm facing with this uh with this today, but I do have some questions for uh LAHD, and I'd like them to come to the table.

Sir, you're disrupting the meeting.

This is your first uh and last warning the next time you'll be removed from the meeting.

My apologies, Councilmember Rodriguez, you can continue.

Thank you.

And so um, hi, good morning.

So, what corrective mechanisms in this in this bureau that is being established?

What corrective mechanisms will be implemented if the Bureau's monthly reports repeatedly show failure to meet performance goals.

Hi, good morning, Callie Hardy with LEHD.

Can you speak again?

Yes, of course.

Thank you.

Um I want to start by um making one point of clarification around the homelessness bureau within LEHD, which was um created with the adoption of last year's budget.

So we are currently working on a staffing report to bring forward to this body, and that's really our primary focus as the next step in providing the department with the tools to answer many of the questions that you raised in your comments, that will uh establish the positions that will be necessary to perform much of the work that will be expected of the department moving forward.

Currently, the performance measures that are included within the report that's before you today, the work around those performance measures is being supported by philanthropic support for consultant who's who's providing much of that support and collecting and tracking and and um which philanthropy is funding that consultant okay I believe it's I believe it's the healthcare.

Um and the advisor, the consultant is the HRN HRA advisors team.

Um so that is um the current um sort of resource that's in place for the department to engage in uh the tracking um of these performance measures and and the staffing report going forward will create the additional capacity to continue that commitment going forward.

Um but really the idea with starting with these performance measures now is to build on much of the work that has already been occurring within the homeless strategy committee to um to access these data points to provide us better insight into where the city's dollars are going so that we can do that sort of analysis to inform the work going forward.

So I wanted to just add um maybe that additional context.

Um Regina, if you have additional yeah, Regina Alcazar um analyst with LAHD uh to your question about uh what corrective actions are will be incorporated into um uh measuring these performance measures.

Uh so we have also been instructed right to um to initiate a new framework agreement um with the CLA and CAO and LASA, uh, you know, to sort of restructure our contract with LASA that has been um proven challenging over the past few years and has um uh you know uh continuously uh had a lot of problems with implementation and effectuation and so you know we definitely want to include um that component of corrective uh measures into uh the new framework agreement.

Um these 35 performance measures uh will be also incorporated to that framework agreement moving forward.

But you and you I'm sorry, and I want to just make sure I heard you correctly.

So you identified that some of the information that you're deriving from LASA has been because currently, just to be clear, isn't it LAHG's responsibility with or within your purview to monitor the performance of LASA?

Is that within your purview now?

That is correct.

Okay, so you currently that's already within your purview, but now we're gonna have these 35 KPIs that are going to further delineate or basically uh explicitly lay out to LASA what you're gonna be measuring.

Okay.

So help me understand who's in charge of currently doing this evaluation now.

So it's already you already said it's within your purview.

So who's doing it now?

If you're saying the problem is with Lhasa, I guess this is where I go back to it underscores that we're not addressing the elephant in the room, is that the source of your the source of the problem here is in fact Lhasa.

So, help me understand.

I know you guys are gonna be coming back with the staffing plan.

Uh, you're requesting what $400,000 dollars for oversight with to manage or uh provide oversight on the LASA contracts, correct?

How does that differ from the scope of work of those who's in charge currently of doing this work?

Yeah, and you know, again, over the past few years, we understand the frustration with the lack of accountability, the lack of reporting and transparency uh around the uh progress right of our homelessness system.

Um LHD with the new bureau is uh really stepping up into the position of um maintaining these performance measures moving forward.

Um there have been measures included in contracts.

I will say, um, as I was mentioning before, that the current process has been extremely challenging, and one of those challenges has been a capacity issue at LAHD.

So our current staff of six um has uh processed a growing number of contracts with LASA that includes processing amendments, that includes processing cash requests and invoices that have grown significantly almost tenfold since the pandemic with the same amount of staff, and so you know, we'll acknowledge that one of the areas that um have fallen is sort of the tracking of um performance of um the contracts.

So we have prioritize processing the contracts to effectuate them and to get the work done, and I think that definitely is the priority to ensure that people on the streets are moving through the system, they have access to the system.

Um with this, you know, the 35 performance measures that are on your table right now, this is uh the step forward into uh measuring and ensuring that our investments uh are uh appropriately and effectively doing so, uh moving people from the streets and into permanent supportive housing.

So help me just help me understand.

Lhasa is the administrator of these contracts.

We use LASA.

LASA for the CLA report, we pay LASA 35 million dollars to be the administrator for our service provider contracts, but you're just you just told me that you all are busy executing contracts, so help help delineate for us who's doing what part of the job, and if you're if if your function for LAHD is to provide the oversight and the evaluation on that piece, help me understand the expanded scope of contract work that you've been engaged in, right?

And again, understand the frustration all around.

This is something that all members have no teaching.

I just want to ask, yeah, and you know, also just the general public has questioned, right?

Um, with the consolidation all of this work at LAHD and the Bureau, that is our primary goal, right?

Is to reduce the bureaucracy, just get a hold of uh, can you just explain that one piece for me?

What explain to me the difference between you say you have to process more contracts, but we spent we pay LASA 35 million dollars to be the administrator of our contracts.

Help me help me understand what part you play in that uh by you do you mean the LEHD?

Excuse me.

LEHD.

So you just said you have six staffers that have been oversaturated with more contracts to manage with LASA, but what I'm trying to understand is how are you how are you guys doing?

How is LEHD doing the contracts when we spend 35 million dollars for Lhasa to be the administrator of those contracts?

And that you're supposed to be doing oversight, so you're supposed to be getting the information from Lhasa, who we spend 35 million dollars for manually to give you the information for you to do.

I'm just trying to understand how does this it sounds like we're paying both parties to do the same work, so I'm just trying to understand how does it works.

I couldn't speak to that.

Um, so currently LHD manages eight contracts with Lhasa, they manage many more contracts than that with uh directly with service providers for the services that the the city is providing funding to Lhasa to provide.

So the city's process is in executing and processing the payments that LASA submits to the city for payment to the service providers.

Okay, so I yeah, I think I need you guys to draw me a picture because I'm not quite understanding how this the cycle of how it flows.

Do you guys have like a workflow mapping?

Yes, it is understandably a complicated process.

We did uh what's that?

Well, our goal is our goal is to uncomplicate this.

So I what I would love, what I would love, I would love a picture, I would love a workflow mapping of who's managing again, because I I believe it's Lhasa.

So if we're setting up this key performance index, these KPIs that are gonna be coming from Lhasa to you to evaluate, and we don't trust the data that we're getting from Lhasa, it kind of defeats the purpose of what we're trying to do here, and when we talk about it's very complicated, I don't disagree.

I think it is very complicated.

I think our job and our responsibility is to great is to create greater efficiencies and accountability with the taxpayer dollars that are being expended on this front.

And so what I would love is, and you know, I I don't disagree with evaluating and getting, you know, uh measuring the performance of these contracts.

I you know, I want that, I do want that, but I also want consequences for failures to perform, and I want to eliminate the redundancies, and I want to be clear that again going back to the root of the issue is that we're not talking about LASA, we're talking about measuring what we get from an agency that all of us have agreed has failed, and that the county has already removed its funding from.

That's the first conversation.

So that's where I feel this is the cart before the horse in this conversation, and so I you know, I I just I'm trying to drill down more of what your role is and what functionally you're gonna uh do for this additional four oversight positions in a role that you've already been tasked to do, that you already have staff to do, but you're gonna get now four more staffers to do this work, and I'm just trying to ascertain well, what are you already doing?

Because everyone acknowledges that we're in fiscal crisis right now, so I think we're all trying to garner greater efficiencies in how we do this work and make sure that we maximize the resources that are on the ground helping individuals and families.

We want to maximize that outcome, and that's our I believe that's our shared collective goals.

So I I think I'm just gonna let that stand for right now.

You've given me a lot to chew on with this, uh, and but I would really love, I think this body would love just to better understand.

I think we should really look at a map uh workflow map to understand what how it works between you and LASA, because again, as you as you indicated, you're already charged with doing that role of the oversight and evaluation of those service providers, but that hasn't been happening.

So now we're gonna create these performance metrics, and now we're gonna wait for the same agency that we've all said is terrible to figure out what they're we're gonna rely on them.

Oh, by the way, we're also gonna spend 35 million dollars for them to do that for them to give us data that we can't use or that we don't trust.

Make it make sense.

So thank you.

Thank you, ladies.

And uh, so colleagues, again, I ask for your support of this amendment that allows us that once we're evaluating, once you have what you need to evaluate, who's doing the work, who isn't, that we then establish the criteria that we're going to eliminate contracting with service providers that are not in fact doing the work that they're contracted to do.

Thank you.

Mr.

Lee, followed by Councilmember Raman to close.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh Councilmember Rodriguez, I I agree with you on our frustrations with Lhasa.

I think, you know, I like to feel that all the members of this body have had those same, you know, uh, frustrations that I've been going to uh with them and trying to receive the data that needed for us to make decisions on whether to keep working with Lhasa.

I think we've seen them fail over and over again with getting us simple things that we're asking for.

So, but I'm you know, I'm gonna take this different way.

When we look at these performance indicators, I'm curious to see what information they come up with.

I'm curious to see what information they come up with working with Lhasa because I think like all of the members here around this horseshoe, we work closely with our service providers.

We have an idea of how many of our people are document ready.

We have an idea of how many people are moving from our interim housing sites to our permanent supporting supportive sites, so because when I see the documents, it's you know, I I grow frustrated.

I grow frustrated that we in the city have made the investments to build permanent supportive housing.

But because I'm in SPA too, they can draw from all over from cities that maybe have not made the same investment as we have, and they're putting it in the investments that we've made in the city.

So I'd like to see more of my interim people be more document ready.

I've said frustrations over and over about how Lhasa has grown so big that they're not focused on the mission that they're supposed to be doing, getting our people document ready to go and move into permanent supportive housing.

So I want to see what they come back with.

I want to see Lhasa's numbers to see, and hopefully, like you, I'm you know, I I I'm always hoping for the best.

I'm hoping for the best that Lhasa will provide that information, and I will see real numbers about how what the job that they've been doing in getting our people ready into moving into that thing into permanent supportive housing, which has been all of our goals, you know, from the very beginning.

One of the things uh council member uh Rodriguez, I ask if you would mind a friendly amendment to your uh motion here, is that we've often said prevention is uh less costly than dealing with people uh once they become homeless.

And this city has done so many different things uh and created so many different programs to help people in that prevention side.

I would love to see if uh if you're okay if I add one more thing is to add another indicator to see, take a look at that, take a look at the indicators of what our prevention has done to uh you know, with with our ability to keep people housed, unhoused, and if that's okay, I'd like to add that for an amendment.

All right, thank you, Ms.

President.

Uh, just to clarify, so council member uh Lee, is this an additional recommendation or is this a change to No, this is an additional recommendation so we can make it number six to have one of the performance indicators to see to take a look at whether our prevention measures here in the city of Los Angeles and what impact that that has made into the situation on our streets.

Okay, and the seconder was Ms.

Rodriguez.

Okay, thank you.

Councilmember Raman.

Well, thank you so much.

Thank you our LHD colleagues for being here today.

I am really excited to be moving forward with adopting these proposed performance measures that the new Bureau of Homelessness Oversight will use to understand and improve the city's investment in our regional homelessness response.

I want to underscore that these measures are about tracking the impact of the city's dollars, and regardless of who administers the funds, whether it's LAHD doing our own contracting, whether it is the county doing our contracting, whether it's Lhasa doing our contracting, this data will help us answer crucial questions about is our money working?

Is it helping people come inside?

Is it helping people move into permanent housing?

This council has a responsibility to make sure that that is happening, and this data will allow us to actually see and answer those questions.

I also want to underscore that this data is coming from a range of sources, and the report has details about the data sources included in it.

It includes HMIS, LAHD data, HACLA data, county data, and there has to be done work done in order to make sure that we're actually able to access all of those data sources regularly.

We have access to some of the data some of the time, but we need it all the time.

And so I want to make sure that we're doing that work as well.

What I also want to say is that regardless of who is administering the data, HMIS will continue to be the database provider that the system uses.

That's what the county uses.

That's what all homeless service providers use.

HMIS is clunky, it is imperfect, but no matter who is going to be doing the contract administration or the data collection, HMIS will be the tool through which much of the data related to homelessness response will be collected and will have to be analyzed.

And that's why this work is really important because no matter what pathway we follow in our homelessness response as we move forward, this work will be useful in ensuring that our dollars are doing the work that we want them to do.

And finally, I just want to say before we vote, and I hope that you all will vote to move these measures forward.

This data has already gone through a process of collection and analysis and has been reported out at both the homeless strategy committee and at the HH committee, and we already have seen improvements just from collecting this data.

So in our existing permanent supportive housing units, the city had thousands of units that it invested in even before uh HHH.

We saw a jump in occupancy, a significant jump, hundreds more units filled as a result of a collecting this data, identifying why units were empty, working with developers, LAHD, HACLA, homeless service providers to ensure that we could fill those units and actually filling those units.

Hundreds more units have been filled just through the act of collecting this information at a time when our resources are going to be impacted significantly through federal cuts, making sure that we use every bed, that we fill every bed and fill every unit, feels to me all the more urgent, and I'm really glad that we are as far as we are in doing this work here at this city for the first time in the city's history.

So I hope that I can get your support for moving these recommendations forward and look forward to hopefully reporting out on this information in ways that will make sure that your questions about the homeless services system are getting answered more quickly in the future.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Raman.

Thank you.

To our team from housing department, Madam Clerk.

Uh Councilmember Jorato, sorry.

I just thank you.

I have no questions.

I just wanted to add one last thing.

I mean, performance metrics are very great, and it's a starting point and improvements are happening, but I also want to just make note of data alone doesn't dismantle systemic inequality that we've seen throughout this system, and a regression model can't undo systemic racism.

And so as we put forward these performance metrics, realizing how we can maybe modify them later to make sure that we redistribute the resources accordingly, because methodological rigor doesn't cure uh, you know, without justice only reinforces the harm.

And so making sure that we have that in mind as we continue to put in standards for our work.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, uh Councilmember Herado, and uh thank you and thank you, uh Councilmember Raman for bringing this before the council.

Madam Clerk, what's before us?

Uh Mr.

President, item 23, that is as amended by motion Rodriguez Park and further amended by motion Lee Rodriguez is before council now.

Councilmember Rahman.

I apologize.

I had a minor edit to Councilmember Rodriguez's uh amending motion.

She's included the words just CEO or added just the word CEO to uh LA County.

And I would just say LA County including the CEO, because it's not just the CEO with whom we have to coordinate for this work.

Got it.

Yeah, thank you.

All right.

Let's open the roll on this item, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Fifteen eyes.

Alright, what's next?

Next, Mr.

President is item 14 and substitute motion.

Hernandez Price has been submitted and circulated.

This requires two votes, sir.

First vote is to question whether to substitute.

All right.

Let's open the roll and substitution.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Fifteen eyes.

All right.

Next would be uh the motion, Hernandez Price itself.

All right, let's open the roll on that item.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Fifteen eyes.

All right.

What's next?

Mr.

President Council has motions for posting and referral.

They are posted and referred.

The desk is clear, sir.

The desk is clear.

Announcements, members.

Announcements.

Councilmember Nazarian.

Thank you, Council President.

Happy women's equality day, everyone.

Want to invite you all to an evening honoring the women who fought for the right to vote in honor of women's equality day.

Tonight from 7 to 9 p.m.

at the Cowenga General Store in North Hollywood.

Our featured speaker is Martha Wheelock, president of the National Women's History Alliance.

We'll be discussing the history of women's suffrage, the battles it took to win that right, and the challenges we face today.

Across the country, voting rights are under attack, and there are troubling signs of democratic backsliding.

It's becoming increasingly clear that women's rights, especially for women in marginalized communities, are not guaranteed forever.

We're hosting this event to remember the sacrifices of those before us, those whose shoulders we stand on, and we commit to defending democracy.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Any other announcements?

Mr.

Price?

No announcement?

All right.

I'll ask everyone in the chamber to rise for adjourning motions and ask if there are any journey motions to my left.

Any adjourning motions to my right?

Alright, seeing none, we are adjourned.

See you all in the morning.

One of them is the SWAT team.

We did a we did an event, unfortunately, was on a day, the anniversary day of one of our officers was named RJ Cottle, who was killed in Afghanistan.

Huge horse family.

He was killed in Afghanistan in March 24th of 2010.

So we talked to his uh wife and family and said, hey, you know what?

We'd love to uh name a horse after him.

We had a huge event here.

I'm I'm talking thousands of people here.

Did a huge ceremony with one of our youngest horses, which is then was about five.

I want to say he's about eight now.

Uh brought the horse out, had had a big naming renaming ceremony after obviously our uh fallen officer RJ.

So this horse will be here probably another probably almost two decades now.

So uh RJ obviously will be remembered because of that.

So he's listening.

RJ.

RJ, he totally ignor ignoring me, but RJ.

Thank you for your service.

We always work in twos.

Okay, no matter where we go.

If you're if you're the next mounted officer, you're gonna work with me in the streets, we work together.

We do not go out alone, so we always work in pairs.

So these two officers go that way, we go this way, and we kind of just go all throughout the city.

Wow.

A lot of people, they don't want they don't want the the community to pet their horses, but we do, we like it actually.

Because if we're at if we're at Hollywood and Highland, you're maybe with your family and you see us, and oh my gosh, I want to pet the horses.

You're not gonna stop a four-year-old from coming up to them.

I'm not, no.

I'm not gonna stop them.

And it's a great thing because uh it's a positive training tool.

I'm doing good, I'm doing good, I'm doing good.

So, but don't feed.

Yes, no, we don't feed in the streets, but we uh we pet because uh beautiful markings.

And you are just gonna be my best friend in the whole white home.

I know, I know.

Alright, Joey, you're coming home with me.

Okay.

All right.

That's awesome.

Yes.

Very fun.

He's got star potential.

Yes, you can.

All right.

Well, this is the photo op opportunity.

This is.

This is the paddy wagon.

What exactly is a paddy wagon?

I'm using the phrase like, oh hey, I know what one is.

Uh this was this was actually a uh a unit that was used long, obviously a very long time ago when when horses did uh pull it.

This was basically a paddy wagon.

If they went around arresting people and they throw them in the back and they take them to jail.

Um, this is a centerpiece for probably almost all of our pictures, whether we bring in a horse, uh retire a horse.

Duke just took his last picture in front of the paddy wagon before he went to uh went to uh retire where he's at.

So this is a big huge focal point for the uh Los Angeles Police Department's mounted unit.

Okay, so come here.

Okay, all right.

Oh, we're gonna do it.

You have to.

I mean, seriously, how can I not?

Cool.

All right.

LAPD reached out to us a few years ago because they had some horses that were going to retire and they had heard about our program.

And when Duke, the most recent addition to our herd was getting to retire a few months ago, they reached out to us and asked us if we wanted to give Duke a home and to keep him working with first responders.

The great thing for the horses is that they're still engaged with first responders.

Now, instead of being on the front lines with them, they're helping them heal.

Clients that are coming in, whether it be from substance abuse, whether it be from post-traumatic stress disorder, whether it be with mental wellness, mental health, what happens is they've lost control.

And for a first responder, losing control is critical because many times we're the problem solvers.

We're not supposed to have problems.

We're not supposed to talk about our problems.

We're supposed to what I like to call handle the next.

You go to that traumatic call, and then you're expected to go write a parking ticket.

So at first responders first, we are here for all first responders.

So we have an 1,100 acre ranch, and we have equine therapy to help them in their recovery journey.

So in the cases of animals, especially a horse, they're just great resources of support for anybody that's dealing with mental health issues.

In this model of therapy, uh the team consists of two humans and any number of four-legged, but the two humans are uh a mental health professional and an equine specialist.

It's an experiential form of therapy in that the experience itself is the therapy.

A lot of people tend to poo-poo it as, you know, some kind of uh spiritual nonsense or whatever