Yeah, but la expression is looking at Library.

No, the oppression has a radar del mundo, sempre se ha visto isa cedo in a record for el arte la expression de la gente, no?

Our has always been a form of resistance, and because of art, whether it's photography, whether it's paintings, whether it's poems, we have been able to learn about the different crises that have impacted our communities in the past and the different ways that people have resisted.

So this art right here that we have today, and the theme of it Viva La Resistencia is to give light to what maybe people can't see in this moment, which is what does it look like to resist in the moment of art?

Art tells the story, it tells a story of previous generations, so that it helps also inspire future generations to fight and resist in whatever ways is beneficial to them.

Lifting up some underserved communities is even more important during the back to school season.

Council member Kern Price joined the Special Needs Network for the 20th year of helping out with resources and much needed supplies.

We're here today for the 20th annual back to school event, sponsored by the special needs network and council member current price.

Are we here sharing uh wonderful resources to the community?

Much needed resources for the community, not just the disability community, but the community at large.

We have resources from the city of LA, the county of LA, every department possible, and the big bonus for the day is school supplies and backpack.

This is a program that we're excited to do with the special needs network.

Reaching out to the community providing resources because frequently our community is left out.

Especially when we talk about green space, open space, uh the importance of uh good healthy food.

There are lots of community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations that are doing a tremendous job, and we need to lift them up.

These are areas that are obviously underserved areas of the city.

There's a high need for all kinds of resources.

This is the food desert out here, so there's wonderful food resources as well, and plenty of agencies that folks can go to when they're in need of any kind of social service in the city.

We need to take care of ourselves.

We need to always make sure we get the help that we need, and we need to uh go to all the services that we can, and I take my baby to everything that he can, you know, so that he can get all the help that he needs.

So when they told me about this event, I said we're there.

Come on, everybody, come on and get down.

Come on, everybody, come on and get down.

Well, one thing is certainly become aware of resources that are available, know how important it is to eat healthy, do exercise.

We've made some exciting improvements right here at South Park.

So people can enjoy the open space, enjoy the green space.

So we want to highlight that, celebrate that, and make sure that's available to our residents.

The LAX sign goes into storage for road upgrades.

No fees on adopting larger dogs and older cats in September, and the City Bureau of Street Lighting celebrates a century of lighting up LA.

The stories up next on City Beach.

The landmark letters spelling out LAX, which have served as a welcome sign for travelers, are being removed and placed into storage by Los Angeles World Airport's Lawa.

Under the airfield and terminal modernization program, Lawa is upgrading roads to separate airport-bound vehicles from local traffic alongside boulevard.

According to Lawa, the project includes pedestrian enhancements, improved signage, and more direct access to LAX Economy Parking.

With completion expected in 2030, Lawa states LAX will remain operational during the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The LAX letters will be back in a relocated area after the upgrades are completed.

For more information, visit lawa.org slash news dash releases.

This adoption event is for medium and large dogs and for adult cats that are over one year old who make up the majority of animals in LA shelters.

Your new furry friend will already be spayed, neutered, vaccinated, licensed, and microchip.

The big Dogs and Grown Up Kitties adoption event takes place through September 30th at six LA City Animal Shelters.

For more information, visit LA Animal Services.com.

LA City Bureau of Street Lighting is celebrating its 100th anniversary with the launch of a new online platform that maps the history of LA Lights.

According to the Bureau, the interactive map provides the location and context for historical and decorative streetlights across the city.

In addition, the bureau says the online platform charts the growth of the city through the design evolution of streetlights.

The online map marks notable streetlight design and their approximate spot of the first seven streetlight maps in LA dating from 1882.

For more information, visit LA Lights.lacity.org.

Brushing up on community action, Angelinos around Pico Union got busy at a local cleanup operation.

The mayor's office, cadets, and about 50 young adults chose to give back and beautify the neighborhood.

We're excited to have a community cleanup right here on Pico Boulevard.

There's about 50, 60 kids here.

Uh LA Cadets are here.

LA Public Library is here.

Our mayor's office is here.

I think it's very important for uh young adults to be active in their community.

And I think beautifying their community shows a lot of love.

It increases community involvement and makes the streets seem more beautiful.

Personally, I chose to decide to do uh the community cleanup, you know, is because I feel like sometimes places need it.

Honestly, I think it's really important.

I see it as a way to get something back to the world.

And um, there isn't community hours.

I can't tell you how many times I've done cleanups, but people will come up and thank you, and sometimes they step in, which is what we want.

Community pride is so important.

This is why we're doing this to clean our community and make it shine.

One of the best things about a community cleanup is that you can get the community and neighbors together.

A lot of the times, as you know, in Los Angeles, nobody knows their neighbor.

So these community cleanups are really the best way for us to gather with our old friends and meet new friends and extend our community and make it better.

The library was invited to offer library cards to all of the volunteers here.

And I think it's very important for them to become familiarized that there's a library in their community.

Get people involved with reading and the literature and the wonderful things that the library has to offer.

Don't leave stuff on the ground because it's bad for the environment.

I mean, we already got pollution.

We don't really need that anymore.

We've got stuff in the water, it hurts the animals, and that's just bad over on general.

If you need more information about future events, you can find them at our website at LAPL.org.

What could be better than live music?

After the success of the inaugural jazz festival last year, Councilmember Tim McCosker joined the Harbor community for the second annual Harbor City Jazz Festival.

It's a great day in the 1-5.

We are in Harbor City.

We're at Ken Molloy Regional Park, right on the banks of Lake Machado for the second annual Harbor City Jazz Festival.

Last year was a great success, our first ever.

This year, even bigger and better.

If we're gonna go all day and have great jazz music, great food, great fun with the entire community.

But it's right here in Harbor City.

Together we represent Watts and Harbor Gateway and Wilmington and San Pedro, and right here Harbor City!

That's here for Harbor City.

There's many people to thank toward all our sponsors.

Now we had so many sponsors this year that made this more of a success.

So we want to thank all of them, but most motivating thing that ever did was get the started.

Music is the arts, and arts bring people coming together, especially in a time like this, where our country and our cities are going through fun, activity, food, and celebrating each other, community.

And this is what it's all about.

And I'm happy to be here and to be a part of.

And we have these important summertime events, especially so that we can activate our parks.

It's so important to bring people out to the park so they can have fun and have healthy activities for the entire family.

So something like this is free to come to.

There's opportunities for food, there's opportunities for play.

We have a kids' play area, we have an adult area where they can get a beverage.

This is a way to activate the parks and keep them safe.

So right here in Harbor City, we want to make sure we're activating our parks and having events that are fun and healthy for the entire family.

Preserving the past, enlightening the future.

A new exhibit at El Pueblo tracks the families who've been at the heart of the area for over 100 years.

Many who began in business have descendants still trading there.

So the El Pueblo story is also their family history.

Today's a very special day because after many, many years of discussion, we are opening the merchant exhibit.

It is titled Preserving the Past, Enlightening the Future.

This is among the first efforts to ensure that we have a permanent museum space that represents the history of the Oliveta Street merchants.

We all love Olivera Street, but we don't always realize all the heritage and all the hard work that several families for almost 100 years have put into our historic space.

And so for the first time ever on Olivera Street, there will be a space for you to look at and experience the history of all the families here.

We have artifacts related to the Olivera Street merchants.

Really amazing historic photographs, and so we're very happy to welcome the public.

This has been a collaboration between the Olivera Street Merchants Association and the Getty Foundation.

So we're also very fortunate in that our 2025 Getty Marrow intern for El Pueblo was tasked with putting together this museum, and he's done an incredible job of putting all this together.

Oliver Street didn't just happen overnight.

A hundred years ago, through the hard work of Miss Christine Sterling and the hardworking Mexican American families on Alvera Street.

They really came together to create a marketplace that celebrated the heritage of Los Angeles.

It started first with the historic Avila Adobe, the oldest house in the city.

When that was saved by Ms.

Sterling, it really kind of triggered the need to really have a space that celebrates both LA history and Mexican American and Latin American culture.

Towards the back of the exhibit, we have videos playing.

As a part of those videos are oral history interviews that we conducted with a handful of merchants.

We sat down in the Avila Adobe just across the street, and we spoke with many merchants about their families, their lives, their histories.

Something that we asked every merchant at the end of their interview was what does Oliver Street mean to you?

And it's so beautiful that almost all of them say family.

To them, Olivetta Street is not just a place where you go, you know, to buy things, it is a family.

To know that we have the descendants of those original Vera Street families still here, and it's something that again, all of us should celebrate as part of Ellie's heritage.

When you study local history, you come to know more about who you are as a person, and you internalize that because it becomes a part of you.

You know, it includes all of us.

And once we understand that we are a part of that history, when we feel a part of our larger communities, that's where it becomes very special.

When we can break down boundaries, so for us and for me especially, it's about ensuring that we know who we are so that we can be better for each other in a larger community, especially whether it's as Angelinos as Californians or really just generally as Americans.

Three of the four flights in the attack were bound for LAX.

At a solemn memorial, the Los Angeles Fire Department and leaders from across Southern California remembered all the lives lost and honored the first responders who served that day.

We're at the Frank Hodgman's Memorial Training Center, and we're here to remember 9-11 2001, 24 years ago, uh tragedy happened.

Uh that left uh a nation, country in awe.

It's a really heavy um event.

The sound of ten bells, the sound of taps.

There is an actual piece of the World Trade Center here, 23 tons of steel that came from the rubble, and it's here on display as a beautiful and very somber and solemn reminder to all of the lives lost, and especially so many first responders who died in the line of service.

I remember that day clearly.

Us getting the kids ready for school, and it was just devastating.

And there was a lot of fear, and I remember that so clearly.

That fear lasted for at least a year.

I think it's just a reminder to us uh that the people who put on those uniforms and the jobs that they do, that when we are running away from danger, they're the ones that are running to it.

Remember, three of those airplanes were headed towards Los Angeles.

There were families that lost lives in the plane crashes.

It all hit us very personal way here.

You know, the most important thing to me, and and it hit me again harder today.

The thousands of people that continue to be sick and injured over something that happened 24 years ago.

The illnesses continue, uh, the spillover to the families.

This is this affects generations of people.

We worked side by side with the FTNY.

When we got deployed, it was about 65, 70 member team.

We were young guys back back then, and we're we're asked to do it.

So we felt honored to be part of that.

Just digging, doing everything we could to fight and search and help.

The man in the picture, we didn't know who it was for 23 years.

We sent it to their fire department, said somebody probably knows who this is.

We you know, like foreclosure for us.

We finally talked to him last year, Darren Jacobs, and he said it was the most special thing he ever got because his kids that he has now.

That's the only proof that he has to show that he was actually there.

At the end of the day, for all of us, we're gonna look back and see what was our legacy.

The thing that you can't put a price on is the feeling that you get when you're able to help somebody.

Thank you very much to all the first responders for putting their lives on the line to not only protect their families, loved ones, uh, and the city and the community, but also standing as a beacon of hope and trust for all of us to know that there are individuals who will not let us fall through the cracks.

I think it's important for the city and for the country to continue to uplift and remember what happened on 9-11.

There were people that were born or they were little kids when this happened and don't know the impacts that this has had on our country, how it's changed laws, how it's changed budgets, and we have to remember not only that, but the heroes, the people who saved lives.

So for me, it's important that we continue to uplift this history and this impact on our country so that everybody never forgets.

It's the day of the drum festival dedicated to the heartbeat of worldwide cultures.

The festival will feature Aztec, Korean, Philippine, Middle Eastern, African, and Afro-Venezuelan beats and percussion.

On Sunday, September twenty-eighth, it's the Simon Rodilla Watts Towers Jazz Festival, now in its forty-eighth year.

The festival showcases all-star soul, gospel and hip hop alongside world-class traditional and contemporary jazz performers.

Head to Watts Towers Arts Center for the Day of the Drum Festival on Saturday, September twenty-seventh from ten AM to six PM.

And the Simon Rodeo Watts Towers Jazz Festival on Sunday, September twenty-eighth from ten AM to six PM.

For more details, visit Wattstowers.org.

It's the annual Tom LeBonge Day of Service.

The former council member was dedicated to civil service and was widely known as Mr.

LA.

Everyone is invited to honor Laban's legacy with hands-on volunteering on Saturday, September twenty-seventh.

Join LA Civil Rights, the mayor's office and council member Adrian Sarian for this year's event serving the valley as part of LA for all week in the city.

Sign up to volunteer online and meet at North Hollywood Park for the Tom Labanch Day of Service, taking place on Saturday, September twenty-seventh at nine a.m.

For more information, visit the calendar at civil and human rights.

Dive into the Van Ness Pool for an aquatic celebration to mark National Hispanic Heritage Month.

On Saturday, September 27th, join LA City Department of Recreation and Parks and Council President Marquise Harris Dawson for this neighborhood pool party.

Enjoy a splash and good time at the Van Nest Pool and celebrate with free swim lessons, food, music, and more, highlighting culture, community, and family fun.

National Hispanic Heritage Month Aquatic Celebration takes place on Saturday, September twenty-seventh, beginning at one PM.

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 Natalia Bilbow, 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 LACDView.org, and we're also on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

See you next time for more LA this week.

Morning, everybody, and welcome to the regularly scheduled meeting.

Of your Los Angeles City Council.

Today is Friday, the nineteenth day of September, the year twenty twenty-five.

Public comment for today's meeting and special meeting will be taken in person this chamber.

Madam Clerk, please begin our proceedings by calling the role.

Yes, sir.

Bloomville, Harris Dawson, Hernandez, Hut, Hirado, Lee, McCosker, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Ramon, Rodriguez, Soda Martinez, Yaroslavsky, ten members present, and for Mr.

President.

All right, first order of business.

Approval the minutes of September seventeenth, twenty twenty-five.

Councilmember Hutt moves, Councilmember Parkinson Park seconds.

What's next?

Commendatory resolutions for approval.

Councilmember Lee moves, Councilmember Padilla seconds.

Madam Clerk, can we run through our agenda?

Yes, sir.

Uh, Mr.

President, would council like all items go forth with today considering the upcoming council recess?

Without objection.

Items 1 through twelve are items of which public hearings have been held.

For item four, the public safety committee report has been submitted, circulated, and is available online under Council file two two dash one three one six.

For item 11, a corrective economic development and jobs committee report has been submitted and circulated and is available online under Council file 15-1207-s1.

The budget and finance committee report has also been submitted for item 11.

Note for uh item 11.

There's no action taken on this item in as much as this item will be considered by council during the special meeting as item number 15.

For item 12, the budget and finance committee report has been submitted and circulated and is available online under council file 15-1207-s3.

Items 13 and 14 are items which public hearings have not been held.

Note for item 14, 10 votes are required to waive review of the Board of Public Works anticipated action pursuant to charter section 245B.

10 votes are required for consideration, sir.

All right, without objection, those items are now before us.

Uh members, any specials at this time.

All right.

Uh Councilmember Park, is this you on the queue?

Yes.

Okay.

Yes, Council President.

Um, uh on item eight, we have um uh friendly amendment.

Okay.

Do we have a second?

Second by Mr.

McCosker.

And it looks like it's being distributed.

All right.

Uh any other specials members?

All right.

Uh Madam Clerk, what's next?

Mr.

McCosker, sorry, Mr.

McCosker.

I have an abundance of caution on item number 12.

We do have an amendment that was uh submitted and circulated.

I just want to be clear that amendment makes it.

Madam Clerk.

Uh item 12 should be held on the desk, but there the amendment, sir.

Uh, it's coming then.

It's coming.

Okay.

Thank you.

And uh Mr.

McCosker, is there a second to your amendment for 12?

Well, it's being circulated.

There's several co-presenters.

So there's seconds on the document.

Yeah, so okay.

Thank you, sir.

All right.

Uh great, the screen is fixed now.

All right.

Uh Madam Clerk, uh, what's next?

Seeing no other specials.

Um, what is before council is uh items one through seven, as well as uh nine and ten.

All right, let's open the roll on those items, close the roll, tabulate the vote, ten ayes.

All right, what's next?

Uh next would be um uh the city attorney has uh a few words to speak, sir.

Yes, thank you.

Uh so members, though the rules are the same as they are in every other meeting, but I understand that if there are additional amendments, particularly to items number 15 or items number 12.

Um, that you please get them in before public comment.

Uh, I believe there are multiple presentations, uh, but we would like to have them all in and processed uh before we begin public comment during the special meeting.

Thank you.

Uh Mr.

President, council can now move on to presentation, sir.

All right.

Uh we have a uh big day of presentations today.

Uh that we'll go into, but before we do that, I just want to remind members.

I know we've been uh all steeped in in big issues and uh in a bit of a rush before the recess coming up, but I wanted to remind us that we are still committed um to uh raising issues around the immigration enforcement that's happening in our city uh and in our various districts into our various constituencies.

And so while we don't have a specific presentation today, I don't want anybody to think that we've dropped that and we've moved on or we forgot about it.

Uh we have not, uh but uh for the last couple days uh we've been uh a bit uh swamped.

So with that, I'll call on uh council member price of the new 9th district.

I don't know how long it gets to be new, but uh the new ninth district uh for a special presentation.

Thank you, colleagues.

From its humble beginnings in 1925 to the to becoming a leading institution in technical career education, Los Angeles Trade Tech College has shaped generations of talent across Los Angeles and beyond.

Today we gather to celebrate not just a milestone, but a legacy.

100 years of service, 100 years of excellence, resilience, and transformation at LA Trade Tech College.

Let's give them a hand.

Established in the heart of Los Angeles, LA Trade Tech College has stood as a pillar of opportunity and advancement for working class communities for a full century.

The college opens its doors for historically underserved communities, providing affordable high quality education and a pathway to economic mobility.

For many, LA Trade Tech is not only a school, but a launch pad, especially for first-generation college students, immigrants, and working adults.

For a hundred years, LA Trade Tech has forged powerful partnerships with industry leaders, labor unions, local businesses to ensure its graduates are job ready on day one.

LA TradeTech has become a national model for how education and workforce development can work hand in hand.

And this is not just happened by itself.

He and his team have made a difference in the community.

At this time, let me just bring forward Dr.

McQuarters to say a few words.

Doctor.

Good morning, honorable council members, Councilman Price, members of the general public, I'm Dr.

Alfred McCorders, proud president of LA Trade Technical College.

With me is Los Angeles College District Board President, Dr.

Kelsey Inno.

My president team, faculty senate president, and our student body president as well as well as representatives from the district.

On behalf of the LACC Board of Trustees, our Chancellor Dr.

Alberto Ramon, and the Los Angeles Technical College, I would like to thank you for this recognition and for honoring us as our centennial anniversary.

It's a really privilege to stand here today and reflect what 100 years of education, service, and community partnership truly means.

If you look here, Trade Tech again started in 1925, but actually the thought of trade tech started even long before then.

In 1924, trade tech classes were offered throughout the city of LA.

And it wasn't until 1925 those programs were brought together in the Frank Riggins Trade School.

And from there, we have been growing.

We later became part of the LACCC College District as well.

And today we're seeing lots of transformation happen across our college.

We have a number of programs.

We have nine pathways that are existing within the college.

Everything from our collinary program to transfers to the CSUs to UCs to our automotive programs.

We have lots of opportunities for students who want to go into different pathways.

When we look at our population of students, we serve over 20,000 students at Trade Tech.

Um, that demographics, at least 95% of those students are students of color.

75% are Hispanic or Latinx students.

Um, what we do here is a number of things.

We are providing the workforce, we're providing opportunities for transfer, and we're providing jobs immediately after graduation and completion of certificates.

Um, when you look at our study in terms of what benefit do we have, other than the individual benefit, there's a number of benefits.

We are able to provide social mobility for students.

We're able to be an industry feeder to allow businesses to grow.

So there's a number of impacts that Trade Tech has been doing for a hundred years.

Uh, we also are in the community.

So these are just a couple examples of some of the community engagements that we are constantly doing around this area.

One of the milestones, two milestones I want to share at TradeTech.

As I mentioned before, we have not lots of transformation that's occurring.

So we have a new construction building that's going up that's going to be completed in 2027, and a new design media arts building that's also going to be completed in 2027.

And this year, as he mentioned, is very significant because we have this milestone of 100 years.

So from the beginning of this year, we've been having alumni events.

I probably can ask the question how many alumni are in this room, and there's a number of people probably can raise their hand.

Um, we have been able to have a number of other things.

Our commencement, where we had the state chancellor there, former U.S.

Senator Lafonza Butler was there as well.

Um, and now we're going into our season where we're gonna have a celebration together in a gala.

So I want to just thank you for this opportunity to speak to share a little bit about TradeTech, and just let you know that we are here and proud to be part of this community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Doctor.

As we look to the next century, LA Trade Tech is not slowing down, it's expanding its reach, embracing innovation, and doubling down on its mission of equity, access, and excellence.

The next hundred years will be built on the same values that help shape the last 100 years opportunity, resilience, and community.

So here's two 100 years of empowering students, strengthening communities, and building futures.

And here's to the next century of impact, innovation, and inclusion at LA Trade Tech College.

Happy centennial LA Trade Tech.

Your legacy is Los Angeles.

Trade Tech in the House.

Councilmember, I just want to thank you.

Councilmember Price, I want to thank you for bringing uh Trade Tech and recognizing this 100th uh anniversary of uh Trade Tech.

Trade Tech has been an essential part of Los Angeles' way of life and the building of the workers that make uh Southern California and Los Angeles the economic miracle that it is, and so uh almost every uh part of the city and every region somebody learned how to do something at Trade Tech that they're still using to this day to help build their families, build neighborhoods, and but and most of all build our city.

So thank you so much to Los Angeles Trade Technical College.

All right, next we will hear from Councilmember Nazarian of the 2nd District.

Thank you, Council President.

Good morning, colleagues.

Today we are here to celebrate an extraordinary milestone for a homegrown nonprofit in Council District 2 Food Forward, and I want to say thank you all for coming to celebrate Food Forward.

Great to see all of you here.

Since its founding in 2009 in North Hollywood, Food Forward has been on a mission to fight hunger and reduce food waste, and they have just surpassed an incredible achievement recovering and donating over 500 million pounds of fresh produce, the equivalent of two billion servings of fruit and vegetables.

This milestone reminds us of the challenges we face.

In California, one in five household, one in five household in California, by the way, the fourth largest economy in the world, struggles with food insecurity.

And at the same time, more than a third of food in the U.S.

goes unsold or uneaten, representing billions of dollars in loss and untold harm to our environment.

Food Forward has created a model solution.

With the help of a dedicated team of thousands of volunteers, they rescue perfectly good fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste from farms, wholesalers, even local backyards.

And that's how I got to know them, by the way.

There's a lot of orange trees and fruit trees in the San Fernando Valley because the San Fernando Valley was a big orchard.

And so they didn't want the fruits to rot, and so they would literally go and pick it up from people's homes, residents' homes.

Thank you for the clap.

You can clap for that.

Food Forward's twin mission, fighting food inequity at scale and tackling the climate crisis through food waste prevention is not just timely, but it's essential.

So today, on behalf of the city of Los Angeles, I'm extremely proud to recognize and honor Food Forward for their extraordinary service, their vision, and this historic 500 million pound milestone.

Their work nourishes our communities, protects our environment, and inspires us all.

Congratulations, Food Forward.

Thank you for the work that you've been doing.

Have a small little presentation to offer you.

Thank you.

It's my pleasure to introduce the CEO of Food Forward, Nick Rick Namus, and board chair Jeff Harris to say a few words.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you.

A little memento of our 500 millionth pound will be reaching all council members.

So uh thank you again.

Good morning.

I'm Rick Namayas, founder and CEO of Food Forward, and beside me is Jeff Harris, the chair of our board of directors.

Thank you for this tremendous honor, Councilman Azarian.

On behalf of Food Forward staff, volunteers, board, and our more than 260 hunger relief partners, we are deeply grateful for this recognition.

Over 16 years ago, Food Forward began with the harvesting of two backyard fruit trees in the San Fernando Valley, which produced 800 pounds of fresh free citrus.

Today, we recover and donate enough produce to feed a quarter of a million people every single day.

Though we have the data, you got a packed agenda, so I will spare you the details, but please know that this year alone, Food Forward has shared nearly 23 million pounds of fresh free produce with food insecure residents of all stripes across the city of Los Angeles, reaching every single council district.

And nine months after wildfires tore through lives and livelihoods, we continue to support families and those who worked and still work in fire ravaged areas, making sure that healthy access to food is one less thing they have to worry about.

Food Forward addresses food insecurity like no other nonprofit in the region.

And we help the city of Los Angeles advance towards its goal of zero waste by 2050.

In the chambers, right behind me, we have some, just some of our 55 team members that help make the magic happen.

We could not have imagined achieving this milestone when we began our work 16 years ago.

Since starting our work, we have rescued and distributed to communities in Los Angeles, neighboring counties, and neighboring states over 500 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables.

More produce flows through the city of Los Angeles than any other city in North America.

This honor today also recognizes thousands of truck drivers, pantry coordinators, volunteers, and produce donors who help support food forward.

But our work is far from done.

As federal nutrition programs face shameful cuts, and more families struggle with the cost of living, the need for food forward has never been greater.

We are committed, we are doubling down, and we are going into deeper into areas of need.

On behalf of everyone at Food Forward, thank you for standing with us.

We welcome opportunities to work hand in hand with the city, and we continue to ensure a Los Angeles where abundance is shared, waste is eliminated, and every community has access to the nourishment it deserves.

Thank you all very much, Council President.

Thank you, and to my colleagues, thank you as well for recognizing Food Forward for the work that they do.

And thank you so much, Mr.

Nazarian.

Thank you, Food Forward, and good to see you, Rick.

I know you've been in this movement for uh a good minute, and it's it's a righteous cause and and something that helps make the fabric of Los Angeles that much better.

So thank you all so much for your work.

Another big round of applause.

Now we will yield the floor to council member Raman of the Fourth District.

Thank you.

Thank you for your patience.

Of course.

I'll just wait one moment for everyone to gather.

Come on, let's all get together.

We want to get all the beautiful turquoise.

It's teal.

Into the shot.

Yes.

Let's call it the two.

Teal, thank you so much.

Get all the teal into the shot.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Good morning, colleagues.

Every year, for nine years running, we have taken time in these chambers to pause and recognize Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

It was an effort that was led by Councilmember Paul Correttz.

Councilmember Paul Corretz for many years.

And I was delighted to take it over because this was one of those presentations in City Council where I learned.

Too often goes undetected.

It has been called the silent killer because its symptoms are subtle, and for too many women, they go unnoticed until it's too late.

I was, as I mentioned, largely in the dark about ovarian cancer and the need for screenings.

I didn't know that there are no standard screenings, that there's no one size fits all test, or that this disease remains the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States.

One in 78 women will face this deadly diagnosis, and without reliable screenings, it's incumbent upon us as women to be proactive in listening to our bodies and recognizing the symptoms.

But if you don't even know, how will you do that?

Women's health issues are often like this, that we have things like menopause that are hardly talked about, urinary tract infections, and like ovarian cancer, things that are far more deadly.

But the ovarian cancer circle, who I am so proud to honor again in this chambers today, reminds us that we cannot and we must not put ourselves last.

Born from the story of Robin Babini and the extraordinary courage of her mother Paulinda.

The ovarian cancer circles has become one of the leading organizations in the country advocating for a cure and keeping up that drumbeat so that this issue is not forgotten, that it is not laid by the wayside as so many women's issues often are.

Paulinda took her own tragedy and said we will make something larger than myself and my family, and we will make sure that it serves all women.

That circle, the ovarian cancer circle, has built a powerful community here in Los Angeles, and you can see them dressed in teal behind me.

It is committed to educating women everywhere about the symptoms of ovarian cancer, about raising the critical funds needed for research that will one day and hopefully that day is soon lead to a cure.

And I hope that today, like this chamber has done in past years, today will serve as both a tribute and a call to action for this issue.

And with that, I would like to introduce the inimitable Polinda.

Good morning.

President Harris Dawson, Councilmember Raman, and esteemed City Council members.

My name is Paulinda Babini, and I am the president and founder of the ovarian cancer circle, inspired by Robin Babini.

There's a picture up there.

When Robin was 16 years old, she began experiencing a range of alarming symptoms.

Like many families, we knew nothing about ovarian cancer, and we do not carry the Broca gene, which increases your risk for both ovarian and breast cancer.

Tragically, Hagynecologist did not even consider ovarian cancer due to her young age.

By the time Robin was finally diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer.

She fought courageously and during over two and a half years of surgery and chemotherapy, but in the end, she lost her life just at the age of 20.

She was just beginning her freshman year at UC Santa Barbara.

In the face of this unimaginable loss, I knew I had to do something to found, and I founded the ovarian cancer circle, inspired by Robin Babini, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about this silent, deadly disease.

Our mission is simply but urgent to educate women and their loved ones about the signs and symptoms and risk factors of ovarian cancer because knowledge can truly save lives.

I give out these bookmarks, and we gave them to all the council members, and they talk about the symptoms on the back.

I think it's on the screen or it's supposed to be, the symptoms somewhere.

Okay.

Well, anyway, the bookmark.

As you can see from the bookmark we shared on the screen, we tirely see work to share this life-saving information.

And we know it does save lives.

We are proud to today to be joined by three of our incredible women, Flower Miller, Karen Gilman, and Pat Rothlich, who are all survivors and thrivers.

They are the face of a hope that women can survive ovarian cancer.

Shortly, Pat will be share her personal story.

On behalf of the ovarian cancer circle and Dr.

Sinazma Marziday, I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Councilmember Raman for her ongoing support for this proclamation, recognizing the circle for advocacy, and to Dr.

Mamarzaday for her groundbreaking research.

A special shout out to Sarah Tamberg, Council Rahman's senior advisor for her dedication.

This marks the eighth consecutive year or the ninth that the city council has recognized September as ovarian cancer awareness month, illuminating City Hall Teal, the national color of ovarian cancer.

We also like to acknowledge and thank Councilmember Paul Correttz, who originally launched the council's effort, and we have here Ali Samard, the Director of Communications from Paul's chairmanship.

Since our founding 15 years ago, we've raised over one million dollars to support Dr.

Mamazade's cutting aids research.

And do I introduce Dr.

Mamazida?

And it gives me great pleasure.

Dr.

Mamaziday is a physician, surgeon, tenured professor, and leading scientist.

This year alone, she secured over $4 million in grant funding to advance ovarian cancer research, specifically targeting a recurrent disease, which tragically occurs 80% of the cases.

It now gives me a great honor to introduce Dr.

Sinazma Marzade.

Okay, thank you all for your attention.

We're here to shed light on gynecologic cancers and all the women who have been affected by these diagnoses.

We heard the statistics, and I'm going to talk about both endometrial and ovarian cancers, and they account for the fifth and six leading causes of cancer related death in women.

Though despite their prevalence, they continue to be understudied and also underfunded.

Councilmember Rahman talked about this.

I think part of the reason is that they hit below the belt.

There is a reluctancy to talk about these cancers, and also these cancers solely affect women.

We heard a little bit about the challenges.

Patients with advanced ovarian cancer often come to us and you know not knowing what the signs and symptoms are, hence, patients are diagnosed at late stage disease.

Many times, even the physicians are not cute to those symptoms.

I've also taken care of patients with advanced endometrial cancer who face a similar kind of challenge.

And in many cases, we operate on patients, provide chemotherapy, and in many of those cases, the cancers can recur.

So this is a challenge.

This is a problem we're trying to solve in our lab.

We're very committed to do this.

I'm very fortunate to have brilliant scientists, collaborators working with us at UCLA.

And I'm just going to very briefly summarize three key approaches that we're taking.

One to understand the nature of the cells that cause recurrence of disease and how can we better target them.

Two, to devise innovative and new immune therapy strategies that can hopefully eradicate the cancer, and three, design and test cancer vaccines that hopefully can reinvigorate the patient's own immune system, preventing relapse.

But to do this kind of research, we actually need funding.

And the funding for gynecologic cancers is really dismal.

I'll give you some statistics.

Prostate cancer as a disease gets 16 times more federal funding for year of life loss compared to endometrial and ovarian cancers.

So while we always apply for federal funding sources and competitive grants, we also rely on philanthropic support.

That is why this partnership with Paulinda and her group has been incredible, not only in raising awareness, but also raising philanthropic dollars needed to do this kind of life-saving research.

So thank you all for your attention to this important cause.

And now we'll welcome Pat to speak.

I didn't know I was doing the introduction.

Welcome.

Good morning.

Thank you for all of you for taking time from your busy schedule to meet with us for ovarian cancer awareness month.

My name is Pat Rotlish, and I am a survivor.

I live in Marina.

Thank you.

I live in Marina Del Rey with my feral cat.

My daughter works for the Keck Medical Center at the USC campus as a substance abuse specialist.

My career, for most of my career, I worked in the office furniture industry for Steel Case and for Herman Miller.

In 2012, I made a career change.

I joined the construction industry as a construction design manager for National Gypsum Company.

I retired on December 31st of 2024.

Since retiring, I have been doing volunteer work for UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica for the La Brea Tarpits and for the Ovarian Cancer Circle that was founded by Dr.

Excuse me, by Paulinda Bambini, in order to raise funds for Dr.

Mamarzay for her cancer research, her ovarian cancer research.

My cancer journey started December 24th of 2023.

I went to the UCLA Urgent Care Center because I thought I had a urinary tract infection.

After the doctor looked at my test results, he said, you do not have an UTI.

And he sent my results over to my primary care doctor at UCLA.

At this point, cancer was the furthest thing from my mind.

Nobody in my family that I knew had cancer.

I never smoked.

I exercise regularly, I drink very little alcohol, and I'm a pescatarian.

My doctor, my primary care doctor, referred me to a urologist.

After the examination, she said, I am going to make an appointment for you with a wonderful doctor.

And when I was in that exam room, she picked up her cell phone and she called Dr.

Mamarza Day's office and she set up that appointment for me.

I was beginning to understand that my medical condition was much more serious than I had originally anticipated.

Dr.

Mamarzaday did scheduled me for an MRI, for a CT scan, and for an ultrasound.

I had cancer in my left ovary.

I needed surgery, and I made the decision to have a total hysterectomy.

The surgery went very well.

The good news was that I the cancer was confirmed confined to my left ovary.

The bad news was that when they did the abdominal washing, they found abnormal cells.

I had six chemotherapy infusions every three every three weeks.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for sharing this.

Thank you so much to Pat for sharing your story.

Thank you, Dr.

Mamarziday, for your dedication to an under-recognized disease that impacts women across the world.

And thank you, Paulinda, for bringing our attention to this year after year.

Because it wasn't up when you were talking, I do just want to read out the symptoms because they are the diseases.

Yeah, they're symptomatic of so many other diseases.

You may never know that what you have is ovarian cancer.

And they're often vague and misdiagnosed, abdominal pressure, bloating, discomfort, or bleeding, nausea and digestion or gas, feeling full but eating less than normal, unusual or lasting fatigue, shortness of breath, unexplained weight gain or loss, urinary frequency, that's why you were testing for the UTI, or constipation or diarrhea.

These are symptoms of so many other illnesses, and if we don't know to look for ovarian cancer, we may never discover it.

And the earlier you detect it, the higher our chances are of surviving it.

So I wanted to just read all of that out before I presented to Paulinda and the members of the ovarian cancer circle our recognition from the city of Los Angeles and to thank all of you for your time and attention and awareness of this issue.

I know it has impacted people around this horseshoe personally in the past, and I hope that it doesn't impact any of us.

But if it does, that we are aware enough to get the care that we need and that we are able to support Dr.

Mamar's Day's work.

So thank you, Paulinda.

Thank you to the ovarian cancer Circle.

And I wanted to make sure that we recognized your work, and the work of Dr., this is for the Ovarian Cancer Circle, a recognition from the City of Los Angeles, as well as a recognition for Dr.

Mamon.

As you're presenting those uh beautiful certs, I just wanted to uh thank you, Councilmember Rahman, for uh taking the baton on this presentation, and um say to all of you that are doing this work and have branded uh your work with the color teal, which we will light up city hall uh during this weekend in your work is so so important.

You know, I think this happens to women everywhere.

It happened to my mother.

You go to the doctor and they say they you have some of the symptoms that council member just said, and the doctor will tell you, oh, you're just stressed, or oh, you need to exercise more, or oh, you need to drink more water.

Um, so raising consciousness uh among uh women and among medical professionals is as important as the science uh to that takes us towards a cure to cancer.

And so again, thank you all for continuing to raise the flag and to raise awareness uh around this issue that so many of us face.

Thank you.

And thank you, Council President, for giving us the space again in this chamber to mark this uh month.

Thank you all.

Thank you guys.

Thank you so much.

So I have two words, I think we're having to get it.

All right, now we'll have a uh special welcome and presentation from Councilmember Park of the 11th District.

Thank you so much, Council President.

I am really excited to announce that we have the um board and executive members of the Venice Chamber of Commerce with us today.

Uh as you all probably know, the Venice Chamber of Commerce is really truly an invaluable asset in our business community, representing businesses and property owners since 1973, although its history dates actually all the way back to 1907, the era when Abbott Kinney was founding Venice of America and actually predated the annexation to the city of Los Angeles in 1925.

In 2007, the Venice Chamber celebrated its centennial anniversary, and today they are an active force in the local community, promoting local businesses, providing events and meeting opportunities for members, advocating for the commercial and tourist needs of LA's most vibrant beachside community, and working in service on behalf of all things Venice.

Thank you all so much for what you do.

Venice is really proud of its heritage, its diverse population, and its strong sense of community, as well as the variety of businesses and professional opportunities it offers.

We have an eclectic mix of retail restaurants, art galleries, personal services, and events, and that's all what makes it one of the most popular tourist destinations in all of the United States.

So we are really excited because today is the first annual Venice Chamber of Commerce Day at City Hall, and we are super excited to bring these members here today for a day of engagement around city governance, uh economic development and Olympics prep.

You really couldn't have picked a better day to be with us in our council chambers.

So welcome.

Let's give them a round of applause for being here.

Thank you so much and welcome, welcome, welcome, and thank you for all the work you do for Venice and for the entirety of Southern California, the city of Los Angeles.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

All right.

Uh Madam Clerk, what's next?

Mr.

President, Council, may now go into public comment, sir.

All right, um, we are will now open for public comment.

I ask the city attorney to read instructions into the record.

And uh, Mr.

City Attorney, could you read um um the instructions in light of the fact uh that we have a special meeting, and I think there might be some confusion based on when we do public comment on what we'll have two separate public comment sections, and uh they won't sort of overlap with each other.

Uh Mr.

City Attorney, yes.

Yes, so I will cover the bulk of the instructions now.

I'm sorry to ask that I I know that some of you have been here multiple times.

Um please pay particularly close attention to the instructions today, because we do have a separate special meeting, and as the council president has said, there will be an additional period for public comment.

Uh so with that I will begin.

Uh to people providing public comment during the regular meeting, uh please state which of the agenda items you'd like to speak to.

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

We will tell you when your time is up.

And the reason why there's only two minutes for the agenda items is because public comment has been satisfied for all of the other items except for the two for which public comment has not been heard.

Um this does not count against any time during the special meeting.

Uh, 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 were 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 during this regular meeting are items 13 and 14.

So again, the items open for public comment on the agenda are items 13 and 14.

If you are here to speak on item number 15, you'll need to wait until after council goes into the special meeting, which was noticed for any time after 11 30 a.m.

So again, it'll be a separate public comment period during the special meeting.

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.

But a couple more announcements.

If I could have the interpreters make the 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.

A few final instructions before we begin.

As you can see, we're at a full house today.

So in order to help us accommodate as many people as possible, I would ask a few things.

Okay, so uh again, so item number 15 is not available now because this is the regular meeting.

You have one minute for general.

Anyone, again, if you would like to speak to item number 15.

There will be a separate public comment period at the 1130 meeting.

And that's fine.

I was a little surprised myself.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Okay.

So next speaker.

Before the next speaker begins, I will call the following names Ken M.

Amber Verrett, Von Wheeler, Steve Cho, and Amber Very.

Good morning.

Which items?

Item 14 in general public comment, please.

Okay.

So you have one minute for item 14 and one minute for general.

Go ahead.

All right, fantastic.

Good morning, Council members.

My name is Aaron Taxi, and I'm here representing the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and our 650 businesses who employ some 120,000 people across Los Angeles.

And I'm here to speak in strong support of a full convention center uh modernization and expansion project.

Uh we do not want any half measures.

We want the full project to go through.

This is not just an investment in a building.

This is not just an investment in downtown, it's an investment in our entire city.

It's an investment in our tourism economy, in our hospitality industry.

The people who come to these conventions will not just stay in downtown.

They will head to Venice Beach.

They will head to check out the restaurants in mid-city.

And yes, they will come to the Hollywood Walk of Fame to experience the magic.

They will patronize our restaurants, they will fill our hotels, and they will uplift our entire economy.

This is a critical project to put us in a competitive place for in general for conventions and for tourism.

General public comment.

Thank you.

But also for our upcoming global events such as the 2028 Olympics.

I strongly urge you to support the full expansion and modernization project.

Thank you.

I will call up more names.

Sid Bernard, Hillary Norton, Nolan Marshall, Stuart Waldman, and Carlos Coda.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Uh general comment and number 14.

Okay, so you have one minute for the item and one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Thank you very much.

My name is Hira Kapoor, and I represent the well, I'm here as a uh resident of downtown Los Angeles and Los Angeles, and I'm speaking in support of the full uh redo of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

I think it's imperative that we do the whole scope of the convention center.

The convention center is pivotal, and it's actually a moneymaker for the city of Los Angeles.

We have to remember FIFA World Cup is coming, and so is the 2028 uh Olympics.

So it is pivotal that we look at the entire scope.

I also am on the downtown Los Angeles neighborhood council, and we have done three CISs in support of the full scope of the convention center.

So I really recommend that you take this seriously and look at the people behind me because they are here for jobs, and they need their jobs and they want their jobs, and the LA Convention Center offers them those jobs.

General public comment.

Everybody behind me.

Everybody behind me took the time today to come and speak to you about the convention center.

The convention center is pivotal for Los Angeles.

You guys cannot miss this opportunity to change the scope of Los Angeles and actually put us back on the world stage.

And if you don't do this, you will miss an amazing opportunity.

So thank you very much.

Have a good day.

Before the next speaker begins, I will call up a few more names to come up to the podium.

Neila McOsker, Sergeant Gunny, Kurt Peterson, Greg Beeves, Alec Mesropian, and Adam Burke.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Good morning.

Item 14 in general.

Okay.

You have one minute for the item and one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Good morning.

My name is Nolan Marshall.

I am the president and CEO of the Social District.

The social district is the home of the convention center, LA Live and the South Park neighborhood.

We've been here many times supporting this project, and I have never seen for a project that we've supported as diverse a group of constituents as is behind me today.

This project is critical economic development infrastructure, which I think is a distinction that's worth making.

You all have been weighing the impact on the general fund for this project, but with other economic development infrastructure projects, those aren't the metrics that you use at all.

At least those aren't the metrics that are used anywhere else in the country.

This project will produce six billion dollars in labor wages.

That's a two to one investment ratio.

This project will produce fifteen billion dollars in economic output.

That's a five to one ratio.

This project will produce three to one in GDP.

Those are what we normally weigh economic infrastructure projects on, not return to general fund.

It's imperative that we improve this project.

I would even say it's malpractice given those numbers and given the state of the city.

If we just look away from that kind of economic impact, I would be remiss if I didn't recognize that there's uh certainly a chance of failure if we don't move, if we move this project forward.

We could not get this project done.

But turning around at the finish line is an admission of failure of a failure, it's an acceptance that we've already failed before we've even tried.

Councilmember McCosker this morning said that there is no constituency for the future, but I beg to differ just a little bit.

I'm raising a nine-year-old and a six-year-old three blocks from the convention center.

And they've seen me do this work in New Orleans and Dallas and in Vancouver, and my nine-year-old wanted to be here today so he could tell you all that you would be crazy not to do this.

You have to do this project now.

Thank you.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Hillary Norton from Fastlink DTLA, and I'm also here to testify on behalf of Move LA as a and as a CCA director.

I'm here to speak on behalf of the Convention Center Expansion and Modernization and urge you to support it.

Improving the convention center, which will bring at least five million new visitors each year.

Not only has positive local funding benefits, but increasing transit ridership to and from the convention center will increase federal funding by billions of dollars.

We have to build this convention center.

I was so disappointed to hear the testimony in committee on Tuesday.

I was a council staffer in the 1990s when we recovered from a civil disturbance.

We recovered from an earthquake and near bankruptcy, but we also built the beginning of a multi-billion dollar transit network that serves over 300 million people, and AEG built a staple center in 18 months, and it helped LA's economic boom for decades.

I urge you to vote in favor of the convention center.

Turn LA around from the pattern of no and slow to yes and best.

And before the next speaker begins, and I thank you everyone for holding your applause till after the speakers are done.

Um, just if you could exit to your right-hand side, we're gonna just sort of loop everybody in and out.

Um, your other right, your other right, Stuart.

Sorry.

Yes.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

14 and public comment.

Okay, so you have one for each.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, VICA.

Um, we are here strongly in support of expanding the convention center.

This is something that should have been done a long time ago.

It should have been done two years ago.

We're here now.

We can get this done.

It benefits every inch of this city, it benefits the valley.

As we have more conventions, bigger conventions, we're able to compete with Orlando and San Diego and Las Vegas and bring more people here.

They are going to be coming to every part of the city.

They are going to be coming to the valley.

They're going to be spending money.

This is going to be a job creator that is going to benefit everyone.

We need to do this.

We need to pass this.

I don't pay attention sometimes.

But whatever she said, I agree.

Let's make it happen and let's make it happen now.

Thank you.

Here, uh item 14 in public comment.

Okay.

So you have one for each.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

My name is Carlos Coda.

I'm an international vice president for the IETSC and the Department Director for Convention and Trade Show.

And you're gonna hear a lot on the merits of the convention center, but I wanted to offer a kind of unique perspective.

Part of my responsibilities in my job function are to travel all over the United States and Canada to work with other cities on developing career pathways, training and education, and then also interaction with industry uh groups, which you know, talking about conventions and expansions.

What I do want to share with you, and um only one minute listed here.

Do I get two?

Public comment, I'll just keep going.

So, what I want to share with you is every one of our closest competitors that I'm working with while I'm out there is concerned about this project.

They know that they, when LA ups their game, they're gonna have to be more competitive and they're gonna be in a less competitive position once this is done.

So I'm encouraging you to really look at Los Angeles, everything this city has to offer, general from our international airport to all the areas that uh tourist attractions that people want to come visit, just the capacity of this city and everything the city has to offer.

If we can move this project forward and do it now, before we're on the world stage, it's gonna be a game changer in the industry, and I'm just want to let you all know that the entire industry is looking at it.

I applaud your efforts to this point and uh encourage passing this uh expansion and this investment in Los Angeles.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Item 14 in public comment.

My name is Yvonne Wheeler, and I'm the president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, representing over 800,000 union members in Los Angeles County, including the workers at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

And I'm here today to speak in strong support for the convention center expansion.

LA is a world-class city with deep history of being innovative and leading the world.

We're the land of Hollywood where we teach the world to dream big.

We're the city of champions with the Lakers, Dodgers, Rams, Kings, and Sparks, and we're the home of world-class arts, music, and entertainment.

And yet, when we look at our convention center, we're ranked number 21 and dropping.

That is unacceptable for a city of champions, and we need to invest in our convention center.

And an investment in the convention center is an investment in our future.

It is also an investment in the workers and poverty alleviation at a time when Los Angeles is in the midst of major job crisis.

The convention center is home to thousands of permanent full-time union jobs that allow workers to keep a roof over their head and food on their table.

In addition, this will create additional thousands of job union jobs for more Angelinos who need economic life, need an economic lifeline.

Workers at the convention center centers, trade shows, can earn up to six bigger salaries.

And these jobs are open to local residents and union apprenticeship programs.

With audio visual work alone.

Workers get to hire at a trade show can utilize their experience to move into Hollywood set or a lives concentrated to Hollywood Bowl.

This is an investment in careers.

The construction jobs to build this expansion have a 50% local hire requirement, and meaning that Los Angeles will build, not only build the work, but they will be employed locally.

And these jobs are at a time when the federal policies have us headed into a recession.

I could go on, but as you see, an investment in the convention center is an investment in workers, it's an investment in poverty alleviation.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

I have 14 in public comment.

Okay.

So you have one for each.

Go ahead.

Good morning, Mr.

President.

Esteemed members of the City Council.

My name is Ernesto Medrano.

I'm the executive secretary of the Los Angeles and Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council.

I'm also a proud son of Boyle Heights and a graduate of Roosevelt High School.

Go rough writers.

I'm here representing my fellow 160,000 skilled and trained union construction workers of our 14 trades who shape Southern California.

We stand here in support of the Los Angeles Convention Center Expansion Project.

It's not just an investment in the convention center, it's an investment in the careers and long-term success of our local workers and their families.

This project will bring over 8,000 local construction, high-skilled high wage jobs, and over 1,600 new apprentices.

These are real careers, not gigs.

With healthcare, a defined pension benefit, a chance of the middle class California dream.

The convention center will kickstart careers for these individuals and drive meaningful change for their families, just as it did for me.

General.

So the opportunity for the convention center to launch the careers for the next generation means a lot to me here.

The modernization of the convention center also paves the way for millions of visitors whose spending will bring much needed tax revenue into the city.

The vote is a defining moment for our city.

Opportunities have had an impact of the scale are few and far in between.

In moments like these, our representatives and visionaries decided it was time to lead and think long-term for the health and the viability of our city.

Business and labor have come together and supported this project for a reason because they believe that transfer the transformational influence it can have on our city.

Today, Angelinos need the city council to show leadership and make this project a reality.

Our members are ready to don their hard hats, their work boots, their tool belts, start moving dirt and build this convention center.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Item 14 in general public comment, please.

So you have one for each.

Go ahead.

In fact, we might be uh in overtime with final seconds to go.

The project before you today stands to transform our future.

The lives of your constituents who want to work, who want their businesses to be open, and who want their potholes fixed.

Downtown provides the largest tax base to the city.

No other neighborhood brings in TOT or business tax to this degree.

The fiscally responsible choice is not to do less right now, is not to wait and debate, it's to put shovels in the ground right now.

Thank you to the members who have already committed your yes to this vote.

Thank you for believing in the power of business, labor, community, your own city staff.

To those still deliberating, don't shrink, impose tighter controls, be vigilant, hold the project team accountable, hold the departments accountable, but give us confidence in our city and in our future.

Let's do this.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Good morning.

Public comment in 14, please.

Okay.

So you have one for each.

Go ahead.

Good morning.

I'm Adam Burke with the Los Angeles Tourism Board, and as your contractor, my goal is to always ensure that you have the most accurate information on which to base your decisions.

To that end, there are two key issues that I'd like to address.

First, the city analysis that's been presented to council dramatically understates the additional revenues the convention center expansion will generate.

As referenced in my April 8th letter to council, the data we provided is based on over 40 years of experience booking the convention center, and we've already developed a pipeline of over 90 major conventions who want to host their citywides here in LA post-expansion.

That data has been provided to Oxford Economics, who prepared a comprehensive analysis that you've received.

To clarify, Alex, sorry, Oxford Economics was founded in 1981 through partnership with Oxford University School of Business and are globally recognized as one of the most reputable and respected economic consulting firms in the world.

The city's analysis suggests that by more than doubling the amount of our convention center, we would only see an additional 50,000 attendees annually.

That figure represents the total attendance of just one to two major conventions.

Understating the economic upside by 10 to 20 times.

In fact, within the first five years post-expansion, our community will see over 2,040 new jobs, $3.7 billion in new local business sales, and 157 million dollars in new general fund contributions to offset expansion costs.

Second, it's critical to understand that this is not just a downtown project.

It is vital civic infrastructure that will drive economic benefit to every single council district with 49,000 angelinos relying on these conventions for their livelihoods for the long-term health of our regional economy.

I implore you, let's not let this generational opportunity pass us by.

Thank you for your support.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Good morning.

Umteen and general.

Okay, so you have one for each.

Go ahead.

Good morning, committee, fellow workers, members, board, and staff.

My name is Amber.

I'm a proud LA native.

I am also a dedicated single mother to a sophomore honorable student in the LAUSD.

Um I will soon be celebrating my second year as an apprentice with the local A-31.

Working as a trade show installer and decorator at the LA Convention Center.

Joining this trade has been life-changing, especially financially.

It has given me the ability to provide more of a stable and comfortable life for my child.

Living less than 10 miles from the convention center, it um and the proposed expansion represents more than just growth for the facility.

It also means increased opportunities for myself, my fellow union members, and the entire community.

More work means greater financial security for our families and economic benefits for surrounding businesses.

On behalf of local A31 and all of our other local unions, I proudly express our full support for the expansion.

We believe it will have a lasting positive impact on workers, businesses, and the city as a whole.

Let's continue to make LA great.

Thank you for your consideration.

Good morning.

Which items?

Good morning.

Uh general and public comment on item number 14.

Okay, so you have one for each.

Go ahead.

Great.

Thank you.

Good morning, council members.

Happy Friday.

My name is Steve Cho.

I'm the dual general manager for the Moxie and AC Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Um today's a unique day.

Um, if you look behind us here, you have the room represented with business and labor, and that doesn't happen too often where we're on the same side of a topic.

And today is one of those items that I think is an impact for not only for business and labor but for everybody in the city.

On top of all the great um advocating comments that were already made in advance.

I can't urge you enough to vote yes on the convention center expansion, as it not only will create more jobs and add economic impact to the city, but additionally add additional investments into the city that currently are at a halt.

So we look forward to seeing future investments come into the city with investors based on the expansion approval today.

So I want to thank you all in advance for your yes votes.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Good morning, sir.

Thank you.

Uh I'm here on item 14 and public comment, the convention center.

You have one for each, go ahead.

One of the things that I've been luckiest uh to be part of was uh watching the convention center back in the 70s uh being built.

We owned property at 1350 East, uh 1350 East uh 17th.

And then we had another piece of property off of Western, excuse me, Pico and Figarola, which were taken from us.

But um watching the workers back then, I see the same energy here with the union here ready to take uh convention center that's probably a 10, go to a one.

And I think we can do that.

It's time that we do that.

This city deserves a convention center that it can be proud of, and I hope that you folks will do that for us, make us proud of this city, and uh thank you guys for being here.

Uh, I want to go on to public comment.

Ms.

Padilla, Ms.

Padilla, you don't listen to me, but I want to thank you what you for what you did for uh a water and power employee, Mr.

Serrano.

You folks didn't know him.

Richard Serrano worked for Water and Power.

He was here all the time.

He passed away uh a couple of weeks ago.

He was always challenging Mrs.

Padilla, but you, ma'am, you honored him with dignity.

Uh and you helped you helped us who still suffer from the ugliness of Ms.

Nuri Martinez and her predecessor.

You gave us hope that maybe, maybe out of the sixth district, we have a chance of having a person like Mr.

Inardi Bernardi back who served us for 32 years.

So thank you for looking at me.

Because uh, you know, maybe tomorrow I may criticize you like I'll go after John Lee uh for banning Porter Ranch, Old Porter Ranch.

But thank you for honoring a DWP union member who was here make trying to make the city great.

Thank you, ma'am.

I appreciate that.

Before the next speaker begins, I would like to call up for public comment, Elisa Diaz and Gordy G.

Good morning.

Which items?

Can we um sorry?

So if you could adjust the mic, just pull it up just a little bit so we can hear you.

Thank you.

Okay, good morning.

My name is uh Sydney Berard.

I'm a proud retired member of the sheet.

And I live in Council District 11 uh in LaDera, and I'd like to uh speak directly to Tracy Park, council member.

I was at your community meeting Sunday at Pan's restaurant, and uh I'm part of a block club, Flores Avenue with uh Daphne Bradford, who supports you all the way.

I worked at this trade for many decades, and the only reason I was able to raise my family by a home and retire with security in your district is because of major projects like this one here at the convention center.

These projects have created steady careers that keep people like me working all year long today today.

I'm here to support not myself, but my brothers and sisters in the trade who are looking for the same chance I had.

Thank you very much.

I will call up two more names to the podium.

Taylor and Blair Beston.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Could I touch on 14 and general public comment?

Yes.

So you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Cool.

So for 14, I just want to say I'm in favor.

I think investing in Los Angeles and investing in the people is a good idea, especially with the um big beautiful bill, HR 1 and Project 2025 coming through the pipelines.

With those bills, with those projects, unions, labor, wages, health care, that's all under attack.

So let's give our people the chance to save and fight back and be secure while we still can.

Which brings me to general public comment.

It's amazing watching these other cities really put their people first and really write executive orders that protect the first amendment right.

They have executive orders where the police officers are not working and aiding in the betting with ICE, they're not involved in that investigation at all.

Um I know our small businesses, I know our neighbors are struggling with rent and struggling with wages.

They don't feel safe going outside, they don't feel safe going to work.

And someone like me, it's hard to work with everything that's going on right now.

So maybe raising the unemployment rate would be wise right now.

Again, let's give our people a chance to fight back.

In addition, it's the brave protesters that got us all these union rights that got us the weekend that got us the right to vote, etc.

etc.

Let's not discard them now.

Good morning.

Which items.

General public comment and item number 14.

Okay.

So you have one for each.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Blair Beston with the uh executive, the executive director of the historic core business improvement district.

Um, thank you for hearing me today, council members.

Um, you heard a lot of statistics that for in support of the uh convention center that are compelling on their own.

Um we cannot keep our beautiful city even remotely supported.

We cannot keep our street lights on, we cannot fix our sidewalks, and these are facts.

But if we cannot understand the exponential value of capital investment, attracting tourism, more investments, and putting ourselves at the top of the list of cities, if we cannot understand the benefit of exponential revenue growth and we're more lost than anyone imagined.

Los Angeles has evidence that it reacts, but it seldom plans ahead.

It's time we stop that modus operandi that has led us to this devastating point and change course.

People love to claim that Los Angeles is anti-business, and we don't make nearly enough decisions to prove that claim wrong.

More importantly, the constant closures that we're seeing of businesses, these are immigrant-owned, these are women-owned businesses, these are legacy-owned businesses, and these are the businesses that make our city special.

Thank you.

Council President, that's all the speakers for the allotted time.

All right, thank you so much for everybody who spoke during this section of public comment.

Uh, Madam Clerk, what's before us at this time?

Mr.

President, council, can you now vote on item 13, sir?

All right.

So open the roll on 13, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

13 ayes.

All right, what's next?

Next, council may now vote on item 14 as amended by motion.

Harris Starson McCosker.

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

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Thirteen eyes.

What's next?

Next, uh, council can vote on item eight, which was amended by Motion Park McCosker.

All right.

Let's open the roll on this item as amended by Council Members Park and McCosker.

Close the roll.

Tabulate the vote.

13 ayes.

All right, what's next?

Mr.

President, would council like to recess the regular meeting and convene the special, sir?

Yes.

Shall I call the roll, sir?

Yes, please.

Blumenfield, Harris Dawson, Hernandez, Hut, Hieraro, Lee, McCosker, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Rahman, Roger, Yesoto, Martinez, Yaroslavsky, 13 members present and according, Mr.

President.

All right.

What item is before what items are before us.

Mr.

President, item 15 is an item for which public hearing has been held.

Note for item 15, a corrected economic development and jobs committee report, as well as the budget and finance committee report have been submitted, circulated, and available online under council file 15-1207-s1.

Okay.

All right, before uh Mr.

Zable comes forward, we uh Mr.

City Attorney, I believe we have public comment for this section.

If you can prepare us for that.

Yes, and before I do that, I believe that there have been a few amendments that have been circulated already.

Um but if we could have the members who introduced them or have sent them to the CLA, just introduce them orally into the record.

I believe they have been or will be posted on the bulletin board shortly.

Um so I have 15 I think C and 15 D.

So I believe 15A is uh a motion from Councilmember Herado.

Uh no, correction 15A is uh the uh economic development and jobs report.

15B is the budget finance committee report, and those are on the agenda.

Uh however, uh 15C is motion Herado Price, as well as there is also uh 15D, and that is motion.

Uh Harris Dawson, McCosker, Hutt, Price, Nazarian, and seconded by uh Councilmember Herrado.

So members of the public, if you would like to take a look at those amendments uh before public comment or during public comment, they should be available on the bulletin board on your right hand side of council chambers.

Uh and with that, I will give a very brief overview of the public comment period during this special meeting.

So, because this is a special meeting, there is no general public comment, but you can have one minute for the item that is on there, and that is the only item that is item 15, which is related to the LA City Convention Center expansion project.

So if you would like to speak on that item, we would ask that you please, to the extent you have not done so already, sign up the kiosks in the back, and I believe read names that again will be called at random.

So please wait till you hear the name that you signed up under called aloud uh before lining up on your left hand side of the council chambers.

Go ahead.

Okay, I will begin by calling the following names.

Tim Hinson, Tony de Trinidad, Ron Sheamus Jr.

and Rob Notha.

And I see a couple people coming up.

Um, it just takes a little bit to get to the podium.

Go ahead.

And once you get to the podium, you can start.

You'll have one minute since there's only one item on the agenda.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning, everyone.

Good morning, council.

My name is Tony De Trinidad with the Painters in Allied Trades, District council 36, and we're here in strong support of item 15, the expansion of the convention center.

We strongly feel this expansion creates so many pathways.

We hold this time really quick.

Sorry.

So your time is paused.

Just if you could pull back from the microphone.

If you're too close, you'll get some feedback.

So can you hear me now?

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, so we strongly feel that this expansion creates so many pathways for career-sustaining jobs here in LA for working people.

But unfortunately, a number of council members on this council disagree.

And it is disheartening because this city has so much potential to improve its infrastructure and modernization.

Right now we have an abandoned high-rise building with graffiti all over it, the looming threat of the movie industry leaving us, an affordable housing shortage, and nearly a dilapidated convention center that ranks 22nd in the nation, and a city that's the second largest in the nation.

It almost feels like the working people in the city lack the respect from its leaders.

And it's sad.

I really do hope and pray that those of you trying to delay this project have a change of heart and consider working-class families when you vote today.

So please, with your consideration, we ask you to move.

Speaker, your time has expired.

Next speaker.

Before the next speaker begins, I would like to call up Ernesto Medrano and John Cooley.

Go ahead.

And so once you get to the podium, you don't need to wait.

I know it's a little bit different than the regular meeting because there are multiple items that were open, but once you get to the podium, feel free to start and we'll begin your one minute.

Go ahead.

Good morning, Council President Harris Dawson, members of Council.

I'm Ron Siemens Jr., coordinator at Teamsters Local 96.

I'm here speaking on behalf of Chris Griswall, president of Teamsters Joint Council 42.

We represent the skilled trade workers at the Los Angeles Convention Center, a part of 250,000 members and retirees that make up Teamsters Joint Council 42.

The vast majority who reside here in Los Angeles.

Our members of the convention center earn a dignified wages that keep them and their families housed.

Teamsters have some of the best contracts and pension plans of the nation, and expansion opens up more opportunities for Angelinos to work in the Convention Center and enjoy the benefits of a Teamsters contract.

An investment in the expansion equals an investment in LA working families.

Let me be clear the so-called alternative option put forth by council member Katie Yurz-Lossley is not good.

It is a stall distraction that it is a step backward.

It's threatened good union jobs, billions in economic opportunity in our city's reputation as a global leader.

Labor, business, and community stands united.

The third option is unacceptable.

The time for debate is over.

The only reasonable choice is to approve the original convention center expansion and modernization project.

Thank you.

Okay, before the next speaker begins, I would like to call up John Lehman, Edgar Castillada, Nolan, Marshall, and Rich Sarian.

So once you get to the podium, you can go ahead and start because there's only one item.

You'll have one minute.

Go ahead.

Good morning.

My name is John Coley.

I'm the president of District Council 36 of the International Union of Painters and Ally Trades and a proud member of local A31 trade show installers.

We're gathered here today for one thing.

Everyone behind me, this rail is here to see what kind of leaders we have in the city of Los Angeles.

Do we have leaders that have foresight and vision that are going to put us ahead, or do we have leaders that are gonna let the convention center continue to stagnate status quo and kick the can down the road for the future generations?

I'm strongly urging you guys to go ahead and vote yes on this today.

Thank you.

Good morning.

I'm John Lehman, business representative of IoT Local 33.

I'm speaking to you today in full support of the expansion of the LA Convention Center.

This project has been discussed for far too long.

The time is now to get it done.

This will result in union jobs with area standard wages.

These union jobs will give local families and youth health care and benefits that we all deserve.

These union jobs are direct career pathway into long-standing careers for the youth who live in the city.

We've waited long enough.

Vote yes on the expansion today.

Thank you.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Edgar Castañeda.

I'm a representative of Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, representing 5,000 plus members here down the street at 1645 Main Street here in Chinatown.

This project is critical.

It will create thousands of mortgage-paying jobs, help recover from losses in foot track, and generate millions in the general fund revenue.

Timely action is essential to fully leverage the opportunity presented by global attendees visiting downtown LA while highlighting the diverse mosaic of small businesses that make our neighborhood unique that remain in the community, striving long after my fellow union brothers are done.

Downtown LA is truly the heart of our city.

It is time to reinvest in the vital infrastructure to ensure long-lasting economic benefits and open up new opportunities, not just for downtown, but for the entire Los Angeles region.

Thank you for your continued leadership in moving this project forward.

Thank you.

Good morning, council members.

I'm Rich Sarion.

I'm with the South Park Business Improvement District, Social District, and we house the convention center.

We've lost the entertainment industry.

It's gone.

Atlanta lost it too, though, so it's okay.

We can capitalize on tourism.

Conventions and conferences are changing.

The entertainment industry is coming down more so to downtown Los Angeles.

We could have a South by Southwest.

This project has to happen.

I went to school at C Sun.

I majored in film and I learned that the best projects are done on a dime and in a time crunch.

We can do this.

William O'Holland made a point to, you know, put a metal hose up and get water down here.

We can build the convention center, and it will definitely transform the city.

We've lost a lot of residents.

We've lost a lot of business, but that can be our past, and we can make a great future with the vote for this convention center.

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I would like to call up the last two names that signed up for public for item 15.

Susan Hawley and Jen Smithham.

Good morning still.

I feel very lucky.

My name is Nolan Marshall III.

I'm the president and CEO of the social district, and I get to speak before you twice today.

I could not emphasize more that this project is economic infrastructure.

One to one.

That's what film tax credits pay in terms of the investment from the state into the film tax credits.

This project is two to one.

California competes tax credits, cost per job acquisition is 47,000 per job.

The cost per job acquisition for this is $37,000 per job.

These numbers come from the economic impact analysis that's buried somewhere in all of your reports, and I don't know why it's buried.

But these numbers are numbers that you all should have.

And if you're evaluating this project as you should as economic infrastructure, it's a no-brainer.

If you care about jobs, if you care about housing, if you care about education, criminal justice reform, any of those issues that any of you may care about, you have to invest in your economic infrastructure.

Hi, good morning.

I'm Suzanne Hawley.

I'm from the DTLA Alliance.

First of all, I just want to thank Council President Harris Dawson for his leadership earlier this week in his op-ed saying we must do this project, we must do this full project now, and we can figure out a way to do it.

I was at the budget committee earlier this week, and I heard a lot of hand wringing about the cost and the timeline, but the deal breaker, the deal breaker was that the city is not competent enough to do this.

Are we really saying that we can't have nice things because the city is too broke to fix it?

Aren't you the city?

Isn't that your job to fix that?

Isn't that why we elected you?

I'm asking you to act like world-class leaders so we can have a world-class city and get this project done.

Thank you.

Uh hello, this is Jens Midtoon.

I represent the downtown Los Angeles neighborhood council.

I'd like to request an additional minute as we have a community impact statement on this at the discretion of the chair.

I'm sorry, which uh neighborhood council are you from?

Downtown Los Angeles.

And it was filed with the clerk's office.

It was.

Okay.

Well, just one minute.

Alright, we have it, so yes.

Thank you.

Could I uh start my tongue again?

Okay, as I said, my name is Jens Midtoon.

I'm president of the downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, speaking on behalf of the council.

Um it's good to see you all again, yes again, because we've been doing this for two years.

This is our third community impact statement on the subject, and we've all uh been in support every time.

We hear a lot about timeline risks as the city council drags its feet.

Uh and this group is rightfully worried about risk, but with a phased approach, we plan on mitigating that.

The biggest risk of all is the risk of doing nothing and letting our convention center fall apart and become unusable, a blight on the neighborhood.

Make no mistake, if the council votes against the expansion today, that's exactly what they are deciding.

There is no other feasible option on the table, despite the recommendations of the budget committee.

This city needs leadership.

We need one of you to stand up and say, like some of you did outside this morning, we need to say this project is gonna happen, it's gonna work, and if we come across problems along the way, we're gonna solve those problems that we're gonna move forward.

Uh taking the additional minute here.

Um, but doing nothing is unacceptable.

Downtown is struggling since the pandemic, the DTLA community is united.

Uh is united.

Residents, employees, business owners, and unions all are all here, strongly backing this project.

Um, everyone representing downtown wants this.

Downtown LA is the economic engine of Los Angeles.

We are the golden goose of Southern California, and this convention center is an echo is an investment in our economic future.

The money brought here is not to just downtown, but to the whole city.

At a time when we see few proactive investments, we need something to believe in.

Well, I believe that we're gonna get this done.

I've never seen downtown more united.

Please vote to expand the convention center.

It is go time.

Thank you.

Uh hello, my name is Erica Bowman.

I have been a bartender at the Compass Levy, Los Angeles Convention Center for over 15 years now.

And I'm a proud member of the Unite Here Local Eleven.

Now, my job is very important to me, as most of everyone else's jobs are also.

But today I stand here in full support of the expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

I near know there are concerns about cost and timelines, but I also know what it is at stake when the city hesitates.

With this expansion, the Los Angeles Convention Center can host bigger events and more often and give even more people like me the opportunity and the ability to support their families.

This project can mean real opportunity for workers uh in the hospitality industry and can and create consistency for the hospitality workers here in Los Angeles.

I urge that well, if I can get just a 30 seconds more than I.

So we have to give everybody the same amount of time.

Um, but if you wrap it up in a sentence, just I will.

All right.

All right.

And sure the the we want everyone to make sure that this the uh city Los Angeles City growth works for the prosperity of everyone here in Los Angeles.

Next speaker.

Good morning and thank you.

Uh Tom Davis, president of the California ITC Council, and chair of the LA County Federation Labor.

I'm hearing strong support and ask for your support of the convention center expansion and modernization.

We know actually you have the opportunity to move this city into the 20th century, 21st century by making this investment.

We have the opportunity to take pride in the facility in the city and the good paying middle class jobs that this project will be bringing forward.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, as you've heard before, to build our community into something that each and every one of us can be proud of, can take pride in.

Council President, all the names have been called for item 15.

Alright, thank you so much to everybody who came and uh presented.

We'll begin our deliberation on this matter by hearing from our chief administrative officer, Mr.

Matt Zabo, also Gary Lee Moore, who we've been paneled as a consultant on this project.

From DWP, Mr.

David Hanson, from the board uh from the Bureau of Engineering, Katie Daugherty, and from APCLA Stuart Marks, and from Webcore, Mr.

Mr.

Jeet, and uh forgive me, Mr.

Jeet, for uh not even attempting uh the name.

Where's our CAO?

Oh, there you are.

All right, we're ready, we're ready, it's prime time.

Okay, good morning, uh Mr.

President, members of the council, Matt Zabo, City Administrative Officer here to present uh on our updated report on the Los Angeles Convention Center uh expansion project.

Uh I will at uh actually no, I'm gonna hold on that.

At some point, I'm gonna need to make uh an amendment as to what was uh recommended on the agenda.

We did issue and uh two uh updated reports uh based on uh late breaking information uh and I will I will detail that in a moment.

Thank you very much.

So we're gonna start um just with uh a little context.

I'm gonna get to the main points and then we'll open it up for for questions.

This is this has been a long uh process as this body and multiple committees have been considering uh whether to move forward with a convention center expansion project.

Uh today we are presenting uh and you have before you updated uh pricing information that uh we received from uh the proposed developer, uh and we are seeking uh direction from this body as to whether uh we should proceed with the project or terminate the project.

Um so to provide uh just to give you an update as to what is new uh from the discussions that we had in committees, both the budget committee uh and the economic development and jobs committee.

Uh, the report that you received this morning uh had a number of changes.

Um the uh as a result of the city team uh negotiating uh pretty much around the clock with APCLA, the proposed developer.

Um we have uh secured and with our partners at DWP, uh a reduction in construction costs, a reduction in city retain costs.

Uh, we have updated projections on signage revenue and uh updated projections on the interest rate.

The revised construction costs, uh the report revises those down uh by eighty-three million dollars.

Uh the this is due in large part to reductions in scope from that which uh the DWP is responsible for.

Uh there is there are other reductions uh as of course as the construction costs go down, the city retained cost, the contingencies required by the city, also would be reduced.

So we reduce those by 13 million.

There has been, and I will detail this a little bit later in the presentation, a long discussion both locally and with the state of California about signage.

And then lastly, we have revised the borrowing costs down from 4.84% to 4.6%.

That is based on updated interest rate assumptions.

Consistent with current market conditions, rates have moved lower by approximately 20 basis points over the past month.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve lowered the overnight rate by 25 basis points, a quarter of a percent, and is projecting uh 50 basis point reduction, an additional 50 basis point reduction by the end of the calendar year in 2025.

So combined these revisions that you have before you in the report, reduce the overall costs by over 500 million dollars, and move the average annual general fund impact from the 111 million dollars, which was in our August 29th report, to 89 million dollars today.

We're gonna we're gonna folks, folks.

We need to hold your applause, booze, hisses, whatever it's gonna be, because we need to get through this.

Uh it's Friday, and uh folks got to get going.

So if you will kindly let us get through this proposal and discussion uh without interruption.

I will um thank you, Mr.

President.

I will um quickly move through uh the the details of what it is before you.

The expansion would add uh 190,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit hall space, 39,000 square feet of meeting room space, and a 95,000 square foot multi-purpose space.

Uh the modernization, if just for those that haven't been steeped in this project, you can see from the this aerial what is it is attempting to do.

It is attempting to connect the West Hall, which is a 50-year-old building to the South Hall, which is a 30-year-old building over PICO to add a hall where you see that space.

That is also what makes this project extraordinarily complicated and extraordinarily uh costly.

So, this is what you'll see by the uh end.

This is where we will be according to the current schedule by the uh by the time of the 2028 Olympics, and then the project uh the interior work of the project would be finished in early 2029.

Uh the economic uh impact of the project uh there's been much discussion about this before we proceeded.

Uh, before my office proceeded with uh reports uh recommending a pathway.

Uh we did conduct uh economic analysis on the impact of an expansion.

Uh the expansion would create 13,300 uh jobs during the expansion, uh 21,000 2153 annual net new jobs, uh bring in at least 500,000 additional visitors over the first 10 years and generate $652 million dollars in general fund tax revenue uh over the 30-year period that we would be paying the bonds.

So the recommendations for you today are to either proceed with the phase delivery of the project as proposed, uh, according to the uh committed cost that has been uh provided to you, and to proceed with the issuing the debt to cover the cost of the project or to terminate the project.

We are at the end of the line, and a decision does need to be made today.

With questions, the overall cost of the project, the direct cost of the project is $2.62 billion.

That is made up of the preconstruction costs, the construction costs, and then the city retain costs.

The preconstruction costs that's the money that we needed to invest to get us to this point.

Of that $82 million of initial early works, early works agreement activities, we have uh expended approximately $54 million.

It has been structured this way so that the city owns the owns the details, owns the plans and the design, but we have spent $54 million to get to where we are today.

The construction cost itself has been reduced slightly from uh $2.035 billion in previous reports down to $1.95 billion.

And again, that is largely due to DWP costs being reduced fairly substantially as the department has made further assessments as to what is required, and I would uh the DWP is here and can answer questions about uh how they got to their reduced projection.

In addition to reducing their uh in addition to reducing the scope of work that the Department of Water and Power has determined would be necessary for this project.

Uh they uh have also resolved or have a plan to resolve certainly the issues related to other projects, the Valley Metro project, uh the work in at the Port of Los Angeles, and the in the Palisades as well, and I would defer to the department to to detail the resolution there.

As it relates to city retain costs, the city retained costs, this is the contingency costs.

So there are contingencies within the project budget of that $1.95 billion, and then there are contingencies that we are holding outside of the project budget.

Um we're holding uh 10% for uh relief events, we're holding 5% for uh changes in scope.

It is it is our hope that uh this $385 million of that $553, uh it would not be tapped into a great extent, but we do need to set aside and we do need to plan uh for the that contingency being used in order to deliver the project on time.

That is part of the project.

The other portion uh relates to a robust uh project construction management team of multiple uh consultants, technical consultants, signage consultants, uh management consultants that will supplement the staff at uh the Bureau of Engineering and other staff to do the work and the analysis that needs to be done to ensure the project is uh delivered on time.

As it relates to the financing costs, um I do need to spend a little bit of time about on this.

Again, the 2.26 billion dollars is the where we will finance that cost.

We will not be paying from the general fund debt service until uh 28-29.

Uh we will be using capitalized interest for that.

What that means is basically we will be borrowing to pay the initial costs, so that that is added, we'll be borrowing to pay the initial debt service, so that will be added to our overall debt service, and then there are some issuance costs.

So the total amount to be financed for this project would be just over $3 billion.

The assumed interest rate uh is 4.6%.

As I said, that is down uh 0.2%, 20 basis points, uh, just over uh 20 basis points from the previous uh projection of 4.84%.

Uh that has a savings to the city of about $130 million.

As I said, rates on Wednesday were reduced, and we do expect additional rate reductions before the end of the calendar year.

That means that the average annual debt service, and this is debt service, not general fund impact, is $171 million.

So that's that's the average annual.

We will talk in a moment about how that relates to what the city uh pays out of its general fund.

As it relates to debt capacity, when we're asking the questions, can uh beyond can the city afford this, does the city have the capacity to issue this much debt.

Um the city has adopted and has very conservative practices as it relates to debt issuance.

Our financial policies dictate that no more than 6% of our general fund revenue can be used for debt service.

We are currently at 2.4%.

Uh so this chart shows what the impact would be of our annual debt service under the limit.

The line across the top is our debt limit, and uh if we added the debt service from this project, it would increase in fiscal 31 our debt uh our debt service to 4.03% of projected general fund revenues.

So it does, it does uh use more of our capacity, but it is it is well within uh our uh financial policies.

Uh as it relates to revenue, how we're going to pay for this.

We'll be paying for this through direct revenue and indirect revenue, and I need to be very clear that the direct revenue and the indirect revenue will not fully cover the cost of the debt service.

So there will be for the entirety of the period that we are paying debt service a general fund impact.

As it relates to the direct revenue, uh, we will be securing and dedicating the uh revenue from the events at the convention center from parking at the convention center and from signage uh at the convention center that will be part of the project will be established as part of the project.

We are projecting an annual average revenue from directly from the project to be 120 million dollars average over 30 years.

That will increase over time.

As it relates to indirect revenues, when we're talking about indirect revenues, we're talking about tax revenue.

Um the economic analysis uh suggests that the additional visitors, additional hotel night stays, uh, will yield uh $652 million, net new general fund revenue over 30 years as a result of the expansion.

So there was a base case, uh a status quo case, and then a case assuming the expansion with the 83 new events, uh additional events and the larger conventions and the larger uh capacity and additional visitors, and it yields the 652 million.

So when you take the cost of the project and then take out the revenue, we get to the net general fund impact.

What will we be paying out of the general fund in order to facilitate this project?

So the total revenue, the direct cost, the direct revenue and the indirect revenue, and these are again our 30-year averages, is 142 million.

Uh the costs average, including which is debt service and operating costs.

We do need to include operating costs in that figure because uh that if we're assuming all of the revenue from the convention center, we need to uh cover the operating costs as well, and that would lead to a average annual uh net general fund impact of eighty-nine million dollars.

Um, however, I do need to be very clear about this that eighty-nine million dollars is an average annual general fund impact.

That assumes we hit all of our direct and indirect revenue targets.

Um89 million dollars does not represent the early years.

Uh this chart shows the estimated uh net general fund impact by fiscal year, and under our new uh projections, it would uh peak at a hundred and forty-seven million net general fund impact in twenty thirty-one.

Uh, that is the first year that the city would be obligated to pay debt service on both series of bonds, and then it would uh slowly uh uh decrease after that.

Um getting to the question then of where are we financially and can we consider a project like this?

Um, how could we possibly afford that?

Um this is our uh our four-year outlook.

We published the four-year outlook as a uh after the budget is adopted.

Um as you know, we had a very, very large uh gap to close in this year's budget.

Um this budget was balanced largely in structural ways, and our adopted budget outlook uh assumes that those structural uh changes will hold.

Uh, our current outlook uh projects a ninety-one million dollar gap and ninety-one million dollar deficit for fiscal twenty-seven twenty-eight, uh, structural balance and twenty-seven twenty-eight, and then surpluses of two hundred and thirty-eight million dollars and four hundred and fifty-three million dollars in fiscals twenty-nine and thirty.

So when we're asking ourselves the question if the city is going to be taking on uh an additional hundred and forty-seven million dollars in general fund obligations in fiscal uh twenty nine thirty, um will we have the capacity to cover that and uh certainly our revenue growth sh uh should far far exceed that additional general fund obligation.

It it absolutely will require um trade-offs, and we would have a hundred and forty-seven million uh fewer dollars to spend on other things, uh but our current outlook uh our current four-year outlook shows a $1.2 billion uh increase in projected revenues from our current fiscal year to fiscal twenty-nine thirty.

So again, if we if we take our current projections, what's the deal?

So we're being told that uh we have to wait until GSD walks to the panel to assess it before we'll get an announcement from them on the overhead.

But it's what it is.

So I guess it's like we're going to bet it's quite difficult.

May I have your attention?

Thank you for the cooperation.

All right.

Thank you for your cooperation.

All right.

False alarm from the second floor.

Let's proceed.

Mr.

Sable.

Okay.

Very good.

Okay.

All right.

Very good.

Uh thank you very much.

So as it relates to the net general fund impact, if you lay that over uh what our current outlook projections are, you can see uh if you look at uh twenty twenty-eight twenty-nine, it's the first year with uh the the red uh bar at the bottom, that red bar represents the amount that we would pay uh that the there would be net the net general fund impact uh to pay the debt service the first year we would be paying debt service.

We are currently projecting a two hundred and thirty eight million dollar surplus.

Again, uh that surplus uh again assumes that essentially a status quo uh uh budget.

Uh there will certainly be uh uh pressures and and desires to increase our expenditures beyond what we are currently spending.

So that is th those will change and these projections will change as we consider our fiscal twenty-seven and twenty-eight budget, uh undoubtedly.

But this so these are this is a snapshot as to where we are right now uh in fiscal twenty-nine thirty, that net general fund impact would increase to a hundred and thirteen million, um, which is within our current projected surplus of four hundred and fifty-three million.

Um this project is not without significant risks.

Uh we've discussed the the risks uh at extensively in committee.

Uh there are a number of risks, the uh related to schedule.

Um there has been significant work that has happened with the Department of Water and Power to reduce uh the risks, but they still exist.

Uh it is absolutely critical that if this project is to proceed, that the city uh that the city uh hit its marks in addition to uh the developer hitting their marks.

Um there are approvals that are required uh if we are late in approvals, if we fail to perform as required by the contract, the city is on the hook for that.

Uh it could cause delays, it could jeopardize Olympic readiness, it could cause us to dip into the contingencies that we've set aside.

So I cannot stress that enough.

If if this project does move forward, um the city must uh be organized to uh hit all of its marks and to meet its obligations.

Um without without question, the greatest risk is the uh Olympic readiness.

Uh this project absolutely must be completed uh uh at least the first phase of this project must be completed uh well in advance of the 2028 games.

The current schedule has the project to be Olympic ready by uh by March thirty first.

Uh the exclusive uh the exclusive uh period for uh LA twenty eight to take control of the convention center, which is a venue, not only a venue for events, but it is also a venue for supporting events that will happen in crypto.com arena.

That is uh June 1st.

And so there is a very, very small margin for error on the schedule in order for this project to be Olympic ready before the Olympics.

The signage revenue risks, as I detailed previously, our initial report had projected a much much more uh robust uh revenue coming in from our digital signage program.

Uh we had an uh we had projected a 61 million dollars uh average uh for the digital signage program, which included two freeway-facing signs.

Uh there was an effort to secure an exemption from state approval uh in Sacramento and there was uh significant work put into seeking to securing that exemption.

Uh the resulting legislation uh would did not facilitate uh the exemption that we uh needed for the full revenue.

So we did need to revise our revenue down to allow for only on-site advertising on the freeway facing signs that reduced the average annual revenue by 23 million uh 690 million uh over 30 years.

If this project is to move forward, uh I would strongly recommend that uh that revenue uh be reexamined and our and we look at the uh opportunity for either a future exemption or resolving the issues, resolving the hurdles uh that would prevent the city from uh maximizing its revenue from the freeway facing signage.

Uh so when we're considering this project, um there is also a risk for those who are committed to see this project built, there is a significant risk in delay.

In February of 2020, uh this project had an estimated construction cost of 1.1 billion.

In November of 2023, it rose to 1.4 billion.

And the project is nearly, this is just the construction costs is nearly 2 billion dollars today.

These costs increases have been driven uh largely by inflation uh in labor and materials.

Um, and as the base costs increase, so do the city held contingencies.

These are costs that will continue to increase.

Delaying the project if you are committed to seeing this project built will not reverse the inflation in labor and steel.

Um, there is no delivery model that that lowers the cost of construction itself.

Um, in fact, I do just need to say, and I and I will uh uh conclude very shortly, uh Mr.

President, um, as we're talking about delivery models, um, this project has been discussed and before has been before this body multiple times uh over uh more than a more than a decade.

Um before I became CAO, the model that was being considered was a public-private partnership.

That public-private partnership would have financed not just the cost of construction, but the cost of operations, the cost of maintenance, um, everything would have been financed, and it would have been financed uh with private investment, with private equity.

That was a vastly, vastly more expensive model, dramatically more expensive uh than what you have before you, and that was uh that was a prerequisite to moving this project forward uh was moving away from that uh highly expensive, uh highly speculative model where the city would pre-pay for all of the risk.

Um so we we just need to keep that in mind uh as it relates to whether we do this project now or whether we consider this project in four years from now.

So that goes back to our our basic uh recommendations uh members and it we get to the decision point.

The city team has taken this as far as we can.

Uh we have worked to provide you the best possible information so that you can make a decision.

Is the expansion possible?

Yes, it is.

Um are there schedule risks?

Yes, there are scheduled risks.

Uh will it provide substantial economic benefits?

Yes.

Can we afford it?

Yes, but not without future trade-offs.

We will be committing funds not just in 2030, uh, but for 30 years after that, uh, to support this expansion.

So now it's the ultimate judgment call that only you can make.

Um we need to determine the future of the convention center today.

If you believe that this project is too costly and too risky, that the costs and risks outweigh the benefits, then you should terminate the project today and proceed with the minor improvements outlined in the budget and finance report.

If you're committed to this project and believe that we need to get it done, but are also concerned that it's too costly today, the solution to that problem is not to delay it for another four years.

Delay will exacerbate that problem, not solve it.

So if you're committed to the project and believe that the jobs and the economic benefits are worth the costs and the risks, then you should vote to approve the project and move forward today.

Uh thank you very much, Mr.

President.

I'll look for questions.

Alright, again, a reminder to hold your applause, and I think uh Mr.

McCosker has a clarifying point to what's in front of us.

Thank you very much, Mr.

President.

This is just a procedural point.

We do have item 15D, which is a motion uh by Harris Dawson, McCosker, Hutt, Price, Nazarian, seconded by Herado, which has a subsection one B with numbers, and based on the presentation we just heard, I believe I'm going to ask for, I will ask for a friendly amendment to one B to read approved total projects costs of up to and replace $2.62 billion for the existing $2.72 billion.

It goes on to read inclusive inclusive of up to $82.4 million for preconstruction costs, up to I'm gonna say $1.95 billion to replace $2.35 billion for design and construction, a developer fee of $35 million, and up to, and a point of clarification.

Will it read $533 million for city retain costs in lieu of $566?

It would be $553, yes.

$553 million to replace the $566.

I would ask for the makers of the motion uh to accept that as a friendly and the second or to accept that as a friendly.

Accept it as a friendly.

For who for Mr.

McCosker?

Yeah.

Council member.

That was actually the first thing that I was going to bring up.

Is there a reason why we switch from using uh period to commas?

Is that a typo?

Is that supposed to be million?

And I I was gonna ask that both for 15 D section B as well as today's agenda, making sure that all these numbers match.

Uh yes, uh thank you.

That is that is a typo that was uh intended to be a uh a period, not a uh not a comma.

Okay, and it's okay, so making sure.

Yes, all right.

And and uh we'll expect a second okay one more time.

I can second his amendment.

Okay, uh, and we'll uh accept that amendment is friendly unless any of the makers of the motion have an objection.

Uh uh members and uh staff of this city and folks who have joined us today and folks who are watching uh this conversation.

I want everybody to know you are watching in real life uh a council dig in deep and do its job.

Um this is a big decision, perhaps one of the biggest decisions that uh the city will make.

It is a decision that if it goes in one direction has at least 30-year implications on the budget and beyond.

Either way, this decision has an impact on our city for generations to come that Angelinos will feel long after all of us are gone.

I want to start by complimenting each and every member of this council, no matter where they stand on this issue.

Our job as council members is to look under the hood to kick the tires to examine, to question, to uh debate scenarios, and that has happened uh in spades, and I think everybody has uh done an amazing job asking the tough questions, interrogating the developers, interrogating the staff, interrogating each other, um, and uh it is exactly what democracy is supposed to look like.

Here in Los Angeles, we don't kick you off of television because you make bad jokes about us or you disagree with us.

This is the kind of debate that that we encourage.

Uh and uh in our society and in this city, uh, when we have tough questions, we have debates uh in public with each other, and and sometimes we raise our voices, sometimes we are very in passion, but all of that is driven by a love for the city and a commitment uh to its uh future.

Uh and I want to uh begin our uh discussion today, and I know it'll be a vigorous discussion.

I want to uh call on our our budget chair who just went through the process of being the tip of the spear and negotiating a very, very tough budget because we're in a very tough budget uh environment and has uh from the beginning been one of the main members of this council taking a hard heart look at this uh decision that's before us.

Uh I have an opinion about the decision.

Uh you know, I want to thank the folks at the West Side Current.

They uh published it for us uh earlier this year, but it I did not come to that opinion easily, or do not take um that decision very, very lightly.

I understand uh and appreciate that others may look at the same set of facts and come to a different conclusion.

There is plenty there.

There is plenty there to leave you at the end of it at another place.

And so uh with that, I hope uh that that frames our discussion today.

Um, and you know, I just want to say to our our to the members in the gallery, this is not an issue of angels and devils.

Uh this is not an issue of people who care about the city and people who don't.

This is a very, very tough question that all of these members have had to struggle with for uh many many years.

Frankly, I just anecdotally uh in my first 90 days in on this council, I sat in a committee and and heard uh Miguel Santana and Don Lu and other folks tell us that we were about to have a vote on the convention center.

That was 10 years ago that that happened.

Uh, and so today I hope that what we have is some finality with regard to this iteration of the discussion, and that uh after we're done, we continue with the business of uh of running uh this city.

And so with that, I want to uh begin our discussion by hearing from council member Yarostowski, our budget chair.

Uh thank you, Council President.

I have somewhat lengthy remarks, but I promise they'll be the only time I speak today.

Colleagues, we all want a stronger downtown.

We all want Los Angeles to host world-class events.

The convention center plays a really important role in that vision.

But the question before us today is not whether to invest in the convention center.

The question is whether we commit to a nearly $3 billion dollar expansion on terms that put our city's finances and our basic city services at risk for decades.

This expansion is unrealistic, it's unaffordable, and it's fiscally irresponsible.

It puts our city at severe risk, and I want to explain exactly how.

We spent a lot of time in committee trying to get all the facts on the table, and the facts that we were able to glean are clear.

This project is being forced into an Olympic driven deadline that is unrealistic on its face.

Over the next 910 days, crews would have to work six days a week, every week, with only 20 days afloat days and several more for bad weather and other contingencies.

That's approximately five weeks of slack in a hundred and thirty-week construction schedule.

Even the smallest disruption, supply chain delays, weather, labor shortages, or the city's own approval process, which we all know what that is, will push us off schedule.

The contract itself identifies 27 relief events, which are reasons for delay not covered by the contract and for which we as a city are financially responsible for cost increases.

Fifteen of those relief events hinge on the city meeting its own obligations in time.

This means that if and when DBS or BOBOE or DOT too slowly moves to issue a permit, or when DWP's work on the electrical piece interferes with the contractor's construction work, the liability falls squarely on us.

Taxpayers carry the cost of delay.

And the risks don't end there.

If the project slips past March of 2028, Olympic and Paralympic events already booked at the convention center will have to relocate.

LA 28's incremental additional costs of relocation and any costs associated with lost revenues from, say, decreased ticket revenues, that falls on the city.

At the same time, we're prepared to waste an additional 30 million dollars on a start-stop construction plan, clearing the site for the games and then resuming work later.

All of this is supposed to happen while DWP is still trying to design and deliver new power infrastructure, which will take DWP staff away from priorities like reconstruction of the Palisades, housing projects across all of our districts, and priority metro projects.

The schedule just does not work.

We are gambling billions of taxpayer dollars on a best case scenario that everyone in this chamber knows is highly unlikely to come to pass.

We can wish for it, but we know it's not gonna happen.

This is not careful planning, it's dangerous wishful thinking.

I haven't even mentioned cost.

The price has ballooned from 1.4 billion to 2.7 billion in less than two years.

Now we're hearing as of this morning that it might be 2.6 billion.

But that's important.

It tells you all you need to know about one of the main issues with this contract, which is that it's not a firm fixed-price contract.

This means that the cost we pay can rise, and I'm telling you, as a former land use lawyer, as a real estate lawyer, it's going to.

When you account for the life of the bonds, we're looking at a minimum of $5 billion in taxpayer money.

It's only going to go up.

As you've heard, it's an average of about 90 or 100 million a year from the general fund for the next three decades.

And that figure factors in all the revenue the project will generate.

That's our annual net general fund hit.

In the early years, it's closer to 160 million dollars.

That obligation is gonna eat up all projected general fund growth for the foreseeable future.

I am not making that up.

It comes directly from the CAO's report.

So what does that mean?

Colleagues, it means that when we want to accelerate the hiring of police officers or expand the fire department, there will be no money left to do it.

If we want to repair the sidewalks that are costing us more than a hundred million dollars a year in liability or build new bike lanes and walkable communities so that we're in compliance with HLA, there will be absolutely no money to do it.

There's no money now, but there certainly won't be.

When members want to start a public bank, restore funding for senior meals, pay for immigration defense, or hire more crossing guards to protect kids walking a school, there's not gonna be money for it.

If you think city services are bad now, and I think all of us would agree that they suck, and you thought maybe one day we would have funding to restore service, I have bad news.

It's going to get worse.

We aren't gonna be able to afford even the level of service we have right now, which is crap.

And it's not our city employees' fault, it's that we've been hollowing out sweeping vacancies for years.

We've been underinvesting in our city workforce who do the work of providing core city services.

Every new dollar of growth in our general fund will already be committed to paying for this project for years to come.

And that assumes growth.

We are assuming growth.

If we hit a recession or a slowdown, which we know is a high likelihood of happening, we're in even more trouble.

The plan depends on revenues that are shaky at best.

State legislation authorizing freeway signage made things worse, as Mr.

Zabo said.

There's no agreement with Caltrans, federal regulators or AEG may still block signage altogether, or even penalize the city for trying.

Without those revenues, the gaps between costs and revenues are only going to grow wider.

So even under the best case scenario, which is what we're seeing today, this project is going to consume every bit of financial flexibility we have.

And if revenues come up short or if costs escalate further, which I think that they will, the general fund takes the hit.

The cost of this project does not exist in a vacuum.

We are already starting next year, already with a $91 million structural deficit before we even see our first financial status report.

The budget cycle we just went through was not an aberration.

It is the new normal unless we get serious about our fiscal responsibility to the city and our constituents.

At Housing and Homelessness Committee Wednesday, we heard that the city faces a new $220 million gap in homelessness services for next year without new state dollars.

We are on the edge of a fiscal cliff just with regard to homelessness alone.

And remember, LA is also on the hook for Olympic overruns.

The first 270 million comes from the city, the next 270 million comes from the state, and then anything beyond that is ours again.

It's a blank check.

The convention center bill starts coming due the very same year we could be forced to absorb those Olympic overages.

And by taking on the debt that this project requires, we are in effect running up our credit card, limiting our ability to borrow those bills or any else we decide is worth investing in for decades.

We literally are talking about putting City Hall, the LAPD headquarters, and your local LAPD and LAFD stations up as collateral for this loan.

We just closed a billion-dollar gap, budget gap.

And to do so, this council made really tough trade-offs.

But we weren't the only ones.

Our city employees, including our sworn police officers, and a lot of civilians stepped up too.

They agreed to sacrifice to keep things running.

They accepted furloughs and unpaid days to protect services.

So how can we ask our workforce to take unpaid time and in the same breath claim we have enough money to spend at least $5 billion on an expansion we know we can't afford.

And here is the kicker.

Every single one of those labor agreements and those contracts is up for negotiation in 2028, the very year we start paying debt service on this project.

At the exact moment when our workers, our city workers, will be seeking raises and better benefits, the city will have locked itself into massive new obligations that squeeze out room for anything else.

What's more, we're facing ballot box measures that propose to end our gross receipts tax.

That's more than $800 million annually or nearly 10% of our general fund.

Another ballot measure could strip away the document transfer tax.

These are two of the seven major revenue categories in the city's budget.

You'll notice I haven't yet mentioned the Trump administration in part because we can't even fathom how bad the federal cuts are gonna be.

A yes vote will tie our hands financially for decades while our existing obligations are about to explode.

Colleagues, I've heard the arguments about the opportunity costs of inaction, and those are valid.

We should have done this 10 years ago.

We really should have.

And that's true.

But when you can't afford something, you don't buy it because it will be more expensive later.

You buy what you can afford.

We have to weigh the very real costs and risks that Mr.

Zabo outlined.

They're right in front of us.

They are not hypothetical, they are enormous.

They threaten our ability to deliver the most basic services for all of our constituents.

Most of our constituents don't even know that this is happening.

If they did, they'd probably be upset about it.

None of us wants to say no to downtown.

I don't.

I certainly don't.

But there's a difference between saying no to this expansion and saying yes to a smarter path.

That is what your budget and finance committee recommended on Tuesday.

Yes to upgrades and modernization.

Yes to addressing deferred maintenance, not minor changes, hundreds of millions of dollars of changes.

Yes to making the convention center functional and beautiful for the Olympic and Paralympic games.

And yes to expansion after 2028 through a competitive bid that allows us to manage costs, secure revenue, and deliver the project responsibly.

That's exactly what the budget and finance committee recommended.

This path would invest hundreds of millions of dollars in downtown right now.

It would protect the city's finances and it would preserve our ability to meet the needs of our neighborhoods, all the other needs of our neighborhoods and communities.

I've heard some questions about where this report comes from, the recommendation that we voted on three to two in budget, that it feels rushed and last minute.

I want to tell you exactly where it came from.

Back in April, 13 of us, 13 members of this body, voted in favor of a motion that asked for a value-engineered, less expensive version of this project.

We asked for a version of the project that quote brings the net general fund obligation as close to zero as possible.

That's what we asked for.

13 of us asked for that.

We didn't put restrictions on what that could be, what it would look like.

We just asked for what a version of this project looked like if it kept costs within a reasonable range of projected revenues.

We never got that, colleagues.

We never saw it.

It was never given to us as an option.

The CEO came back with a more expensive project with minimal value engineering.

I find that completely unacceptable.

Thirteen of us asked for it, we didn't get it, so I had to propose it on Tuesday.

This is a difficult decision, colleagues.

I recognize that.

This is again why your budget and finance committee sought to put this alternative modernization plan before us.

So we had a third option.

I think it's a real shame that we're not voting on that today.

I'm closing, I promise.

This has been hard, and I have the deepest respect for my colleagues and community members who are advocating passionately for this project.

I also recognize where the council is on this.

And I just want to close by saying that I, as much as all of you hope that this is a success.

I really do.

I mean it, truly.

And no matter what, we as a body are all in this together, and I will do everything in my power working with all of you to make sure that it is to find cost savings and keep things on track.

If I have to call the head of BOE or DWP myself to get a permit approved, I'll do it.

Because this thing has to succeed.

There is no other option.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Yarosovski.

Councilmember Rahman.

No?

Okay.

Councilmember Padilla, is this.

Are you still up here from before?

Okay, Councilmember Padia.

Um, I don't really know who who's gonna answer this, but here's my question.

The LA Times mentioned that this was gonna potentially keep the uh undergrounding utilities uh for the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail project to be delayed.

Um, can you please tell me if this is true?

And yeah, is this true?

How is this mitigated?

What's the plan?

Sure.

I'm gonna ask uh LADWP to uh address that.

Good morning, Council President, members of the committee, members of the council.

My name's Dave Hanson.

I'm the head of the power system for DWP.

With me today is Jason Hills, our director of Power Engineering, as well as Emil Abdel Shahid, our director for Power New Business.

In specific uh response to your undergrounding question, we do have a lot of undergrounding projects that are moving forward right now.

So, the bulk of the work that's related to the convention center.

For us, it's building a new network station as well as undergrounding.

I think we're all aware of what's going on in the palisades with undergrounding, that's new work to us.

It was in the budget, but it was for a few years from now.

So we had to escalate that so we could be able to address those issues now.

We do have the ability to hire contractors to do core work.

So the question that's been presented to us is: what is the risk to this?

If we do the undergrounding work for the convention center, it's going to put a strain on all of our resources.

We've been working closely with APC LA for them to support the underground construction portion of the I'm sorry, who is that?

ABC?

Who is that?

Uh APCLA is the contractor that uh the project manager for the convention center.

Uh Mr.

Stu, can you wave?

Yeah, okay.

Uh so they're gonna do the underground construction portion, and then we'll come back behind them and pull in the electrical cables.

So as long as they can commit to do that underground construction, and we're only on the hook for cables, we should be able to collaborate with our labor partners at IBEW Local 18 to put a contract in place to be able to support the work and minimize impact to other core projects.

Okay, so yeah, because this project is supposed to be done by 2031.

So you mentioned the Palisades.

I know we have some things that we want to do at the port, plus the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Project, and now this timeline attached to the convention center.

Um will all of this continue to be on timeline if we approve this convention center project today, the Palisades, the light rail, um, and even the port.

So, what we've been asked to identify as a potential risk, so it's very difficult to give you a firm answer.

Uh, I can tell you that anything that we do in addition to the projects that we have going right now prevent present additional risk.

Case in point, the Palisades.

We had a firm commitment with the MTA projects and the East San Fernando Rail as well as three other major projects with them, but we've had to prioritize the Palisades because it's a tragedy, and tragedies trump projects.

So we've had to figure out a way to be able to address everything.

So for us to take on the convention center, we have been able to figure out ways that we can do all of it, but it's going to take close collaboration with our labor partners.

I can't give you a firm answer on that because we have an NOC process we have to follow with local 18 and they're gonna have some requests.

But we have had internal meetings, uh, Mr.

Zabo and myself, so we will be meeting with local 18 very shortly to see what their asks are gonna be.

If their capacities are peaked, what is the plan B?

Who do you usually go to to fulfill um labor demands?

Because my understanding is the port, the Palisades is pressure is tragedy, and the port is uh grant-based pressure and fulfillment.

And I have spent my entire career after college making sure that the San Fernando Valley gets its fair share and a good project that they could be proud of on Van Ice Boulevard.

So my vote is very contingent on you mentioned that it almost kind of sounded like you're a little bit uh on the with our partners in labor.

You think you could reach agreements, but you did say if we can get a commitment from the contractor, can we get this contractor that this is not going to affect our other projects?

As far as the contractor commitment, I'll let uh Stu uh Marks uh from APCLA uh speak to that.

That's their contractor.

Can they come to the front?

Yes.

But for us, it's not so much the labor forces in the field that are the constraint, it's the engineering and drafting folks that we have that are civil servants.

It takes us about two years to train these folks and get them in place.

So, quite honestly, we should have increased the size of that training program years ago, but we didn't.

So we're doing it now.

What we're gonna have to put in place that we've never had before is a contract to be able to expand that design and drafting group.

Uh, we have been able to do that on some of our transmission and renewable projects, but we've never done it on in-town in-basin core work on the distribution side.

So that's where we'll have to engage with local 18 and get their buy-in.

What would be the next steps to make that happen?

What do you need from this council?

It's happening.

Because everyone's taking notes and everybody's gonna want that credit.

So I'm sure people are drafting motions already.

Understood.

So please tell us.

It's happening now.

So we we met uh, you know, this is a rush project, so there's a lot of stuff coming at us quickly.

Uh, and just the amount of changes that have taken place this week are uh mind-boggling.

So uh on Monday when we received the information, we did have a con a meeting with uh our partners at World Airports to see if we could jump on top of a piggyback contract that they have for a potential for engineer procurement and construct, but now it looks like we may only need an engineering contract, so we'll be looking at fast tracking that with city approvals.

Uh, we will be speaking with the city attorney's office so that we can try to get these things done as quickly as possible.

And I know we have the full support of the CIO's office.

Uh, Mr.

Zable and I have met on this specifically.

So it's happening now this week, and we'll get back to council with specific asks of what we would need to be able to get that done quickly.

Where's that going to happen in committee?

Uh well, the NOC process is a uh negotiation essentially between us and our labor partners at local 18.

It's notice of compliance is the NOC.

So anytime we look at contracting out what our labor partners deem as core work, we have to engage in a process back and forth.

We we make agreements.

Okay, we'll hire additional crews, we may bring on additional uh reporting locations.

They'll have some conditions.

We would have to offer existing civil servants normally appendix B 10% overtime for those folks that are already here as civil servants, in addition in return for them allowing us to contract it out.

I see the contractor.

Do you want to talk about your commitments before I go to my next question?

Yes, my name's Stuart Marks.

I'm the project executive of APCLA with a developer that'll be entering into the contract with the city.

I did want to thank Mr.

Hansen and his whole team for his collaboration over the past few months and particularly over the last last uh week.

Um we we have reached a point where we are committed to delivering the the three circuits in particular that LADWP have asked for us uh in order to meet those timetables without uh jeopardizing their other work commitments.

We've committed to do that with the city uh with the help and assistance of the CIO's office Gary Lee Moore and certain council members who've been instrumental in making that happen, okay.

Well, thank you for that.

Um I guess this is back to the CAO.

Um can you please elaborate on the, you know, based on your presentations?

I know you brought up a lot of the assumed revenues, but what I didn't see is when these assumed revenue assumed revenues are going to take place.

So when is and I can see that you we're gonna start paying this off closer to um 2050, so to speak, about when does the assumed revenue kick in?

And what is it from?

Is it from the signs?

Is it from the conventions?

Um is it from I don't know, local restaurants that we know we're gonna also incorporate?

Where does it come in?

Sure.

So uh the structure of financing this project requires that all of the revenue that is generated by the convention center after the expansion would be dedicated.

Uh we would it would be captured as general fund revenue that we would dedicate to paying the debt service.

Our schedule uh that we have in front of you assumes that we would uh start realizing revenue after the convention center uh project is complete.

That would be in fiscal uh 29.

So in 2029, uh we're assuming 37 million dollars in revenue the following year it would increase to 67 million the the year after that it would increase to 78 million and it would increase over time.

Yeah, but what's bringing that in?

Is it because by then we would have the signage?

Is it because by then we would have okay?

Maybe we do want to come it no.

Yeah, no, it's it's so so there are three sources of revenue.

It's from events that the convention center puts on.

Uh, it's signage, the the signage program, and it's parking.

Those are the three main sources of revenue from the convention center.

In addition to that, uh, we are making uh assumptions on net new tax revenue that would be generated based on the economic activity that the expansion would produce.

Is that citywide?

Citywide, yes.

So there's this assumption that people will come to a convention and then it trickles out into the rest of the city.

The assumption is that there will be additional spending related to the additional events and the larger events, additional hotel room night stays, and those activities generate general fund revenue that we would otherwise not see but for the expansion.

Okay, thank you for that.

Another question.

Um, how do we plan to keep the public updated on spending revenue and most importantly, how are we gonna stay on top of proof of local hire?

Um, yeah, I can talk about local hire.

I am gonna ask everyone to please.

This is important.

We could quiet it down.

Yes.

Yeah.

The project is subject to the Los Angeles uh project labor agreement.

We've agreed to that, and so is our contractor.

There are specific provisions in the contract around local hiring uh inclusion uh business inclusion plan is is applicable to the project that's all being uh agreed with BCA, and it's part of that agreement.

There are strict monitoring and reporting requirements to make sure that all of our obligations are fulfilled.

Okay, but I guess my question is how are we the public going to be uh on top of knowing that these things are fulfilled?

Like, do you have a dashboard?

Is there gonna be a website where you actually show the percentage of folks that are being hired locally and how it really like you have a lot of institutional support, more institutional support than you have constituent support?

But if there's this assumption that through the institutional support, there's a lot of constituent-based supports because they're member-based.

So, in order for me to go back to my constituents, it's why it was important for me to know about what's gonna happen to Van Ice Boulevard, but I also need to know how do I also showcase to my constituents that there's a way for them to feel the impact and know that the impact also hits them, and that's related to how are we gonna have proof that you're actually hiring in Los Angeles.

There will be full transparency on all of the reports tracking our performance and any uh they'll all be made public, and if there's any anything further that's required in that regard, we're certainly happy to take that on.

Okay, and I did have another question in terms of the uh last uh CAO report.

I noticed that the graph only goes up to 2035.

Is there any way that we can get this to go up to 2055?

Uh the one that shows how much of our our debt is going to be uh utilized for this.

It goes, I see 2035 3.64.

You know which one I'm talking about?

Uh yes.

Is there a reason why we didn't just go all the way to 55 to really show the scope of the generational impact this is gonna do?

We yes, we we can certainly we can certainly provide those extended projections, yes.

Okay, yeah, I and then I'm done with my questions.

This is more of a statement.

Council colleagues, I want everyone to really understand, you know.

For we are about to double, double our debt as a city.

We've been responsible, we've done all these creative things, you know, to to be uh fiscally sound, but let's call it what it is.

We're about to take a big risk and double our debt for one project.

One project, and it's not necessarily a project that is going to reduce um our liabilities, which is the most pathetic and preventable part of our expenditures, but instead we are really taking a risk on assumed revenues, a big risk on assumed revenues without really doing anything to address liabilities.

So, with that, I just want to say this to three council offices, to the current leaders and the future potential leaders of CD 9, 14, and one.

While you guys are the ones who border this, and I have my own personal opinions about the previous group who redistricted this to make three different council members be in charge of downtown, um it's all gonna fall on us.

This doubling of the debt.

So at least on my behalf, as much as I try to be respectful to not intervene in other council offices' land use, this is different.

Because you are doubling the debt for all of us.

So do not be surprised, is after what happens today, this entire council feels like we are entitled to also immerse ourselves in the conversations of how this impacts land use jobs, as well as local support.

I have been very honest with everyone who is both in the crowd today and on this council that I don't want a convention center that is going to be strictly focused on trying to bring in tourists, but that we also need to do something related to creating a space for locals, a place where locals could come and enjoy their convention and actually uh enjoy downtown.

So I just wanted to put that out there.

Because we are all Angelinos are going to be impacted by that doubling of this debt.

No further questions.

Councilmember Park.

Thank you, Council President.

The road here has not been easy, and I certainly have not been shy about sharing my frustrations with the process and the pressures that have led us here.

I also want to take a moment and commend our budget chair for her very diligent research and her presentation of the concerns that we frankly all should share.

We should today, as a body, be talking about an alternative plan.

We should be talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in immediate investment to get this convention setter ready for the Olympics, and we should be talking about the possibility, including authorizing today hundreds of millions of dollars in future MICLA obligations to fund a real project, a big project, an important transformative project after the 2028 Olympics.

So I have a few questions, and I'd like to start with DWP.

So back in 2023, I picked this project sitting dead on a shelf, up and deciding to try to breed some life back into it.

And at that time, I ordered the developer and our city partners to get into a room and bring us something real.

A real project with a real timeline and a real budget.

So I'm curious to know from DWP, why is it only now, after all this time, that we are hearing about these concerns and additional hundreds of millions of dollars of costs that could have and should have been part of our discussions long ago.

Can you explain to me the delay?

Yes, ma'am.

Uh let me advance to a slide where we talk about budget.

So the contractor APCLA houses the budget, and they have two different buckets of money that are going to address the relocations and the network station, and then for the circuit relocation.

There's a portion of their buckets that they house under their budget that is work that we perform.

So as far as the detail that we've provided back in April, we've essentially said for the items that we were asked to provide location or uh estimates at that time, we were at roughly 30 million based on the network station and some relocations we had to do on PICO.

We knew there were still other work, but we didn't have enough information at that time, so we didn't provide uh any sort of cost estimate.

So 30 million was what we supplied back in April of just this year.

Uh, since then, in uh August, because the project is picking up speed, and there was uh definitely an urgency.

More and more information was starting to get fleshed out.

So we provided the estimate of roughly 96 million for our costs, and that's related to us pulling in the cable, building the network station, and doing anything related to moving our equipment so that they could build that portion of the convention center that goes across PICO.

Out of that 96 million being our cost, uh there's also other work that the developer needed to do to be able to build the network station.

So I believe there was a 166 million dollar figure that was making it around and being discussed, but that was never our cost.

Uh of that 166, we were 51 million of that, and then the rest of it was developer costs and overheads and construction charges.

So only since April of this year have the specifics begun to be fleshed out.

I believe there was a pause in February.

We were told to pause the project, if I'm remembering correctly, and we didn't resume that until the end of April or May.

So we did lose about three, maybe three and a half months of fleshing out details.

So, really, to your point, it's only been since August that we're starting to identify what the major risks are.

I believe moving forward, going back to 2023 and even as back as uh October of 24, it was all theoretical, and when it's theoretical, we throw loose numbers around and things don't start to firm themselves up until we have more detail.

Thank you for that.

But those loose numbers don't resemble anything near what the actual numbers are, but I do want to take a moment to pause and acknowledge I know how busy you all were in February and beyond.

But this relates to another issue that I am struggling a bit with, and that is the inconsistent information that we're getting.

Um, just today, we've heard our CAO or CAO say DWP plans to resolve certain issues in the future.

I've heard you say this week, next week, in the future, we will be working to address these challenges.

You know, when this at the end of August, it was reported that the Palisades recovery efforts were not going to be impacted by this, but then at the budget and finance committee hearing, it was revealed that 18 designers might need to be moved off of projects like the Palisades.

Yesterday, DWP committed to my team that moving forward on the convention center will not impact the Pacific Palisades.

So I need a clear answer.

Yes, it will or no, it won't.

Uh understood.

We did meet with your staff yesterday, and as much as we don't like to throw around the C-word because people uh can use it against us, uh, we did give a commitment to your office that tragedy trumps projects as we reload reallocate our designers and drafters from other projects to support the convention center rebuild, those folks will not come from the Palisades rebuild as it is a tragedy and one of our top priorities.

Thank you, and I appreciate the incredible extraordinary work that DWP has done and I know will continue to do in the Palisades and on all of our projects.

Mr.

Zabo, uh I have heard your remarks, and I don't necessarily disagree with you that deferring the project is gonna make it less expensive, it's only going to cost more.

But I want to point out a couple of things that cause me.

Give me some pause on this.

Under the current project, we are going to be paying workers over time and double time to get this done on the schedule.

We've seen interest rates recently dropping, and so I wonder is there some balance potentially?

And I wonder, because we have not had an opportunity to discuss this as a council, and it hasn't come up in our committees.

How does the economic uncertainty swirling around the war of attrition at the ballot box impact our ability to make decisions about this?

Because I haven't heard I haven't heard any analysis from you on any of that, and we've never even talked about it.

And by the economic uncertainty, you're talking about the risk to our grocery seats tax.

I'm talking about that.

I'm talking about minimum wage ordinances, I'm talking about that entire hot mess that could have very significant impacts on our budget.

So it's two-part question.

How does that impact things?

And then given that we are currently under the current project, we're gonna be paying extra to do it fast.

Are we actually possibly gonna save money if we were to launch the major project after the Olympics when we don't have to pay overtime to get it done?

So, a couple a couple of things on that.

On the uh revenue uncertainty and overall economic uh uncertainty, uh certainly the issue around the gross receipts tax uh, if that were to pass, uh I mean that that without question provides tremendous risk.

It would um it would destroy the city's uh current financial picture far beyond our capacity to cover the the debt service.

I mean, we would certainly if we enter into this uh agreement and we issue the debt, we will pay the debt service over anything else.

We have our pension obligations and we have our debt service, we will pay our debt service.

Uh the consequences of the grocery seats tax measure would trigger uh dramatic beyond draconian uh reductions to city services.

Uh that's it's nearly a billion dollars that would take that would be taken out of our budget that exists that that um uh whether we do this project or not, that risk uh exists.

Um as it relates to this current project, um, and the and the reason that um my office has come to the recommendation of a choose a path now approach, which is which is if we're going to do this, do it now, or make the decision not to do it and do other things with those resources, is that we've been in this process and we have expended uh tens of millions of dollars to for the pre-construction work for the site investigation for the design, which of course we own, so could the project be done at a lower cost, potentially if it was a different project, but we have already invested uh 54 million dollars to produce the plans and the pre-construction work and the design for this project.

So, in order to take advantage of uh the investment that we've already made, we would need to build this project if we want to expand the convention center.

And what I'm saying is that if you take the this project as designed four years later, uh, we would absolutely expect to see construction cost increases that would far, far exceed, exponentially exceed the costs that are in the plan to ensure Olympic readiness.

All right, Ms.

Council President, I I do have some comments that I'd like to make now, all right.

Okay, well, colleagues, thank you with that, and um, with that additional clarity, I appreciate you all being here.

Uh, when I took office at the end of 2022, uh, our tourist destinations were barely holding on by a thread, still struggling from the lingering pandemic, shuttered businesses lined our world famous boardwalk, Hollywood was crumbling, and development in downtown Los Angeles had come to a screeching halt.

Our skyline dominated by the skeletons of half-finished towers.

Our city was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, and investors and developers were fleeing from the LA market, but our convention center, along our city's signature venue, a place where the world comes together for business and culture and innovation and opportunity, continued to hold its own despite those distressing economic challenges.

We all know that the convention center is a cornerstone of our tourism economy, a gateway for international visitors and a driver of thousands of local jobs.

But we also know it hasn't kept up with the demands of a competitive global marketplace.

Every year we lose tens of millions of dollars in economic opportunity to other cities with better facilities, and that means our hotels and our restaurants and our local businesses suffer, and so does our city's general fund as those tax revenues diminish.

As chair of trade travel and tourism, I wanted to change that.

I wanted to clean up our city, get us ready for the Olympics, and start driving investment back into Los Angeles.

I knew that investing in us, in our local jobs, in our local business community, and in our own city's amenities and assets would be a big step in the right direction.

And in my IATSI household, I can confirm from personal experience how badly needed the jobs are.

So in 2023, I launched this effort to modernize our convention center.

I want to show the world that investing, that LA is investing in LA, and that they should too.

I want to support our mayor's vision for this project, and I want to see downtown LA thriving because if it does, the rest of our city has a better chance to thrive too.

Colleagues, no project is ever without risk, and this project has plenty.

My support today is not a blank check, though.

And I know some others on this council will too.

So let me be clear, especially to those of you at the table.

I don't want to hear about delays or labor disputes, and I don't want to see finger pointing between the city and the developer, period.

If we are going to do this, I expect nothing but full throttled participation and cooperation from every entity involved.

And while I have deep reservations about the process that led us here, and I have very serious concerns about the economic climate, I have always fundamentally believed in this mission, and I still do today.

The jobs and economic opportunities this investment will create are real.

It will make our laborers more valuable, and it focuses spending on real things that make LA really cool.

This project will be transformative for downtown, and I truly believe the catalyst for future investment and redevelopment.

We need to bring our city back to life, and with world events looming, we don't have time to wait.

So let's uplift our city, our workforce, our business community, and let's invest in making LA the modern world class city that it should be.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Council.

Thank you, Councilmember Park.

Councilmember Roman.

Um, thank you so much.

And I've had the opportunity to follow this issue for a number of months, and listened closely to the hearings and the detailed discussion.

I want to thank all of my colleagues, everyone who's at the table, the departments, as well as the public for engaging so deeply in this conversation.

I will say, you know, I am the chair of the housing and homelessness committee, and over the last few months, especially since this new federal administration, but also because of changes in state funding allocations for local responses to housing and homelessness.

I have been deeply alarmed by some of the numbers that I'm seeing in terms of the amount of funding that our region is going to lose and our city is going to lose, to keep people who are already housed, that we struggled to house, that we spent a lot of money putting into shelters and into housing, and finally turned around for the first time over the last two years trend that was resulting in sharp increases in homelessness.

For the first time over the last two years, we've actually seen significant decreases in the numbers of people living on the streets of Los Angeles.

But all of that may be set to change, and it's scary to me.

We have 3,000 people who are currently on time-limited subsidy slots, who can no longer continue on those slots because of funding cuts, who need an approximate 70 million dollars to keep them in housing, an obligation that will taper off a bit, but will still be needed years into the future.

We have 3,000 people just in the city of Los Angeles in emergency housing vouchers, which the federal government is no longer funding, and we will need 190 million dollars to keep them in housing through 2030.

We have a gap in meeting our court-ordered obligations for shelter that is 50 million dollars next year and continues well into the future, and a continuing cost for maintaining our existing investments in shelter, that is an annual obligation of hundreds of millions of dollars, which we've funded so far largely from state allocations, HAP allocations.

Those have been cut and are uncertain into the future, and with a new governor, we have no idea whether those dollars will come back.

Based on language released by HUD just last week, it is likely that there will be a hundred and eighty million dollar funding gap from HUD for funding thousands of permanent supportive housing units that union labor built, by the way, but we don't have the money potentially to fund the vouchers needed to keep those people in their housing.

I'm really scared about the future, and I'm really scared about the enormous, I mean, really flabbergasting uh numbers that I see in front of you, the gaps that we have ahead.

These are people that we have already housed.

We will need this money just to keep them in housing.

This is not addressing future homelessness in the city.

All of which this deal in front of us potentially prevents us from addressing.

And what I fear is that we're gonna have a beautiful new convention center surrounded by far more homelessness than we have today, which will drive away tourists, which will prevent people from coming here and holding their events here.

All of this is happening at a time of incredible uncertainty, and I just want to remind everybody, I know we've heard it, but I want to remind everyone again.

The last two FSRs have shown significant softening in our revenue projections.

We have enormous liability risk that has not gone away.

We can expect to see settlement payouts into the future, partly because of basic services that we have not invested in, our crumbling sidewalks are leading to enormous liability payments.

And uh when our federal international diplomatic posture and our federal visa policies could result in even fewer tourists coming, a huge source of our local revenues, when tariffs could increase costs for this project, some of which we are on the hook for, when we are likely to have on the ballot something that will take away 800 million dollars of general fund revenues when there's a statewide ballot measure that could take out ULA, which is our source for funding for rental relief and rental support in an affordable housing crisis, but not just ULA, could take away our ability to impose any transfer taxes at all.

This is a complicated project.

This is an interdepartmental effort.

And what I've seen in all this uncertainty is that I don't see certainty from inside the building either.

We should have had questions from DWP that were much clearer in the two budget and finance hearings that we had already.

We should have had those answers months ago.

We should have had clarity on who was driving forward the interdepartmental jurisdictional coordination that we needed to get to this moment to have this conversation that we're having today.

But we haven't had that.

And even if we say today, let's find who that coordinator is, it will take us time to find that person, and I don't know where in the city that person is.

I don't know where in the public that person is.

And I just want to say this has happened at a time when we've had really significant delays for really basic projects in my district.

Really basic, because there is no departmental capacity.

Where is it going to come from?

How are we going to do the enormous tasks that are asked of us by this?

The cost of big investments in Los Angeles does not scare me.

I dream big for the city.

I cheer big investments on, whether it's public housing built by union labor, whether it's a new rail line connecting the valley and the city through the uh and the central city through the Sepulveda Pass, also built by Union Labor.

I believe in downtown LA.

I want to invest in a new convention center, but we do have an opportunity.

We have an opportunity today to pause to make sure we understand these risks, to understand the context in which we're operating.

This is an unprecedented federal environment that we're operating in that is cutting unprecedented amount of dollars from our local investments.

I'm telling you, permanent supportive housing vouchers are gone.

Section 8 vouchers could be gone.

These are the bedrocks of federal funding for our housing and homelessness system for years.

These could be gone.

Let's take a moment to ensure that the project that we're investing in for downtown LA, which I 100% believe in and support, ensures our collective success as a city.

I don't believe we're doing that today, and I cannot support that as we move forward.

It is just not fiscally responsible.

It is not the right thing to do for Los Angeles.

It is not the right thing to do for residents of Los Angeles, especially the most vulnerable.

I also wanted to say that I sincerely appreciate all the voices that we've heard from today, but in my district, I have not heard from a single constituent of Council District 4 who has asked me to support this project.

But in the time that we were having these discussions, I did receive a number of emails about failing city services and from constituents who are dealing with eviction notices and job loss and desperately seeking the city's help to stay afloat.

Moving ahead with this project, both because of the enormous fiscal resources that we'll be committing to it and the departmental resources that we're going to be committing to it.

I fear that to all of my constituents, I will not be able to offer that help and support.

I hope that's not the case, but I fear that it is based on what I'm seeing today.

I want to dream big for LA.

I think there is a project that we can put together that accounts for our existing capacity, that accounts for the money that we're likely to get, and that accounts for the incredible losses that our region is sure to face over these next few years.

This is not it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Padilla.

I was fast, I thought more people would talk, but okay.

There's gonna be plenty of talking.

We're good.

Yes.

So then don't I go second after everyone's talk?

I'm taking it in the order I got it.

Okay.

Um, well, I want to make a motion that the CAO and the CLA give us quarterly reports to track the local hire compliance and to make sure that they in the event of a labor shortage, our contractor will use the hiring hall agreement to supplement the workforce.

Can I get a second?

Second by Councilmember Park, Councilmember Hernandez, all right.

Councilmember Price.

Thank you, Ms.

President, colleagues.

Uh, today we have a project before us.

It's been over a decade in the makings.

The LA Convention Center Modernization and Expansion Project.

This is my first day as a representative of the Nunai.

I've worked uh with that with many of you in here towards uh making this project a reality.

And 12 years later, uh we finally have a vote before us.

Now that wouldn't have been possible without the work of so many people, and I want to thank everyone, first of all, who's here today who came out to show their support and who've expressed concerns uh without this wrong support of labor and the downtown community, this vote would not be possible.

I also want to thank our city departments for your tireless work on this project, especially the CAO, the CLA.

And to my council colleagues, especially the council president, uh who's bringing this motion forward, uh, and also the very thoughtful comments from our budget chair.

I appreciated her perspective and those of my colleagues as well.

We've talked about this project for years.

We've done the plans, we've done the studies, but there have always been excuses for not moving forward.

In the time we've debated this project, of course, the costs have continued to increase.

And in the meantime, uh conventions that should have come here, have gone elsewhere, jobs that should have been created here, have sipped away.

And every year we stall, LA loses.

We lose revenue, we lose opportunity, and we lose our place as a city that can get things done.

Well, folks, I don't think we can afford to wait another decade.

We just can't.

Yes, we have to be careful with taxpayer dollars.

But the truth is, doing nothing is the most expensive choice of all.

Inaction has a price, and we're paying it every single day.

LA deserves better.

Our workers deserve better, our businesses deserve better, our tourism industry deserves better.

And our future depends on us doing better.

We've studied, we've debated, and we've delayed.

But it's time to move forward and to move from talk to action.

So I urge you and I vote today on the amending motions for us to move this project forward and to finally create a 21st century world-class convention center that our city so richly deserves.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Councilmember Hernandez.

Colleagues, I've always said I'm a believer in long-term solutions and vision.

So much of what we fight for, whether it's building affordable housing, expanding unarmed price response, investing in youth, or strengthening tenant protections, all of it takes years to bear fruit.

And please don't praise me when I say this.

Today I'm voting yes on the convention center expansion because I believe Los Angeles deserves to bet on itself.

Please, no, I'm not sure.

Please, no.

Please, folks.

This was a very this is an incredibly difficult vote.

And I don't say that for praise, I say that.

So you know where I stand.

This is probably one of the top three most difficult votes I've taken as a council member.

And I don't take it lightly.

I'm not looking for praise.

For too long, we've looked at our city's future with cynicism.

We say it's too expensive, it's too complicated or too late.

Let me tell you how many times as a council member we've had to clean up the work of the dereliction of duty that has happened here in City Hall because they have not taken action.

So yes, I'm pissed.

Because we always have to do this.

We've been having to clean up messages for a long time.

But when we choose optimism and long-term solutions-oriented thinking, we unlock what's possible.

And let me be crystal clear.

I expect us and our labor partners to bring this same optimism and fervor to other people and other parts of our city.

If this council can rally behind boldness for this project, then I expect us to bring that same energy to protecting city workers, working families, and all communities in the city of Los Angeles.

I will not allow for the convention to be a world-class convention center while the rest of the city looks like Gotham City.

I will not allow it.

Fast city services, clean streets, safe sidewalks, working street lights.

We cannot afford billion dollar ambitions for business interests while leaving people waiting a year for a street light to get fixed.

So, yes, I'm betting on this project today, but I will told I will hold every department, every leader, and every budget cycle accountable to making sure the rest of LA is not left behind because we do that year after year.

It takes us 15 years to treat a tree in this city.

The industry standard is five years.

We didn't get here by accident.

We did it.

We're here because we have not invested in those things.

And investing in that project means that we will have difficult decisions ahead of us.

But the hope that I have, and the reason why I'm voting yes, is because I know that there are people around this horseshoe who are incredibly smart, diligent, solutions oriented, that will do the work to find new money and new revenue.

Because we can't keep messing with the same general fund revenue.

It goes up and down, it doesn't grow, and we will do the work under your leadership, Councilmember Yurosowski.

I know that we will find new money.

And it will be OPM, other people's money, because we can't keep putting this on the back of our constituents.

And that's why I fought so hard in last budget cycle and best believe I will bring that same energy year after year because I will not let us sacrifice our city workers and our city services.

This project is not without risk, but I believe the cost of doing nothing is greater.

This is a generational investment.

The decisions that we make today will shape the city.

Our kids will inherit.

And I don't want us to be remembered as a council that didn't make the investment into our city.

I don't want us to be the council known as not doing the work because we have been doing the work and cleaning up the dereliction of duty that has been going on here for years.

I'm voting yes because I believe in the future of Los Angeles.

But colleagues, if we can move mountains for this, then we better not lose our nerve when it comes to housing, tenant protections, city services, city workers, immigrant communities that are being kidnapped right now, and the departments and neighborhoods that have been waiting decades for investment.

Boldness cannot be selective.

It has to be for everyone in Los Angeles, not just for one interest.

You better believe our intent to hold us to the same standard.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rakoska request.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I want to thank you for your words at the beginning of this discussion because this is how democracy happens.

I think I've said a few times when we're in the middle of a hot debate, that man, I love a great debate, and this is the best.

Councilmember Yaroslavski, I so respect every single word you said.

I understand every risk you've described.

I appreciate everything you've brought to this discussion.

I remain on the other side, but my deep and abiding respect for you and my commitment to work with you in budget and finance as we move forward is if you are willing to accept it, is unconditional, is unconditional.

Councilmember Park, your leadership on tourism and your commitment to tourism and the tough decision and words you gave today just show how committed you are to your community, and your community includes the wider community of the entire city.

I think everything you said, I look forward to supporting your leadership on trade and tourism.

Councilmember Padilla, you were right to call out this is an important moment.

We are at two percent on our budget, our our two percent of our budget is committed to our debt, and we are doubling that to four percent.

We have a and that's important to call out, and it's important that we stay on top of that.

We do have a very conservative appropriately conservative limit of six percent, and so we have headroom, but we can't pretend like, you know, we can't be a bunch of drunken sailors and pretend like we can do this again.

It's gonna be 30 years of buying this, buying this down.

Um councilmember Hernandez, I even hesitated to speak after hearing everything you said, and I am sorry that I take away from the power of your words by standing up here now.

And I think everyone in this room, and everyone on this council needs to be committed to the clarion call that you just gave.

And I appreciate that very much.

I do want to make a couple of very small, but I think important points.

We do have uh 15B, excuse me, 15 D in front of us.

And one of the things that 15D does, besides correct the numbers and call for approval of the project, it does have an instruction uh for the city project executive or project manager.

And I agree with you, Commissioner Rahman, that everything takes time.

And this is a hell of a time for us to get around to doing this.

But we do do this, and we need to move quickly, and we need to move expeditiously.

It does call for a weekly written or oral update to both the mayor's office and the council office, ensuring full transparency.

Um I appreciate Councilmember Padilla that you called out very expressly, the local hire.

I think that's critically important, and I think this is also, and I'm gonna support your amendment, but I think this is also an opportunity for us on a weekly basis to check in on how it's going and make sure people understand.

And this can't be one of these moments where we say, hey, check in with us and keep the council advised, and then six months later we find out that we're behind schedule or over budget.

I think that this discussion tells us that everyone is going to be laser focused on it.

So again, I just thank everybody for their insightful comments for their intellectual integrity in this conversation, and I'm going to urge that we respect every single comment that was made by every single person because there is not a single person around this horseshoe that doesn't have the best interests of the community, which includes labor, which includes business, which includes the future, which includes folks that are not that don't make it to the table because they're underrepresented, and with that, Mr.

President, I'm just gonna call the question.

Thank you, Mr.

Nazarian.

Now the question has been called.

Uh I think Mr.

McCoskey, you it inspired a couple more people to push their buttons to speak.

So I'm gonna call on those folks and then we'll go to uh go to a vote.

Mr.

Nazarian.

Thank you, Council President.

I very much appreciate everything Councilmember McCosker said.

In fact, I was writing down notes so that I could address or attempt to address in all humility some of the concerns.

Uh, but he did a phenomenal job.

I was also waiting for Mr.

Lee to speak before I spoke because I so appreciate the fact that he took time away from a major life milestone event to be here today.

That's how important this was, and I appreciate that.

Um, you actually said it very well when you framed it.

This is a critically important decision that we're making, and thank you for setting that right tone.

Um colleagues, I wrote down two pages of notes that I was gonna read.

So I'll condense it to this.

I came in here knowing that I'm gonna support this because I want to double down on the future of Los Angeles.

Think of the investment you're making, whether it's buying a home or it's investing in a business, you have trepidation, you have fear, you have concern, you have no idea how you're going to make that big investment, but you know you're gonna finance it over the years, and you know that over the course of the next 30 years, there's gonna be ups and downs, there's gonna be challenges, but you invest in yourself because you know you're gonna do better over time and be able to continue paying down that debt, maybe even before 30 years are up.

If we're not here to believe in ourselves, who's gonna believe in us?

If we don't invest in ourselves today, how are we gonna be able to go and ask the major investors around the world to come in and invest in us?

Others want to see us invest in ourselves so that they follow suit.

There's a money multiplier effect.

There's the labor-to-business ecosystem, and there's the reinvesting of ourselves in difficult times.

You look at our country's history, whether it was civil war, right after that reconstruction era, first world war, the Great Depression.

Every single time our our country has faced devastating times.

We've followed up by doubling down on ourselves, not crawling back into a dark space.

So I'm not gonna read the rest of these notes because it's at this point foregone conclusion, it seems from everyone's comment, but I very much appreciate the humility in everyone's voice, and uh I I look forward to moving forward with this project.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember, and then we'll start calling votes.

Thank you, Council President, colleagues.

I know today this is a real difficult choice for a lot of us.

And I hear a lot of what all of our colleagues have to say about the concerns and the risks, and I too go into this with open eyes, uh, but also ones that are very, very critical, but at the same time trying to be hopeful.

Our city has faced a series of difficult decisions and circumstances this past year, but with this convention center, we must take bold action and invest in projects that don't just cost money, but actually make us money because projects that strengthen our economy, lift up working families, and build strong communities that Angelinos deserve because behind this project are people, people we see every day, some of whom are right here with us today.

The hotel housekeeper who wants to provide stability for their family, the carpenter who helped build the city, the small business owner who keeps their dream alive while serving their community.

You know, I'm it's not lost on me that the convention center is an asset that directly benefits some council districts over others.

I hear that.

But colleagues, I'm committed to making sure that this project is a success, and the decision before us is not unlike any other decision that other cities take on.

Other cities that are smaller, their whole economy revolves around the mall, the um the mall in their town, what is it, the college that's in their town, or even a certain industry.

But here in Los Angeles, we have the luxury of not relying on a single industry because we have a whole host of them.

Silicon Beach, tourism, Hollywood.

You know, we are union town.

But the truth of the matter is those industries are struggling, and like any other city, we need an asset that we can have to anchor our economy, and at the end of the day, our budget, our fiscal problems, our financial problems at the city aren't just about spending, which we're trying to curb and fix and make sure there's accountability of certain departments that are bleeding us dry.

And I count on the leadership of our budget and finance committee to make sure that we continue to curb the spending that is needless in the city and draining us.

But at the same time, if you don't have enough money coming through the door, it doesn't matter how much spending you curb, you have nothing.

And so I think an investment in the convention center helps us to revive uh revive our economy and fix our revenue problem, and I'll be happy to lead and work with council member Yarislavsi, Council Member Hernandez to think of uh other revenue generation options that the conventure center can lead to and that our city can start doing so that we actually have enough income to make sure we have the city services throughout the city.

This project, is one that's complicated and has a lot of stakeholder support.

And for me, it's not just labor, it's not just business, it's also a lot of my constituents.

And like many of you, I've gotten emails, texts, calls, DMs every single day since spring, about how this is super necessary, and I've kicked the tires with them.

And at the end of the day, I'm voting with my constituents because I do believe in downtown.

And a strong downtown with its revenues lower than the expected 30% because of these struggling industries, needs this anchor in our communities to make sure we can rise again and rise to the occasion.

And so, colleagues, I'm asking for an I vote on this project because it's about lifting up the entire city, and if we want a balanced budget in a thriving city, we need to invest.

The 30-year mortgage that people buy with the house, they don't have the cash up front.

They put a down payment and a dream and stability of a good union job to make sure that they get to the 30 years.

And you know, and at the end of those 30 years, what happens?

I know what happened.

I became a council member, and there was a $20,000 bill for the roof of our house, which I didn't pay for.

I mean, I didn't pay for that house, and now the foundation needs to be fixed.

And guess what I have to do?

I have to finance it again to maintain it to make it better for the next generations behind us.

And I believe that this is what our responsibility is, and the time is now, and that's the future we can build if we're willing to invest in it.

And so that's why I'm voting yes on the convention center.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Uh, Madam Clerk, what is before us?

Mr.

I'm sorry, Mr.

Lee.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I'll make this short.

I just want to say, Councilman is your comments and I appreciate that.

Uh you know, my family, they understand the job that that I that I do.

Uh well, most of most of my family.

Um I know that everyone here around this horseshoe was struggling with this project.

I, along with uh all of you have been weighing the pros and cons of what we are about to invest in, and take a look down the road.

I've said before, we have an opportunity in the city to highlight the city with the World Cup, the Olympics where we will be not on national stage, we will be on a worldwide stage, and this is our opportunity to make this investment and show the world when they come to visit Los Angeles that Los Angeles is a city that they want to visit when they go back home and tell people that this is a city that they want to tell other people to come visit.

So, this is an investment that I know is hard for a lot of people, and I wanted to be here because I wanted to make sure that this was a successful vote because of the union jobs that it creates, the 8,000 jobs, the 1600 apprentice jobs, all those different things that stimulate our economy with local hiring and people that it's going to affect, but really all the Angelinos.

This is going to be that critical economic engine, not only for downtown, like some said, but for the entire city of Los Angeles, and for that uh colleagues, I urge an I vote today on this.

Thank you so much.

Madam Clerk.

Mr.

President, uh, council may now vote on uh item 15E, and that is motion Padilla Park Hernandez.

All right, let's open the roll on 15E as an elephant.

Council member Yarosowski.

Yep.

I'm sorry.

Uh, instruction to CAO CLA to provide quarterly reports tracking local hiring uh compliance for the convention center and expansion and also to instruct CAO and CLA to ensure that in the event of a labor shortage, uh the contractor will use hiring hall agreement to supplement the workforce.

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

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

13 ayes.

All right.

What's next?

Next would be motion 15D, and that is motion Harris Dawson, McCosker, Hutt, Price, Nazarian, Herado, as uh with the uh 15B uh revisions in the figures, all right.

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

11 nines, two no's all right.

What's next?

Next would be 15 C, and that is motion Herado Price, which amends 15 D.

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

13 ayes.

All right, what's next?

Um, and would council like this item to go forth with, sir?

Without objection, urgent.

That requires a uh urgent forthwith requires a vote.

All right, let's open the roll on urgent forthwith, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

13 ayes.

All right, what's next?

Uh would council like to adjourn the special motion.

Uh, I mean special meeting and reconvene the uh regular meeting, sir.

Let's adjourn the special meeting and call the roll for the regular meeting.

Yes, sir.

Folks, we've still got uh business to get through here, and uh we got to get Mr.

Lee off, so if you can help us oblige us and uh let us go through without applause.

Madam Clerk?

Uh yes.

So, roll call for the regular meeting, Bloomingville, Harris Dawson, Hernandez, Hutt, Hieraro, Lee, McCosker, Nazari, and Padilla, Park, Price, Rahmen, Rodriguez, Soto Martina, Saraslavski, 13 members present, and according, Mr.

President.

All right, what's before us, Madam Clerk?

Uh what is before uh council at this time is um that would be item 12.

Mr.

McCosker, President, I have an amendment on item 12.

Uh should I can I just read the amendment into the record?

The amendment would be one adopt the CAO reports as written, accept that recommendations two and three in the August 22 2025 report shall be amended as follows.

Number two, below that, request the city attorney's office to prepare and present a fund ordinance to create new special funds to receive proceeds and record accounting transactions in connection with the series 2025 bonds, and to return that ordinance back by September 24, 2025, and then a new three beneath that request the city attorney's office to prepare and present a lease lease back ordinance to approve a lease and sublease between the city and MICLA of certain real properties and improvements thereon in connection with the series 2025 bonds and return that ordinance back by September 24, 2025, and then two, sub two, note and file the budget and finance report as written.

All right for a second, second.

Alright, this has been moved and seconded.

Uh yes, so sir.

Right now, council has before it, that would be 12A, as amended by Mr.

McCosker and seconded by Mr.

Council President Harris Dawson.

Alright, let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

13 ayes.

Alright, what's next?

Uh and the next vote.

Councilmember Yaroslavsky needs to be recorded as a no vote.

What are we voting on?

Madam Clerk, what's next?

So just uh for the record, the vote that just occurred now is uh 12A, and that is uh motion Harris Dawson McCosker Hutt.

Uh Price seconded by uh Councilmember Nazarian as further amended by uh motion McCosker Harris Dawson.

Okay.

Okay, so Councilmembers Raman and Yarosovsky want to be recorded as no votes.

So just for the record, so 12 this vote is now 12-2.

All right, what's next?

Um would next would be uh would.

11 2.

We only have 13 people.

11 2.

I'm so sorry.

11 2.

It's been a long day.

Okay, so it's 11 2.

Oh, um, Mr.

President, would council like uh to take a vote to have 12 go urgent forthwith, sir?

Yes, this is urgent forthwith on item 12 as amended.

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

13 ayes.

All right, what's next?

Council has motions for posting and referral.

They're posted and referred.

That's just clear, sir.

All right, we have a few announcements beginning with Councilmember Hernandez.

Uh special transportation and public works committee meeting is canceled for today.

All right, Councilmember McCosker.

A point of order or clarification.

What are we doing with item 11?

11.

No action was taken on that in as much as item 11 was considered in the special meeting uh as item 15, sir.

So item 11 is is completed, is disposed.

Yes, because it's a repeat of what happened in the special.

Got it.

Thank you for that, Mr.

McCosker.

Mr.

Zarian.

Thank you, Council President.

I want to invite all of you to join me for CD2 Lung Day tomorrow, September 20th from 9 a.m.

to 12 p.m.

at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church on Vineland Avenue.

This is a free community health event focused on clean air and healthy lungs.

Uh I happen to be asthmatic, so if you are sensitive to winds and various different environmental circumstances, please come in and take advantage of the programs offered as well as free products.

Uh we'll be offering free lung uh screenings for cancer and COPD, a family asthma management workshop, and important resources on lung health and air quality.

There will also be activities for both kids and adults.

I'm especially excited to share that we'll also be giving out free air purifiers to help families breathe a little easier at home.

Thank you.

Thank you so much as a fellow asthmatic, Mr.

Nazaren.

I thank you uh greatly for that announcement.

Mr.

Price.

Uh today I as many of you know, uh Central Avenue Jazz Festival is turning 30 this year, and I can't wait to see you at the at the event tomorrow.

This milestone has really ignited uh a lot of excitement.

The media's been buzzing, and we've been thrilled to be able to share South LA as a gill.

You got Gregory Porter?

Sorry.

Yes.

Oh, sorry.

Greg Porter, that's a big deal.

Go ahead.

Sorry.

What makes it uh special is that it's definitely free, but it's a community event.

It's more than uh just jazz, it's an experience.

We're we're kids, families, long time jazz lovers, uh even folks who are new to the music can come and have some fun.

You'll hear Grammy award-winning talent.

Families can take advantage of health screens.

It's a celebration of community as much as is of music, so be there, uh, or be square.

Uh make sure that uh you know everyone is invited uh with this invitation.

Thank you so much.

Uh as you know, tomorrow starting at 11 a.m.

11 to uh 7 p.m.

celebrating uh 30 years of jazz and it's all free.

All right, Councilmember Jurado.

And we I want to invite you all to a very special event, our end of summer celebration happening tomorrow, Saturday, September 20th from 4 30 to 8 30 at Herman Park.

We're lighting up the sky with a spectacular drone sharp plus an evening pack with live music, arts and crafts, local vendors, and family fun.

It's free to and open to everyone.

You don't want to miss it.

We've got it all.

You'll be hearing from amazing local tanks like DJ Crazy, Repping El Sereno, the always electric cumbia band, Betty's mustache, and the fabulous 80s cover band open for business.

So come out, bring your family and friends and celebrate the end of the summer with CD 14 at Herman Park.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Soto Martinez.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Chair.

First of all, I want to second uh the Jazz Festival and the new 9th.

I've been there the last few years.

I'm gonna miss it this year.

Sorry, Councilman Price, but it's always a great time.

For my members of the Civil Rights Committee.

Uh, we'll start at 2 15 and give ourselves a little break between now and then.

All right, any other announcements, members?

All right, seeing none, I'll ask everyone in the chambers to rise for adjourning motions.

We have uh Mr.

Price with an adjourning motion.

The BS.

Colleagues, we I asked we adjourned today in the memory of Prudence Diane Parker Wright.

And I'm joined by members of her family.

Born in Fairfield, Alabama, 1946, Prudence, effectively known as Prue, moved to Los Angeles as a young woman seeking opportunity and went on to dedicate her life to family, community, and service.

In 1969, she became one of the very first black women to join the LA police department, breaking barriers and opening doors for generations to come.

She proudly served our city for 32 years, working in multiple divisions, including community relations, where she left a lasting impact by mentoring youth, building neighborhood watch groups, and strengthening bonds between the community and law enforcement.

Her service extended beyond law enforcement.

She was duply rooted in her church community, serving as First Lady Deaconess, Mr.

Wife, and Ministry Leader in both Los Angeles and New Orleans.

She continued her education in biblical studies and mentored others in faith and service.

Prudence was also recognized for her humanitarian work.

The Prudence D.

Bright Humanitarian Award was created in her honor, celebrating her commitment to uplifting others and her unwavering compassion for the community.

Above all, she was a devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

Remembered as a woman of God and a woman of courage and a woman who lived her convictions.

She is survived by her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, sister, extended family, and countless friends who carried forward her legacy of service, faith, and love.

Today we honor her remarkable life and contributions to Los Angeles and beyond.

May her memory be a blessing.

Thank you so much.

Any other journey motions?

All right.

Seeing none, we are adjourned.

Hi, my name is Amanda Charles.

I'm the librarian three at Teenscape.

Teenscape is the library within Central Library that uh serves teens and young adults aged 12 to 19.

When we opened in 1998, we were the first public library dedicated space for teens.

We have over 4,000 square feet of space with a collection of over 30,000 items.

We act as ambassadors to the rest of the collection for young adults.

There may be some teens who are reluctant to approach a librarian in the art department.

They are unaware that they can make an appointment and view materials in special collections.

And so we'll often be the ones to reach out and help make that connection and introduce them to that collection.

The item I brought today is it's a book, it's not rare, it's not unusual.

It's called Koromatsu v.

the United States, World War II Japanese American Interment Camps.

It's part of a series on important Supreme Court decisions.

I chose it because the Supreme Court is in the news.