I was traveling westbound on Roscoe Boulevard in a vehicle traveling eastbound in the wrong way of traffic.

Collided head on with me.

I went 50 feet on the pavement into a park vehicle where I ended up and I ended up breaking my left ankle, hurting both knees, my back.

Many people don't live to receive this award, so I'm honored to have it.

The Purple Heart is presented to Officer Joseph Gaw.

So we're at the hospital with my partner and I on an unrelated incident when we were approached by hospital staff alerting us that a male individual was alleging that he had a firearm.

At that point, my partner and I made contact with the uh individual who was uh uncooperative, kept his arm behind his back and stated multiple times he had a firearm.

And for us to back off.

Could have turned into a deadly situation.

We were able to de-escalate the situation and take him into custody without uh using much force.

That situation was very dynamic, uh considering we had patients, we had hospital staff nearby.

So we have to think about everybody's safety at the same time, thinking about the suspect's safety as long along with our safety.

So we did the best to keep calm, give them concise directions, and pretty much come up with a plan that would mitigate the use of deadly force.

And we were able to do that successfully, which was a turnout that we wanted.

For the career, it's great.

It's nice to be recognized by the department.

Um it is just we did our job.

It was just nice for the department to see how well the job went.

But personally, it's even better.

I have two little children who got to see me receive this award.

So to have my family get to see how great it is to work for the department and how things are was uh probably better than the uh professional was the personal.

I think these are everyday heroes, and I think everybody can relate to that.

We love our heroes, and the incredible bravery of our LAPD officers is commendable, and I wish more people in our community could see this so that they can see that yes, you call the LAPD when you need help.

I wish we could take what we saw today and be able to spread it out to the community overall because the type of things that our officers are doing day in and day out on behalf of people they don't even know is pretty impressive.

And so I want the public to be able to know that if they need help, we're here for them.

Councilmember Adrian Nazarian joined LA civil rights and community members at a recent Shine LA event.

While these cleanups look to the city's future hosting of the Olympics, this one also paid tribute to a former council member whose love of LA always shone through.

Thank you so much for coming out to Shine LA.

Today we had the kickoff of Shine LA in North Hollywood, and it's gonna be going throughout the eastern San Fernando Valley.

It was wonderful to have the mayor here, the mayor's team here, and we were joined by multiple different nonprofit organizations in the community, all in the spirit of cleaning up our parks, our public spaces, uh getting them ready for the major world events that we have coming up, but at the same time making sure that we keep it clean as well.

It's a beautiful day to make LA shine, right?

Absolutely.

We are building a better and a cleaner Los Angeles with Mayor Karen Bass and Council Member Nazarian.

Uh we are very grateful for the support of Wreckham Parks as well as the public works, the apartment, and the good folks at community beautification for helping us to bring better and cleaner Los Angeles.

We want the world to come and see a beautiful clean Los Angeles.

The Department of Civil Rights has started a wonderful campaign, re-energize the new campaign of I belong, you belong, we all belong.

Because the reality is this country, this city, this state was built on immigrant power.

It doesn't make sense to pick out any one individual group and say you don't belong.

We all belong.

We're the very fabric that makes this city great.

We send a powerful message that when it comes to our climate, when it comes to our environment, when it comes to the political environment that may sometimes seem overwhelming.

We are not powerless.

We come together.

We step up for our community, we stand up for our community, and we are here.

Today we are celebrating Tom LeBon's Day of Service at the Shine LA event.

We are intentional to send a strong message that Los Angeles is united, when we work together, we play together, we live together, and we lift a better Los Angeles.

Thank you very much for this day.

I mean, man, you know what?

Tom would be here.

For him, this is what LA is all about.

Number 35 on the channel, number one in our hearts.

My family and I are really honored every year.

Uh, four years later, it started in 2021.

And to be here now and to see the turnout and the leadership, the partnership with other city departments is really special, and that's what my dad was all about.

He knew the names or at least the street that you lived on of every person you work with.

You know, he was really interested in connecting with people.

He didn't always stay within the boundaries of his own council district.

He loved all of the city, and he really cared about making sure people who lived here and who were visiting saw that love and felt it for themselves.

I never knew a better cheerleader for our wonderful city than Tom LeBanch.

And so, in his memory, in his spirit, we're gonna go about because LA is for everyone.

And let me just say, for everybody, have a wonderful shine.

LA Day.

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Isabel Herado joined city leaders and legal enforcers to highlight copper wire theft.

This ongoing and pervasive crime drains city resources and has a huge impact on public safety for Angelinos.

We're here today at the 6th Street Bridge to urge Governor Newsom to sign AB 476 that would make sure that folks that are stealing copper wires and selling them ensure that there's accountability there that recyclers won't be accepting the stolen copper wire that's keeping our city in the dark.

We have to increase the penalties to folks who are stealing copper wire in this bridge alone.

38,000 square feet was stolen.

11,000 was cashed in on it, but it cost taxpayers 2.3 million dollars just to repair, and the lights are still out today.

What makes our communities and our cities greatest is people, right?

First and foremost.

What supports its people though is infrastructure.

And us having intact infrastructure that then is able to do the things that it's supposed to do, light up its streets to make our neighborhood safer, to then power the future by having EV chargers.

In order for us to make sure that we're ready for the future, we have to protect it today and make sure that foundation stays in place.

The DA's office has to prosecute those crimes as well.

But at the end of the day, they're sending a message to the community that we are watching.

And if these penalties go up and the governor signs his bill and people are stealing and they're caught doing that, even the junk dealers and the recyclers who were caught taking as well that there's going to be penalties on that.

And that the more that we start to increase uh folks watching this sort of activity, the less value that the copper hour market actually has, and we can keep our communities connected and safe.

This issue is so important to our district and our residents, and it's one of the priorities that we have to make sure that we light up CD-14 again.

And October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

These stories up next on City Beat.

Mayor Karen Bass has signed an executive directive to streamline processes and improve efficiency at Los Angeles World Airports, the Port of LA, and the LA Department of Water and Power.

According to Bass, this directive will aid major infrastructure projects by enabling faster decision making and better financial management.

Projects underway include the convention center expansion, rebuilding the palisades, LAX airfield and terminal upgrades, and modernization at the port.

The executive directive aims to save time and money for the airport and port as they carry out complex infrastructure and logistics projects.

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

Ten years of development has brought $664 million of investment into the Watts neighborhood, resulting in 787 affordable homes.

At the event, HACLA also announced $6.1 million for a new children's park with the building set to begin in November.

According to HACLA, their commitment to Watts continues and includes building more homes for rent and ownership, creating jobs, and expanding green space.

For more information, visit TACLA.org.

LA City Emergency Management Department is highlighting that October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Staying secure online includes using strong passwords, updating software, turning on multi-factor authentication, and recognizing fishing attacks.

In addition, the department advises being cautious of unsolicited messages and to avoid sharing sensitive information or credentials with unknown sources.

According to the Emergency Management Department, small consistent actions can protect your privacy.

For more information, visit emergency.lacity.gov.

Over to Wilmington now, where Sparky, the mascot of the Los Angeles Sparks, continued their outreach journey.

The LA Sparks basketball team and the city's Department of Aging are working together to bring movement and joy to seniors in the community.

We are at the Wilmington Senior Center, and we are doing a outreach basically.

We're here to bring some positive fun and joy and good vibe to the seniors here.

The Sparks Community Outreach Team.

We discussed this partnership of getting seniors active, getting them moving, bringing generations together.

They excitedly said yes, and so here we are.

We started off in August at the Sparks Game.

So for a lot of our seniors, the first time at a WNBA game.

They had a lot of fun.

A lot of those same seniors are here today, and generations came together.

So we had the children of the senior's adult children, grandchildren, families, friends, neighbors, they were all there, and we had a great time.

We want to get them up and moving around first, active, having some fun, kind of let them buy into what we're we're bringing today.

We'll do some line dancing, make some good memories, uh, but then we're also gonna play some bingo.

We have our mascot here, Sparky.

He's gonna walk around and take some great photos.

Oh, we got a special guest.

Hold on now.

Oh, sure.

That's my guy.

So yeah, he's gonna bring some excitement today.

So I think that's part of what we really enjoy about being at these centers is making sure that everybody feels remembered, uh warm, welcomed, and so we're trying to come in and not only pick up on some of that energy and that that excitement and that wisdom, but also provide some youth to them as well and make sure that they feel uh welcomed and loved.

It's been fun.

It's been fun.

They are really energetic, and yeah, they did give a spark to everybody here at the center.

It's uplifting.

It's us a luggage.

So essential for those accounts, but I mean I'm sorry.

To me, it makes them still feel like they belong, you know, and to get them out here and get them doing stuff as a community.

They're having a great time and they feel wanted and still feel youthful.

We just are so thankful to be here.

We're thankful that the seniors get a chance to know that they are heard, they're seen, they're valued, they're valuable member of society.

So we're just so thankful and we're looking forward to more.

Bringing the sounds and sights of the Caribbean to South LA was all part of this heritage celebration.

Council President Marquis Harris Dawson joined the community at the eighth annual Caribbean Heritage Festival.

We're here at Decreto Modulos Plaza for the eighth annual Caribbean cultural festival here in Los Angeles, goes along with Hollywood Carnival that we have every year.

This year is so important.

Uh when ice is out there and our communities are being raided, and we're being terrorized by our own federal government.

This immigrant community said we're gonna be outside.

We're gonna be loud and we're gonna be together.

And we're gonna stand tall for our heritage, also stand tall for our place as Americans and as Angelinos.

Festival was excellent.

All the artists perform brilliantly, excellent food.

We have a wonderful time.

Well, I think it's good to have the whole community.

Africans, Trinidad, all the islands, all the Caribbean islands come together and have this the whole neighborhood.

That's wonderful.

The Caribbean community is a part of the tapestry of Los Angeles and Southern California, the United States.

And so Los Angeles is a very important place to have a celebration.

We've got so many people from every country in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, the Americas that originate in the Caribbean.

Every year you can count on us being here, celebrating Caribbean heritage here in South LA in the heart of the African American community, celebrating this very beautiful, important and strong diaspora.

We would love to have you next year to join us for this fun event, create great memories with these wonderful performers and great people having the time of the life.

The theme for the fourth annual LA for all campaign is a simple one that bears repeating.

We belong.

LA's civil rights department celebrated in the city with inclusive events to help give that feeling of belonging to everyone.

We are so excited to have the LA is for everyone campaign, branch out to the We Belong campaign.

This week we are celebrating LA for all week and we are launching the belonging campaign during Latino Heritage Month to send a strong message that all of us belong here.

Especially in this moment where so many attacks are coming from the federal government.

They're part of the family.

People need to relax and just enjoy the arts, and that's what we're doing with master musicians.

We don't mess around.

This is my uh second time I perform on Watch Tower Festival.

And today I brought my uh procrastin group with me from Iran from the Middle East.

Now they hear like full ethnic procussion.

This is part of the heartbeat.

This is part of the groom for Brazil in the summer.

I think it's very important to come in person and bring live music, live drumming, celebrate afro rhythm.

So come on down to the Watchtowers Arts Center campus because we got a lot of love for you.

Nita Hug?

Come on down.

And the beat goes on for the 43rd year at Watts Towers.

100 years of lighting the way for LA.

In this week's feature story, our Maria Hall Brown is in conversation with Miguel Songalong, the head of LA Street Lighting, which is celebrating 100 years in the city.

I'm delighted to be joined today by the executive director of the Bureau of LA Streetlighting, Miguel Songalong.

Thank you for having me.

Lovely to have you here.

The mission of the Bureau of Street Lighting is to light the way for Los Angeles.

I love that mission.

All right, so let's actually talk about the Bureau legitimately.

A quarter of a million lamps.

Yeah.

That seems like a lot of light bulbs to change.

Yeah.

It it is.

Uh so quarter of a million lights connected by 9,000 miles of underground conduit, 27,000 miles of copper wire that power the whole system.

We cover almost every neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles.

You know, two out of three streets in Los Angeles will have a street light on it that we manage.

This must be a really fun celebration to celebrate 100 years and all the stories that these lamps tell.

The street light today is uh part of the background, right?

It's something that we know is there.

It provides the service, but the genesis of it, the history is far more kind of creative and innovative than I think one might think.

It's my understanding that each neighborhood kind of was responsible for the design of their own lamps in order to represent the neighborhood.

So there's an enormous diversity of style and artisanal qualities to all of these.

That's right, that's right.

And and what we have now is a unique collection of over 400 different designs.

Um and that's spread throughout the 470 square miles of the city, right?

And it pretty much, as you said, kind of grew up with the city.

Different neighborhoods as they would rise and they would want street lights, they would design their own.

So you have Wilshire specials, you would have things like the Broadway special, Hollywood special, Van Ice special.

Uh so there's just different ones that the neighborhoods would kind of adopt and say this is this is the one that we wanted.

I think they could legitimately be called art.

I mean, some of them have turned into art pieces.

Obviously, I think most people know Urban Light, which is in front of LACMA.

Are there other art installations that have been done with former practical lights that are now not practical but still worth our attention?

Yes, Sheila Klein's Vermonica that actually shows the progression, time progression of all the different street lights.

With all of the diversity of street lamps to choose from, what is as the executive director your favorite?

Well, if you're gonna put me on the spot like that, uh I I would say the the Wilshire special that we have is is an amazing piece, again, just because kind of harkens back to that origin of us.

Uh and it's it's huge.

You would never expect we have them in the field right now.

You would never expect that while you're walking on a sidewalk, there's this five-foot tall, you know, two foot wide, like gargantuan street light.

When you when you have it next to you, it's that big, right?

But when it's up there, it just looks like any other street light, not to say nondescript, but you know, like unassuming kind of uh light that has a great history.

Well, people want to learn more about the hundredth anniversary, or just about how to call in if they need some help with the lighting on their streets, or just have any questions.

What's the best way for people to get in touch?

The best way for people to get in touch.

Well, two things, right?

If if there's any issues that you have with street lighting, please log your service request with MyLA311 or call 311 itself for for all other things, and if you're inquisitive about our history, please visit LA Lights.la City.org.

This is really really fun.

In this week's Things to Do.

Taste of Soul is back for its twentieth year.

Get your spook on at Boo at the LA Zoo.

And enjoy the original Beetlejuice movie at the port.

All this up next on Things to Do.

Back for the 20th year running.

Taste of Soul says they are the largest free one-day street and food festival in California.

And we won't argue with that.

On Saturday, October 18th, join in the fun at this family-friendly festival along Crenshaw Boulevard between Barack Obama Boulevard and Stalker Avenue.

Don't forget your appetite, as there will be over 150 delicious food offerings.

Enjoy live entertainment on the music stage, including Headliner Montel Jordan.

Head to historic Crenshaw Boulevard for all the action at Taste of Soul 2025 on Saturday, October 18th from 10 a.m.

until 7 p.m.

For more information, visit Taste of Soul LA.org.

Get ready for the spooky season with boo at the LA Zoo.

The Halloween spirit will be in full swing for two frightfully fun weekends at LA Zoo beginning on Saturday, October 18th, and Sunday, October 19th.

There will be trigger treat stations featuring premium candy giveaways while stocks last.

See the animal pumpkin feedings.

Enjoy themed photo ops around the zoo and enjoy the interactive education stations.

If you dare, you can head to the lair to see scary snakes, frogs, and lizards.

Boo at the LA Zoo is free with admission or your LA Zoo membership.

For more information, visit LAZoo dot org.

On Friday, October 17th, join the port of Los Angeles for a free family-friendly fall movie night.

The movie is the original Beetlejuice, where a ghostly couple try and scare away the new occupants of their home.

Starting at 6 p.m., there'll be games and arts and crafts and the outdoor courtyard.

Bring a blanket and chairs and settle in for some scares with this 1980s dark fantasy comedy horror film.

Head to the port on Friday, October 17th, for the movie screening of Beetlejuice, beginning at 7 30 p.m.

For more information, visit LEWaterfront.org slash events.org.

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

See you next time for more LA This Week.

All right.

Good morning and welcome to the regularly scheduled meeting of your Los Angeles City Council.

Today is Tuesday, the fourteenth day of October in the year twenty twenty-five.

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

Mr.

Clerk, if we can begin our proceedings by calling the roll.

Yes, Mr.

President.

Bloomfield, Herr Stossin, Hernandez, Hutt, Hudado, Lee, McCosker, Nazarian.

10 members present in a quarter, Mr.

President.

All right, first order of business.

Approval of the Mets of October 7th, 2025.

Councilmember Raman moves.

Councilmember Hernandez seconds.

What's next?

Commutative solutions for approval.

Councilmember Bloom Bloomenfield moves.

Councilmember Sotomartinez seconds.

What's next?

Mr.

President, today's Tuesday, and it's time for the flag.

So I'll ask everyone in the chambers to rise and follow along with Councilmember Raman and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Please rise, place your right hand over your heart.

Ready, begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, Mr.

Clerk, we can run through our agenda.

Yes, Mr.

President.

Items one through 15 are items notice for public hearing.

Items 16 through 26 are items for which public hearings have been held.

Items 27 through 40 are items for which public hearings have not been held.

Items 41 through 44 are closed session items considered by the budget and finance committee.

10 votes are required for consideration.

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

Uh Mr.

Nazarian, I see you first.

Up to bat with specials.

Thank you, Council President.

Item 15 for a separate vote, please.

Five zero.

No, one five.

One five.

All right.

Mr.

Blumenfield.

Item 28 for an amendment that's been circulated.

All right.

Any other special council member Lee?

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

I item number 23 and 24.

I'd like to make a verbal recommendation to accept the public safety committee report.

Is there a second to these motion?

Second.

Thank you.

All right.

Councilmember Hernandez.

Yes, Council President.

I would like to call items 23 and 24 special for a separate vote.

All right, two, three, and two, four.

All right.

Council Member.

Any council members on my right side?

None?

All right.

Any other specials?

All right.

Which items are available for consideration at this time, Mr.

Clerk.

Mr.

President, there's a request to hold item 21 on the desk.

All right, without objection.

The council may now vote on items 16 through 20, 22, and 20 25 and 26.

All right.

Those items are now before us.

Let's open the roll.

Close the roll.

Tabulate the vote.

10 eyes.

All right, what's next?

The council may now vote on item 23, for which motion Lee Harris Dawson has been introduced.

Held on the desk for Councilmember Hernandez for a separate vote.

All right, let's open the roll and not item.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

All right, what's next?

The council may now consider and vote on item 24, held on the desk for a separate vote.

Call special by Councilmember Hernandez.

All right.

Let's open the roll in 24.

Councilmember Soto Martinez.

Um, you know, given that uh this issue is such a one that gets a lot of attention.

I just wanted to uh explain to the public uh while I'll be voting no on this item today.

Um, you know, this was an item that we heard in in in public safety last week, and part of the uh the that vote was actually getting testimony from a lot of the companies that uh deal with copywire theft.

And so it was a wonderful conversation, and I want to thank the chair uh Mr.

Leefer for bringing them in because it was very enlightening.

Uh but one of the most enlightened things uh that I heard there was that some of the private companies offer rewards of 25,000 uh for anyone who uh is caught and apprehended for for wire theft.

And the gentleman said that that doesn't work.

And so uh here we are with a thousand dollar reward.

Uh and I just think given what I heard in that public safety meeting, I just didn't think this is the best use of city resources and time.

Uh in addition to that, we've had conversations about streetlight outages here in the city of Los Angeles, and even the Bureau of Street Lighting has said that 60% of the street light outages have nothing to do with theft.

In fact, it's just regular maintenance that the city has neglected to do over the years.

Uh this should come as uh no surprise because we haven't assessed our street lighting fines since 1996.

Uh, we've had to do uh eliminate vacancies and so forth.

Alright, thank you, Mr.

Soto Martinez.

Uh seeing no other comments, let's open the roll on this item.

Close the roll, tabulate to vote.

Mr.

President, the ordinance for item 20 24 will be held over to Tuesday, October 21st, 2024.

25 for second consideration, unless we considered the case.

Today we should vote and it's actually eight, because it's Mr.

Soto Martinez is on here as a yes.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

And for the record, that would be eight eyes and two no's, and the ordinance will be held over to Tuesday, October 21st, 2025 for second consideration due to the lack of a majority vote.

All right.

What's next?

Mr.

President, there is a request to send item 19 forthwith.

Without objection.

Mr.

President, the per the council may now move on to closed session items 41 through 44 considered by the budget and finance committee.

All right, uh, we'll hold those until the our budget chair is here.

Uh what's next?

The council may now proceed to public comment.

All right.

Uh I'll turn the floor over to the clerk and the city attorney on public comment, but just as a matter of logistics, there are few enough people here that if you want to speak, uh, you should just line up on the um right side of the building, your left, um, and we'll go uh in order of folks being lined up.

Mr.

City Attorney.

Yes, Mr.

President.

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

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

We will tell you when your time is up.

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 on the agenda are items number one through 15 and items 27 through 40.

Again, the items open for public comment on the agenda are items one through 15 and items 27 through 40.

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.

One more announcement I'd like to if I could have the uh interpreters make it 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.

Good morning.

General comment and item 35, please.

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

Go ahead.

Sounds good.

Any boy with Central City Association here to speak in strong support of items 24 and 35.

First, I want to express our strong support for the creation of a metal and wire theft reward program.

The growing theft, uh the growing threat of copper wire theft has left communities in the dark, resulting in dangerous outcomes such as loss of connectivity to emergency services, risks to public safety and event security, and significant financial burdens for both the city and our telecommunication partners.

Having a metal and wire theft reward program would enhance the public's ability to see something and say something, leading to arrest of individuals engaged in copper wire theft.

This would increase accountability, deter criminal activity, and ultimately protect city infrastructure and critical services.

Regarding item 35, we applaud Council Member Jurado's leadership in addressing the rise of copper wire theft and vandalism impacting downtown Los Angeles.

These crimes have repeatedly hit the heart of our city, turning downtown's once bright and welcoming streets into dark and uneasy spaces.

Downtown LA has been disproportionately affected.

General public comment.

Downtown LA has been disproportionately affected by copper wire theft, leaving major corridors and iconic landmarks like Sixth Street Bridge unlit for months at a time.

Right now, on average, repairs can take more than 180 days.

That's six months where lights stay out, businesses lose visibility and nighttime foot traffic, and residents and visitors feel unsafe walking after dark.

This isn't just about public safety.

It's about protecting our city's vitality.

As a city's economic engine, downtown generates roughly 30% of the city's total tax revenue to keep the engine running and Los Angeles strong.

We need targeted attention and investment in our urban core to accelerate outage repair times, upgrade aging infrastructure, and ensure downtown's resources are fortified with a focus on prevention and long-term resilience.

That is why CCA is proud to support items 24 and 35.

Thank you.

Okay, good morning.

You have one minute.

Item 25 was submit submitted without apparent legal review.

The original motion from 2018 includes an anonymous single page of legal scribblings, which is full of mistakes.

Most consequentially, it views the city council as a limited public forum, whereas it is really a designated public forum.

That means you must have content neutral rules rather than viewpoint neutral rules.

I have uploaded an opinion from City Count City Attorney Delgadio, which explicitly states that racial slurs may not be prohibited under the US Constitution and should therefore not be treated as disruptive.

But the main problem is that there is no functioning oversight, which should have caught this.

Brown Act violations are potentially criminal violations which cannot be remedied through the civil process.

And while First Amendment violations might not cause immediate physical harm, other legal violations by the city are getting people killed.

Since the DA won't do its job, it's your responsibility to ask the governor.

Your time has expired.

Next speaker.

Okay, good morning.

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

Please begin with the items.

So item 27 refers to traffic control services for the protests.

That was like two weeks ago.

So it doesn't specify what these traffic control services are.

So I was I'm hoping that that does not include LAPD brutalizing protesters or anything like that.

Because that's frequently what seems what traffic control seems to entail.

So let's move on.

We have mental health services in City 3.

Hopefully that's providing like actual mental health services and not just criminalizing people.

So let's see.

We have item 30, which is related to the just say hello public service announcements, extending it for another month or so.

How about some actual efforts to further civil rights in the city?

How about some fighting against the fascist authoritarian dictator wannabe in the White House who's creating all kinds of hateful policies and harming people?

Maybe maybe actually fight towards civil rights instead of just creating a few street banners that say just say hello.

Like that's that's not even the bare minimum of what you should be doing to fight for civil rights in this country, especially with what's going on right now.

So we move on to item 33, domestic violence awareness month.

Just want to make everyone aware that 40% of cops beat up their wives.

Okay, let's move on to item 34 to the public restroom and C13.

How about in addition to this public restroom?

How about you open up all the other public restrooms that you closed off to give more money to the LAPD?

There's a lot of restrooms that are still just sitting out there fenced off because you cut the butt budget for public restrooms.

So maybe you should also reopen all those public restrooms that you closed off.

Uh, let's see.

Let's move on to item 36.

Lights on after school.

How about you work to fix all the street lights so that the lights will be on after school?

Um let's move on to item 37, Latino Heritage Month.

How about you fire Jim McDonnell so that the LAPD will stop because he's uh the LAPD is assisting ICE and terrorizing Latino community.

So let's move on to I guess we're pretty much a general public comment here.

Okay.

You have one minute.

So Isabel doesn't seem to be here.

She's too busy brutalizing uh sweeping unhoused people in the stormy weather.

So we have UNICES.

You did a passive sweep last weekend.

Um you have anything to say about that?

Macartha Park area.

So yeah, what's what's going on with that?

Because you you said you weren't gonna do that kind of thing.

But here we are, you're working with LA, your office is working with LAPD to brutalize an unhoused people in your commun in your district.

So it's it's stormy weather out there right now, it's flash flooding, thunderstorm warnings.

This would be a great day to have call in comment at this meeting because you know it's not a lot of people here because it's hard to even get out here in all this weather.

It's it took me like two hours to get out here today because it's so wet stormy out there.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

I would like to public uh I would like to give uh public comment on the ordinance for just uh paying jobs for fast food workers.

Adelante.

Okay, so you have one minute for general public comment.

It's essential for those trabajadores of comida rapid.

Hold on just a second.

My name is Lisetta Aguilar, and I am a fast food worker at the McDonald's, and I'm here to ask uh to pass the ordinance for fair wages for fast food workers.

Uh training and education is needed for us to know what our rights are, and it's essential for us as workers.

Adelante, por favor.

It's more important to concerning.

Uh knowing our rights is so essential for us.

During the pandemic, we went through a lot, including not being given uh the tools that we needed to remain safe.

Uh our bosses don't want us to know what our rights are, and it's so important for us to know.

It wasn't until I joined the union that I got to learn what my rights were as a worker.

And I am asking you to please pass this ordinance for fair wages for fast food workers.

Adelante.

Okay, so you that's why we must make sure that all fast food workers receive the training that they need in terms of what their rights are.

Next speaker.

I'm continuing with reading directed energy attacks by Ron Johnson.

Ron Johnson is more conservative than Trump.

So I have uh okay, energy weapon systems are well known for being able to attack every organ in the body, including the eyes.

And so there really is no limit as to what can be affected.

By the way, this guy is an electronic engineer.

And if you start reading his uh thing, you he's it's describing an oscilloscope and all these electrical equipment.

I realize, yeah, this guy really is.

Even though he's on the right, and uh he calls us the uh the something state, and he says we are the ones that are hiding uh stuff that he needs to uh be shielded.

It's kind of funny.

I don't agree with this guy at all.

However, he's uh an expert, he's an electronic uh electrician.

Uh the woman also that my uh Renee Pittman, she's a black lady in Paul uh Pacoima, not Pakoima, um Palmdale, and uh she's also religious, so I'm speaking.

Your time has expired.

And is there anyone else here for public comment?

And Mr.

President, it appears as though we have exhausted public comment.

Would you like to close?

All right, that concludes uh public comment.

Uh Mr.

Clerk, what's next?

Mr.

President, there is a request to send item 25 forthwith.

Without objection, that'll be the order.

What's next?

The council may now vote on items one through 14, 27, and 29 through 40.

All right, let's open the roll on these items, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

13 ayes.

All right, what's next?

The council may not consider item 15.

Call special by council member Nazarian.

All right, Mr.

Zarian comments.

No comments?

All right.

So let's open the roll.

Do we have to open the roll on these amendments separately, or can we do it as one?

The item can be a uh voted on as one item, sir.

All right, let's open the roll on item number 15.

Close the roll.

Tabulate to vote.

11 11 ayes, two no's.

All right, Mr.

President, in regards to the ordinance for 15A, the ordinance requires 12 unanimous votes.

Uh, therefore, this ordinance will be held over to Tuesday, October 21st, 2025, for a second consideration.

Uh, there is a request to send the ordinances in item 15 B forthwith.

All right, without objection, what's next?

The council may now consider items 41 through 44, which are closed session items considered by the budget and finance committee.

All right, we'll hear from our budget chair on these items.

Thank you, Council President.

Budget and finance considered and approved items 41 through 44 in committee on October 7th, and I recommend we approve these items.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh Mr.

Clerk, if we can read the details into the record and call the roll.

Yes, Mr.

President.

For item 41 in the case in relative to Cynthia Manchaka versus City of Los Angeles at all.

There's a recommendation to expend up to 112,500 in settlement.

For item 42 in the case entitled Stella Tenin versus County of Los Angeles that's all.

There's a recommendation to expend up to 150,000 in settlement.

For item 43 in the case entitled Naritsa Garrixion versus City of Los Angeles, that's all.

There's a recommendation to expend up to 280,000 in settlement.

And for item 44 in the case entitled Maria del Carmen Gonzalez versus City of Los Angeles, that's all.

There is a recommendation to expend up to 375,000 in settlement.

All right.

So those items are before us.

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

13 ayes.

All right, what's next?

The council may not consider item 21 for council member Yaroslowski.

Councilmember Yosowski comments.

No, just I have a minor technical amendment.

Okay.

That's it.

All right.

So that item as amended is before us.

Let's open the roll.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Mr.

President, uh there the amended motion has not been distributed.

All right.

So let's uh table this item.

I have it.

It's been circulated.

There's a dispute about whether or not it's been circulated.

Should have been.

Mr.

Bloomfield, comments?

No.

No comments.

All right.

Let's uh Mr.

President.

Um the amending motion for item 28 has yet to be distributed as well.

All right.

So we are in uh do we have announcements members?

Councilmember Hutt.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Good morning, everyone.

Um today I'm excited to announce that we have an international visitor.

His name is Red Child.

Please stand up.

He's here from Germany.

He's an international rap artist, someone that is well known in the dance scene, especially with Red Bull.

And this is the first time that he's come to the city of Los Angeles council chambers, and I just want to welcome him and uh show them some of the great work that we do here.

Thank you so much.

Red Chat.

Council Member Hudd, and welcome, welcome, welcome.

And uh thank you for being here, and thank you for being part of the Red Bull Competitions.

Uh a very, very important cultural events that happen in the city of Los Angeles, and we count on people from around the world participating so that those events are successful.

So thank you for being here, and thank you for visiting City Hall.

Councilmember Hernandez.

Thank you, Council President.

Hi, team.

Uh everyone, I would like to invite you all to Music Am Poemas, uh, the Power of Us.

It's a music festival and poetry festival that's gonna be taking place in the heart of Highland Park.

We're gonna be closing down Figaroa uh from one to six p.m.

We're gonna have uh a kids' stage with the magician, uh children acts, children musicians, uh musicians, and we're also gonna have an adult stage uh with bands like uh BWA and many others who are gonna be providing some phenomenal entertainment.

You can try food from Las Casuelas and a bunch of other small businesses that line the Figaro corridor.

Again, this is Music Ampoemas, the Power of Us music music festival, poetry festival taking place in Highland Park this Saturday from one to six p.m.

on Figaro Boulevard.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

All right, uh Mr.

Clerk.

We ready to take votes?

Yes, sir.

Uh the council may now consider item 21 for which amending motion 21A, Yaroslavski Bloomfield has been introduced, circulated and posted on the bulletin board.

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

Close the roll, tabulate to vote.

13 eyes.

All right, what's next?

The council may now consider item 28, for which amending motion 28A, Bloomfield Ramen has been introduced, circulated and posted on the bulletin board.

All right.

Let's open the roll on that item.

Close the roll, tabulate to vote.

13 eyes.

All right, what's next?

Council has motions for posting a referral.

They are posted and referred.

Uh additional announcements, members.

All right, additional announcements.

Seeing no additional announcements, I'll ask that uh everybody in the chamber rise for adjourning motions.

Journey motions to my right.

All right, seeing none, we are adjourned.

See you all tomorrow morning.

No, they do not.

We don't want that to happen.

As far as the horses are concerned, a quarter horses, you know, as I said, are sturdy, even if they might not be as large as thoroughbred, but they also have endurance capacity, correct?

So they can go out and be walking around for a long, long time.

And and and in regards to that, what we usually work at about a six-hour at the most uh day.

So we work for six hours, the horses come back and we do our paperwork.

So if we arrest somebody, if we get a call, if we get this or that, our horses don't just sit there on the trailer, they go, they come back and we do all of our paperwork after the fact.

So these these horses, just like police cars, are very, very well taken care of because I am on them all day long, and I want to have a good day just like they do.

So they come back and they come back to this beautiful facility here in the beat.

It's huge too, by the way.

You have 24 right now, but how many could it hold if you have a 40 horse barn?

Oh wow.

So at one point, I think we were at uh in the young in the low 30s as far as horses are concerned.

The last maybe five, six years we've done a lot of horse rescues where we don't take our horses.

So, like uh maybe in Silmar, they uh maybe a fire starts.

Oh, right.

And it's a huge horse uh area, they'll ask us to drive out because we all have uh experience.

We have all have experience with horses and driving our trailers.

We have obviously lights and sirens, so when they block off the streets, maybe you own horses, you can't get to your horses that which are your your love of your life.

Right.

You call us and say, can you please go rescue my horses?

The fire's coming up over the over the hill, so we will drive out, we will rescue your horses.

And I think the first time we did it, we rescued like 70 something horses in maybe a two-day span.

What a nimble unit you guys are for all of the things you need to do.

Yep.

The horses are in uniform, so this is their uniform pad that we ride in the streets with that goes under the saddle.

So our day consists of getting here, getting our horse ready.

Getting a horse ready means brushing, picking their feet.

Maybe they maybe they need a bath.

Maybe they obviously their hair has to be brushed.

We put their saddles on, their pads on, their bridles, and then we take them out to the arena and we warm them up.

Ernie.

This is our arena that we warm up every day.

We do our training.

Rob Morales is one of our uh officers, and uh Ernie is the horse that he's on for the day.

Uh Ernie is this is probably his third or fourth day in a row that he's been working, so his warm-up consists of a little bit less.

So he's already walked him and trotted him, so now he's doing a nice leisure, slow lope.

Just figuring out if the horse's mind is right for the day.

Um I'll show you guys right here if you can see.

They're a basketball hoop, they're literally basketball hoops, and everything.

You guys are just playing around, that's all you're doing.

Everyone looks and says, What in the world?

You play basketball on horse.

Well, yes, we do, and there's a lot of reasons why we do it.

It is a very, very, very good tool that we use to train our horses.

We're using a lot more, a lot less hands on the horse instead of using our legs, we use our legs to steer the horse.

Uh if the ball falls on the ground, you have to dismount and mount back up, so it's a lot of dismounting and mounting.

Do they like to play basketball by the way when they're out here or do they think what the heck is going on with these guys?

They do.

They do.

It's all and they're they're interacting with all their buddies in the barn, so they like it as well.

So is he your buddy?

He's my buddy and he's my regular partner.

Okay.

So like so, like right here, Rob's side passing left and right.

He's just kind of seeing what he's got for the day, so he'll go left and right.

So if he sees something in the street that he needs to go by, maybe it's a a flair or something, he'll be side pass to the left, which means move your horse to the left or right and goes right by it.

So we'll come over here, I'll show you.

Rob, can you come bring Ernie over?

But this is the this is the attire that the horse uses out in the streets.

He's got his own badge.

114 is our match.

114 is our division number that we have.

So Metropolitan Division 114 is our division number.

Today we're uh we're working South LA, so he's gonna we're getting him ready to uh so when you say he's working South LA, we're gonna see that happen, but really they're just gonna patrol.

Yeah, so we're going down to South Los Angeles.

There's uh increase of crime, so what better thing?

What better tool to use than this officer on a horse, just like I told you before?

There's a huge visual presence of police in the area, so we use Ernie and we use Rob.

Okay, so obviously it's a police presence, um, but he's a he's a sweetheart.

Um so there's also that component of calming a situation down.

And you've noticed that has practically worked.

Absolutely.

You'll see in that within the next half hour when we leave and we go down there, we're gonna go to a particular park, we're gonna walk through the park, you'll see the kids running up to us, the parents just loving it.

Um you'll see just the the people that live in the neighborhood, just uh everybody is friendly and talking in pictures and you you name it, we're probably on a million different Facebook and Instagram pictures.

Probably the worst part of our job is to do um all the all the police officer funerals.

So it's a military tradition to do a rider, it's called the riderless horse detail.

That's very emotional.

Um and also for uh for a horse, you it's a military tradition to use a dark-colored horse.

And I don't know if you've seen it, but they they invert the uh the boots and put it backwards.

It signifies like it's the uh like it's the uh commander's last stand going into a battle.

So we we uh we do the riderless horse, and this is our horse that that that we do it with.

He's just a just probably if Whitewater wasn't around because Whitewater is our best horse, this is probably the next best horse.

He is just Oh, he's very regal.

I see why he's chosen.

He's just an amazing horse.

Does everything really really well.

Hi, Stetson.

He uh he is uh the centerpiece for that that uh riderless horse detail.

Thank you for your service.

This one's new.

Just turned six, he's been here for maybe a year.

I say to a lot of people that want to come to this unit, yes, it's a blast riding a horse in the streets of LA, but you gotta remember in the dead of summer I don't have an air conditioner.

In the winter you're told the horses are are 1,200 pounds of muscle that you need to deal with.

So there's a lot going on.

It isn't all smile, wave, and nod.

There's a lot to it.

We will try the horse for 30 days, testing it from A to Z.

We'll start it with just interacting with the other horses, to maybe walking them in the streets, having buses go by.

Somebody a little bit more experienced, like like myself will take them in the streets to teach them what in the world to do in the streets.

We're we're training all the time when we're out working in the streets, so I'm not just nonchalantly walking around for no reason.