Los Angeles City Council Meeting 2025-12-05
Los Angeles City Council Meeting 2025-12-05
The Los Angeles City Council convened on December 5, 2025, to honor community service recipients, celebrate heritage, and address urgent housing policy. The meeting featured presentations for the 40th anniversary of Heal the Bay, the recognition of the "Volunteers Cleaning Communities" nonprofit, and the celebration of Salvadoran American Heritage Day. A significant portion of the agenda focused on the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO), where the Council moved Version A of the ordinance while simultaneously referring a proposed definition of "dependent" to committee for further review due to technical ambiguities. The meeting concluded with general public comment and a special memorial adjournment for former City Hall staff member Pat Gobbler.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of minutes from December 3, 2025.
- Commendatory resolutions and items moved forthwith (Items 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20).
- Approval of the budget and finance committee report for Item 17.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Dolores, Elita Morales, Catherine Anderson, and Fred Sutton: Expressed concerns regarding the lack of posted agendas for the special meeting (violating the Brown Act) and criticized the city for withholding records pertaining to rent stabilization in court proceedings.
- Catherine Anderson: Stated that the special meeting agenda items were not properly posted, preventing effective public comment.
- Speaker supporting Version A: Expressed full support for implementing Version A of the RSO immediately before February to prevent unfair rent increases for tenants; asked for the CPI to be set at 60% rather than 90%.
- Fred Sutton: Expressed opposition to the rushed implementation, calling it "regulatory whiplash"; argued the policy should be delayed until July as originally scheduled.
- Maria Sanchez (ACE): Expressed support for Version A but requested the CPI be reduced from 90% to 60%.
- Lena (Sage): Expressed full support for Version A without delay, emphasizing the urgency for tenants facing February 1st rent increases.
- Speaker against the Council: Expressed strong opposition to council members, specifically citing alleged corruption and inaction regarding homelessness and the January wildfires.
- Hassan (ACE): Expressed frustration that small landlords and community concerns were not addressed in good faith during the committee process, urging immediate passage of the ordinance to protect renters.
- Lori Laughlin and Felicity Huffman: Not mentioned as speakers in this segment; a speaker raised allegations regarding UCLA admission bribery involving Irene Vasquez and Academia Semillas del Pueblo.
- Rosa (Fast Food Workers Union): Requested the passage of the fair wages law for fast food workers and shared a testimony about being unfairly fired for reporting unhygienic conditions.
- Maria (SEIU, AFL-CIO): Expressed opposition to corporate efforts to roll back living wages and urged the council to stand with working people.
- Joan Harper (CLUE): Expressed support for the living wage law and urged the council to remain steadfast against corporate interference.
- Disruptive Speaker: Expressed vehement opposition to ICE raids and the City Council's management of homelessness and police budget.
Discussion Items
- Salvadoran American Heritage Day: Councilmembers Rodriguez and Hernandez led a presentation honoring the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles-San Salvador sister city relationship and the 30th anniversary of SALVEF (Salvadoran American Leadership Education Fund). Six media professionals were recognized for elevating Salvadoran American voices.
- Heal the Bay 40th Anniversary: Councilmember Park led a recognition for Heal the Bay's four decades of environmental advocacy. Tracy Quinn, CEO, highlighted the organization's work in beach monitoring, plastic reduction, and post-wildfire water testing.
- Volunteers Cleaning Communities: Councilmember Lee recognized this nonprofit and founder Jill Mither for their daily efforts in clearing litter across the San Fernando Valley. Volunteers and leaders shared testimony on community stewardship.
- Pat Huber's Retirement: Councilmember Blumenfield and colleagues honored Patty Huber for her 26-year career in the City Administrative Officer's office, citing her mentorship of hundreds of staff and her role as a trusted advisor on financial matters.
- Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO): The Council debated Version A of the ordinance. Councilmember Nazarian proposed an amendment to define "dependent" using IRS criteria (excluding residency requirements) to prevent ambiguity. City Attorney Deputy Peter Wolford advised that the current language lacked a specific definition and suggested the amendment be sent to committee for technical review to ensure legal accuracy.
Key Outcomes
- RSO Vote (Item 21): The Council moved Version A of the Rent Stabilization Ordinance to pass immediately. Councilmember Nazarian's amendment to define "dependent" via IRS standards was referred to the Housing and Homelessness Committee for further consideration. The final vote tally for the motion to refer the amendment to committee was 9 Yes, 2 No (with 1 abstention/recusal implied), passing the referral.
- Item 13: Approved with 11 ayes and 2 noes (Councilwoman Rodriguez registered a no after the initial vote).
- Adjournment: The meeting adjourned in memory of Pat Gobbler, former Chief of Staff to Council President John Ferraro, following testimonials from Councilmember Rodriguez, Councilmember McCosker, and Kelly Martin regarding her dedication and character.
- Special Meeting Recess: The regular meeting recessed to hold a special meeting to facilitate public comment on the RSO items, which concluded before returning to the regular session for the final vote.
Meeting Transcript
In that program, LA City residents can get either a manual wheelchair, different type of rollators. They also could get different types of shower benches, erase toilet seats, and air purifier. This is a really amazing opportunity for our senior participants of the community to come out and get this durable medical equipment. It's so needed within our community. Oh, I'm here today to pick up uh you see a rise uh toilet and helping me to be safe in my home. It's making life quality much better. It goes without saying uh how dangerous it is uh for a senior to fall inside of their home. Having this available to the community is essential. Well, they made an announcement at my center, and they have us a sign up, and I checked off what was more important, transported me here, and I feel very independent by doing that. But this way I won't have to ask, hey neighbor, do this or whatever. Well, I want to highlight that this program is very important to the city of Los Angeles, especially for the Angelinos that uh either our low income and uh the unhoused individuals. And I just want to emphasize how impactful this program is to the city of Los Angeles and how um direct it helps people uh live independently. This street we live on has an incline from the corner to my apartment. So I'm so glad to have that welcome now. And I was very surprised about the uh room humidifier and the blood pressure equipment they offered me today. So I got a lot of things almost like Christmas. So I'm just so grateful that we have resources like this. You feel like you're not doing it by yourself. That's the major thing. If anyone's interested in the program, they could apply at disability.lacity.gov. Bye bye. We'll have a good night tonight. A new bill strengthens protections for crime victims and witnesses. LA's Department of Water and Power offers three steps to take against utility scams. And Angelinos are invited to shape the city's mobility action plan. These stories of next on City Bead. City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto and LA County District Attorney Nathan Hockman recently celebrated the signing of the Victim and Witness Protection Act into law. Authored by Assemblymember Pilar Schiabo. This bill strengthened safeguards for survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and other crimes. The act protects against post-charging, dissuading intimidation after charges have been filed. According to Feldstein Soto, the bill will empower victims and witnesses to help law enforcement without fear of retaliation. For more information, visit CityAttorney.lacity.gov slash news. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, LADWP, joined with Utilities United Against Scams to give customers an understanding of how they can protect themselves. Because scammers often use pressure and scare tactics, this year's campaign offers a three-step strategy to slow down, verify, and stop the scam. To slow down, end the conversation on unexpected payment requests as the LA DWP will reach out on a past due bill and provide assistance information. To verify, customers can contact the LA DWP directly by using the phone number on their bill or by logging on to their LADWP account. To stop the scam, report incidents immediately to the LADWP and local law enforcement. For more information, visit LADWP News.com. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation has launched its mobility action plan to identify long-range capital needs and is gathering input from Angelinos. The Mobility Action Plan will provide a framework for how the city invests in streets, sidewalks, transit, biking, and walking. The plan will consolidate projects across the city and include the Department of Transportation, Public Works, and other city departments. Participate in the survey, a mobility action plan LA.org. LA City's fire department hosts a special boots on the ground event for young Angelinos thinking about joining the service. Not only do the teens learn about the range of skills needed for the job, they get to put them into practice. And it's proven to be a path to success. So today we're at Camp Spark in Panorama City, and we are putting on this camp to show young ladies and men kind of introduction to the fire service so they can get a taste of this career and be excited about it. Camp Spark is open to all individuals from 14 to 18 years old, but it's primarily geared towards young ladies. It's a women's empowerment camp. We have firefighters from all over the city of Los Angeles who come here today to help these young women and several of the boys that are participating in. Learn what it's like to be a firefighter.
openpublica.com