spaces and and made it so people can congregate, have commerce, made it feel safer, right?

But the service was the street light.

Now we're adding other things that not only reduce the cost of infrastructure itself, but make it so that there's new services that can go on to the city like 5G connectivity, right?

So LA became one of the first 5G cities in America back in 20, I believe 2017, 2018.

And that's because we started working together with industry practitioners.

See what else we could do.

Very very cool.

All right so you've worked with the city for a long time.

I mean you've worked in the mayor's office you know through a couple of tenures of different mayors and now now you're here and you've been here what was the biggest surprise coming into this bureau when you looked around and saw what your opportunities were and what your challenges were the scope of the bureau the opportunities in the bureau the history the fun the possibility what was it that you really went oh wow this is cool.

What what I was most impressed with was the people when I came in here.

Because of their willingness to actually try new things and because of the people we have tremendous potential right so when we're talking about these new technologies these more efficient ways to light the streets we're we're talking about connectivity with telecom partners we're talking about dynamic lighting we're talking about air quality sensors that can help inform uh policymakers about what's going on in their neighborhoods right now right so the people actually led to some of these progressions right these new things and and these opportunities that we have and so the bureau itself with what it has again a quarter of a million street lights an electrical system this pen ultimate electrical system that when we're thinking about the future of the city is going to empower a lot of the new services that we do now we actually see ourselves now more of a platform right so yes we have the the street light but there's many different things that you can attach to it right there's many different services that you can uh kind of uh uh create from from that point there where where we have a very uh valuable piece of real estate on the public right of way that has energy 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 requests with myel A311 or call 311 itself for for all other things and if you're inquisitive about our history please visit LA lights dot la city dot or gank you so much this is really really fun and that's a wrap on this LA Currents Hello everyone I'm Susan Huckle and here's what's happening in LA this week roll out the red carpet strike up the band it's time to get this season of goodwill started council women Monica Rodriguez and Heather Hutt joined the stars for a legacy event that's bringing all the holiday spirit the Hollywood Christmas parade today we're celebrating the 93rd annual Hollywood Christmas parade and this is such a special occasion for so many members in our community that come together so it's really special to be part of this time honored tradition I came here as a kid and we will bring hot chocolate and all that kind of stuff you know you waited to see Santa all night long I am always excited to see Santa you know what I've been on the good list all the time well except for that one time in college yeah so I'm on the good list.

Yeah, so I'm on the good list.

I'm excited to be here today because I'm receiving a humanitarian award for my philanthropic work within the community.

I don't do it for fanfare.

I just try to move in silence with that in the community knows what I do because I do it for them.

Well we take shelter and food for granted.

Not everyone has that.

And there are young people that won't be able to celebrate this holiday season without toys for tots.

So that's why I'm here.

They do services or leadership for kids all year round.

I really look forward to seeing all the Marines every year because as a daughter of a Marine, it makes me proud to know that this is a legacy that continues here in Los Angeles.

And so I'm grateful for their work.

Represented as China, represented as uh Panama, Bolivia.

It's an international show tonight.

And it's so inclusive and really reflective of the diversity of Los Angeles, which makes it so uniquely different.

When everyone sees all of the different communities that have come together to celebrate the holidays in this way, it's uh something that everyone can be proud of.

The holidays aren't about what you get.

The holidays are about what you give.

There is nothing better than helping someone else.

Not everyone can do everything, but everybody can do something to make a difference.

We need all of us to be the village that takes care of one another.

Be kind to each other.

Remember to check on your neighbors and really have a wonderful holiday season.

Councilmember Isabel Harado joined LA Public Library for a groundbreaking at the Benjamin Franklin Library in Boyle Heights.

This is a major renovation project which will return the branch building back to the community with many improvements.

Today we are at the groundbreaking of the Benjamin Franklin Library here in Boyle Heights.

It was my first motion to figure out what is going on because the library has been closed since 2020, and less than a year later, we are here doing a groundbreaking to make sure it's open in 14 months.

It's taken a while.

The Benjamin Franklin branch library has been closed for a while.

There have been some issues with the building, but we're really looking forward to finally having our branch back.

And staff is really excited to come back into the building and to serve the Boyle Heights community.

This building's gonna be upgraded in terms of uh energy efficiency.

We're gonna be putting in some landscaping, some new uh HVAC systems, some lighting systems.

We're also doing some improvements on the outside in addition to the landscaping.

There's a new entryway and exit way, and we're gonna do some refurbishment on the painting.

It's gonna be a state of the art.

It's gonna be more green and sustainable.

We're gonna have better landscaping outside that is also gonna be sustainable.

And we're also gonna have a new citizens' corner where folks can learn how to be citizens and take their citizenship classes.

And at the end of the day, it's gonna be bigger, more beautiful, and have this beautiful space for our community members.

Probably a later con alphabetization for adult.

This library is more than just a place for books.

It's a community resource hub.

That's where kids can go to read, they can get tutoring, where seniors can get reprieved from the hot hot.

I'm so excited to uplift and make sure that this comes to fruition.

For more information about the library, please visit LAPL.org.

A small support can make a big difference.

We are at a distribution event at the West Adams Senior Center, and we are giving out DME equipment for seniors.

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 you see a rice 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 are 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 uh it helps people uh live independently.

The 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 hub midifier 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 up next on City Beat.

This bill strengthens 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, LA DWP, 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 LABWP will reach out on a past due bill and provide assistance information.

To verify, customers can contact the LADWP 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.

Angelinos are invited to share their experiences and priorities to help shape a transportation system that works for everyone.

Participate in the survey, a mobility action planla.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.

Learn what it's like to be a firefighter.

They learn about the mechanical aptitude, but most importantly, they build leadership skills.

They're gonna walk away from here feeling empowered, feeling like they can take on the world.

So we're here to provide them with an introduction to some of the tools that we use as firefighters, some of our tactics and how we actually fight fire, and also how to be prepared for emergencies.

Being in California, you know we have a wide array of stuff that happens, and so we kind of give an introduction as to how we respond to emergencies and disasters within our city.

Here we're just doing different things that you would do if you were a firefighter, climbing ladders, using hammers, using power tools, and just like seeing what's on the rigs.

I feel like it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Like there's not many other places that you can use chainsaws and climb these ladders and everything.

My dad's a firefighter.

He's been doing this for a long time.

And he always comes home and tells me like all these cool stories about his job.

It's like, oh, that's cool.

Like, I want to do that.

And he told me he's like, hey, there's this camp going on, like what do you want to do?

I was like, yes.

And I think it's a really cool experience for girls to like come try it out and like just see what it's all about.

A lot of the stuff I didn't think I'd be able to do, and I was able to do it and succeed, and it makes me want to be a firefighter even more.

I decided to come to Girls Camp and explore it because I wanted to know what it is to be a firefighter at first.

I've been doing this for five years.

I think the job is really hard to get, but it has to be hard.

You put in your life on the line, you know.

So like you have to train like you like depends on it.

It prepares you in the long run as a firefighter because you're easing into it slowly.

You're not just going at it in one shot.

So you can't be scared.

You have to just go ahead forward.

No, you're the best person you could be at the moment.

You're competent, you're strong, and you'll do good.

You just have to like try your best.

If you're anticipating coming to a camp like this, we ask that you have a great attitude and you come ready to work.

We're always going to make it a fun environment.

We want it to be positive and supportive and encouraging.

But we're here to work too.

As firefighters, our physical abilities are very important, and so our campers get a little taste of that with some of the stations and some of the activities that we put on in this camp.

They see the energy that the campers have when they walk off our drill tower grounds, and they feel the energy that they're getting here.

They're really, really motivated by our own firefighters who are leaders in themselves.

We've actually had success rates not only with the Los Angeles Fire Department, where we've seen graduates from the camp become members of the Los Angeles Fire Department, but they've also joined other fire departments.

And then we've also seen other fire departments emulate what we've created here in the city of Los Angeles.

Family and friends gathered to name the community members lost and honor their legacy.

Today we are here for a sombre ceremony to recognize transgender day of remembrance.

This gathering is something that um hurts my heart every year.

281 people lost their lives to violence because of their identity.

We also know that in the United States, 58 people lost their lives.

58 people in the United States of America.

Two of those people actually died in LA City proper.

We want to send a strong message that hate has no home in Los Angeles.

Onyx Cornish.

Onyx Cornish.

J.

Lotus.

Just Luisa Rivera.

Louisa.

Their names rise through us as blessings.

Their journeys did not end in darkness.

They continue as guiding lights, inspiring us to build a world worthy of their dreams.

Honest cared deeply for others, and they would drive around town with food for local in-house, can even help them rent motels for the night.

She is remembered as a vibrant soul who was full of love and trees.

And who was known for her kindness.

Leah's family, including her sister Jen, still celebrate her birthday every year.

A 60-year-old Latina transgender woman is remembered by an enormous impact in the HIV aides advocacy and on fighting for rights and dignity for sex workers.

We only have this one life, so please honor, honor the trans people.

Honor them, love them.

And now we have an administration who is targeting us, telling us that we are other, telling us that we don't belong.

That hatred leads to more violence, that hatred leads to more death, that hatred leads to more names on this memorial tonight.

But I am gonna show you that we can defy that.

We are a small but mighty community.

Rest in power, Soupley.

Everything for people to see from gas to EV to hybrid, from compact to large SUVs.

So people can come to the show.

There's a bunch of different automakers they can go to with no sales pressure, no hassle, and over 50 models to actually test drive or ride.

A lot of these automakers indoors have ride-alongs where you can get inside a car with a professional driver.

So I just came with my son to check out the LA Car Show.

Great experience.

It seems like every year the exhibits they level up.

This Jeep exhibit was really cool.

It was almost like riding a roller coaster.

This is probably the craziest thing that I've seen so far.

We have this big space to be able to bring families and or if you're just by yourself or a group of friends, whatever it might be.

And there's so much to do here.

This is, I think, my fourth day here because there's so much to see.

Um, right now I'm actually taking a look at this camera car that I would not expect to see at the Toyota first.

There's a lot here that I didn't expect.

LA Auto Show is in my backyard, and we get to talk about new film that I've worked on called The Drifter, where this car, Lola, is the star of the film.

So Toyota has been very supportive of the film.

And they said that we could bring Lola and display it to all of these wonderful people in Los Angeles during the Thanksgiving holiday.

One of the things that the automakers really understand, especially about Southern California is the car culture.

It's like nowhere else in the world.

It's literally the car culture capital.

And what they do when they build their exhibits is they try to connect to people through those passions.

So you might be into muscle cars, you might be into camping, off-roading, whatever it may be.

And you see those different lifestyles come to life in all of these exhibits.

And then there are the car culture and auto enthusiasts.

They also want to see the new cars, but also enjoy all of the car culture.

We've got classics and low riders, all sorts of interactive exhibits, virtual reality.

So there's a little something for everyone, including kids.

We need more of this.

We need more of things that bring the world together.

When it comes to car culture, LA definitely leaves every other city in the dust.

Even as they fought for others, Los Angeles firefighters found themselves personally impacted by January's wildfires.

This is our annual Valor Awards at the iconic Dodgers Stadium, and it's an amazing evening that we all look forward to each year because this is the best of the best.

These are our members who go above and beyond the call of duty, who are rightfully awarded.

It's definitely not something expected or anticipated, but it's humbling, and people that put on this badge and show up on these 911 calls.

We're there for you, and we want to do what's best for you.

It's pretty humbling to that there's uh recognition for we're not used to that.

It's we're just happy and to be doing the job that we get to do.

It's really a privilege.

It's a desire to help.

It's a desire to make a difference that draws firefighters to this profession.

Our firefighters were tested this year.

The Palisades Fire truly tested all of us.

I recognize that there are many people here today that were affected personally by the fire in some way.

Everything was uh a total surprise.

I've never seen a fire come that close in that far south into Alpadina before.

My wife, who was pregnant at the time, was thinking, okay, I gotta get her out of here.

Uh, got her in the car.

I see the neighbors' cars.

They're not aware of what's going on or or how close the fire is, so I started knocking on the doors, trying to get out as many people as possible.

I was thinking that maybe if I was able to get to the station, get my gear, I'd be able to defend some of the houses.

Walked in and uh my crew, everybody who was gearing up and get ready to go to Palisades.

And the captain, uh Captain John, he's uh looking at the TV, and Al Dina comes on the screen, and he gives me a look.

I give him a look.

He was like, take what you need, go.

And uh I made it back to Al Tadina, and uh the city was on fire.

Just like Palisades Aldina, the water grid tanked.

And thank God for uh Riverside Engine 73.

Without them, my my block would be gone.

On the opposite block, three houses had already fully burned down and now we're screaming up to the private line in the back.

So I flaked out the holes and turned the water on and had no water.

So by that time, neighbors had been throwing me their extinguishers.

I ran to the house, got a shovel, throwing dirt and trying to put off the spot fires as best as I could to prevent the other structures from taking off.

Stayed up for four days, friends, family.

They were all sending me their uh addresses.

They had just left.

They didn't know if their houses were up or down.

And uh I would go to their where their homes were and uh have families on some speaker phone and you know, is it there?

And then they would one person will start crying, and the whole room is crying, and I'd have to tell them I'm sorry it's not.

Did that like 15, 20 times.

There's nothing that prepared me for that.

It's a very strange space to be in because they are two cities of people and families that totally lost their homes.

And I have a home, and I'm having a hard time with that.

I want to say to you that we are with you, that the Los Angeles Fire Department is here for you, and together that we are going to move forward, working to rebuild a better Los Angeles, a stronger palisades, and for those who are affected by the Eaton Fire.

Stronger communities all around.

In this week's Things to Do, catch the 45th annual Black Doll Show.

Enjoy a winter festival in Expo Park, and celebrate Jane Austen with the LA Public Library.

All this up next on Things To Do.

The show's opening reception takes place on Saturday, December 13th, and will feature live music and performances.

Through handmade and collective black dolls, the show reflects on today's uncertainties and asks what new worlds can emerge when imagination and resilience take root.

Head to the William Grant Still Arts Center for the Black Doll show opening on Saturday, December thirteenth at three p.m.

For more details, visit WGSAC.

Join Council Member Curren Price and Reckon Parks at Expo Parks for all the family fun of this winter holiday festival.

There will be music, entertainment, games, community booths, and yes, even sledding.

There will also be giveaways, which are first come first served.

Head to Bill Robertson Lane for Expo Center's Winter Festival on Saturday, December 13th, beginning at ten AM.

For more information, see the events tab at LA Parks.

Head to the Venice Abbott Kinney Memorial Branch Library to celebrate Austin's birthday with a tea party for all ages and book discussion featuring the classic Pride and Prejudice.

Tea, scones, and other delightful treats will be generously provided by the Friends of Venice Library.

For more details, visit LAPL.org slash events.

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

See you next time for more LA This Week.

Regularly scheduled meeting of your Los Angeles City Council.

Today is Wednesday, the tenth day of December.

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

Yes, sir.

Bloom and Field, Harris Stassen, Hernandez, Hut Hit Auto, Lee, McCosker, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Raman, Rodriguez, Son Martinez, Saraslavsky, ten members present in Corn, Mr.

President.

Approval the minutes of December ninth, twenty twenty-five.

Council Member McCosker moves, Councilmember Price seconds.

What's next?

Commendatory resolutions for approval.

Councilmember Yaroslavski moves.

Councilmember Hutt seconds.

Can we run through our agenda?

Yes, sir.

Mr.

President, would council like all items to go forthwith today?

All items forthwith today without objection.

Items 1 through 22 are items notice for public hearing.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety recommends to confirm the liens for items 2 through 9, 11, 12, 15, 17 through 20, and to receive and file the liens for 13, 14, 16.

And as much as the liens have been paid, and to continue items 10 and 21 to Wednesday, January 14, 2026.

For item 22, the planning and land use management committee report has been submitted and is available online under Council File 09-0969 S4.

Items 23 through 59 are items which public hearings have been held.

For items 29 through 37, the trade, travel, and tourism committee reports have been submitted and are available online under their respective council files.

For items 38 through 40, 49, 53, 54, and 59, the planning and land use management committee reports have been submitted and are available online under their respective council files.

For items 51, 57, and 58, the budget and finance committee reports have been submitted and are available online under their respective council files.

Please note for item 55, no action should be taken in as much this is a duplicate of item 30.

Item 60 through 74 are items which public hearings have not been held.

10 votes are required for consideration.

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

I see councilmember Rodriguez.

Yes, uh item 41.

I'd like to continue to January 29th, 2026.

Uh this will reflect the action that was taken in Plum Committee yesterday.

Item 51 for a separate vote.

And item 52, I'd like to move the government efficiency innovation and audits committee report.

All right, Councilmember Park.

Morning, Council President.

I would like to call items 13, 14, and 16 special to receive and file, and 53 for remarks.

Got it.

Any other specials to my left?

All right.

Mr.

Price.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh like to call uh item 52 special for amendments.

And item excuse myself from items 48 and 51 because my wife's employer has worked with an organization listed on this item in the past.

48 and 5.1.

All right.

Uh councilmember Hernandez.

Thank you, Council President.

I would like to call item 65 special for comments, please.

All right, 65, Mr.

Price again.

Mr.

Russell, we want to move the economic development and jobs committee report.

I want to move the committee report.

For which item?

Item 52.

52.

Economic and jobs report.

All right.

Uh is there a second to Mr.

Price's motion?

Second.

Uh second by Mr.

Sotomartine.

Martinez.

And Ms.

Rodriguez, for your motion to um on 52 to move the uh GEIA report.

Is there a second to uh Ms.

Rodriguez's motion?

Uh Mr.

Bloomingfield, thank you.

And uh is there a second to Ms.

Park's receive and file of the liens?

Second.

Oh, thank you, sir.

All right, other specials members, Councilmember Yarosowski.

Uh thank you, Council President.

I'd like for item 48 to move the BNF reports uh and for 51 to move the BNF reports.

Thank you.

Is there a second to uh Ms.

Yarosovsky?

Uh Mr.

Bloomingfield, thank you.

Mr.

Soto Martinez.

Yes, thank you so much, Mr.

President.

Uh item number 69 for a separate vote, please.

69 for a second separate vote.

Okay, Mr.

Nazarian.

Thank you, Council President.

Continue uh item 10 until January 14th, please.

Item 10 to January 14th, Councilmember Rodriguez.

Item 63 for Councilmember Padilla, if we can please hold that.

Okay.

Item 63 on behalf of Councilmember Padilla.

Oh any other specialist members.

All right.

Seeing none.

Madam Clerk, what items are before us.

Mr.

President, there is a request for uh to continue items 10 and 21 to January 14th, 2026, sir.

All right, without objection.

And uh what council just is that the way for the Mr.

President, Council may now vote on items two through I'm sorry, twenty-three through forty, twenty-three through forty.

Uh forty-two through forty seven, forty-nine, fifty, and then fifty-four through fifty-nine, sir.

All right, those items are now before us.

Let's open the roll, close the roll.

Tabulate the vote.

Fifteen nines.

All right, what's next?

Uh next council can go in to public comment, sir.

All right, before public comment, uh Mr.

Blumenfield.

Uh for public comment, quick thing.

Yeah.

Uh Brian, come over here for a second.

I wanted to uh introduce a special guest that we have today, a colleague from another city.

Uh Brian is the mayor of Glendale, but not the Glendale that we know, Glendale, Wisconsin.

Uh he is here for the DNC meeting, and he is uh fellow board member of the DMO, Democratic municipal.

In fact, he's he's now the president VMO, and uh see you're visiting us, and I wanted to give him a warm welcome uh and welcome uh uh a council colleague from another city.

So Brian, thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Okay, welcome, welcome, welcome.

We put on good weather just for you.

So uh thank you for being in Los Angeles and having the conference here.

And our we have a presentation this morning, a very exciting presentation, be led uh by the council member from the 13th district, Mr.

Soto Martinez.

Uh thank you so much, uh Council President.

It's a I am um thank you so much.

Uh I am honored to stand here today with three leaders from the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, Mr.

Luis Enrique Ventura, Mr.

Raul Amilcar, and Mr.

Duvaler Castañon.

I had the pleasure of meeting with them earlier this morning and speaking about their work in Guatemala, the challenges that they are facing, and how they are working to make Guatemala more progressive in Central America.

The men behind me are trailblazers helping steer political power to the left in Guatemala for the first time in decades.

And I think we can all learn from them as we as we fight our own right wing establishment and try to save our own democracy.

I invited them here today to say a remark give a few remarks about their experiences in Guatemala, because as the city of Los Angeles that has the largest Guatemalan population outside of Guatemala, it's important to understand what our residents are going through as it pertains to the government in Guatemala.

Moreover, uh in the United States of America, there are an estimated one point eight million Guatemalans lit who they call the United States their home.

So without further ado, speaking on behalf of all three of the gentlemen behind me, I'd like to introduce Mr.

Duvaler Castañon from the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, who will be giving his remarks in Spanish and be translated by here by our local translator.

Mr.

Castañon Thank you very much.

To uh our honorable council president, thank you so much for having us, and we feel very much at home here.

So Duvalier Castagnon and I accompany those Congressistas of the Republic of Guatemala, pays on the habit of quattro pueblos, El Maya, Garifuna, Shinka and Mestizo.

And my name is Duvalier Castagnon, and I am here accompanied with two other congressmen who uh and we represent the Republic of Guatemala, who has four different areas representing different indigenous people, the Maya, the Garifuna, the Chica, and the Mestizo.

Guatemala in Languan significa terra de muchos arbores.

It's part of the centre of America, possessed 22 nations and 24 idiomas, Maya, one of the most prominent de Mesoamerica.

In Guatemala, the Republic of Guatemala, in its indigenous language, means land of many trees, where we make up 22 indigenous nations with 24 different languages, including some of the most prominent languages in Central America.

And many of which live many millions of this of these inhabitants live in other countries like the United States of America, more specifically, Los Angeles, California.

In our country, we have about 204 years that we have been we have existed.

And it wasn't until the turn of the 20th century that we were able to have our first democratic elections, which started our long road towards a democracy and a more progressive nation.

And with that said, in an area that represents over 4,000 kilometers of distance, it wouldn't have been it would many people do not have the same access as I have had.

And if it had not been for a school that was close to my home and two wonderful parents, specifically my mother, I may have not amounted to who I am today.

And now today I am here in name of my Guatemalan brothers and sisters who are hard working, good people, and many of who work here and the fruits of their labor go back to their home country to be able to provide food, water, and shelter to the people that live there.

But they're here also to support this very country in California in the United States of America.

And so as Chapinis, which is the colloquial name that we use for Guatemalans, they are not here just to provide and contribute to the economic development of this country.

They also contribute in arts, academia, sciences, technology, sports, and in many other areas areas because the men and women who are of the corn who come from this country need very little to be able to thrive.

And so to our council president, I would like to share the same hope that we have in our country as we move towards a better and more progressive social political climate, and we show that same resilience that despite the war and everything that we have faced as adversity, that we continue to thrive.

Those were the indigenous communities whose leadership helped to be able to make the progress that we made and achieve what we achieved at midnight of 2024.

And to conclude, I would like to share my deepest gratitude to the people of the United States, particularly in Los Angeles, California, for taking in and giving a warm welcome to my brothers and sisters, not only in the workplace, but also in their hearts.

And so we are also well aware of all the work that you have done in order to stand up and to protect our Guatemalan immigrants.

And we would like to share that it is the mutual openness of our country.

Our doors are open to you, and we'd love to welcome you to our beautiful land where we have powerful and beautiful pyramids as well as beautiful people who are warm and welcoming.

Thank you so very much for your time and attention.

Thank you to Councilmember Hugo Soto Martinez for the invitation.

And I would also like to extend a warm thank you to Mayor Karen Bass and to everyone else for your time.

Please, one more land, one more one more time, round of applause for our Congresspeople from Guatemala.

Thank you so much.

And welcome, welcome, welcome.

May your stay in Los Angeles be productive and enjoyable.

Before we go to public comment, I want to call on the Councilmember Lee.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I apologize for the late notice on this.

If we could have item number 20, continue to January 14th.

Alright.

Item number two zero continue to January 14th.

Without objection, that'll be the order.

And I also have Councilmember Hernandez.

Yes.

Thank you, Council President.

No more decided, for morning.

Muchísimas gracias for starting with us.

You am Eunice Hernandez, so I'm conceivable representative district and represent the areas of MacArthur Park, Pico Union and Westlake, on the population of Guatemala.

Thank you so much, Councilmember, for bringing them forward, and I looked forward to continuing to build with our leaders in Guatemala.

Thank you again.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Padilla.

Councilmember Soromartinez, thank you for bringing this presentation.

It's always uh really uh you know inspiring to hear from our representatives that represent countries where we know we have plenty of constituents from.

So I want to thank you.

Um, but no se pierde this connection and you know that the culture and all the paces of the conversation.

So gracias por estar aquí for represental.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr.

Soromartinez, and thank you again to our guests.

We appreciate you all so much.

All right, with that, we are prepared to go into public comment, and we need a city attorney to prepare us for public comment.

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

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

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

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

The items open for public comment on the agenda are items one through nine, eleven through nineteen, twenty two, and sixty through seventy-four.

So again, the items open for public comment on the agenda are items one through nine, eleven through nineteen, twenty-two, and sixty through seventy-four.

Items number ten, twenty, twenty-one, and forty-one have all been continued.

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.

A couple more announcements if I could have the uh interpreters make this first one aloud to the room, please.

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

Don't worry, we will pause your time while the interpreters are interpreting, so you will get the same amount of time as everyone else.

Thank you.

And then once you hear that, you can line up in any order on your left hand side of the council chambers.

Thank you.

I will begin by calling the following names.

Joe V Delvin Enriquez, Ava Garcia, Harriet Elliott, Laura Esquivel, and Ronaldo Nineres.

So as we wait for those speakers to come up, uh just one reminder that once you get to the podium, uh please let us know which items you'd like to speak to, and slash or if you would like general public comment.

If you don't let us know, then we will give you your one-minute general public comment.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Which items.

Yes, I have been a member of ACE since 2002.

I'm doing general public comment.

I am from South Los Angeles and I support ULA, and I'm here so that we can do the state house LA.

In my caso, quando stay house, me ajudo in la corte.

Yes, and in my case, Stay House LA has really helped me when I was in court because I was facing eviction and the judge allowed me to receive legal representation without any cost.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

I'm here for a debt about some one of my housing codes.

Good morning.

Which items?

My name is Eva Garcia.

I'm a power I am a member of Collective.

Here for general public comment.

I want to ask the council members to please protect ULA.

And to be able to support ULA, they asked us to make 60,000 to get 60,000 signatures, but we actually got 90,000.

We want it in the vote.

It's a democratic vote from the people.

And now the rich say that ULA does not work.

Because they see them.

And now we raise hundreds of thousands of millions.

Which they are unable to use because of how many object obstacles we face.

And we ask you to to respect this democratic vote.

We urge you to respect this democratic vote that was won fair and square.

For our communities, ULA is of benefit.

And the rich are a bunch of crybabies.

We want this measure right now.

Public comment.

Okay, so we have one minute.

Go ahead.

Okay.

And you know that we won the Olympic wage.

We did it two times.

And it's not just that you come at us again attacking us with this.

We are the ones who work at Los Angeles Airport.

And we fought for two years.

We are workers.

Please continue to be the leader that you are.

Before the next speaker begins, I would like to call up Daisy Song, Jackie, Alfonso, Directo, Esmeralda, Nigrete, and Karen Ramirez.

Good morning.

Which items?

She offered it.

I thought you should uh take it her suggestion, that's all.

Okay, I'm moving to uh oh, also uh yesterday I talked about a book called Lawless.

This is what you move to general public comment now?

No, not yet.

Okay.

Okay, if you want to talk about the book, you need to move to general.

Okay, we're a general, all right.

Okay, you have one.

Uh this woman is uh a lawyer uh and a professor lawless is what Trump is not is.

Also, this guy is a republican and he's still a republican, and I highly recommend this book.

He said under the second administration of uh Trump, you won't be able to get a book out of the library if you're a Democrat.

Okay, this uh I I'm gonna talk about uh silent sound.

El patente day, a silent sound.

Uh uh Sonido, no and Los OEDOS, okay.

It's so secret.

Okay.

Uh you fui uh staples in no uh kid and call partial secreto uh 50 dollars.

Uh yes, uh the sound that uh they do.

You cannot hear it in your ears.

You hear it inside your skull.

Uh I went to Staples, but they did not uh want to give me money back.

I but I paid for it and they did not give me it.

I you'll complain, don't say uh Vesas, you'll complain, don't say uh camisas M G A and uh Van Eyes.

It no me dieron me camisas porque la techno is secret.

Yes, I I bought 12 shirts six months ago, MGA, but they did not give me the the shirts because that's technology is uh secret.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Uh is item 43 open for public comment?

Item 43 is not open for public comment, but you can speak to it during general if you'd like.

Yes.

Are there any other items?

No.

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

Go ahead.

Hi, my name is Daisy Jong.

My partner and I are the named um buyers in the motion uh in regards to item 43.

Uh, I just want to make it clear to the council member uh uh to the council that um we already own a 50% interest in this property, and it is a private property that um is the uh driveway easement to um uh the adjacent property are we already owned.

Um we are requesting to um buy this from the city because uh at the request of uh DBS zoning, and it is what is required for us to obtain our building permit to build our single family home.

So we're asking the council to vote yes in support of the sale and in support of us building our family home.

Thank you.

And I want to thank um Councilmember Juado and uh Blue Ninfo for putting forth this motion.

Good morning.

Which items?

I'm gonna be doing general public comment.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

All right, thank you.

My name is Garin Ramirez.

I am a community organizer for the organization Sage, and I'm also a resident of your council district, Mr.

Marquise Harris Dawson.

I just recently bought a home there, so I really love that neighborhood.

Um in 2022, voters just like myself and colleagues here behind me said yes to the measure ULA because we wanted to do something about the housing affordability in Los Angeles.

We wanted to do something about the nearly 45 unhoused people who would be sleeping on our streets tonight.

Today, ULA has raised close to a billion dollars to fund construction of affordable new housing and unprecedented amount of money for a city in the US.

We are making incredible progress.

Why?

Because finally we are amassing revenue on a skill that will actually make a difference, not just a dent.

In this way, measure ULA is transformational.

We ask you to support measure ULA and to stay with the people who voted for this measure.

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I would like to call up Cynthia Strathman, Kimberly San, Dolly Slow, Trinidad Alvarez, and John Paulin.

Good morning.

Which items?

General comment.

Okay, so you have one minute.

I don't like to put words in other people's mouths, but it seems that most of the people you see here regularly all have versions of the same issue.

Elected officials are working hard to keep serious problems away from juries.

In other words, you all have appointed yourselves judge and jury.

It really doesn't matter if an attorney gives you an opinion that some action is legal.

It matters if a criminal jury says that it's legal, and by allowing city employees to keep contentious issues out of the criminal courts, you are fostering crime.

People have hammered you with reports of human trafficking, brazen violations of free speech, attacks with exotic weapons, or as with me, the police deliberately ignoring extortion.

If someone has communicated with you outside of a public meeting that this legal inaction is acceptable, then that communication is illegal.

You need to tell them to drop dead.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

Which items?

Okay.

So you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Sounds good.

My name is Alfonso Director Junior.

I'm the advocacy director at Act LA.

Good to see many of you today.

I'm here to urge you to uh continue to support Measure ULA.

Measure ULA is working as intended.

The first goal of ULA is to increase access to permanently affordable housing for people in vulnerable communities.

Permanently removing profit incentive from housing.

I'm here today to urge you to join us in advancing this decommodified mission of ULA and maximize funding for permanently affordable social housing.

Over the next five years, expiring covenants threaten housing stability of 3,000 families.

This is preventable with permanently affordable social housing.

Join us in fighting for ULA and social housing in LA.

Thank you.

Okay, good morning.

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

I will ask that I believe you made an accommodation request.

So we don't have to have this conversation now, but we'd appreciate if you were consistent on that.

Go ahead.

Mr.

Herman, your time is running.

Tan malo como dicen por ahí.

I no soy un tonto pendejo abogado de Los Ángeles.

No no seas tan malo, puto.

Don't be so bad.

I'm not that stupid.

Dumbass uh attorney.

Okay, so I'm not that bad.

Let the interpreter finish.

I apologize.

25-090.

You need this.

This is your only warning.

I need you to stick to the agenda items.

You know the rules.

If you don't, then I'll move to general public comment.

Go ahead.

Your time was paused.

25-090 S20 and CD11.

Fuck it for the record.

Item number two, CD9, criminal current price, Thursday court.

Fuck item number two, 150160 S73.

Item 3, 150160 S936, fuck CD 10.

Number 4, 160160 S394 CD 15, stupid motherfucker, fuck that item too.

Item number five, CD11, hearing protest of appeals for objection to the building and safety.

Fuck item C D11 and 5, 250160 S126.

Nine fucking appeals here.

Fuck all nine and fuck you.

Now and my other items on this fucking agenda is about item 68.

Is that on uh on on on on the agenda, asshole?

Thank you for nodding.

Now I got your attention.

Tan malo, smoking scan.

Is that numero 25 14 34?

It's impossible.

But pinchy dinero are ustedes la gente atrasque me.

So they're so bad.

You have padilla and moo hernandez and smoking scan for council 525-1434.

And it's impossible for these fucking hat assholes to let money be stolen from the people behind me.

Amor in English la palabra is C-A-R-E.

Care for this, motherfuckers.

Smoking scan.

Now into my general fucking puppet.

Alright, you have one minute for general.

Go ahead.

God damn right, motherfucker on the CF 120ACF 120AS1.

1600 S flower and hope.

Fucking South Park Tower Project.

Fuck you.

Joardo, fix the fucking problem there, you goddamn bitches.

That's for item number 38 and 39 for the record.

And I'm asking you to appeal and sustain this fucking action by that chango up there.

You chango with your lights on.

Smoking scan.

Smoking scan.

And in my closing rebuttal with this fucked up city, what the fuck the plan and a fucked up reason for the fucked up excuses?

Give these motherfuckers a chance to survive with 45 fucking dollars an hour.

Fuck the airport.

Fuck fuck Avenue Newsom and fuck you, Mr.

Attorney, for interrupting me.

And your time has expired.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

If you need to shake it off, it's okay.

It's a lot to follow up on.

Um it's uh it's a hard act to follow.

It's a very hard act to follow, but we appreciate you trying.

Which items would you like to speak to?

I'm sorry, I'm here for general public comments.

Okay, no worries.

You have one minute.

Go ahead.

Uh my name is Cynthia Strathman.

I'm the executive director of the community group Sage.

Um, I'm here uh with the other Sejistas and our allies to express our support for uh Measure ULA and to celebrate its accomplishments as it nears the three billion mark or the one billion three-year mark and one billion dollars.

Um Measure ULA has made some huge uh inroads into some of the structural challenges that we face in our housing sector.

Uh and it is allowing uh projects that are underway to meet funding gaps and new projects to um to get underway that are going to provide housing for our residents who are least able to afford it.

It is also a model for progressive wealth taxing from around the country.

Um, one of the few progressive models of such taxes today, and as such, I hope that you will join the hundreds of thousands of people who voted for it in supporting it and celebrating it.

Um there's almost sixty folks here from Sage today.

Um we're not all speaking.

Merry Christmas, but we're here to support.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Before the next speaker begins, I would like to call up Nick Stewart Block, Anay Gonzalez, and Jason and Wright.

Good morning.

Which items?

Good morning.

Which items?

Uh yes, I would like to make a um general public comment on behalf of Bets Edict regarding the proposed consolidation.

Hi, my name is John Paul Lynn.

I'm a staff attorney with Bets Edicts Small Business Development Program.

We provide legal assistance to hundreds of low to moderate um income small business owners every year at zero cost to them.

Uh, we are one of only two such programs in LA, and EWDD is our main funding source.

So the proposed consolidation into CIFD will disrupt the provision of these essential services.

Uh EWDD has been a vital partner to BetZedic during a time when so much is at stake, particularly with the wildfires at the beginning of this year, and I personally see the federal tariffs and ice raids decimate the ability of our small businesses to operate profitably or even stay in business.

Uh looking forward to the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

It is essential that we preserve experienced leadership and dedicated economic expertise within city government.

Uh, this consolidation will set us apart in the wrong way from other major cities.

My final point is that business services are not social services.

So please keep EWDD independent.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

Which items?

Uh, general public speaking.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Um, my name is Kimberly Sun, and I'm a member of Poder Comunitaria Collective.

I'm here respectfully but firmly asking you to protect ULA.

ULA has prevented evictions and has protected thousands of tenants by providing access to free attorneys.

Thanks to ULA, many families have been able to stay in their homes and have a real chance at stability and dignity.

ULA has a clear purpose to ensure that committee communities can have a fairer and more just vision of housing.

That is why we are asking you to protect it.

ULA is a democratic vote, a measure that passed because the people demanded it and because communities need it.

You cannot take away what the community won at the ballot box.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

My name is Trinidad.

Hi, my name is uh Trinidad.

I'm from Community Power Collective, and I'm here to comment on Measure ULA.

And through Measure ULA, we have been able to have access to free attorneys to be able to help us with our evictions.

Now you want to take that away from us under the argument of it having uh an effect on the city, but we know who's behind this that's pushing this agenda.

It's the rich people.

And these are the ideas of the rich who don't care at all about the community.

We as a community have witnessed first hand the the benefits of measure ULA.

And through Measure ULA, we have witnessed people get access to legal representation and the real possibility or opportunity to be able to keep their homes.

So we ask you firmly to please protect measure ULA.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Thank you.

This is a groundbreaking achievement, and it is all thanks to Measure ULA.

We should celebrate ULA and the positive difference it is making for families all over LA who are rent burdened and desperately need affordable housing options.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Which items?

General public comment.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Hi, Council members.

My name is Nick, and I'm here with Lane the voice of support for ULA, a transformational policy that is already making a difference in the lives of Angelinos.

This measure was passed with a strong mandate from voters to address a long-standing housing crisis.

Funds have already helped tens of thousands of renters stay housed.

Well, just a few weeks ago, LA HD approved 425 million for affordable housing.

A groundbreaking achievement made possible by ULA.

We are also here today to urge Council to stand with tourism workers against outrageous pressure tactics to weaken wages and health care.

For council to capitulate not only hurts workers now but sets a dangerous precedent for our legislative process and any gains for working families.

I'm a member of the North Hollywood Northeast Neighborhood Council and I'm a member of LA Forward.

The people fight really hard to win something.

You know, we we fought for Larso, we get in front of this council and then you all weaken it.

You know we fight for the Olympic wage and Marquis now wants to weaken it.

You know we uh we fought for measure ULA I wear out two pairs of shoes canvasing for measure ULA and now that this council wants to weaken it you know when are you gonna start listening to the people um you know the people want affordable housing the people want good wages the people want low rents and y'all seem more interested in listening to millionaires and billionaires than working with us all these people took off work came down here took the subway so that they could come down here and ask you to you know protect these things really need to listen than which items I'll be speaking on general public comment okay so you have one minute go ahead so my name is Manny Morales and I am a community organizer at Sage and part of the State House LA team.

I also live in CD 14 uh Isabel Jurado's district so um I'm here in support of Measure ULA measure um over the past two years measure ULA has helped tens of thousands of renters at risk of eviction and homelessness ULA has enabled the city to provide emergency rental assistance to families still suffering from income loss due to the pandemic and more recently federal immigration raids ULA has enabled the city to provide legal assistance to households being harassed by or unlawfully evicted by their landlords and ULA has ensured our seniors the fastest growing population of unhoused peoples can afford to stay in their home by funding rental aid this is exactly what we the voters wanted when we said yes to LA housing care and stability for working class households struggling with rising rents and the cost of living in Los Angeles thank you good morning council members Blair Beston executive director of the Historic Core Business Improvement District and um I wanted to speak on the de dissolving of the EWD into the CIFD and it's it's it's disturbing it's a red flag to us um about how our city is prioritizing our businesses I hope you can appreciate what we've been through what they've been through um with raids uh COVID riots um 23 businesses in June were um decimated and hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses um we need to think about a department and a focus on this and and prioritize our businesses and some kind of structure we'd love to be a part of the conversation about it and it's just disturbing that um this is just sort of happening behind the scenes and we haven't really had a discussion so thank you which item would you like to speak to in keep commentary public comment sofia mendoza soy member hi my name is Sophia Mendoza I'm an ACE member um I'm here to support and defend measure ULA ULA canasure ULA has made its first million dollar I'm sorry billion dollars in um in income but LA stabahu attack coordinado por la los impuesto but uh today ULA is under a coordinated attack um be through the tax organization it's important to maintain see yo sido um demand y esto me ha ayudado a me o sea que nos beneficia nosotros los inquilinos and this is it's very important for us to keep this measure because it has personally helped me as I have faced two separate evictions so I personally have benefited from it as a tenant ULA I Tambien um representing loss and loss la hora hour mismo and so I'm here to demand for you to not touch measure ULA and I'm also in here I'm also here to represent the need for us to have Olympic wages

And so I'm here to demand for you to not touch Measure ULA.

And I'm also in here.

I'm also here to represent the need for us to have Olympic wages.

People need their $30 an hour now.

See the hotel.

Gracias.

So as an organization, we came together, and we won this for hotel workers.

And so we're here to say you need to respect that and to no longer delay it.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up smoke and scan, Kyle Nelson, Giovan Houston, Aud L.A.

Eloisa Galindo, and Fabia Salazar.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

Good morning, honorable council members.

General public comment.

Okay, we'll have one.

My name is Anna Hoffman, and I'm a power community.

Power.

Um I'm a ranger in Boy Hall, Boyle Heis, living under Alara Harrisman.

I dream of affordable housing where I don't have to have an abusive and hateful landlord.

That's what I'm here to talk about the importance of the ULA law.

It was voted on by the people of Los Angeles who demand the program that benefits renters.

And the ULA is now reaching its first billion dollars in income which comes from the people.

She lives in the first district.

Because she was not able to go to work because of the taxes.

Gracias.

Can we make sure the wireless microphone is live now?

Can you hear me?

Give us a test.

Testing, testing.

Okay, we're all good.

So I assume all items and uh general public comment.

You know me so well.

So uh just for everybody, because it's been a minute.

The items that are open for public comment are items one through nine, items 11 through 19, 22, and 60 through 74.

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

Go ahead.

Thank you.

I want to start with Senor Lee Le Debe Una Descopa a la Senora Audit LA.

I I'm sorry, uh Mr.

City Attorney.

The uh interpreter had said is having some issues.

Could I ask the speaker to repeat?

Sure.

Can you please repeat that?

Yeah, but you took some of my time away.

You have to give me back.

Okay.

Um, Senor Lee.

Le Debe una Descopa a la Senora Audit LA.

Uh Mr.

Lee, you owe an apology to the uh lady, Miss Audit LA.

Thank you.

Okay.

That's on topic.

I'm sorry.

I don't care what you say, Mr.

Durant.

Oh, can you?

Okay, but we'll move on, but we will move on.

Okay.

Uh for the street vacations.

Big no, I don't want any street vacations because then uh it just gives Scientology the hope that you're gonna come and give them their compound that they want.

Okay, that's why I don't want any street vacations in number sixty and sixty-one.

It's there, Mr.

City Attorney.

Uh we just don't want them having more power than they already have.

Which brings me to the New Year's Eve event.

And you know, happy, you know, Merry Christmas, happy New Year's, happy Hanukkah, happy every holiday to all of you and smoke and scan family.

But I don't I want you to make sure with the whoever's doing the New Year's Eve parade um event that it's not Scientology related, and I say it because of this.

It turns out that Scientology actually controls the Christmas parade in Hollywood.

Uh it's absolutely it's undeniable.

And Mr.

Hugo, it's probably why he is like under a pressure cooker why he can't help us out at all.

But he has to help us because it's not right.

You don't want people who do human trafficking and all these things and slave labor.

So everyone working, okay, uh, Scientology on the parade, make slave labor 47 dollars a week for 110 hours.

I'm talking about the New Year's Eve event.

You're talking about the city.

I don't want this happening to the New Year's event.

I gave you wide latitude.

You're talking about the Christmas parade and the item is not about the Christmas parade.

Okay, well, I'm just trying to make a comparison.

I understand.

I waited for you to connect it.

So you got about 15 seconds left on this item at 73.

It is related to the New Year's Eve right of entry permit.

So please stick to that for the next 15 seconds.

Go ahead.

Okay, thank you.

So I don't want the um the per the New Year's Eve event to have the same thing where it turns out next year we find out that it was all slave labor, 47 dollars a week, see York members doing it.

And if you guys aren't, you're gonna get sued.

The city's gonna be liable.

There's not allowed to have slave labor running our parades.

Please move on to the next item.

You can continue to run general if you'd like, but please move on to another item.

Go ahead.

Okay, okay, Mr.

Hugo.

And the other one is for the art, right?

We're gonna we want to do art murals.

It's uh somewhere between 60 and 70, whatever.

It's in there about doing art, the arts, whatever.

Okay, I'm all for doing more murals and art, okay?

But and it's for our um our uh immigrant community, right?

Talking and doing pictures on the immigrant community.

Well, I say yes, but I want a caveat.

I want to be able to do one mural myself, where I am warning the immigrant community not to get sucked up by Scientology with the promise of a R1 visa, because they will then hold that visa, and if you ever want to escape, and you likely will, you will not be able to.

So yes to the art, but with that caveat.

I want the community warned, okay, Mr.

Hugo, and Mr.

Hugo should be listening.

It's his uh, he's the one with all the Scientology uh buildings in his area, and he does nothing about it.

I mean, at least Mr.

McCosker pretends he's listening, and you know what, and he got and Miss Hernandez, you got off track.

He was talking to you, thankfully not during when I'm talking, because you know I'd be heartbroken.

But um anyway, so I'll just let it run down.

So shout out to Smoke and Scan.

General public comment, you have one minute.

Okay.

I want to talk about the shrine event.

Now, this is uh Mr.

Kern Price's area.

They the city granted Scientology the um permit to go to the shrine for their whatever event it is, their new year's event filming, okay.

And Mr.

Karen Price, you know you I've come here long enough, enough of us have come here.

You know it's a cult.

You know they they um violate all of our constitutional rights by closing the sidewalks illegally, and then Laura FM, who's a sweet lovely uh you know woman comes here and tells how she was born and raised in this cult, okay, and that they they withheld her, the LAPD and no offense you know, no offense to these guys here, but they withheld her from being able to go on the sidewalk that she's legally able to go on to say hi to her father who she hasn't seen in five years, because he's being held basically in my opinion, captive by Scientology.

So, Mr.

Current Price, can you please do your duty and and not allow this?

Tell them to revoke it.

Okay, and like I said, I wish smoke and scan family and everyone here a wonderful holiday season.

Not sure if I'll be here Friday.

Thank you for kind of listening.

Some of you kind of listening for the past year.

I appreciate it.

Before the next speaker, I would like to call up Ella Jacqueline Inegues, Irma Fabian, Perciveranda Martinez, and Godri Plata.

Good morning.

Which items.

Okay.

So you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Hi.

I'm Jovon Houston, airport worker.

Yes, this is my third day being here this week.

Um just want to let the city council president know how of a gut punch he hit us as workers for supporting him.

Um it's a shame.

It really is a shame.

Please, I know you see this room filled with people today here, wanting a change.

They want affordable housing.

They want livable wages, they want health care.

This city of Los Angeles is filled with money.

Please give these workers and these people in this city what they need.

Don't be the Grinch of Christmas this year.

Don't take what we fought hard so very hard to win.

Council President.

We deserve this.

And yes, I will be here at work two o'clock in the morning, but yes, I'm still here this morning.

Good morning.

Which items?

Yes, good morning.

God bless all of you guys.

That you are not saying hi, but it's okay.

My name is Fabiana Salazar.

I'm here to ask that the case of ULA be respected.

That's it.

Really somebody sent them la necessidad, not los que and in carrots de lujo, los que los millonarios, ellos no seen la necessidad como nosotros.

Yes, I'm here asking for for ULA.

Uh the members of our community are the ones who need it, the people in the street, the people who ride the buses, the people who pay the rent, not those who are driving luxury car, the millionaires.

It's us who are facing difficult situations that need it.

Please, it is all of us who are who are asking for this.

Do not let us be forgotten because this is out of necessity for the people who run the risks of being on the street and for the people who are on the street.

Yes, my name is Dominguez Lorza.

I am a member of ACE.

I'm here to support ULA as it is right now reaching its first one billionth dollar in income revenue.

But right now ULA is under attack under a coordinated attack for an association of taxes.

I'm here asking for ULA not to be touched at all, and I'm also asking for the Olympic wage to be respected as well for the workers who really need it because they deserve $30 an hour.

And please do not forget us the workers of peace do not forget about ULA.

We need this help.

Good morning.

Which items.

And taking decisions against this measure is to violate the dignity of the voters.

And respect of democracy by the vote.

And ULA is uh is a model for the new changes that need to happen despite the racism that we are living.

Thank you.

General comment.

Thank you.

You have one minute.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Godfrey Plata, Deputy Director at LA Forward Institute here urging council to visit my favorite part of LHD's website, the ULA revenue dashboard.

At housing.la city.gov slash ULA dash dashboard, click on ULA revenue.

The ULA revenue dashboard tracks the monthly revenue generated by measure ULA.

And we hope you build it into your staff briefings.

On the dashboard, you'll see that as of last month, revenue from ULA totaled $991 million.

It's bringing in an average of $31 million a month to the city, sometimes much more than that.

Which means this month we are celebrating ULA's billion dollar revenue birthday, and over half of all those funds are thanks to ULA's revenue from multifamily and commercial housing.

On the dashboard, you can disaggregate revenue by council district.

So I'd love to honor the top three contributing districts, CD 11, CD5, and CD4.

Thank you so much.

Your top three districts have contributed $613 million as of last month, contributing almost two-thirds of funding to the entire city's funding for affordable housing and homelessness prevention.

Hi, my name is Esmeranda.

I'm here to ask you urgently to protect measure ULA.

ULA is fundamental para nuestras communidades.

No solo is una medida necessaria, sino también un voto ganado democraticamente.

Not only is it fundamental to the community as a need, but it's also something that we voted on as a people in a democratic vote for eluchamos para que pueden existir and vigente.

And we have fought for it to come into existence and for it to stay in effect.

And so at this time it is essential for you to act with act responsibly and to protect it to in order to protect the community.

And it is important for us to have this for the benefit and for the support and stability of the community.

Before the next speaker begins, I would like to call up Elizer Santos, Stacy Segera Bullinger, Maria Seja, Myra Pum, and Dennis Madison.

Okay.

Can you pull the microphone a little bit closer so we can hear you?

Go ahead.

Hi, my name is Perseveranda Martinez.

I'm here from Community Power Power Collective, and I'm here to ask for you to protect ULA.

Adelante.

Council, you have the responsibility to protect our community.

And one of the most important ways for you to do that is to protect ULA.

No.

Thank you, next speaker.

Good morning.

Which items.

Please protect the people's vote.

The people voted for this in 2022.

Karen Bass, you said to protect lock el pueblo eligio ULA.

Karen Bass and you as a council have the right and the duty to protect the people's vote, which was for Measure ULA.

Siempre in una parte stal Pueblo Kyase Grande California, and el otro lado stand los poderoso, los politicos ando percent of.

We have one side, which is the people, the community, and then on the other side, we have the powerful, the politicians, and the one percent, the billionaires.

L'associación contra impuestos y la presión de los desarrolladores para querer derrotar a ULA.

And we have the anti-tax association that wants to take down and destroy ULA.

Aluno percent of the billionarios no le debemos permitir assert ULA.

And the one percent, those billionaires that are doing this, we shouldn't allow them to be able to take down measure ULA.

Al contrario, an 1% developer pagan losses yabriya mechan education publica, viviendas accessibles, education salut, accessible, you unpago justo para los trabajadores.

In fact, it should be the opposite.

That same one percent should be paying their taxes so that we can have better public education, more affordable housing, and fair wages for workers.

Good morning.

Which items?

Um, all items and uh general public comment.

Okay, so you have three minutes for the items and one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Public, when you hear when you hire clowns, you get a circus.

Item number two through 15 are for abatement liens by these criminals of the incompetent sleazy council of corruption to place massive liens on citizens' properties instead of assisting the public.

This clown council is going to vote to give dimwit nission ramen and poverty heather hut and the LEPD another 25,000 dollars for security at an upcoming party and item 67.

But they can't find a way to assist these citizens versus placing liens on their properties.

Thanks, Dimwip Ramen, thanks Poverty Pimp Hutt.

Instead, these clowns are going to vote on items to through to line the pockets of the indicted out on bail and on trial for polygamy in 21 counts of extortion, current price and criminally insane sleazy marquisi Dawson via abatement contracts, demanding an investigation of Dawson.

Current price and poverty pimp heather hut.

All these items against the public should receive a no vote.

And thus are raging homelessness costing us hundreds of billions of dollars in human lives.

In my opinion, these funds should have special have special current price in Dawson audit provisions that will prevent the 21 count indicted out on bail and on trial for polygamy and government funds extortion via voting on his wife's city business contracts.

Cannot embezzle the funds.

Public, when you hire clowns, you get a circus.

Last week, Hernandez and Soda Martinez were chessing on Channel 35.

Cheating on Channel 35, standing on the street corner, giving away bags of food, talking about giving to the community.

Someone please tell these two that giving away bags of food while not a criminal act like Dawson Price in poverty pent hut.

This is not their job.

They bring to their community improvement.

Increase in commerce people.

The problem is that none of these incompetent council people know how to increase commerce.

They only know standing on street corners, liquor licenses, placing liens on the public, and straight up current price, Marquise Dawson.

Poverty pimp hook incompetence and corruption while collecting their over 20,000 dollars per month salaries.

Public, we need a new system.

Good morning.

Which items?

Good morning, Groat.

I'll take all items in general public comment, please.

Okay, so you have three minutes for the items and one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

I'll start with item 65.

Um this is regarding a public servants announc a public service announcement, artwork, and content for citywide display to initiate a quote unquote know your rights PSA on sidewalk and transit amenities program.

Um I think a frustrating aspect about ICE occupying LA is that most of what the city, what these offices and what the mayor wants to do is remind people what their rights are.

Most most of us know our rights.

Most immigrants know their rights.

The issues that their rights are being trampled on, and the LAPD is helping ICE do it.

And the LAPD, rather than protecting immigrants from these kidnappings, which are illegal, um, they're brutalizing protesters who want to stand up to them.

So rather than reminding us what our rights are and spending resources reminding us what our rights are, do something to actually protect those rights.

Um we also have motions on this agenda for um private security for Runyon Canyon.

So when council member Raman ran on a platform of defunding the police, I guess she meant defund the police and give that money to private security.

Um then again, we have um care plus sweeps on the agenda, which are are pretty abysmal euphemisms because there's nothing caring about these sweeps.

And if you ran on a platform of ending sweeps, like uh Mr.

Soda Martinez did, like uh Miss Hernandez and Miss Herrado did, who are right now engaging in a side conversation with Heather, which is really disrespectful.

It would be great if you'd pay attention.

Um, thank you, Hugo, for paying attention.

If you um want to live up to the things you ran on, you could vote against these care plus sweeps because they are throwing away people's belongings.

They're not actually offering services.

People have really important items like important documents, prescription medications, um, cherished possessions that are irreplaceable, um, thrown away.

And then they're oftentimes not even promised services.

And um, just this past week, I believe is in Isabel Herado's district, there was a sweep.

Um, community members like from LA Can were asking to speak with her.

And Isabel, you showed up in a police escort and didn't get out of the car, didn't address anyone in the community while LA SAN and the LAPD were throwing away people's belongings.

Um, I I appreciate that you beat Kevin Daly on in his election because he was awful, and I supported you to that end, but you really haven't been living up to your campaign promises to actually work for the people because you're letting these sweeps happen, and you're not standing up to your council president when he does egregious things like um cut off public comment when there's so many people here, and I know we're gonna be the last ones to have a chance to speak.

General public comment.

Measure U LA, a vital funding source is now under attack from developers and landlords and the Olympic wage fought hard for and won.

Marquise wants to roll it back before increases have begun.

What the fuck?

This shit sucks.

This council is weak.

Could you at least listen to the people when we speak?

Now is not the time to chit-chat with your friends.

Can you pay attention until public comment ends?

Council soon will go on a long recess.

They get a month-long break from working and business.

How lucky are they to take all this time to enjoy the holidays on the taxpayers' dime?

Oh, does it take a state mandate to get remote comment?

Why does this whole body treat the people with contempt?

And what about the censorship that violates our rights?

You haven't seen the end of it.

Before the last um few people in this row speak, I would like to just encourage all of you to stand up to your president when he does shitty things.

Shout out smoke and scan.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Hi, my name is Mayra, and I reside in Los Angeles.

And I have been personally affected by the rent increases.

And then this is also through the creation of permanent affordable housing, which promotes uh housing stability within the community.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Which items?

I'm speaking on item number sixty-two.

So you have one minute for the item.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

My name is Dennis Madison, Senior Rest President of Architecture and Engineering at Forest Lawn.

Very happy to be here today asking for your support of the recycled water agreement between DWP and Forest Lawn.

And we respectfully request your approval.

Thank you.

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

Alright, thank you so much, everybody that came to share with us today.

Um so thank you, everybody.

Uh Madam Clerk, uh, let's begin to run through our items.

Yes, sir.

Uh there is a request to continue items six and nineteen to January 14th, 2026, sir.

Without objection, that'll be the order.

Uh item 48 was called special um for uh Mr.

Price.

Mr.

Price request a recusal for that one.

All right, we'll give uh council member price the opportunity to recuse at this time for item number 48.

All right, Mr.

Price is recused on item number 48.

Let's open the roll on that item.

Is there discussion on this item?

48.

Sir, no, sir.

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

12 ayes.

All right, what's next?

Item 51, Mr.

Price is also recused.

Um, but this item 51 was called special by council member Rodriguez for a separate vote.

All right, any comments on this item?

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

10 ayes, so no.

All right, what's next?

Councilmember Rodriguez.

Yes.

Uh item 41 needed to be referred to Plum.

That was an instruction that I uh neglected to when we continued.

Uh for the record, then uh should 41 as well as 58 be reconsidered.

Oh.

Did we already vote on those items?

Yes.

Uh yes.

Uh so it is best to uh formally vote to reconsider 41 and 58.

All right, let's open the roll on reconsideration of 41 and 58.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

12 eyes.

All right.

So uh for 41, it is referred to uh plum committee.

All right, without objection.

And 58.

There is an amendment.

Rodriguez Blumenfield, and that amendment has been circulated and is before council and may be voted on now.

58.

All right, so 58 as amended is before us.

Let's open the roll.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

12 eyes.

All right, what's next?

Next would be items uh one through five, seven through nine, eleven through eighteen, twenty-two, sixty through sixty-two, sixty four, sixty-six through sixty-eight, and finally seventy through seventy-three, sir.

All right, councilmember Raman, I have you on the queue.

Yes.

Can on behalf of uh Councilmember Yaroslavsky, I was wondering whether I could move continue item 12 to January 14th.

All right.

Continue item 12 to January 14th without objection.

That'll be the order.

Thank you.

So, madam clerk, do we need to restate the items we're voting on?

Or does this not that not affect this?

Uh it just needs to be restated, but let me just double check on uh February 14th, 2026, sir.

Okay.

Uh February 14, 2026 is a Saturday, so it is best to continue that item to February 17th, 2026.

Is it January or February?

I'm sorry.

January 14th.

Uh January 14, 2026 is a council date.

All right, so that'll be the date.

And I I think I did say January.

Uh and just to restate um the items before council are uh one through five.

Uh okay.

Seven through nine, eleven through uh eleven, I'm sorry.

Uh 13 through 18, 22, 60 through 62, 64, 66 through 68, 70 through 73.

All right, let's open the roll on those items.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

We mr.

Bloominfield and council member Yaroslavsky are both here.

So they were here for this vote.

Do I need to open the roll again?

All right.

Yes, it may be best, sir.

All right, let's open the roll on those items.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

All right, what's next?

Next is item 53, and that was called special by Councilmember Park for comments.

Councilmember Park.

Thank you, Council President and colleagues.

Um, most of you are probably familiar with the Marvin Brownie bike trail.

It stretches along our gorgeous coastline all the way from the South Bay up to the Pacific Palisades.

And uh at one critical point, it swings through Marina Del Rey, right along Yvonne Burke Park, um, along the library.

And that access point to the uh trail as well as to the coast and its amenities, um, has been a really important point of access for commuters and people who use the trail for recreational purposes.

Um, some months back, we learned of an application for an administrative exemption uh for their coastal permits that were submitted by a property owner seeking to close the access points to the trail uh by closing up a cinder block wall.

Unfortunately, in their permit application, they did not describe the wall, its access point, or its intent to close that wall.

And as a result, hundreds of daily commuters and other people attempting to access the bike path are now being pushed onto Lincoln Boulevard and other incredibly unsafe places where they really should not be riding bikes or using other forms of mobility that compete uh with some of the traffic and very serious pedestrian and bicyclist safety issues that we have.

Uh so our action today asks our planning department to revoke the administrative exemption and take the necessary steps to restore this critical piece of access to our coast and our bike path.

I ask for your I vote.

Thank you.

All right, thank you so much, Councilmember Park.

Let's open the roll on that item.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

15 ayes.

All right, what's next?

Next would be item number three, and that was called special uh 63, excuse me.

And that was called special by Councilmember Padilla.

Councilmember Padilla, good afternoon, colleagues.

I want to express my strong support for the revised scope of the Donald C.

Tillman groundwater replenishment project, which represents the kind of long-term forward-thinking investment Los Angeles needs.

With this expansion, the project will increase its capacity to produce highly treated recycled water from 25 million to 45 million gallons per day.

This is a major step towards restoring and stabilizing the San Fernando Valley's groundwater basin, which, even after several years of heavy rain, still hasn't rebounded to sustainable levels.

Strengthening this basin is essential for the long-term water security of our city.

As a representative for District 6, I'm especially proud that this transformative work is sh is happening in our community in our backyard.

It brings mean of meaningful investment and creates good jobs, creates good local jobs, ensuring that our residents directly benefit from the construction and long-term operations of this facility.

It reflects exactly the kind of infrastructure development that uplifts neighborhoods while building climate resilience for the entire city.

This hands-on educational location will inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and climate advocates here in the valley.

And as a product of a math, science, and technology magnet school, that's number one in MIT acceptances.

I'm excited that this space is going to be a local location to continue to inspire more valley youth and LA youth to choose a career in STEM.

And of course, none of this would be possible without the exceptional partnership, leadership of everyone at LA SAN, the Bureau of Engineering, and LADWP.

Can we give them a round of applause?

So their collaboration, community outreach, research and responsiveness have made this project stronger and ensured that residents were engaged and informed every step of the way.

This is truly a model for how interdepartmental work should be done in Los Angeles.

Overall, this is a project that is smart, equitable, and forward-looking for where our public daughter should dollars should go for city water, the city's waters future.

And I'm grateful for the leadership and dedication for all of those that were involved before me, during, and those to come.

So I'm excited to see this next phase move forward and proud to support it today.

Thank you.

I hope we're all an I vote.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Padilla.

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

All right, what's next?

Next would be item 65, and that was called special by Councilmember Hernandez for comments.

Councilmember Hernandez.

Thank you so much, colleagues.

Colleagues, I asked for your um I vote on this motion.

What we're doing is that we are uh moving forward a know your rights campaign for our communities, especially with all the federal immigration raids that are happening, using our stop uh bus stops so that as people are waiting for their bus, as they're waiting for public transportation, they can get access to the most up-to-date information on how to protect themselves and their loved ones and understanding the rights, both for immigrant communities but also for our non-immigrant communities, as we are seeing many of them step up and uh try to protect and support our immigrant families and communities.

So I just asked for your I vote on this.

Um thank you so much.

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

Fifteen ayes.

All right, what's next?

Next would be item 69, and that was called special by council member Soto Martinez for a separate vote.

All right, let's open the roll on 69, call special by Mr.

Soto Martinez for a separate vote.

Let's close the roll, tabulate the vote.

13 ayes, two no's.

All right.

Uh all right, let's go to item number 74.

Councilmember Hernandez.

Thank you.

Uh for is that for item 69?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

All right.

Can we go to item number 74?

Uh yes, sir.

But let me just restate for the uh for uh the record.

So item 69, the final vote is 12 ayes and three no's.

I have a motion.

Uh next would be item 74.

All right.

Uh this was called special by Mr.

Bloomfield.

Who's 74?

Yes.

So the city attorney is not ready.

All right, city attorney's not ready, so we'll go, we'll ask the city attorney to uh get here quickly.

We can go to the next item.

Next would be item 52.

And uh there are several votes uh for this item.

Uh the first vote that council should take is on uh 52 D, and that is amending motion Rodriguez Padilla.

That amending motion has been submitted and is circulated and before council now, sir.

All right, uh Councilmember Rodriguez for comments.

Thank you.

Um, I just wanted to ask if we would indulge a conversation about this.

I know I probably I'm I'm guessing my colleagues probably also have some comments, so if we can engage in a deeper conversation about what's before us uh before we start taking any votes.

All right, uh, madam clerk, what's the order on this?

Um I know we are under some rules about voting on amendments in the order that they're in the backwards order that they made, but are we allowed to discuss the larger matter?

Mr.

City Attorney?

Yes.

So, in terms of discussion, the discussion can be about any of the items individually or the entire item collectively.

I think the order in which we vote is something that we can clarify on as well.

Okay, got it.

Councilmember Rodriguez.

Thank you very much.

Colleagues, um, I want to first begin by thanking my colleagues in government efficiency, innovation, and audits committee for their willingness to engage in a different conversation around the future of a standalone economic development department and for advancing this discussion for full council consideration.

The GIA proposal before us differs from the other committee reports that it transfers by and large all of the functions that were previously wholly contained within economic workforce development and transfers the functions of, as we've discussed previously, youth development, aging, and the workforce development division of EWD into CIFD, leaving out the critical economic development division as a standalone department.

And I think we can all agree, economic development is something that is critically important for our city and for many of our communities.

And it stands apart from the functionality of many of the other components that we've been talking about as we've engaged in these broader conversations.

It aligns with that reorganization.

For that reason and many other reasons, I strongly believe that an economic development department should remain as a standalone department.

Many of us on this council carry a shared desire to create a bold, forward-looking vision for what this city can achieve, particularly when it comes to expanding economic opportunity and strengthening the long-term revenue for our city.

Preserving a dedicated economic department economic development department entity positions us to fully realize that potential.

Colleagues, I want to acknowledge that the resulting standalone department proposed is smaller.

But I also want to emphasize that this structure is not and should not be viewed as the final product, but more so as a starting point for this conversation.

Establishing a foundation gives us a place from which we can build from, and the flexibility to grow intentionally over time.

But once these functions are transferred, and we've experienced this in many other circumstances, it becomes exceedingly difficult to restore them.

That the true cost of this proposal is 2.8 million dollars.

And this is a definite overcalculation made by the CAO's office that is based on the assumption that CIFD would need to duplicate the 11 administrative positions that a standalone department would retain.

And colleagues, this is just not true.

If the workload is staying with the economic development department, therein there is no need to add more positions on top of the already 34 administrative positions that are being transferred to CIFD through this process.

Two, we still have no estimated cost of effectuating the consolidation of these departments.

The CAO's report has never talked about or addressed the actual cost of what it will take to consolidate this and create this one singular department within CIFD.

And by this, I mean that we don't know what the cost will be of things like merging the data systems, IT support, and the office space that is required, just to highlight a few.

Three, there is an assumption that the new standalone department would be too small to function effectively.

The report states that the proposed economic development department would face additional challenges because it would be considered, quote, too small to be able to manage it properly.

However, we currently have eight departments that are smaller than what we're proposing of this economic development department today.

Colleagues, if this was really about supporting or streamlining administrative functions for smaller departments, we would be having a much broader conversation than what we are having right now.

This proposal actually helps CIFD in terms of right sizing the workload.

Currently, in EWDD, there is one AGM that oversees the workforce development component and one general AGM that oversees the economic development division.

In CIFD's consolidation proposal, it would merge both of those portfolios under one AGM.

And that is a lot of expectation for one AGM to be able to support and do that work effectively.

So the way I see it, splitting economic development to stand on its own has an important benefit to the rest of the consolidation that is proposed to be under CIFD.

Both sides of the House have large workloads that require completely different skill sets.

By keeping economic development on its own, we are able to right size the workload and efficacy of the AGM position at CIFD to focus wholly on workforce development, which is critical for many of us.

As we know, we're all deeply committed to that work, but we want to make sure that we allow the success of that work to prevail in this new consolidated version.

By moving forward with an economic development department and the expanded CIFD department, we could better prioritize both.

As we know, Bureau of Street Lighting, Street Services, Housing Department, there are many other departments that are also the recipient of CDBG dollars.

And so suggesting that this consolidation helps to address the fact that because they both derive support from CDBG dollars that it should all be within CIFD.

Actually, when so many other departments, they would basically retain the same ability to administer those dollars just as they do for other departments, whether it's wreck and parks, street lighting, street services, or the housing department.

That functionality would remain the same.

So this does nothing to address that this would not change that.

And so as I said in committee, and I'll say it again, and I just said it a moment ago, I believe it's critical that we measure twice and cut once.

This council already showed support when we were engaged in the budget conversation to explore consolidating asset management functions under one roof to unlock the revenue potential of our vast real estate portfolio.

There is also a strong and shared interest in rebuilding and properly resourcing a unit to carry forward the work once done by the CRA, this time under direct city control.

We could explore the creation of an outside development corporation, bringing some of the planning, building and safety development functions, or even building out multidisciplinary approaches that looks at land use and regulatory incentives for supporting major industries like television and film.

There are many different approaches to achieving that shared vision, but we need a starting point.

And that is why I'm proposing that our strongest starting point is to preserve an economic development arm that allows us to forge a path forward to address these critical needs at a time when we need the technical experts to support us in bringing the kind of business and jobs that we want to create in the city, maintaining an economic development arm would allow us to do that and not starting from scratch.

So, colleagues, I ask for your I vote on the GIA committee recommendations so that we can have a place from which we can build a much stronger, more effective means of having a real economic development strategy for our city.

Thank you.

All right, thank you so much, Councilmember Rodriguez.

Mr.

Price.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Colleagues.

Today we have before us multiple committee reports regarding the consolidation of four departments into a new community investment department.

I ask colleagues that you support the recommendations of the economic development committee and allow this consolidation to move forward.

I've been the chair of economic development for almost a decade, and I've worked with all these departments to implement various programs over the years from guaranteed basic income to solid ground to the legacy business to the Jedi zones.

Along the way, I've learned that leadership and structure do matter.

But I know there have been some legitimate questions raised, lots of questions and concerns.

And so I'd like to uh ask the CLA, CAO to come to the table.

Uh and Abigail Marquez.

I've got a few questions and hopefully they will be clarifying.

Thank you all for being here this morning.

So CAO, can you please clarify what the full cost of establishing separate economic development department would be in the in the current fiscal year and then ongoing years?

Sure.

Uh good afternoon, Yolanda Chavez with the CAO.

I'm joined by Susie Rios Bellanot, also with the CAO.

So I'm gonna ask her to review the savings that have been outlined in the last two CAO CLA reports.

Good afternoon, Council members.

Thank you for the question.

Susie Rio Spellinot with the CAO's office.

So our first uh CAO CLA joint report identified uh approximately 5.3 million dollars in uh short-term annual savings.

Sorry, let me back up just a moment.

We do not anticipate any savings in the current fiscal year, 2526 as a result of any of these proposals.

All of these would be starting 2627.

So our original report recommending consolidation identifies 3.5 million in salary savings, 1.8 million in lease and operating expense savings for a total of 5.3 million.

The standalone economic development department proposal uh identified that 1.4 million of the savings that we had previously identified would be eliminated by retaining positions that had been proposed for deletion, and an additional 2.8 million in staffing costs would move from the proposed consolidated department to the standalone EDD, which would then require an analysis to determine how many additional positions would need to be created in the consolidated department to backfill or create like-for-like positions, um, and that is a $2.8 million cost, up to $2.8 million.

So a total of $4.2 million in costs for the proposed standalone department.

So I I also just want to add that what we did not include in the savings was the positions that had already been eliminated in the current fiscal year.

And uh our latest CLACO report notes that if uh standalone economic development department were created as the the portion of the general fund to support that department would continue to grow.

So it would start currently.

Um let me just ask Susie what is the portion of the general fund and how much more it would grow with a standalone.

So there would be additional fiscal impact on the general fund.

Right.

So the current um economic development division within EWDD is funded about 51% by the general fund, the rest by special funds.

Um admin and financial positions within EWDD support folks across the department, so that's economic development folks as well as workforce folks.

They are leveraged with workforce dollars.

Um removing those folks into a standalone EDD would shift their funding source primarily to the general fund.

And the economic development uh report actually projects that uh the economic development general fund allocation would go from about 51 percent of the budget to over 70 percent of their budget.

So the general fund would be supporting 70% of the costs of a standalone EDD department.

Okay.

Your report mentions efficiencies that are going to be achieved by consolidating.

So there are a variety of efficiencies that could be achieved, but one of the primary ones is really pooling admin staff, right?

Folks that support the program staff.

Both the youth development department and the department of aging are smaller departments.

Um Department of Aging, I think is 41, youth development is under 20, I believe.

Um and so being able to be part of a larger department allows those folks in those departments, which would become smaller units within the larger department to benefit from the administrative staff, the financial staff, and the executive staff of a larger department.

Similarly, economic and workforce development department, the vast majority of the admin folks would be moving over into a consolidated department and would be able to support these smaller departments there they're in.

Councilman, I think we also found that um if positions, you know, individuals want to advance.

If individuals want to advance in that department, that there'll be more positions, and people could um take tests and still stay with that same department.

Usually when you have a very small department, when you have attrition, it's very difficult to backfill those positions.

Uh Ms.

Bauquis, uh, you've been acting general manager now of aging uh for the past uh several months.

What uh have you been able to do since taking over the department and and how do you think you'll be able to achieve some results going forward?

I'm sorry, council member, I missed the first part of your question.

Can you repeat that?

The question was about your role at aging and what you've done so far there.

Thank you.

I was uh appointed interim general manager of the department of aging on October 20th when um we started in that role, we were able to leverage some of our administrative staff.

Our assistant general manager over administration and financial management stepped in immediately.

The Department of Aging currently has approximately 90 contracts that are in a July 1 through a June 30th cycle when we started on October 20th.

Six contracts had been executed.

Since then, we were able to leverage again the administration and financial management unit.

We um were able to also borrow some of our CIFD staff to support the Department of Aging, and in seven weeks we've executed over 70 contracts for the service providers that are under contract with the department of aging.

We've also been able to leverage our payroll supervisor.

The Department of Aging did not have a payroll supervisor.

They are using an accountant to support the payroll needs of the department, so we were able to leverage our payroll supervisor, our contracting staff, our procurement staff.

What's really challenging is that with small departments like aging, which has about 42 staff, um, they are wearing multiple roles.

Right now, the team that is responsible for the monitoring was also doing the contract execution, and those should really be two separate functions.

So we have I've already seen efficiencies in these very few weeks within the department of aging.

Well, those are all the questions I have at this time, Ms.

Chair.

Mr.

President.

Yes, sir.

I have no further questions at this time.

I don't know if there are any other questions on you.

Okay, I've got Mr.

Soto Martinez.

Mr.

President, I don't have questions for the staff.

Uh I do have comments, but I can wait after the question portion is finished.

All right, anybody with questions for the staff.

All right, Councilmember Rodriguez.

So I just wanted to clarify uh you indicated in terms of the demands on general fund for what can you repeat what you based on the staffing proposal submitted by EWDD for a standalone economic development division uh department, sorry, um, the demands on the general fund for those folks would go from approximately 50% of the of their budget covered by general fund today to approximately 70% in future years.

Okay.

And the consolidation as it stands, CIFD would be 81% of the general fund, right?

With the looming cuts to in impacts to uh potentially C D BG dollars as well.

So I think it's just I think it's important to establish that.

The other question I had was in terms of uh the true cost of consolidation.

What hindered the ability to give us a real number about estimating what the true cost of consolidation is?

Because we've talked about from simple staffing savings, but the real financial impact of consolidation, as I indicated, is in the systems integration.

What is that cost?

So we are um so I wouldn't know I guess we do not think it's actually going to be a cost.

We think it's going to be a savings because when you integrate your administrative resources, that's when you actually save uh general fund dollars.

So the reason but systems integrations are not cost savings.

They're they're actually they're a cost encumbrance.

I mean, uh see, I like let me ask uh Chris, is that your understanding?

Well, our report does identify that there will be costs, and so one of the ideas in the report is to um not only consolidate the departments but uh jointly house them over at the mangrove at a building that we own over at the mangrove um site on first in Alameda.

Um so there will be cost to pay for these computer systems to build the tenant improvements.

So there are costs, and we do note it, but we don't put a number on that.

Right.

But the reason we don't uh councilwoman is because that number is still being estimated.

We do have the space planner looking at that for CIFD.

Right, but I think that the other part of the savings that we cannot provide you at this time is the savings from streamlining these systems and being able to coordinate their systems better.

So that's the one so that's the other thing we say in our initial report is that those savings will be tracking to be able to report on the.

Thank you, Yolanda.

But I think what's important for my colleagues is that when we talk about what savings looks like, and we're making these big decisions, and you have unanswered questions about the actual cost, that's a real factor.

So you have a lot of projected savings based on the deletion of staff positions, but you're not taking into account the actual cost of consolidations and uh from the systems integration and the facilities, uh, the space that we're talking about.

And so you're only giving one part of the picture, and I think that's a really important that's why I appreciated Mr.

Espinosa citing that, because what this body deserves when we're making these kinds of decisions is to understand the full implications of the decisions that we're making in the financial impacts, because when we're talking about identifying greater efficiencies, it's not just in because again, we got to look at what efficiency looks like for the different audiences that we're attempting to serve and making sure that we are a city that is actually attending to the needs of our diverse constituencies.

So that's why I think it's uh critically important for us to have that full uh understanding of what the costs are associated with that, and so um so how does how does the integration proposed to function and work when the federal guidelines have a variety of intake requirements that not everybody is up because this is also presupposing that everyone basically does the same functionality when you bring them all together, but federal requirements actually require something different.

Uh Mr.

Espinosa, could you could you perhaps give some insight into that?

We did look into that in our report.

Um, and we acknowledge that uh currently the CIFD has uh great expertise in um managing federal guidelines, and um and we believe that they do have the kind of staff to be able to um separate and not commingle certain funds and to follow um federal guidelines.

Okay.

Well, um again, colleagues, and thank you.

Um I'll go ahead and I don't know if there's anyone else on the queue for questions.

Um I'm not sure.

Is anybody else on the queue for questions for staff?

Councilmember Womanfield.

Yeah, just really just one sort of overarching question.

And and I'm open to the consolidation and and feel good about it mostly.

The the part that gives me the most heartburn is the economic development issue, you know, because other cities are eating our lunch on this and they're luring businesses, and a lot of cities have an independent economic development arm, which uh both from a perception perspective and and and a reality perspective is is important in order to grow our economies.

So, you know, what assurance can you give me that in this new consolidated department that function won't get lost because it is different than you know than the typical contract function and and the incredible efficiencies I think that can get with all these departments because you're contracting for similar services with the source centers, but that that one piece that gives me some concern is that that pure economic development, which we really haven't done a great job of, and we were starting to get a strategic plan in 2020, and then COVID came and we focused on responding to that.

But but there are folks at EDD EWDD that are that are focused on that, and that's to me is something really important I don't want to see lost.

So I just sort of throw it out to you.

You know, give us the assurances that that element um is gonna not only remain but will thrive under this new uh consolidation.

I'm happy to answer that question, council member, and I I do agree that intuitively economic development seems to be the function that um in different cities that it's structured.

I mean, really, what I was I found most most surprising when we were doing our research was that really economic development is structured differently, vastly different in a number of cities.

Some cities have it under planning, some host San Jose, which was the one most interesting is cultural affairs and economic development.

I mean, it really is structured differently.

It is a policy decision that you all have to be comfortable with.

What I will say is that I recognize that CDBG, as an example, is not the only funding source that supports economic development, but it's been the most consistent funding source.

And as the component administrator, we already support a number of economic development projects.

We have, you know, CIFD is not just a social service department.

We're very proud of a social service delivery and integration and the coordination that we support across multiple nonprofits, but as a compound administrator, which often is off the budget, you know, we we don't have a lot of robust conversation on the our role uh as a CDBG administrator, but we do support, we're very familiar with all of the economic development projects.

If CDBG goes away, we would we would not have a really strong economic development strategy, so we do need to look at other funding sources.

What I will say about um the expertise is that that expertise will continue to um be well positioned with this new department.

CIFD has also extensive uh expertise on a number of acquisition real estate projects.

We worked with the mayor's office to set aside 27 million dollars in CDBG for the acquisition of the May Fair.

We worked with council member McCosker to set aside uh five million dollars for land acquisition, and these are transactions that we led.

We worked with Homeboy Industries that was initially an economic development project for a new job training center that shifted over to uh capital improvement projects.

So we do have a pretty vast portfolio of capital improvement projects, over 100 right now in our portfolio, and again, those are often not recognized or acknowledged in some of these general fund conversations because it's largely driven by our role as a competent administrator.

But we have in-house expertise and the expertise that is currently within the economic and workforce development department would also transition over to this new department.

And I also want to just clarify that this is not being absorbed into CIFD.

It is the CIFD name will all just also change.

CIFD is also being the mission and the vision of CIFD would also change into this new department, which is the community investment department.

And I would just add, I mean, this it's with the loss of CRAs.

Uh it's also going to be creating EIFDs and and Councilwoman Park talked about trying to get emergency uh FDs, I forget the title that and a number of these funding mechanisms that we've never really used before effectively, but that are have been are the successors to CRAs, and and that's gonna be critical to getting this strategy moving forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um I have Councilmember Jurado on the queue.

No, I wanted to go at the end.

You want to have pre-part of the discussion, that's fine.

Yeah.

Uh so I have one question for staff because it doesn't look like anybody else has questions for staff, so I'll go.

Um just uh council member Marquesa, I just want to uh I'm council member.

Wow, I just sorry, my apologies.

I would not wish that on you.

Um I want to uh deep dive on uh Mr.

Bloom and Phil's uh question because it is uh curious to me as someone who represents part of the city where almost all of our deal, all of our big deals have relied on EWD to play some role.

Going back to when it was CRA and you know had different names.

The point is the private sector won't do a deal.

I don't care how good the credit is, I don't care how good the land to value ratio is, all the other rules that apply everywhere else don't apply in places that have been redlined, which in the city of LA we have plenty of.

I represent one of them.

Uh and absent this institution come intervening, like those deals don't get done.

I can take you into to buildings and offices and housing, all those things right now that uh and things that are underway, frankly, uh, that that's the case for.

And and you know, I'll just invoke the name of of Carolyn Hall, who I think was you know nearly a genius, uh, who's who's been who's separated from the city um as a result of this.

I I just want your vision for uh how that gap gets filled.

Uh because I the part the consolidation makes sense to me mostly, except that I I the appealing part of the most appealing part of the consolidation is that we have services for working class and poor people all in one department, so people don't have to hop all over town to get service, whether they need a job or use services or family, whatever.

So they I like that part of it, but this particular piece of it, um, I I just it's not entirely clear to me.

I believe that you have a vision, but I wanted to uh you to talk about that on the record for how that work goes.

Thank you for that question.

Um my response is you know, I joined the city 22 years ago um under the community development department, and it was the vision of that department that drew me to the city.

And the way that I would continue to lead on economic development is integrating economic development as part of a larger community development strategy.

It's putting people at recognizing the individuals in these dis in these communities as our greatest assets.

That's how I would treat economic development.

I don't think that a consolidation needs to compromise the integrity or the individual, the autonomy of economic development functions.

I do think that there is a lot of the work that the department is doing is incredibly important.

We are the only city that has a business source model.

That business source model was established when we were on all one department, and it was the business source, the work source, the youth source, the family source, and there was an intentionality behind these models so that they could be better coordinated and integrated with one another.

I do think that we have an opportunity to leverage other funding sources that we're not currently tapping into.

The real estate portfolio of the department is very exciting to me because it creates opportunities to really revitalize neighborhoods in a much more holistic way, bringing in the community organizations that we currently work with.

So the commitment that I have to you is to continue to learn, um, to continue to adapt and to continue to leverage the expertise.

I want to emphasize that I have not been an expert on all things in my 22 years that I've, you know, I've different roles that I've um assumed, and I do take the time to understand the intricacies and nuances of all of these different regulations and how to best leverage uh resources so that we can maximize our impact and be effective in how we deliver resources and services.

And again, I just want to emphasize that this does this consolidation, the way that I would structure it, has this broader vision around community revitalization and really leveraging state and federal dollars to drive economic development from this place-based perspective and to um let you know really look at how to engage the entire community in this process.

Got it, thank you.

Okay, I think we are down to folks who want to discuss the general matter, so we'll thank staff uh and excuse you one more time.

Can I follow up on your question?

Sure.

Okay.

So I I just wanted to point out because Mr.

Harris Dawson, I appreciate uh what you what your apprehension is and what you raised.

Um, and I just wanted for the sake of just really providing some clarity around what we're talking about.

Um areas that are eligible for C D B G.

It's economic development strategies are the ability to engage in very technical and business oriented conversations at a higher level than just around CDBG investments in a community.

It's also goes beyond just doing facade improvements.

We're talking about the ability for us to attract and bring in business investments in our city at a much higher level.

And so that's why what I'm proposing is that we're talking about the economies of scale in the consolidation of the portions that you already discussed it or that you already highlighted, which makes sense.

But as we all also all also established, is that there are many other cities.

And we have discussed this even in budget when the council unanimously adopted the motion that I introduced about our ability to manage the assets and leverage it for more of a revenue generating opportunity.

That's the type of work that we also concurrently need to be engaged in.

And my concern, as we've seen, when departments are eliminated and functionality is transferred and lost.

The re-establishment and building out that work takes years.

And we are already in an economic climate where we can't afford to lose more time.

But preserving this one piece that would allow us to maximize our effort to generate revenue and build what we're looking for is a functional economic development arm in this city.

Doing that concurrently without losing more time.

Because we can't afford to lose any more time, given the economic circumstances that we're facing right now as a city.

We need to have the technical expertise to be able to engage in those conversations.

That's why we're talking about staffing levels.

There are a much higher level, because dealing with those corporate entities or whatever business opportunities that we want to attract into our city require that level of expertise.

So again, that that's why I go back to it's better to measure twice and cut once.

We should understand the full implications of the decisions that we're making.

We're talking about negligible proposed savings, but we can't even verify that they're actual savings because of the absence of the full breadth of the costs associated with consolidation not having been provided.

So I just I just wanted to take an opportunity to dovetail on what you just raised and what your concerns were because that's what this is born out of.

And it just allows us to ensure that we can continue to be on that path to support the needs that we have as a city to maximize and start building a more structured and focused economic development arm for the city.

And that's what that's what the G the uh GIA report proposes is the consolidation of all those other pieces.

It's a yes and it's not a no, it's a yes and all right.

Thank you, Councilmember Rodriguez.

All right, and thank you uh to the staff.

I've got Mr.

I've got Councilmember Jurado, and then I've got Council Member Soto Martinez.

And I think and we're now just everybody, we've shifted to discussion of the larger matters, Council President.

I'd like to call the question.

We have had heard this in EVJ, civil rights, government efficiency, the budget and finance committee.

Everybody has talked about this.

So I'm calling the question.

I know it will require 10 votes because everybody hasn't been able to speak, but that's that I was gonna wait until after Soto Martinez, but you called me now.

Is there a second to Ms.

Harado's uh um?

Yes, so there is a second, it's council member Rahman.

Uh and so as the council member summarized, it will require 10 votes to pass.

It is not debatable.

All right, let's uh open the roll on uh ending debate.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Wait, well, wait for one minute.

All right, we're gonna do it again.

The clerk wants us to do it again.

Let's open the roll on ending debate, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Thirteen ayes, two no's to tell us what that means.

Okay.

So the motion passes, so the debate is closed, and then council can move on to voting on the actual items.

I believe the clerk's office summarize sort of the order on which we will take this up.

Uh but just to reiterate, because I know that we had a robust discussion earlier and questions answered.

The first item before council, and I will let the clerk's office correct if I'm wrong, is Amendment 52D introduced by Councilmember Rodriguez, and that is to amend recommendations five and eight in the EDJ report.

After that, council will vote on motion price Soto Martinez to adopt the EDJ report, and then the third and final vote will be on motion Rodriguez Blumenfield to adopt the GIA report.

Uh please keep in mind as you're in your voting on specifically the second and third item that they are in conflict, meaning that you should ideally only vote for for one of them or in favor of one of them.

If both are approved, then the last one that is voted on is the one that will ultimately be approved by this body.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh so Madam Clerk, we're opening the roll on amendment D is in dance.

Yes, sir.

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

Close the roll.

All right, we got some computer malfunctions.

We can uh we will clear it and vote again.

All right, let's open the roll.

Close the roll, tabulate to vote.

Seven eyes, eight nulls.

Uh the amendment fails.

All right, what's next?

Next is the vote on motion price, Soto Martinez, and that is to adopt the EDJ report.

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

Twelve eyes, three no's all right.

What's next?

The next is the vote on motion Rodriguez Bloomenfield, and that is to adopt a government efficiency innovation audits report.

All right, let's council member Yaroslavsk.

No.

All right, let's uh open the roll.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Six ayes, nine no's.

That motion fails.

All right, what's next?

Okay.

So uh just to summarize for the record, the uh motion price, Soto Martinez to adopt the uh economic development and jobs report prevails.

All right, so what's next?

Uh next would be item 74, and that is closed session, sir.

All right, let's prepare the room for closed session.

Remember uh folks, we are doing one staff member per council office, the city attorney's office and impacted departments.

So we'll ask folks to move quickly.

We're at one o'clock.

So the Tosco Theater is located in Canoga Park.

There is so much already here to offer, cultural events, performances, folks do annual Dia de los Mortos festivals.

There is art walks, there's musical events, there's jazz, and I feel like we have the privilege to be added in that offering.

The space had been left a little bit weary.

And so when the city came in to renovate the space, it was offered another chance to breathe new life into the arts here.

The Tosco Theater is here for everyone.

It is here for young artists who are just starting out, to the professional artists who are here to dream up their new vision, and we're here for the community at large at all of our community events.

One of our signature events is called Walking in Our Light.

This idea of how we help people to encourage them to think about the light that they bring and to show appreciation for those who help to nurture that light.

So from that idea, we thought, well, let's let's walk in our light.

Let us have uh stories along the way where people can stop and hear performances and storytelling of other people saying, This is my light, this is how I shine it, and these are the people I want to show appreciation to.

So we we do this walk around the block, and then we end up with a little gathering, performances inside, and lots of time to just reflect on, yeah, this is my light, you know, and and these are the people who've helped me get there.

Providing access to the arts.

So it's a it's a live space that's here to welcome and nurture those sparks of inspiration and vision.

We have a Facebook page, you can go to the Department of Cultural Affairs, their website, you find the Tosco Theater, it may take a few clicks here and there, but we try to stay present in any way that we can use the earlier.

Either by typing a topic in the new request search box, or select from the most popular service requests, like street pavement issues or potholes.

Answer a few questions, you can add a comment or even upload a picture.

Using my LA three one one keeps our city safe and clean.

And so across the city, the county, and the state.

We stand before you united and committed to helping victims of violence, of human trafficking, a sexual assault, and other crimes that prey on the vulnerable.

Join the Department of Cultural Affairs for the Forty Fifth Annual Black Doll Show, which will run until February 14th, twenty twenty-six.

The show's opening reception takes place on Saturday, December thirteenth, and will feature live music and performances.

For more details, visit WGSAC.

Join Council Member Curren Price and Reckon Parks at Expo Park for all the family fun of this winter holiday festival.

There will be music, entertainment, games, community booths, and yes, even sledding.

There will also be giveaways, which are first come, first served.

Head to Bill Robertson Lane for Expo Center's Winter Festival on Saturday, December 13th, beginning at ten AM.

For more information, see the events tab at LA Parks.

Every day, over one hundred Americans die from second hand smoke.

Secondhand smoke in children can cause asthma ear infections, and increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

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 Assembly Member Pilar Shiabo.

This bill strengthens safeguards for survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and other crimes.

Because scammers often use pressure and scare tactics.

Your regularly scheduled meeting of the Los Angeles City Council.

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No matter the cost.

When it was opened in 1939, uh it was originally a LA Department of Water and Power building.

Sometimes we'll have a film screening.

Uh art.

I think that sort of flexibility is something that brings me back every time.

The theater is very intimate here.

We work with uh different local artists to be able to provide free programming for children to learn how to sew.

We have a fashion class, uh, we have uh music classes specifically for uh percussion and drums.

We also have uh another music class for piano, and then uh we also have a dance studio.

Uh it's in our mezzanine.

That is for our dance class that we have here.

Our mission here is just to grow the performing arts, really.

So whether it be someone trying to uh bring out their own original productions or like sometimes we even have uh different groups come in to teach after school classes, uh being able to grow the performing arts in a community is is what makes Lancasham Arts Center stand out.

Uh being able to grow the performing arts in a community is is what makes Lancasham Arts Center stand out.

The city investing into places like this is because it gives a place for people that were not as confident, the ability to express themselves and uh give a space for people that are a little bit different, another space to play because uh being able to play is so important just for our mental health as well as uh for the like the health of the community and uh it just makes the world a better place.

We look forward to having you here at Langisham Arts Center, uh, whether it be taking part in our free programming as well as uh being able to come and just watch a movie or watch a show.

We look forward to having you over here.

On Instagram, our Instagram handle is DCA underscore L N K.

Uh you can also find out uh more about us on culture.lacity.gov.

That's our website.

The Tosco Theater is located in Canoga Park.

There is so much already here to offer, cultural events, performances, folks do annual Dia de los Mortos festivals, there is art walks, there's musical events, there's jazz, and I feel like we have the the privilege to be added in that offering.

The space had been left a little bit weary, and so when the city came in to renovate the space, it was offered another chance to breathe new life into the arts here.

The Tosco Theater is here for everyone.

It is here for young artists who are just starting out, to the professional artists who are here to dream up their new vision, and we're here for the community at large at all of our community events.

One of our signature events is called walking in our light.

This idea of how we help people to to encourage them to think about the light that they bring, and to show appreciation for those who help to nurture that light.

So from that idea, we thought, well, let's let's walk in our light.

Let us have uh stories along the way where people can stop and hear performances and storytelling of other people saying, This is my light, this is how I shine it, and these are the people I want to show appreciation to.

So we we do this walk around the block, and then we end up with a little gathering, performances inside, and lots of time to just reflect on, yeah, this is my light, you know, and and these are the people who have helped me get there.

Our communities don't always see what the city of Los Angeles provides them.

Providing access to the arts.

Says to me that's a city that's proud of the stories it wants to tell, the people who want to tell them, and the ways that they want to tell them.

Experience to say I can be seen, I can be heard.

And I'm walking in these doors, and it feels welcoming, it feels nurturing, and people are excited to listen to me and to hear me.

We don't have that all the time.

So it's a it's a live space that's here to welcome and nurture those sparks of inspiration and vision.

There's a few ways to find us.

We are always on social media.

So we are on Instagram.

We have a Facebook page.

You can go to the Department of Cultural Affairs.

My sweater's disrupting the meeting.

All right.

Mr.

City Attorney.

Go up on television and on audio and the internets.

Mr.

President, is it all right if I uh call the rope?

Yes.

Okay.

Bloomin' Phil, Harris uh Harris Dawson, Hernandez, Hutt, Hirato, Lee, McCosker, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Raman, Rodri, Son Martinez, Yaroslavsky, 15 members present in court, Mr.

President.

All right, anything to report, Mr.

City Attorney?

No, Mr.

President.

There's nothing to report out of close session.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

What's before us?

Council has motions for posting a referral.

They are posted and referred.

The desk is clear, sir.

All right, with that, uh announcements.

Councilmember Jurado.

Yes, colleagues.

I want to thank you for all of your diligent participation in Councilmember Hutt and Councilmember Herado's inaugural City Council holiday door decorating contest.

And so the city attorney, uh, I relied on the people who elected the three citywide elected to be the three judges for our holiday doors.

And it's city attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto, Mayor Karen Bass, City Controller Kenneth Mejia, and I really thank them for taking the time yesterday.

And now I want to present some honorable mentions.

Okay.

The reason why I thought about this was, or at least doing the door contests was there's this thing online about romanticizing your life, and I want to think that outside of this being this floor and all the things that come with it, we are still a corporation and colleagues that work together.

And why not bring some holiday joy and levity and figure out a little bit about our colleagues?

And I think everybody really stepped it up.

Umly after seeing Councilmember Lee's door, apparently, per council member Lee.

Now we'd like to go to honorable mentions.

CD 10.

Woo.

Okay, C D nine.

Yay.

And then CD six.

You really couldn't go to their office without feeling the cheer.

Um, and guess who is the runner up?

Drum roll, please, everybody.

Council District one.

And are you ready to find out who won this year's contest?

The answer is Council District Seven.

So next year I will work on getting a better trophy, but this is the trophy that we have.

And so um by the power vested in me by Heather Hutt and me myself.

The 2025 City Council holiday door decorating contest winner is council member Rodriguez's office in CD seven.

And that concludes oh, yeah, winner's speech.

Really, really quickly.

I just want to thank my staff for doing this on Saturday outside of working hours.

I want to establish that.

But uh the creative minds of uh Paola Basignana, uh Christina, every you know, everyone pulled together to do a good job, and they did it on Saturday.

I know CD1 staff was also there working on Saturday, so thank you.

Madam Co Chair.

So much, Mr.

Chair.

I want to say um it was a lot of fun planning this.

We definitely need levity because 2025 has been a little difficult.

So thank you to my co-chair.

And then um I want to uh rise to acknowledge something else at this time.

Uh birthdays of my colleagues, and that would be Kern Price and Tracy Park, their practical twins.

I know you didn't know they were almost twins, but they look so much alike.

And as you see their work, it's really similar.

They care so much about our city, and they work so hard for their constituents.

So I want to say happy birthday to two of my favorite people.

Oh, I mean, you're all my favorite people.

Happy birthday.

All right, thank you so much.

Uh any other announcements, members, announcements?

All right.

I'll ask everybody in the chamber to rise for adjourning motions.

See if there are journey motions to my left.

Any adjourning motions to my right?

All right.

With the oh, yes, we need an ugly sweater picture at the table.

All right.

So we'll take the picture before we adjourn.

Yes, can you give us some direction, Councilmember Hudato on the picture?

Oh, yeah, I said if you don't have a sweater, or if you don't have an ugly sweater and you're just wearing a sweater, then you're just ugly.

That was that was my joke.

That was my joke.

Sorry, bad joke.

Okay, I'm just kidding.

I got it from Bob.

I love Bob's letter.

Okay.

No?

All right, uh, we're adjourned, and so we'll do a photo now.

Thank you.