It's 118 year history and the vision for the future is to build bigger and build smarter.

At the 11th annual State of the Port leaders outlined investments in infrastructure and

technology and detailed how the port continues to support the environment and the local community.

Today we're at the Port of Los Angeles and we just concluded our 11th annual State of the Port

address more than 930 guests at all to see our urban marine research facility what we share

today are updates on the port's progress we had our third busiest container year ever in 2025 and

now we're going to be building a new cruise terminal a new container terminal expanding

existing facilities and investing more in our local communities here in san pedro and wilmington

I am very proud of all of the work of the 1-5, but I'm really glad that community members,

environmentalists, labor, business sector came together with the port to make sure that we

can move forward with an AQMD agreement where we are going to be advancing port technology,

we're going to be advancing the work, making sure people stay employed, but also cleaning

up the air, cleaning up the environment. We count on this community so much to do our work,

But today, what all of us did was contribute to both EXP, our learning center, and the Toberman Center for helping us in our communities.

These two nonprofits are always so close to the work we do at the port.

It's our way of giving back.

Being here today is so important because you really get a sense of what's happening in our community and how you can support the community.

EXP, we're a nonprofit organization that bridges that gap between education and business to

better prepare our students for college and career success.

And so all of these partners here today have been incredible resources for EXP and we are

fortunate to have this friendship with Port of LA that allows us to do that.

Toberman Neighborhood Center has been in existence since 1903, so over 120 years, and impacting

families with housing support, food and security, utility assistance, so really taking that

prevention approach.

Coming here and being able to benefit from this space is connecting and networking with

other organizations with understanding what the port is doing to not only impact the community

but to impact what is happening here and really try to engage with as much information so

that we can also be of support to the port.

marine architects to dock workers and truck drivers, everyone in between. Many of us here

grew up and started working in this port, so the connection runs through streets and neighborhoods,

schools and friendships. It's important to do this because we've got a responsibility

as the city and port of Los Angeles to give back, and that's our motivation every day.

Here at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium,

we're surrounded by the sea life

that calls Southern California home.

And just beyond it, the waters that will host

Olympic sailing in 2028.

But first, the world arrives in L.A.

for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The city is already getting ready

with the opening of its first official

hospitality house at La Plaza,

a place of culture, community,

and soccer pride known as Casa Mexico.

Los Angeles is proud to announce

proud to announce something truly extraordinary la plaza will serve as casa mexico mexico's

hospitality house for the 2026 fifa world cup together we look forward to welcoming the world

for us it means a combination of all the various programming that we do always free

always accessible under the umbrella of casa mexico and we're sprinkling in some special events

We will be doing community days, we will have a film series,

we're going to have our Summer of Salsa programming,

and the goal is that folks can just walk in at any time,

sit down on our grass and watch whatever match may be on that day.

Plus, we'll have some pretty exciting viewing parties as well.

Es muy importante que nosotros tengamos un espacio digno, abierto, incluyente,

para invitar a los miles de turistas que van a venir a Los Angeles.

I mean, it's great to have this here because it is the birthplace of Los Angeles.

And so to make it an attraction and to expose people to Mexican country, identity and culture,

especially emerging ones, to our Mexican-American and American communities, that's going to be really important.

Es una oportunidad para celebrar juntos, de un lado, la riqueza cultural de nuestro país,

but the other, the diversity of Los Angeles,

which is celebrated here.

This house is going to be celebrated here.

So it's an open space for everyone

that hopefully has been taken

by the largest number of people possible.

Across Los Angeles, thousands of volunteers

stepped up for a count that helps tell a deeper story.

Over three nights, more than 4,500 people counted important information on those living without shelter.

Information that helps shape funding, policy, and pathways to housing.

Because at its core, the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count is about one thing.

Helping people get inside.

We're here in the Skid Row neighborhood, but it's a county-wide effort to count everybody who is homeless tonight.

They use the numbers we get for our federal data, our state data, county and city data.

So we know exactly who's out there, what our numbers are, and we can use that data to then

help people get inside.

Every year we get better and better at counting the data, and the accuracy is really important

for the data so that we know we can rely on it and we know that we can ask our funders

to rely on it as well.

We have 4,600 volunteers.

We have 150 sites across the region.

There is something I have to say so satisfying about number one being part of the count to

become a part of the data collection, but also meeting other like-minded people who

see the challenge that we're facing in Los Angeles year over year and want to be part

of the solution.

It's super simple.

You go online, you sign up, they give you your station where you're deployed.

You go through a quick training.

Sometimes you get that sent ahead of time to kind of cut your training time down.

You go out into a car or if you're doing it on foot, that's another thing as well.

And really it only takes about two or three hours, I'd say.

And then you go home and you're done.

We understand that people are really hoping to see a big change in Los Angeles because

So much money has been dedicated to this issue.

But we have to remember that the federal government,

the county, and the state are all doing cuts

to the homeless service sector.

So we may not see the decreases that we've seen.

I think it's a different perspective

seeing the streets at night.

I'm not essentially looking forward to it,

but I'm looking forward to helping

with the whole count and everything.

The Port of LA takes pride in being community strong

while continuing to undergo a major transformation,

including West Harbor,

a mile long waterfront development opening this summer.

And in South LA, the story of a long abandoned site

is beginning to change.

This transformation will take time,

but a recent community workshop

marked an important first step,

sharing the process ahead

and making sure residents are part of every stage along the way.

We're here in the Constituent Service Center in Council District 8

to talk about a really exciting project on an abandoned site at 94th and Broadway in South LA.

The lot on 94th and Broadway is a lot that is owned by the city that we're looking to get developed.

We're looking forward to turning it into 180 units of housing

and a full-service grocery store.

Constituents cite a lack of healthy food options

as a major health challenge for this area.

Before we could begin development,

we do have to clear the site environmentally.

However, we did find out that the soil was contaminated.

So the city, which would be CD8,

Economic Workforce Development, along with sanitation,

is partnering up to apply for a federal grant

through the Environmental Protection Agency

to secure two million in grant funding,

which will help remediate the site.

Part of the EPA application process

is to hold a community workshop

to make the community aware that the site is contaminated

and our plans to remediate the soil

so that we could go ahead and develop it.

Council President Merkwiz Harris-Dawson has been extremely supportive of this project

and really wants to make it a reality.

As an economic development department, we're really excited to help transform this site

into something that will be a positive economic benefit for the community.

For those in the community that are interested in tracking this project to completion, you

could go to our website for more information.

While it dates from 1907, today's Port of Los Angeles is a hub of 21st century industry,

finance and sustainability.

And still ahead, a quick look at some of the stories shaping life around the city.

Efforts to keep Hollywood production in LA, recognition for the city's housing authority,

and why LAPD's sworn officer hiring remains in place this year.

Mayor Karen Bass announced that her executive directive on the entertainment industry is yielding results.

Bass has worked to make filming within L.A. easier and more cost-effective.

In 2026, the Central Library will reopen for filming, and additional city locations will offer reduced permit fees.

Mayor Bass recognized Councilmember Nazarian for his partnership through the Keep Hollywood Home Initiative.

Bass reaffirmed that this work will continue to support the next great stories filmed on L.A. Street by world-class talent.

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

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance has recognized L.A. City Housing Authority, HACLA, as a 2025 Digital Inclusion Trailblazer.

The award honors HACLA's leadership in providing residents with high-speed internet, devices, and digital literacy training.

HACLA achieved this status by meeting rigorous national standards across seven categories.

With this accomplishment, HACLA serves as a blueprint for local governments working to bridge the digital divide.

For more information, visit HACLA.org slash news.

The LA City Council has approved a plan to continue hiring sworn police officers during

the current fiscal year. 410 sworn officers could be hired by using savings from within

the Police Department's existing budget. Council Member Jaroslavsky, Chair of the Budget

and Finance Committee, said the plan keeps hiring moving this year. The Council approved

plan also directs the City to identify funding for future years as part of the upcoming budget

process. Learn more at lacity.gov slash government.

Imagine neighborhoods all across Los Angeles lit up by art, music, and performance all at the same

time. That's the idea behind a tune from the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and their partner

arts organizations, a massive free celebration designed to bring art straight to the community.

So the Department of Cultural Affairs is really excited to be partnering with NextArt to create

Attune.

Attune is an exhibition that's going to be region-wide, 10 sites across our city and

our county.

It's a way of using art for healing, for community gathering, for being together at

a time when we particularly need it.

The exhibition will be hosted at many different parks across our region.

We're really proud to be able to host it at Barnsdall Park, one of our department's flagship

sites where we have several different art centers and historic sites as a place to come

together.

And what is so unique about this exhibition is creating an interconnectedness between

the different sites.

So this is a free event that is really nested in 10 hyperlocal communities.

And so we're really trying to get people to come out

and feel connected on Valentine's Day.

It's not just a passive listening experience.

You'll participate in the actual event and the project.

And you'll be going through breathwork.

You'll be hearing compositions that are symphonic.

You'll be seeing musicians playing.

But the key is that we're all connected

in every single one of these locations together

in a unified experience.

The Department of Cultural Affairs works to reinforce

people's feelings of community, of belonging,

of coming together.

This exhibition is one of those that's really important,

particularly on a day like Valentine's Day,

that can be a wonderful day for some,

a challenging day for others,

as an opportunity to be able to gather

and to come together to meet some new people

and see how others are experiencing

similar types of exhibitions at the same time.

So we as a department really are very proud

be able to use the resources that we have to be able to celebrate and to use the power

of art for healing and the power of culture and the intermixing of cultures to strengthen

who we are as a city.

So we are at the South Valley Work Source Center and we're having an exciting day of

a job fair.

So we have about 15 employers here looking to hire people and we have plenty, plenty of

job seekers here.

It was honestly really easy to be a part of this event just because they had walk-ins

available and the very easy process to sign in and they call you when you're ready.

Once I was ready I walked in and just put my best foot forward and spoke to every booth

I could, which is all of them.

You get to see people here, speak with them one-on-one, have your questions answered,

versus online and just doing, you don't know where you're headed.

So this is the way I see it.

It's a little bit nerve-wracking having to talk to people, meeting people for the first

time, but it's a wonderful opportunity to see the positions available, to see the different

jobs that are out there, and then just a great way to connect with employers.

It's better in my opinion than just applying online.

It's important for them to step out of their comfort zone because that way they can realize

that it's not that bad and it's not that difficult to just go out and talk to an employer and

ask what opportunities are for them.

And employers are very receptive to talking to them and giving them guidance on what they

can do to either improve their skills or acquire skills that they need in order to find a job.

There's absolutely nothing to be nervous about.

and our people here and who just apply it.

You just have to take a chance on yourself

and it's just a good exercise to practice

before you actually get an interview,

to talk to people and build your confidence in a way

and come with a good attitude and you'll probably do pretty good.

We're here in the busiest port in the nation.

And in San Pedro, there is a brand new public space creating room to connect.

Piazza Miramare was conceived by the local Italian community as a tribute to their roots and their contributions to Los Angeles and beyond.

We have another beautiful event in the 1-5.

We are having the grand opening of the Piazza Miramare today.

Uno, due, tre!

It is an Italian style, European style piazza and we have so many folks who are going to

use this space to gather right here in the piazza.

San Pedro and its Italian community, which is the largest Italian community in Los Angeles

and Southern California, will finally have a place to gather and to remember how important

was the contribution of Italians to this place and to Los Angeles.

It was a long time coming, seven years as a founding board member of Little Italy for

several of those years.

It's exciting to be a part of this, to finally get to the finish line and today is the start

of many great things to show our Italian culture to Los Angeles.

Having the Piazza in San Pedro is incredibly important because it's going to be the entry

way for folks coming in from the harbor area, from the cruise line.

It's going to be the breadcrumb that brings people into downtown.

The gathering place for people to visit is a gathering place for people to live here.

A lot of people talk about the third space.

You don't live there, you don't work there, you need a place where you can just convene

as a community.

And like we see when we travel Europe or other destinations, you come around a corner and

see a beautiful piazza or a plaza or a Zocalo, this is our piazza where folks can relax,

they can enjoy each other's company and enjoy the beauty of the harbor on one side and our

beautiful historic downtown on the other.

There'll be plenty of programming, arts, festivals, food, our annual event, our street carnival

will be here.

Any kind of festival throughout Italy will have some kind of celebration here in this

Piazza. This is a place where Italy welcomes everybody so we look forward to

welcome everybody here. We all need to make sure that we are keeping our eye on

this place and keeping it beautiful and keeping it safe and the best way to keep

it beautiful and safe is to use it. Come down for brunch and then walk through

the Piazza and just enjoy a cup of coffee.

Today we have two public programs in celebration of our two exhibits, More is More by John

Bertol and Too Fast to Sing by Jazzy Romero and the Pine Groves.

The goal of these events are really to bring artists and the public together and to really

activate the beauty of Barnsdale Art Park.

Basically what we wanted to do is I make all these different pictures and print them on

fabrics or have them woven and a lot of them are on the walls in the exhibition but I also

like to take them in different places and lay them out for a picnic.

A lot of the things in the show are made to kind of be touched or used or sat on or played

with.

Today I'm here making a performance with my dog Rocky.

Could this be true, not just for us but for others too, that too much love is a non-problem?

When Rocky was eight weeks old, she was separated from her mother and her sister.

Whatever my artwork can do to kind of bring people together, whether it's in conversation

or to bring people together in a similar space

to witness a performance is what drives me to do it.

Part of the nice thing about doing a show here at Barnstall

is there's this beautiful park with this beautiful view.

I like to bring people together.

I feel like people like to come together.

So often right now we're very isolated.

Art is a good way to be together as human beings,

and I like art that can kind of find people

wherever they're at, and it's just nice for people

to kind of come out and have a cultural experience.

I invite everybody to come and visit

Barnsdale Art Park, stay for the views,

but don't forget to come in and see the beautiful art shows

that we have organized for you guys.

We are at the Islamic Center here in Council District 10 right here in Koreatown to really

celebrate the unveiling of the Muhammad Ali stamp.

He was a champion in the ring and outside the ring and of course for us as Muslims he's

one of the greatest examples of what it means to be a Muslim in America.

who's thriving, somebody who's successful, somebody who's contributing, and somebody

who people love.

Muhammad Ali was that change agent and that unifier to bring us together, so we're glad

to celebrate him today.

Muhammad Ali was a friend of mine.

I did this about the original piece maybe six years ago, and I've done murals from the

same image throughout the city.

What people remember when they see the stamp in their post office is all the great challenges

he faced in life, learning how to box, and then going quickly to becoming champion of

the world, and then taking a stand against the Vietnam War, something that we all think

was a great stand that he took at that time.

But at that time, he was considered a radical.

He was considered to be un-American.

And then he lost his championship belt because he had to go to prison, being a conscientious

objector.

And later on, he regained his title.

And so it's a great story of a person who stood tall both in the ring and outside the

ring.

He wanted to be great at what he did.

And it is through his work that he put in and giving back to people that made him become

the hero that he has become to everybody.

On behalf of Councilwoman Heather Hutt, she wants everyone to go out, get the stamp, utilize

it use it to talk to your kids not only about him as an athlete but the world and community

and just use it as a time where we can talk about justice and equality for all

from fine dining to bustling commerce the port of la and san pedro has something for everyone

and if you're looking for ways to experience the city we've got a few ideas for you celebrate the

the Lunar New Year with short films,

explore a hands-on robotics workshop,

and learn about a historic heroine at the Banning Museum.

Check it out.

Gallop into the Lunar New Year of the Horse

with a festival of short films

at the Barnstall Gallery Theater.

Curated by Bad Asians,

the program features film, video art,

and live performance in a celebration

of intergenerational intimacy and queer kinship.

With material intended for a mature audience,

the festival, Ancestral Dreamscapes,

Asian American Moving Image,

will present works by Chinese, Korean,

and Vietnamese artists.

Enjoy tea service, the program of films,

and a reception at this one-day short film festival.

Ancestral Dreamscapes, Asian American Moving Image,

takes place on Saturday, February 7th, beginning at 1 p.m.

Learn more by searching for Lunar New Year

at culture.lacity.gov.

Parents of budding creators or engineers,

this event at the Chinatown Branch Library

could be for your children.

The Kids Robotics Workshop on February 7th

is open to grades 3 to 6

and promises to be a fun and hands-on way

to inspire creativity and problem-solving skills.

Led by the Girls Academic Leadership Academy,

the workshops teach robot design, coding, and teamwork.

Check the listings for other dates

and be sure to sign up for a spot as places are limited.

Head to Chinatown Branch Library for Kids Robotic Workshop

on Saturday, February 7th at 10 a.m.

For more information, visit lapl.org slash events.

Join the Department of Rec and Parks at the Banning Museum

to learn more about a remarkable hero, Harriet Mason.

Museum director Michael Sanborn

shines a light on this incredible woman

and her impact on the Banning family and beyond.

Mason was a former slave whose actions saved many lives

in the Los Angeles harbor after the Ada Hancock disaster in 1863.

Tickets are free for museum members and $5 for non-members.

From Darkness to Light, Discovering Harriet Mason

is on Saturday, February 7th at 11 a.m.

For more details, visit the Events tab at thebannonmuseum.org.

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

With more than 43 miles of coastline, the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro Bay is the

busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere.

And that revitalization that is underway promises to transform the LA waterfront into a world-class

visitor destination.

Our thanks to CD15 and the Port of Los Angeles.

From all of us at LA City, thank you for joining us.

Watch these stories and more anytime online at lacity.org.tv.

follow us at LA City on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

Until next time, get out, explore, and enjoy everything

LA has to offer.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I love you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I love you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome to the regularly scheduled meeting of your Los Angeles City Council.

Today is Wednesday, the fourth day of February in the year 2026.

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

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

Yes, sir.

Blumenville, Harris, Dawson, Hernandez, Hutt, Gerardo, Lee, McOsker, Nazarian, Padilla,

Park, Price, Rahman, Rodriguez, Soto Martinez, Yaroslavsky, 12 members present in accord,

Mr. President.

First order of business.

Approval of the minutes of February 3rd, 2026.

Council Member Padilla moves.

Council Member Houdado seconds.

What's next?

commandatory resolutions for approval council member Rodriguez moves council

member McCosker seconds can we run through our agenda yes sir items one and

two are items notice for public hearing items three through sixteen are items

which public hearings have been held item 17 and 18 are items which public

hearings have not been held ten votes are required for consideration all right

without objection those items are now before us are there any specials for

today's meeting members councilmember Jurado thank you council president I'd

like to continue item 2 to February 18th 2026 all right without objection that

will be the order a councilmember the 18th is a recess would you like to have

it on the 17th instead or the 24th may have for the 24th thank you for flagging

City Clerk okay so I don't you continue to February 24 20 26 thank you thank

you all right any other specials members councilmember Hernandez thank

council president I would like to call item 13 special for comments all right

13 special for comments any other specials members all right seeing no

other specials madam clerk what items are available for consideration at this

time mr. president council may now vote on items 3 through 12 14 through 16 sir

all right let's open the roll on those items close the roll tabulate the vote

12 eyes all right what's next mr. president would council like to proceed

to presentations, sir?

All right, yes.

Very exciting morning of presentations.

This morning,

today is the first

of our

celebrations of African American

History Month for the city

of Los Angeles.

We're going to begin this morning's presentation.

Yes, please, a round of applause for Black History Month.

Thank you,

Councilmember Padilla.

Our presentation this morning will be led by Councilwoman Heather Hutt of the 10th Council District.

I didn't get no walk-on music or nothing.

There should be a DJ in council.

Every now and then, Monica, every now and then we need a DJ.

Good morning, everybody. On behalf of the Los Angeles City Council, welcome to our council chambers.

Today we gather to celebrate 100 years of black history, a formal acknowledgement of the remarkable

contributions black people have given to this nation. People like Carter G. Woodson,

the father of black history, whose devotion to showcasing those contributions started in 1926,

which resulted in why we have Black History Month today. As we celebrate, we honor 76 years

of our Arthur's Study Club. Let's give it up for our Arthur's Study Club.

An institution that has preserved, protected, and elevated black history in Los Angeles

and throughout the country.

To open our ceremony, we invite the drummers to begin.

Drummers?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Let's give it up for our drummers.

Thank you so much.

You can see them in Leimert Park in the 10th District on any given weekend.

Now I would like to have our program opened by Laura Ball,

who will lead us and lift every voice and sing the Negro National Anthem,

which turned into the Black National Anthem, Laura.

testing one two three testing um if you can stand oh you're already standing thank you

um thank you um

lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring ring with the harmonies

of liberty.

Let our rejoicing

rise

high as the listening

skies. Let it resound

loud as the rolling

sea.

Sing a song

full of the faith that the

dark past has taught us.

Sing a song

full of the faith that

the present has brought

us.

Facing the rising sun of a new day begun

Let us march on till victory is won

Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died

Yet with the steady beat have not our weary feet come to the place where which our fathers sighed.

But we have come over a way that with tears have been slaughtered.

And we have come treading the blood of the gloom that has slaughtered.

Out of our gloomy past

Till now we stand at last

Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast

God of our weary years

God of our silent tears

Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way.

Thou who hast by thy might

Has led us into the light

Keep us forever in thy path

We pray

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee

And lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world

We forget thee

Shadowed beneath thy hand

May we forever stand

True to our God

True to our native land

Our land

Thank you, Laura.

That was a very powerful singing of the anthem.

We certainly appreciate you grounding us

and what our ancestors sang about,

an anthem that reminded us how resilient we are.

We appreciate you.

And now I'd like to welcome our council president,

Marquise Harris-Dawson from the 9th District to offer remarks. Thank you so much, Councilwoman

Hutt, and another big round of applause for that rendition of the Negro National Anthem.

I got chills hearing that rendition, especially in the time that we serve here today. We've got

a lot of honorees and a lot of celebrating to do. That's why we're getting started early in the

month of February, so we have time to get it all in, in our celebration of the history of black

people in this country, but also the history of African Americans in this city and in the building

of this city. You know, I set out in the rotunda, and I said, I'm going to say this every time I

speak during Black History Month, so if you heard it already, act like it's new. The reason we do

for the 100th year this year,

the reason we celebrate Black History Month

isn't for black people mainly.

It is the stories about the history of black people

and how we got over.

If you're African American, you're going to hear that.

You're going to hear it at the breakfast table.

You're going to hear it in church.

You're going to hear it after school.

You're going to hear it in community groups.

The reason we celebrate is to lift up our story

as an example for what's possible in this country,

for everybody, for every human being.

And we see around our country,

whether it was in Washington, D.C.,

where they painted over the Black Lives Matter mural on the street

or the Institute of Museum and Library Services

laying off all the folks who did African American history

and the history of people of color.

in Florida they actually banned black history being taught in public schools.

The attack on DEI even in the military where people gave up their lives,

memorials to the Tuskegee Airmen, memorials to folks who fought in the Air

Force are being taken down. They're being taken down not so black people won't

know because we'll know. They're being taken down so the world won't know and

and the rest of the country won't know,

that you don't have to back down or give an inch or concede or conciliate

when there is state-sponsored terror, there is state-sponsored oppression,

or state-sponsored fascism, which we see now in real life happening to everybody in our community.

Black folks have been through this in this country and have survived it

and are standing tall, ten toes down now, all over the country.

continuing the fight.

And so, we use the occasion of Black History Month

to lift up that story so that the world can see,

even what we're going through now, you can fight it.

The only way around it is through it,

that you can fight it, you can do it with the conviction

of your values, with your family, with your community,

and you can do it by lifting everybody up.

Today we're going to be celebrating, among other people,

black women leaders from organizations around our city.

And what all of them have in common is,

when they do well in their work, all Angelenos do better.

Not just their clients, not just the people they serve,

not just African American people, not just women.

Everybody in the city has a better quality of life.

And so we're very excited to celebrate

and be led by Councilwoman Hutt,

who's standing at that desk,

who stands in the tradition of black women leaders

in our city, whether it was down the block

at Alvarez Street where among the Pobladores

were black women, to at that very desk

where Heather Hutt is standing right now,

in 1947, the first African American to run

for LA City Council who filled up this room

and stood at that desk and declared her candidacy

was a woman named Carlotta Bass.

No relation to Mayor Bass as far as we know, but Carlotta Bass stood at that desk and ran for council.

And the reason that's important, everybody, is the black men in the community,

they were trying to do their deals with the white establishment, so none of them would run for council.

And Carlotta Bass said, I'm going to run, and I'm going to run for the 8th council district.

She lost to a man named Han. That ended up working out really good for all of us.

Anyway, she lost to a man named Kenny Han, who lived in the 8th district at the time.

and that ended up working out well for us,

but she kicked open the door for people like me,

people like Heather Hutt,

and people like the woman whose office

is just down the hall,

the first woman mayor of this city of any race,

but the first black woman, Mayor Karen Bass.

And so it's a good time to tell the story.

We're gonna tell it loud, we're gonna tell it wide,

and we're gonna have a good time doing it,

but mainly because we want everybody

to see what's possible in this country.

If you stand tall, stand true to your values.

And again, don't back down to the nonsense.

And I'll just close with this,

because I see it and it's so disturbing.

You have these corporations run by billionaires,

these big powerful men, and they're scared of the president.

Like they won't make a comment,

they're changing the little programs in their company.

These are the people who always talk about

they don't want the government intervening.

They're changing the programs to conciliate

to what the president might get up and say one day.

I say to them, take a look at the black community,

take a look at black women,

and you'll see the path forward in this country

for your country, for your companies,

but also for our country.

And so with that, I yield back to my colleague

from the 10th District Councilwoman, Heather Hutt.

Thank you so much, Mr. President.

Let's give it up to our president

who reminded us of our history

and reminded us of our work that we must continue to do.

I want to share a few reflections of my own.

I am the third black woman to serve in city council.

First, Rita Walters of the 8th District, and then Jan Perry of the 9th District.

I guess we went in order, huh?

8th, 9th, and 10th.

And so Heather Hutt of the 10th District.

And I'm so proud to be here today.

And look who we're joined by.

The Honorable Diane Watson.

who really let's give it up to honorable Diane Watson who is here celebrating with us today.

Thank you so much for coming to be with us today.

Honorable Congresswoman, Ambassador, School Board Member, State Senator Diane Watson.

Look at all that glass she broke.

Look at all that.

Thank you.

For decades, R. Arthur's Study Club has been the keeper of Black History Month, bridging the gap between our past and our future.

I want to thank the leadership and the members of R. Arthur's Study Club for your dedication to ensuring that the stories of African American achievement are not just remembered, but celebrated in the halls of government.

If you are a member of our Author Study Club, please raise your hand so people can acknowledge you.

Give it up for the members that hold on to our history.

We live in a time where black history is continuously being watered down.

And now we're seeing it in the attacks on our black journalists.

So telling and celebrating our story is more important now than ever.

This presentation today is a reminder that black history is American history.

It ensures that our narrative remains at the forefront of our civic identity.

It also reminds us that when we uplift the black experience, we uplift the entire city of Los Angeles.

Thank you for your partnership, your scholarship, and your unwavering commitment to the truth of our heritage.

I look forward to another century of working together to make history.

And so now it's my pleasure to introduce a friend.

Sometimes you have friends you don't even know their real name, right?

So it's my pleasure to introduce the chair of this year's Black History Month.

I have been calling her Cookie for years, but her name is Yolanda Cookie Parker.

I have to stop laughing.

Council President Marquise Harris-Dawson,

Honorable Members of the Los Angeles City Council,

our Author Study Club members, and distinguished guests.

My name is Cookie Parker.

Thank you.

And it is an honor to serve as the honorary chair for this year's Black History Month.

This celebration with our authors study club is a special moment that marks a century of

commemorating black history, which began with Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1926.

Black history did not enter American consciousness naturally.

It was institutionalized deliberately and strategically because Dr. Woodson understood that knowledge is power and that a people stripped of their history can be more easily stripped of their future.

When he and his colleagues founded what would become the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, they were not simply creating an organization.

They were building a counterforce to erasure.

But national institutions do not sustain movements.

And in Los Angeles, we have local guardians who do.

That responsibility was carried forward by Vassie D. Wright,

who founded our Author Study Club in 1945, which created a space

where black history could be studied seriously, discussed rigorously,

passed down intentionally long before it was widely welcomed in our public schools.

I know personally what it means when history is missing.

As an undergraduate student at NYU, there were no courses in black history available

to me.

It was not until 1967, 1968 when I was in graduate school that I encountered formal study of

art history.

And when I moved back home to Hawaii after graduating from college, I was asked to teach

a black history seminar on a U.S. Army base, an opportunity that reflected a very specific

moment in time and one, unfortunately, would not exist today.

That reality makes this centennial moment especially meaningful and especially urgent.

As the 2026 theme reminds us, black history commemorations have never been passive celebrations.

They have been tools of transformation, shaping how black people see themselves and how the

world understands their contributions.

Today when forces seek to narrow history through bans, omissions, and distortions, that mission

matters more than ever.

My commitment is to continue supporting the work of organizations like our Authors Study

Club that understands this truth.

Black history is not an accessory to American history.

It is foundational.

And it must be preserved, taught, and defended, not just for this centennial moment, but for

but for years and centuries to come.

Again, thank you to the LA City Council

for continuing this amazing tradition

of honoring Black History Month.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Now I have the privilege of introducing

the president of our Author Study Club,

a leader whose vision and dedication

has strengthened the organization

and has strengthened our relationship in the city,

Miss Laura Ball.

Go straight to Denise,

like she can't talk no more because you sang so good.

Get her some tea, somebody, she knew.

Thank you, Laura.

We appreciate all the work that you do

and your beautiful song, thank you.

So our first living legend gets the Pillar Award.

honors a woman whose life and work has shaped American culture

and strengthened the moral spine of this nation.

Ms. Denise Nichols, Nicholas, sorry, Nicholas.

Her artistry has always been inseparable from her activism,

from Freedom Summer to Hollywood.

She used her voice to tell the truth, to preserve our history,

and to expand what is possible for black women in the arts.

Denise Nicholas is celebrated for her groundbreaking television role, and I couldn't wait to watch it when I was younger, Room 222.

And in the heat of this night, earning multiple Golden Globe nominations, NAACP Image Awards, and in Los Angeles Emmys.

She's also acclaimed author of Freshwater Road, inspired by the 1964 Freedom Summer.

Her newly released memoir, Finding Home, further cements her legacy as a powerful voice preserving

civil rights history, cultural memory, and artistic excellence.

For a lifetime of courage, brilliance, and cultural leadership, we proudly present Denise

Nicholas with the Our Author Study Club Living Legends Pillar Award.

Thank you.

You know, I've been in Los Angeles since Room 222, and I've never been in this room, this

building.

This is great.

It's beautiful.

I'd like to thank Mayor Bass, Laura Ball, and the Author Study Club, and congratulations

to my fellow honorees.

Thank you to the City Council for sharing

this beautiful space.

We live in a time, once again, of cultural erasures.

It is incumbent on each of us to ensure

that we do not disappear from this country's map

and not from the map of the world.

In everything that I do, in every memory I have,

My time in Mississippi from 1964 to 1966 echoes.

It was and remains the core, the foundation

of my knowledge about our journey in this country.

My prayer is that all that was accomplished

will not be discarded and thrown into the dustbin of history.

Thank you.

So we have a certificate signed by all the members of City Council in recognition of all your hard work and diligence in our city.

And then we have an award from our Office Study Club, the Living Legends Award.

Beautiful.

Happy.

Yes, it is.

You can use the weights.

So we need to turn around.

Yes.

You got it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, I would like to bring up Charles Dickens.

Dickinson. Look, I should have bought my glasses.

Dickens. It's Dickinson?

Oh, Dickson.

Okay. It's not spelled like that.

And Tracy Park, who will be presenting him

the Inspiration of Life Award. Tracy?

okay

okay councilwoman hutt thank you for today's incredible celebration and your leadership in

your community and Council President for your really inspirational words and your

message this morning in a moment when we all needed to hear it. It is really an

honor to have the opportunity to rise and recognize our 2026 Hall of Fame

inspiration and life award recipient Antoine Fisher author screenwriter

founder of Glenville House Press and proudly a constituent of District 11.

His early years in foster care could have set him back but instead shaped a

voice defined by clarity, courage, and uncommon grace. After honorably serving

in the US Army excuse me in the US Navy I am so sorry and thank you for your

your service. Antoine turned to writing not simply as an art form, but as a means of understanding

identity, healing trauma, and reclaiming belonging. His memoir, Finding Fish, became a New York Times

bestseller and later an acclaimed film directed by none other than the amazing Denzel Washington,

introducing millions to a story rooted in pain but guided by forgiveness and self-worth.

His forthcoming book, Reflections Beneath the Buckeye Trees, Notes from a Life, invites us to

see black history not as an abstraction but as family, place, resilience, and grace passed hand

to hand, generation to generation. His contributions are not only what he's written but what he's

demonstrated that survival can become wisdom, truth can become art, and that one life honestly

examined can illuminate so many others. On behalf of Council District 11 in the city of Los Angeles,

congratulations and thank you for the legacy that you continue to build.

Thank you.

I, you know, when I was a kid, I never thought about writing.

I'm dyslexic, so I always avoided reading.

And I fell in love with words by writing down what I felt

or what I should, what I would like to say to people,

and that would destroy what I wrote.

But later on, I came to this beautiful city and got an opportunity to write my own story.

And since then, for 30 years, I've been writing our stories, fighting to write the stories that we want to see.

Stories about ourselves as human people, our humanity.

And I'll continue to do that.

And I just want to thank the city council and the OASC.

I'm a man of few words.

Oh, here I go.

Thank you.

Before you go.

So on behalf of Council District 11, the entire city of Los Angeles, we wanted to take a moment to thank you and acknowledge your incredible contributions.

Councilwoman.

Okay, I got my glasses now.

The Next Living Legends Pillar Award honored Charles Dixon.

I did it right?

A Los Angeles artist and designer widely regarded as a living legend for those more than six decades of artistic impact.

Dixon's work reflects the cultural, spiritual, and artistic evolution of black America.

He's born and raised in South Central Los Angeles.

He's entirely self-taught.

His public art commissions, including the Metro Green Line Mariposa Station and Destination Crenshaw's Car Culture exhibit,

have transformed civic spaces into sites of history,

pride, and collective memory.

For this next incredible contribution,

please help me honor Charles Dixon.

There you are.

So sorry.

Thank you.

I'm honored to be with the City Council and the Study Council.

Excuse me.

Anyway, I'm better at whittling on wood and welding steel.

I've done that in my community.

It has always been a prayer to serve the community, serve humanity.

That's what artists are here for.

And so it's important also to be acknowledged by the community like I have been today.

I'm very pleased and honored, and it's an answer to a prayer.

To have left a mark, but also a living legend, is exceptional.

They usually don't get honored until we die.

So I'm very thankful, and the people that are involved, I give thanks and praise to all of you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Will try to try to try to try to try to try to try to

What?

What?

Next I would like to bring up my colleague from the

state state state state state state state state state state state state state state state

state state state state state state state state state state state state state state state

state state state state state state state state state state state state state state state

my colleague from the 4th district councilmember Ramon thank you so much

councilmember Hutt and council president for allowing me to be a part of this

beautiful and moving and triumphant celebration today it really it's a

special moment. I'm here to introduce our next Hall of Fame Inspiration of Life

Award recipient, DMA Anderson. Black History Month I think calls on us not

just to honor the past but to recognize the people who are shaping the future in

real time right here in Los Angeles and DMA Anderson's work does exactly that.

For more than two decades she has built technology at the intersection of

of entertainment, education, and civic life,

but always with a clear purpose,

expanding access by simplifying complex systems

that too often exclude.

She created the first fully integrated

cloud-based financial platform used for productions

across the entertainment industry.

She later built college access and civic engagement tools

that helped first-generation students and voters

navigate systems that sometimes feel like

they're designed to be difficult.

Her most recent innovation is Corgi,

which leverages AI and is a groundbreaking production

and collaboration platform that integrates

the world's leading workplace applications

into a simple platform.

She saw early on in all of her work

that complexity is not neutral.

Whether it was film production, college access,

civic participation, or the world of business,

Fragmented systems created barriers

that she worked to address.

Her response was to build tools that brought clarity,

inclusion, opportunity, wherever they were missing

across fields, from supporting independent creators

to helping students navigate college pathways

to expanding participation in modern workplaces.

This work centers who gets to participate

and who gets left out.

And as someone who lives in the fourth council district,

Her work reflects the innovation, creativity,

and civic space that I think really define

our council district's neighborhoods.

Her work reminds us that equity

is not just a value we talk about.

It's something we can design into our work

and into every tool that we use.

And so it is my honor today to introduce the recipient

of the Hall of Fame Inspiration of Life Award.

No, she's right here.

Hall of Fame Inspiration of Life Award, DMA Anderson.

Please join us at the podium.

Thank you so much.

What a joy.

Hi, everyone.

My family raised us with a monthly book club, which we did not understand was homework,

and we read famous African-American authors every month and reported on them to our parents.

We had flashcards for African-American inventors.

My first memory of Black History then week was my mom's Benjamin Banneker creation

from a sculpture of papier-mâché.

It was such a part of my identity and they taught me and they gave me a sense of space,

of belonging, of possibility, of agency in a world that did not already see my limitlessness

the way they wanted me to see it.

And I went to Stanford just intent, thanks to Shirley Chisholm,

on becoming a black woman in politics, and then met my heroes, Senator Diane Watson.

Then...

Then Assemblymember Maxine Waters and my future boss, Doris Ford,

of City and County of San Francisco.

But I ultimately went to politics and took all the tech I had learned at Stanford with me there,

from politics into entertainment and then to my own companies.

And I realized it didn't matter where I moved.

If I could take technology with me, I could open doors,

I could scale impact, I could reach the world.

And when my third patent was started to be used by the US Patent and

Trademark Office, I knew I was on to something.

Thank you.

So many thanks to the OASC, to the City of Los Angeles, and

my elected officials who I'm proud to be standing with,

and may this moment possibly be present to someone

who themselves might believe

that they could come into technology,

or like me, could continue in technology,

or like so many of the wonderful leaders here,

could inspire others to come into this space

because so much of what we do now to see ourselves,

our knowledge, our access, our sense of agency

is filtered through technology.

We must become owners of it, participants of it,

believers in it, and torchbearers for it.

Thank you so, so much for this honor.

Thank you.

That was inspirational.

Now to help us mark this historic anniversary, we're joined by the general manager of the

of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Daniel Tarica.

Please join us in welcoming him forward to share remarks.

Daniel.

Thank you so much, Councilwoman.

And thank you, Council President,

for your very meaningful remarks.

And good morning to all the Los Angeles members

of the City Council.

I'm honored to join you here today

to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Black History

commemorations in the City of Los Angeles

that we began celebrating here before it became a nationwide tradition.

This year's theme, A Century of Black History Commemorations,

honors the origins of black history observances

and how they have influenced us today.

Since 1926, black communities across the city and the nation

have organized, preserved, and celebrated black history

as an act of resilience, education, and self-determination.

This year's Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide

honors the continuum of black excellence,

serving as a bridge that recognizes the elders,

the organizers, the artists, and visionaries

who laid back groundwork while uplifting today's artists,

musicians, writers, and thinkers

who continue to shape black cultural expression.

I'm also very proud to recognize our Author Study Club,

who for three quarters of a century

has been a beacon of knowledge, advocacy,

and empowerment, preserving and celebrating

the rich contributions of African-American authors,

scholars, and historical figures.

Their commitment to education, literature, and civil rights

has uplifted generations and inspired

countless individuals to understand and appreciate

the importance of black history.

We're also proud of our partnership with Dr. Laura Ball

for all of her support.

And we thank you and our Author Study Club

for your unwavering commitment to justice, education,

and cultural preservation.

Here's to the next 100 years of powerful storytelling,

activism, and community building.

We also want to congratulate today's honorees

and thank them for their lasting contributions to our city.

Today, I also have the honor of introducing Miss Ria Owens,

the cover artist for the city's official 2026 African American

Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide.

As a multidisciplinary artist and curator,

She supports artists at all levels

at the Alcoban Cultural Center in Pasadena

and dedicates time to inspiring and motivating our youth.

Ms. Owen is a lover of the human form,

capturing the variety of faces, gestures, and emotions.

Through her painting, we recognize her bold use of color

as cultural assertion and power.

The graphic of her painting, Les Sapor, Congo,

is part of a series of paintings

that explore the movement of stylish working class men

known as dandies that originated in Congo.

The paintings capture the figure's forward motion,

both literal and symbolic, through their confident

and synchronized stride.

The artwork honored self-fashioning, transforming style

into a language of dignity, resistance,

elegance, and cultural power.

We congratulate Ms. Owens for her creativity and vision,

and thank her for sharing that power amongst our community.

Please join me in welcoming Ms. Owens to say a few words.

Thank you so much for verbalizing a lot of what I was going to say, so I won't have to

say as much.

Being an artist, I'm more comfortable with the visual aspect of communicating than I

am with the verbal.

But I'll try and do my best here.

I am honored to have been selected as the cover artist for the DCA calendar.

I have participated in the DCA calendar for probably about five years now.

And when I got the call that my art was chosen for the cover, I was completely elated.

I almost exclusively paint people, more often women than men.

But an early piece that I did was a couple of Cuban gentlemen sitting on a stair stoop.

And it was so popular that I decided to expound upon that.

And I started researching and I came up with Les Sepores.

They're dandies.

And this dandyism has been honored quite a bit lately.

The Met Gala did a whole thing on dandies.

the last the past year and also Vogue magazine I believe.

Upon retiring from entertainment advertising

where I was art director and spent my day stripping together photos to try and make the perfect image

only to send it down the chain and have it come back with so many corrections and changes.

I no longer recognized it and kind of lost the

energy and

myself in the creative process.

So if I'm retiring, I decide to go backwards, back to the basics,

which is painting with brush and canvas.

And there's nothing more satisfying to an artist

than laying that paint on the canvas with a brush.

And it's just emotionally moving for me.

I would like to thank the City Council, the Our Author Study Club, and the Department of Cultural Affairs for selecting my painting,

and for the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, and for the upliving creative expression.

Thank you very much.

So if everybody looks to the right, we'll see the unveiling.

It's very exciting.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

At this time, I'd like to invite members around the horseshoe,

if they have any remarks, to feel free to bring remarks.

All right.

Thank you so much, Councilwoman Hutt,

and thank you to all of the honorees.

Thank you to our Arthur Study Club

who has been here almost as long

as Black History Month itself

has been around here in the city of Los Angeles.

Just give them a big round of applause.

Consistency.

Showing up every year

to make sure the city has a celebration

commiserate with the dignity

and aspirations of our people.

And also I invite everybody

to go to the bridge where there is a beautiful exhibit of black women leaders in the city

of Los Angeles.

Just amazing portraits of each of them and synopsis of their work.

And hopefully there's a QR code or something where you can look them up online and support

their work as well.

And so with that, we thank everybody for a beautiful Black History Month celebration

today here in City Hall.

I hear there's a concert outside later and a whole bunch of other carrying on that we're going to do like we do every year.

But we appreciate everybody celebrating with us.

Thank you all so much.

And with that, Madam Clerk, Mr. City Attorney, will go to public comment.

So we're going to give a moment for folks who are exiting to exit so everybody can hear

the rules for public comment.

So we'll ask everybody to bear with us for a few minutes.

our guests and honorees to get to the rotunda.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, only the honorees are invited to remain for photos.

All the guests, please go to the Rotunda area and the reception area.

Yes, thank you.

Only the honorees are being asked to remain present.

If everybody else could please exit, that would be very helpful.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I just want to make a quick announcement.

If we could get a little bit of quiet as folks are exiting.

Earlier this morning,

Councilman Price was with us out in the rotunda.

Some folks witnessed that he fainted.

The ambulance came and transported him to General Hospital where he's in stable condition,

is in recovery and doing well, but out of abundance of caution, obviously he won't be with us in Council today.

I just wanted to make sure everybody knows Councilman Price is getting good care and is doing fine,

but he won't be with us for today's celebration. Thank you.

All right.

Let's go ahead with instructions for public comment.

Yes, Mr. President.

And before I do that, Mr. Herman, we did not forget about you.

I noticed that you disrupted the presentation early on when Council Member Hutt was trying to start the presentation.

You are not allowed to disrupt this meeting.

So this is your first and only formal warning.

If you disrupt this meeting again, you will be subject to Rule 7 and Rule 12.

So right now I'm going to read the instructions for public comment.

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

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

We will tell you when your time is up.

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

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

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

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

If you do not do so, or if you again stray off topic, you will forfeit the rest of your

speaking time, and we will move on to the next speaker.

The items open for public comment on the agenda are items number one and items 17 and 18.

So again, the items that are open for public comment on the agenda are items number one

and items 17 and 18.

Item number two has been continued to February 24th and is thus not open for public comment.

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

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

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

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.

the same amount of time as all others.

Thank you.

necessarily in the order in which you signed up so please wait until you hear

the name that you signed up under called aloud before lining up on your left-hand

side of the council chambers thank you I will now begin calling the next few

names PC Defund G H K TH and Donald T

and as we wait for the speakers to come up I just want to let the person who

normally goes by Cecilia and mr. Herman this is not a warning but I did notice

that you spent a suspiciously long time at the kiosks so if we see that being

continuing and we see multiple signups under your name then you may be eligible

for a warning in future meetings so please do not sign up multiple times

speaker go ahead you have three minutes for the items and one minute for general

well I was running as fast as I can I don't understand what you're talking

about. I encourage you to watch the footage. I'm going to need you to stick to the items or I'm going to move you to general public comment. This is your only warning. Go ahead. So start with item number one.

Now let's move on to item number 17.

I'm moving as fast as I can.

I try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try to try try to try try to try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try

多的是你不知道的事

I'm moving as fast as I can. I didn't even read my lyrics.

Now let's move on to item number 18.

忘了有多久 再没听到你

对我说你最爱的故事

我想了很久 我开始慌了

是不是我有做错了什么

你哭着对我说 童话里都是骗人的

我不可能是你的王子

也许你不会懂

从你说爱我以后

我的天空 星星都亮了

我愿变成童话里

你爱的那个天使

变成翅膀守护你

General public comment.

Yes, I'm really happy to celebrate the Black History Month with our council president, Blue Mandingo,

one of the best black council members in the history of the city of Los Angeles.

And then in our council district one, we need a black council member.

We do not need a Latino in council district one, but we know only black council member works better.

And who is our favorite black council member in council district one?

Wayne Spindler. Wayne Spindler is our favorite black council member and Wayne Spindler is always making sure that black lives matter and making black great again. So we want to make sure Wayne Spindler continue to work with Mr. Herman, the two of the most important black leaders in the city of Los Angeles.

allow. We want to make sure all of the smoking scam members

and my dream goddess wife Dana continue to vote for

our Wayne Spindler Council District 1, Black Lives Matter, Wayne Spindler

vote for Spindler Council District 1.

You know, I was going to hit the golden buzzer, but you lost me on that last one.

Alright, next speaker. Before the next speaker begins, I'll be calling

the next few names or initials. G.P.

S.C. L.W.

GB and Liliana Garcia.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

I'd like to make a general public comment, please.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Good afternoon.

My name is Haley Murrow and I am here to give public comment.

I work at Starbucks here in Los Angeles.

I'm here to talk about the need to pass the fast food fair work ordinance.

Know your rights training is essential for fast food workers like me because learning

my rights helped me when I was organizing my Starbucks store. My co-workers and I didn't

know our rights, and Starbucks took that as an opportunity to aggressively union bust our store.

Their union busting made us fearful that we were going to lose our jobs. Thankfully, we had union

organizers to train us on our rights, and we used them to continue organizing and successfully win

our election vote. Every fast food worker should have the right to be educated and empowered.

Now we know firsthand employers don't want us to know our rights.

This is why we need to make sure that all fast food workers get the training.

We need to stand up for ourselves.

Employers like Starbucks shouldn't have to rely on us not knowing our rights in order for them to do business.

We urge you, members of the committee, to support and ensure the Fast Food Work Fair Work ordinance is passed without delay.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker.

Tess, Tess, Tess, Tess.

You have three minutes for the items and one minute for general. I want to speak on all items one

1317 and non general public comment so long as you're not giving me

Impermissible prior restraint by your fake rules. Mr. Attorney for the record

Whatever they the rules are

Item 17 in CD 3

25-0128

2.8. Blumendingo and Yorololoski have asked for your observance of what the Holocaust doesn't

mean to you or me. So my understanding from God was that the Holocaust never happened.

God told me that the Holocaust was caused by selfish, greedy, powerful people who killed one man, one man, and they impaled him on a stake, or as the Roman Jews call it, a Christmas tree.

But that's a lie.

Otherwise, boom and dingo up there would understand that by the approval of the mayor, it's a lie.

The Holocaust never happened. Thank you, Bob.

Item 18, smoke and scan for the record, now that I'm back.

And you appreciate that a black man like me can speak so elegant against the issues of economic development in the zone that facade improvements.

Well, the mayor said in her address to the city, I'm improving it for black people off of Western by removing all the prostitutes after how many years I've been coming here, Mr. Attorney.

Can you put that on the record?

A big head.

Thank you.

So now that I am the economic czar with Donald J. Trump and Patel Cash, who are investigating criminal corruption in Los Angeles,

maybe we will find out why tourism, trade, and travel are not important for the Olympics here.

if you're an Olympian

if you're coming to see an Olympian

I say

on the record

stay the fuck away from tourism

I can't tell which item you're speaking to

so get to the item

I'm on item 18 big head

I addressed that earlier

item 18 is about the jobs and economic development incentive zone

so speak to the item or you can move to general

13-0934

S3

motion by ramen noodle

and Mr. White McCosker relative to the council action July 2nd, 2024.

So the record of deployment for the J-E-D or J-E-D-I smoking scan is a zone.

Now into my non-general public comment.

I want to thank Mr. Casey Waysomir for getting involved in politics.

We got the true idea of what makes America great, right?

You're white and rich, and you can fuck a young woman.

You're Jose Luis Huizar.

You can fuck a woman in the city council and pay out $185,000 in tax dollars money,

but no one challenges that, right?

So when Francine Godoy got fucked by the city of Los Angeles and got paid for $185,000,

Francine Godoy enjoyed every fucking moment.

I didn't.

I didn't get fucked.

I wasn't looking to fuck.

This is not within the jurisdiction of the city.

You need to connect it or you will forfeit your speaking time.

It has a lot to do with the staff.

This criminal corruption in Los Angeles needs to stop, buckethead.

So fill in the juju bag and pay up.

Your time has expired.

Next speaker.

And thank you everyone for bearing with us both here in chambers and if you are tuning

in on channel 35 or YouTube.

We appreciate your patience and we apologize for quite honestly some of the deplorable

comments made by the last speaker.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Good morning.

I'm here to comment on the public

for everything I'm doing in my work.

Can we pause?

Sorry, we're going to hold your time for a second.

Mr. Herman, the sign you were holding up

is in violation of our sign rule.

You have previously been warned.

Mr. President, he is eligible for a move,

if you would like.

Please remove him.

You're removed.

Get out.

Let the record reflect.

He's still disrupting the meeting sergeants, please remove him expeditiously

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

Sorry

Good morning, which I'm sorry. We'll start your time over said general public comment. You have one minute go ahead

Continue.

Puede continuar, señora.

Estoy aquí para hacer un comentario público por lo que me está pasando y espero en Dios y en usted, concejal, que me ayude a solucionar mis problemas.

I'm here to do a public comment about what's happening in my place of work, and I'm hoping to God that you, councilman, can help my problems.

Because there's many, many things that have been happening in my work.

I have not been getting paid.

And recently they took away some of my work days and my hours.

And because I hadn't gotten paid on time, I actually lost my apartment.

And me and my son were just about to be on the street.

Y mi esposo murió el 31 de diciembre.

And they had actually taken my work days since December 2nd.

I have only worked two days, and my husband also passed away on the 31st of December.

Le mandé un texto a la manager que necesitaba un día porque había muerto mi esposo.

Y ella me quitó una semana porque no me presenté a trabajar.

I had texted my manager that I needed a day off because my husband had passed away and

the manager took me, took away a week of work from me.

Speaker, I'm sorry, your time has expired.

But on select I was who team boat saying that yes, my manager took away a whole week of work from me just for asking for one day off

Okay

We ask her just to wait at the side for a minute, please. Thank you next speaker

Good morning, which items would you like to speak to I'll speak on all items in general public comment

Okay, go ahead. You have three minutes for the items. That's number one in 17 and 18, as well as general public comment. Go ahead.

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

Item one, typical of how this city is run into the ground by political favors to the Jewish community and others.

And just like yesterday when Jaroslawski extorted $125 million from the public,

Today, Bob Gaza genocide Bloomfield is sucking out another $40 million with this item for 128 units.

That's $312,000 per unit they claim to be so-called affordable

in a luxury Warner Center that cost the city over $1 billion.

What a complete scam this is, while sleazy Marqueezy Dawson, Karen Bass,

and the rest of these incompetent clowns watched the city burn to the ground

with over 60,000 structures destroyed.

Nice going, Bob, Gaza genocide, Bloomfield.

Look at the contrast, public.

These unaffordable luxury units are $312,000 each,

while not long ago, these same clowns

under the petty pink-faced corrupt Armenian dictator

Paul Klu-Klaskorian was approving and abusing

BBB bond homeless funds with projects

costing over $825,000 per unit.

I demand a no vote.

Where is the $40 million and $125 million education projects to the black community

coming from the black poverty pimps Dawson, Price, and Hutts?

Item 17 is from Bob Genocide Bloomfield, as the community calls him and the Yarzlowski,

for $1,462 for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

I'm taking nothing away from the Holocaust Remembrance Day,

but in my opinion this item cost should be increased by an additional

$1,462 and wording added to include the remembrance of a Palestinian Gaza genocide and Holocaust

Remembrance Day the ongoing as we speak

genocide of the Palestinian people of Gaza should be included in this motion

Why has no member of this corrupt incompetent clown council included the Palestinian genocide by Israel?

Israel into this item 17.

And demand, I demand that the poverty pimps,

Dawson, Price, and Hutt,

either support this altered motion or resign.

Even though the poverty pimps should resign anyway,

how about it, poverty pimps.

Item two is by contrast to Bob Gaza genocide,

Bloomfield today, and Yarn Vlowski's luxury project yesterday.

It's for the purchase of an entire 11-story hotel.

Item two is continued, so it's not open for public comment.

Okey-doke.

This is, okay, I'm going on to public comment.

Okay, you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Public comment.

When you hire clowns, you get a circus.

Because the clowns bankrupt the city, giving $1 billion increase to LAPD,

the clowns won't take the money back because LAPD makes tremendous campaign contributions

to Sleazy Dawson, Monica Lewinsky-Rodriguez, and indicted corrupt racist Asian John Lee.

$1 billion budget emergency, tens of thousands homeless epidemic emergency,

$275 billion fire damage emergency.

Sleazy D CD8 has the highest incarceration rate, homeless rate,

unemployment rate in the entire country, over 12.5%.

CD8 is a food desert.

Sleazy D has spent over $10 million on luxury offices for himself

while tens of thousands are homeless.

I formally protest some of these presentations not today though the mass

incompetence of these clowns and I demand sleazy D's resignation the Attorney

General the FBI and the IRS currently in a massive investigation of our corrupt

sleazy city government okay next speaker

before the next speaker begins I'll be calling the next few names Chen Yun

Stacy s Randy s Holly Miro cash P and Seba good morning which items would you

like to speak to I just oral communication okay so go ahead you have

one minute I'm here to address the issue of Barack and Michelle recreation park

miss Heather hurt you have a problem at that park in regards to maintenance and

liability and bodily injury I'm here to speak for the seniors and the kids if no

one listens to me in regards to the safety item that exists at that park

you guys gonna be up with a major lawsuit the maintenance of the park they

continue to ignore the facility there's a lot of things going on and miss Heather

hut i'm just here to let you know pay attention to what i'm saying to you and the people at the

park they know where to find me come to the park and i will show you all the items that is going

to create a big lawsuit for the city the employees at the park they're doing the best they can

with lack of resources so all i'm saying to you that is coming it's just a matter of time

next speaker

Good morning.

17, 18 and general public comment.

Okay.

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

Go ahead.

Cool.

Byron Jose with the Trans Latina Coalition on item 17, just definitely uplifting the comments

from our two previous speakers ago, a black woman that's taking the time to go through,

wait through all the public circumstance that the council president, I'm glad he's back,

had to like sit us through.

then the state violence and the harassment that we have to sit through by you allowing

all these speakers, other speakers before us.

Um, item 18, we definitely want to make sure that as we're looking at this jetty, uh, index

and this jetty zones, our investment is taking a look, uh, beyond, beyond the private interests

and the developers that you want to keep in your district, but really looking at beyond

race, also gender and a gender lens through our, uh, to make sure that transgender, gender

expensive intersex communities are being aligned in your efforts and initiatives that you're

moving forward.

We look forward to anyone in this council to put forward a motion, especially Rule 16,

so we can have a motion on the TGI Wellness and Equity Initiative.

We look forward to Council Member Rodriguez.

So would you like to move to general?

Because you're welcome to continue during general if you'd like on this.

We would like to have Council Member Rodriguez next time that the man in council

tell you that an item is not up for discussion for you to still rise and stay up to the floor

and introduce a TGI Wellness and Equity Motion.

We look forward to the rest of you, the 10 of you, the rush through the process of making sure that we time again fund the LAPD.

We rush it without public comment.

So those 10 of you, we look forward to also put that same energy, show up like that for your constituents, transgender, gender expansive, and intersex communities.

And we're not just here because we need a handout.

We are here because the council president was talking earlier today about state-sanctioned violence.

You are the state.

You fund the LAPD.

You are the one setting forward the state sanctioned violence.

So I don't understand why some of your offices are not answering to us,

why some of your deputies we haven't heard from in over a year and a half

when I keep reaching out to them.

So I know some of them are busy running for office as well, right?

They're following your steps.

But we cannot afford to wait until another election.

We will continue to come here again,

and we look forward to the city council to move on beyond,

like bringing your special guests and the cameras for you,

but actually move forward through your policy and your budget.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning. Which items would you like to speak to?

All items and general public comment, please.

I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. All items and general public comment. Thank you, Mr. Grant.

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

Great, thank you. I'll start with item 18. This is regarding what's fun, creatively referred to as a JEDI zone, jobs and economic development, facade improvement project.

So we're putting money towards community development block.

It says grand funds.

I think probably means grant funds.

My issue here, payable to 11-11A Creative Collective

Incorporated to provide management services.

that's $1.5 million to this third-party entity for management services. I couldn't find anything

Googling 11-11A Creative Collective Inc. So this seems really shady, and it might be a better use

of money to just give it directly to residents and stakeholders who can then spend it at the

small businesses and develop the types of communities and business areas that you're

looking to develop. Item one is a resolution to finance a 128-unit multifamily affordable

housing development known as Warner Center II Apartments Project. I generally like the

concept of affordable housing. The problem we have in LA, along with many cities, is

that how affordability is determined is through the adjusted median income, which is skewed

artificially high and doesn't take into account disparities between neighborhoods.

So you're finding the median in a population that has some of the wealthiest people in

the world.

AMI is roughly $80,000 a year.

Most people in LA make at or around $50,000.

Many, including city workers, make less than that.

So this shouldn't be affordable, it should be low income.

It should be for people making $50,000 or less or living at or below the poverty line.

Item 17, relative to funding for services in connection with the observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

It's really important to remember and not forget the lessons we learned from the Holocaust.

And this body has done a piss poor job of acknowledging the Holocaust that's happening right now.

There was a ceasefire, a so-called ceasefire in Gaza, but Israel has not stopped bombing that city, and the U.S. taxpayer is on the hook for those bombs.

And particularly Councilmember Rahman, who pretends to be a champion of the people to care about humanitarian efforts, voted yes on the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, which classifies any criticism of Israel as being anti-Semitic.

So officially in this city, I'm an anti-Semite because I'm saying fuck Israel and fuck the United States that is funding bombing children in Gaza.

Who is Casey Wasserman?

What sort of things is he involved in?

Known for sports entertainment and somehow fire recovery.

Looking forward to 2028.

The city has a lot on its plate, so we should not be enabling.

Those implicated in a pedophile ring

The Olympics is the biggest event

For sex trafficking, including children

Wasserman's position isn't a coincidence

Flew on the Lolita Express

And flirted with Epstein's headmistress

No way that trip was humanitarian

Investigate Casey Wasserman

And what about Mayor Karen Bass?

Do her and Casey have a past?

Why involve him with the Palisades?

What kind of deals there were made?

Looking at the Epstein files, you'd have to be in denial to refuse to recognize

the world is run by Satanist pedophiles.

Fuck the IDF.

Fuck the U.S. empire enabling bombing of children overseas.

And y'all should really be doing more to acknowledge that.

Council President, that is all the names for public comment.

All right.

Thank you so much everybody who came to share with us today.

Madam Clerk, what's before us?

Mr. President,

Council may now vote on items 1,

17, as well as 18, sir.

All right. Let's open the roll on those items.

Close the roll. Tabulate the vote.

14 ayes.

All right. What's next?

Next would be item 13,

and that was called special by Council Member Hernandez.

Council Member Hernandez on item 13 for comments.

Oh, wonderful. Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, today's vote is a critical step for the low-income

and working-class families of the City of Los Angeles.

By adopting this ordinance, we can clear the path for Angelenos

to finally access the medical debt relief and resources they desperately need.

And we know that we can't fix what we can't see.

This ordinance authorizes the LA County Department of Public Health to collect

medical debt data needed to facilitate that relief. It mirrors the model already

taken up by the county and this work has been a massive team effort. I want to

give a huge shout out to Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles

County Department of Public Health and her team for working so closely with my

office to get this right. We have to act now because the pressure is on our

families and it's reaching a breaking point. Federal budget cuts that are

upending the health care system and as resources tighten, hospitals are focused

on their bottom lines and that weight falls squarely on the backs of low-income

families through aggressive and predatory billing. And ice raids are

destabilizing our households. Breadwinners are being kidnapped and that

sudden loss of income turns an outstanding medical debt into a

complete financial disaster. And literally medical debt is making people

people decide, oh, am I gonna pay for rent,

or am I gonna pay this bill

so that I can continue accessing healthcare?

And that's shortening people's lives,

that's putting people's lives in danger,

and as we've seen in years past,

have devastated them financially.

Colleagues voting yes today puts the city in a position

to help Angelenos climb out of that medical debt.

We will finally see who is being billed

and who is being denied the financial help they qualify for.

And we all know that,

And we'll know this information at no cost to the city.

So let's make sure that a hospital bill is never the reason a family can't put food on the table.

Let's make sure it's never the reason they refuse life-saving care or the reason they can't pay their rent.

Let's show the country that while the federal government may be abandoning its duty to its people, the city of Los Angeles will not.

Colleagues, I urge your support on this ordinance today. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Hernandez. Let's open the roll on this item.

Close the roll. Tabulate the vote.

Council President, can we adopt this forthwith?

Forthwith, without objection, that'll be the order.

14 ayes.

All right, what's next?

And for the record, item 13 will be adopted forthwith.

Council has motions for posting a referral, sir.

They are posted and referred, members.

I know we have a couple of announcements.

I just want to announce they are LAUSD students who have walked out in protest to ICE.

They are in the front of our building, so we want to welcome them to their city hall.

There's another set of students out on the South Lawn giving a jazz concert.

So LAUSD is not doing well on ADA funding today.

But we're doing really well on culture and resistance building in the city of Los Angeles.

And also Councilmember Hutt has an announcement.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Students from USC hybrid high school are here.

They're hosted by the black planners

that work in the city stand up.

Let's give them a big hand.

Their program is called Intro Venture.

And so we're so happy that they're here today.

Welcome to your city hall.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Other announcements, Councilmember Hernandez.

Yes, Council President, I have to say this

out loud publicly right now, is that we have

I have LAUSD students outside of City Hall right now.

And one of the things that my team and others

have been working with the mayor on

is making sure that we can keep young people safe.

And so one of the things that we've done

is work together with our peace ambassadors,

people who work the grid contracts,

who are peace ambassadors in my district

and in other places to come to City Hall around the area

to make sure that we can keep violence

and harm from happening,

keep issues from escalating

and tensions escalating into violence and harm.

And I just wanna name that as a part of the work

We do we beef up the public safety ecosystem and we bring people here that prevent violence and harm from happening in the first place

I just want to uplift the mayor and the mayor's team

Deputy mayor Karen Lane who you know has been always a leader on this

But a partners to make sure that we get the right people here to do that work

So thank you so much for stepping up on that councilmember Hernandez

I think it's it's befitting who we are if our kids are showing up for us and the future of this city

And so it's important for us to show up for them to make sure they're safe and to make sure our city safe

Councilmember Padilla you know I don't know what happened where right after

miss Hutz's presentation today there's usually a bunch of us that speak after I

don't know if I didn't hit the thing on time or maybe some of us didn't but I

did want to say thank you so much for a great presentation you know it actually

felt like a history class because I felt like I learned something today I didn't

know anything about the the dandies or that they originally from Congo but I

I just gotta tell you that from looking at the images,

it reminded me a lot of the pachucos.

And it just kind of also reminded me

of how we're more alike than we are different.

So thank you for a great presentation.

And I'm excited to go outside and see what happens.

Thank you.

Council Member Jurado.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to name that this is such a dynamic day

for downtown LA.

We have the Farmers Market.

We have the Jazz Festival.

We have the students walking out.

And it's a vibrancy that downtown LA has.

and it's alive and it's well and vibrant.

So I want to celebrate that.

And also just name that, you know, the students are outside.

It's the history of the East Side to walk out.

We've been working with UTLA and the students and other agencies

and entities to make sure that today is safe.

So I want to just echo all of what Council Member Hernandez has said

and what you said as well as we celebrate the legacy of East Side walkouts today

and also, you know, just our youth being involved

and hope that everything today goes well.

Excellent.

Our future is indeed bright.

Other announcements, Council Member Hutt.

I just want to add, what a day.

It's Rosa Parks' birthday.

That's right.

And for the students to be out.

Rosa Parks, a resident of the 10th Council District of Los Angeles.

Right, who is a resident of the 10th District,

to have a walkout like this on her birthday is pretty significant.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

All right, any other announcements, members?

if not let's all rise for adjourning motions

I'll look to my left

look to my right

I don't see any adjourning motions for today

we're adjourned thank you so much everybody

happy Black History Month

Thank you.