Be part of something big.

But before a big project can become a reality.

You need big ideas.

Ideas that make a big impact that deliver the good.

To serve the greater good.

You have what it did.

To make a lasting contribution.

Can you drive to the occasion?

Are you ready to be part of something?

That's bigger than you.

Bigger than what you thought was possible, if so.

Come be a part of LABWP.

Be part of something big.

Um buddy, what's shaking?

We are not prepared for a earthquake.

I love the rain.

We're not prepared for a flood.

Sure, in the movies, this is all pretend, but in real life, you gotta be prepared for any type of an emergency.

You can't predict, but you can prepare.

Yeah.

How'd you know?

The ball called Be Prepared at LAFD.org.

Welcome to the Los Angeles Central Library, a cultural gem at the heart of downtown Los Angeles, and the flesh it of the Los Angeles public library system.

For the last century, this remarkable institution has been a beacon of learning, creativity, and community for Angelinos and visitors alike.

Every day, the Central Library connects people, providing a vital space to engage in the present.

Learn from the past and dream of the future.

Whether you're visiting the city or viewing from home, welcome to LA this week.

Opened in 1926, the Los Angeles Central Library is an architectural landmark inspired by ancient civilizations and Spanish colonial revival styles.

By the mid-1960s, the building faced calls for demolition, but preservation efforts prevailed.

A major renovation saved the library, doubled its size, and introduced new landscaping.

Now in 2026, LA's public library invites everyone to celebrate 100 years of the Central Library and its lasting impact on the city.

We are in the magnificent Central Library here in downtown Los Angeles, and we are celebrating the 100th birthday of this incredible building.

Bust through the inside layer of the outer wall and the cornerstone itself to finally reach the capsule and pull it out and uh be able to finally open it and share the contents today.

I would just encourage people to come down and see it.

The time capsule especially is kind of fun, because as kids we used to do time capsules in our backyard.

No one probably ever dug them up, but in this case, you know, it was a very formal thing, and they even found a time capsule inside of Time Capsule, which was cool, so you can see all the contents of that.

It's neat.

There were some things that we knew had been placed in the time capsule through minutes of library board meetings.

But as with almost all time capsules, they're inevitably surprises.

Another really interesting thing to me was from the 1881 time capsule from the normal school that was on this site before the library, and that capsule was actually inside of ours.

We didn't have any idea what that was going to contain, but among the really interesting things was a sort of memento of black morning cloth and dried moss from the funeral of President Garfield, who had been assassinated just a couple months prior, and somebody who was at that memorial celebration in uh Cleveland brought that and felt that it was important to represent that moment in American history and put it in the time capsule.

And that's something we have here that we never would have expected.

I've walked around and looked at the artifacts, which is amazing how well they survived.

They don't look like they sat in the box for a hundred years.

But the building itself proved that LA does have history.

We are not just this whole new city.

We do have a history here, and we like to celebrate our history.

A lot of great things to be proud of of this library.

I think it's the greatest place where any Angelino can come and feel at home, read, and just feel at peace, knowing that they can have access to any great knowledge as I have.

I don't know what anyone would be if they didn't learn from history, learn from the lessons of life.

Even though we're celebrating Central Library, we're going to be having programming at our branches throughout the entire year.

So people can go um and get all kinds of information if they go to the Los Angeles Public Library website, lapl.org backslash Central 100, and everything will be posted there, and we're going to be adding information as the year goes on.

We're so excited to celebrate this incredible landmark building and to have the public celebrate with us.

So today's event is called Plant Day at the library.

I came in one day with my sister and saw that they had a sign for planting.

And I was like, oh, this is really interesting.

We should come and enjoy like the workshop that they have.

And she was like, okay, so we decided to come in.

It's just a way for people to get together and celebrate plants and the people who love them.

This one is called Donkey's Tale.

We've gathered number of different uh experts in horticulture, flower arrangements, sustainability, composting.

I love how you're adding just a little bit of stuff.

Propagation and repotting to teach the public how to work with plants.

Veggie trays in case they want to grow veggies at home.

It's for drainage.

So people are walking away with knowledge of how to work with plants, some plants themselves, and then also connections to community agencies that are working to make LA greener and more sustainable.

They like white designs.

I do.

It's very creative.

I felt really proud of my idea and expressing who I am as a person, which I feel like I was able to do with the rainbow.

Awesome.

Yes, yes, yes.

I think that uh nature brings something out in us, right?

We live in a natural world.

At the end of the day, we come from nature, and it's important for us to be able to connect with and learn in that sort of way.

Uh doing something with your hands is really important too, not only for kids, but also for everybody.

Thank you.

And that's what we're here to do today.

Mayor Karen Bass and the Los Angeles City Council have approved the 2028 cultural program for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Led by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs, the program will bring the creative energy of Los Angeles to the world stage.

Starting this year, the city will engage artists and cultural organizations in all 15 city council districts.

The official launch will take place in 2027, with events taking place across Los Angeles in 2028.

Learn more at culture.lacity.gov.

Hey Angelinos, want to check out some amazing museums and cool spots.

Your Los Angeles public library card is the key to it all.

From the zoo, Library Tarpits, and LA Galaxy to the Music Center, and so much more.

Log into Discover and Go to reserve free or low cost passes to tons of awesome attractions.

Learn more at LAPL.org slash explore LA.

We're at the Central Library, the largest public library in California, and one of the biggest in the nation.

This has long been home to millions of books, photographs, maps, films, and archival materials, some dating back to the city's earliest days, reflecting the shared history of Los Angeles.

That same sense of connection is being echoed in soccer.

The beautiful game.

As LA hosts this year's World Cup with fan festivals, watch parties, and community events unfolding across the city.

I think the excitement is building fast.

Whether you're new to the game, a casual fan, or a devoted player, there are countless ways to experience the World Cup spirit throughout Los Angeles together.

We're right at the doorstep of the World Cup.

We're all coming together to bring together our communities and to celebrate the sport of soccer.

It gives me great joy that we get to share our city with the world.

One of the things when we talk about uh the World Cups is always the question of what's the legacy going to be?

What are you going to leave behind?

And these clinics are going to be part of it.

You're 26 different clearinets around the county of Los Angeles, making sure that young kids can come out, experience the game, you know, the way it's supposed to be, and you know, and have a good time and learn about the sport.

The clinics are all about um sharing that love of soccer with our community, but also uh just spending time with the young people and letting them know that they matter and that this game can unite us in ways that not a lot of things can.

I think my legacy program is the coolest because I get the party bus.

It's called Kick It With Us Mobile Bus Tour.

It's a mobile pop-up tour that begins on March 3rd, and it will literally cruise around the county for 100 days.

They're gonna stop, they're gonna give out merch.

So the kick it with us mobile tour is a great way to inspire, which we care deeply about, grassroots participation, and we'll be able to unite all the passionate fans and the broader community.

We've been working on for months, trying to create opportunities for more residents to participate and be able to enjoy uh the World Cup excitement.

And so we are very excited to have announced not just our fan festival, which will kick off the tournament here at the Coliseum, but nine additional official fan zones throughout the region that'll be open for people to participate and enjoy matches.

There'll be like many fan festivals, and it's a great opportunity to bring your family.

I want this to be a joyful celebration, right?

I want this to be um where we're able to show the world what America is like in its true tourist reforms, that we're kind and we're compassionate and we're loving, and we're gonna bring the world together in a really great way, and no better way to do it than through the beautiful game of soccer.

The library's rare books room holds more than 22,000 rare monographs, dating as far back as the 15th century, with strengths in California and Mexican history, natural history, costume, voyages, and travels.

Both the Central Library and the LAPD serve as pillars of the community.

One inspiring through knowledge and culture, the other safeguarding the city.

The LAPD's focus on community policing and collaborative partnerships has helped reduce crime and build trust, as reflected in 2025 data.

Like the library, its success depends on engaging the community, highlighted by initiatives such as the inaugural Native American Community Police Advisory Board.

Today is a very exciting day for Los Angeles Police Department.

For one, you're here at the Los Angeles Police Academy where we have a lot of tradition and a lot of first.

And today we're having our first Native American Community Police Advisory Board meeting.

We're going to be able to hand out their IDs after they completed the academy and talk about issues and the direction that they're going to be going.

Today is our badge ceremony.

So we're building a board which is helping our Native American and Indigenous community of Los Angeles.

The CPAB is what we call the Community Police Advisory Board CPAB will be able to go out into the community and talk about what they've learned through the police.

We've built a platform and a voice for our community who has felt marginalized.

There's over 8,000 officers in my department, and out of that, there's only uh 31 officers who identify as Native Americans.

We all have a voice under this new umbrella with LAPD.

We didn't have it before, but now we do, and uh we're here to support the community and overall everyone in LA County.

They're gonna come into our communities, come to our officers, be throughout the city, educating us on Native American and the importance of their traditions, of their cultures, and what their community needs.

So this is a wonderful day of first.

Today we're releasing the LAPD's end-of-year crime data, as detailed in our 2025 Annual Review of Crime and Initiatives.

This report reflects our commitment to transparency, accountability, and providing the public with a clear understanding of where crime stands in Los Angeles today.

The data in this year's report shows that homicides in Los Angeles are down, both in total number and as a percentage compared to last year.

In 2025, there were 230 homicides, a reduction of 19% from the year before.

We believe one of the factors impacting that reduction is taking more guns off the street.

I want to be clear that progress in one area does not mean that our work is done.

Other violent crime categories show mixed results, and property crime and quality of life issues remain real concerns for many Angelinos.

We're not minimizing those challenges, and we're certainly not ignoring them.

The stats being shared today are so incredibly important because to me, they show something that I have known uh for a long time, that when we invest in our law enforcement, we see safer neighborhoods and real results.

In my district, the work coming out of LAPD's Devonshire and Tepenga division shows exactly why focused policing and strong investigative work matter.

As chair of the city's committee on Public Safety, my responsibility is to make sure that this progress lasts.

So the success we are seeing in my community can be experienced across the city of Los Angeles.

As part of its 100-year celebration, a time capsule buried in the library's cornerstone in 1925 was recently opened, revealing early staff records, a scrapbook of library buildings, and newspaper in multiple languages that reflect Los Angeles' rich diversity.

These artifacts remind us that preserving history means honoring all communities that shared the city.

That same spirit is reflected in this year's Centennial African American Heritage Month, which celebrates the contributions and achievements of African Americans through civic and cultural events, including the official kickoff at LA City Hall.

We are excited and thrilled to see black women leaders take over City Hall from the bridge to council chambers.

We have so many powerhouses in a number of industries.

Being part of this cadre of black women leaders within Black History Month is like super exciting.

That's a lot of star power right there in that rotunda.

Today we have the first of many presentations for Black History Month.

Here in the city of Los Angeles is always such a moving and vibrant celebration of the African American community in this city.

And this year we especially focus on the story of resistance and the role women have played in leading that story.

I think it's a game changer when you're recognized by the city of Los Angeles with your peers, other black women who lead throughout the city.

You just feel grateful.

It says everything that people are paying attention to the work that we're doing in the community.

So to be part of that group and to be recognized for that is super exciting.

This is important because it is the celebration of 100 years of black history commemorations from 1926 to 2026, started by the father of black history, Carter G.

Woodson.

And we have to keep it going at a time that they're trying to erase it.

Not just for black people, but for everyone else that they're trying to take it away.

Black history is American history.

When there are other forces, other people who say that we shouldn't be celebrating our diversity.

We celebrate our diversity.

We honor black Americans for what black Angelinos have brought to our city.

But today we are specifically focused on the great women leaders in our black community.

So the Department of Cultural Affairs manages the bridge gallery.

And this month's exhibition is entitled Black Women Lead.

There is some spectacular women there.

Every single woman on that, that wall from sweet Alice who is 92 to the youngest person, which is not me, are still active.

They are still laying it down.

They are still getting up every day, doing something.

It means to me that we get to celebrate those trailblazers.

I'm a civil rights lawyer by training.

And those trailblazing lawyers who open doors so that little black girls like me could go to schools like Harvard Law School, can practice civil law.

This month means everything.

It means that we are moving forward to make certain that our grandchildren and our children's children have something to stand on.

And we won't turn around.

So a hundred years and for 100 more, we've got to continue to make a difference.

Black women were here when this city started.

Black women have been here through every struggle and every triumph, every setback, every tragedy, and continue to be here ten toes down, building the kind of city that we all deserve to live in.

Happy Black History Mun.

Here in Council District 12, we're having our wildfire safety and resource fair today.

It's where we invite the community out to learn a little bit more about not only how to harden their own homes, but also to harden our community.

We've all heard the, I guess it's a cliche, but fail to plan is plan to fail.

And not having a plan for dealing with a wildfire emergency is giving uh you know the universe the chance to decide our fate.

If you come into my booth right over there and sign up your home, my safe LA will actually come and do an assessment to make sure that your house is prepared as possible.

This is Southern California.

We are open to a lot of a lot of potential for emergencies.

So as a community, attending events like this and the city participating in events like this is key to educate members of the public to increase their resiliency.

So many different people that I've spoken to that were affected by the fires in the palisades have told me the same thing.

I wish I would have grabbed this, or it would have been important if I grabbed this piece of paper to help me through my insurance process.

They wish they were a little bit more prepared in like what exactly, if you have five minutes, you have 10 minutes, you have 20 minutes.

What is it that you need to gather within your home that's so important to you?

I would highly recommend, as John had mentioned, maybe to photograph a lot of the items in your house.

So if you can for insurance purposes, do take photographs, put that in a safe place somewhere so that you have that available.

Public safety, resiliency.

It's not something that the LAPD or the fire department can do on their own, or you as a community can do on your own.

It's a group effort, it's a team.

The goal of Senior Service Day is really to bring different resources across different city departments and across different community organizations here in the area to inform our residents of what's available to them.

It's just something we put together once a year with the collaboration of the City Attorney's Office to learn a little bit more about these programs and how to keep our seniors safe.

We have from the Department of Aging to the City Clerk's Office to the Council District Office, many, many different services here today.

It's a day set aside for seniors providing services, resources, knowledge and information for them, their caregivers, and the community at large.

I'll have an outreach table and you can actually get grab materials and all that.

Our senior population is a vulnerable population when it comes to scams and frauds.

Lots of people engage seniors via cell phone, email.

It's important that we provide them with information and support.

It's important to remind individuals of what they have available to them, whether that is food resources, whether that is mental health resources, whether that is public safety information.

Today we're also going to have our personnel from our LAPD department presenting on traffic safety.

It's very important to stay connected and to stay informed.

We know it's really hard to navigate for seniors, and we want to make sure that we are available resource to them to try to see if we can help them.

And now, coming up on things to do.

Every year, LA's Chinatown hosts the annual Golden Dragon Parade to mark the Lunar New Year.

In 2026, the 127th parade will celebrate strength, energy, and freedom for the year of the fire horse, with live performances featuring lion and dragon dancers, floats, movies, and television personalities.

Head to Chinatown for the parade from Hill Street at Temple onto Bernard, then Broadway, and back around towards Temple.

Join the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in LA's Chinatown for the 127th Golden Dragon Parade.

On Saturday, February 21st, beginning at 1 p.m.

Learn more at LA Chinesechamber.org.

On Saturday, February 21st, join El Pueblo de Los Angeles for an event to honor African American Heritage Month.

This music celebration afternoon will include exhibits, cultural conversation, and food trucks.

Head to El Pueblo, the birthplace of Los Angeles for the Black History Month celebration on Saturday, February 21st, beginning at 12 p.m.

Get more details on this and other cultural events by following El Pueblo LA on Instagram.

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

For nearly a century, the Los Angeles Central Library has been a cultural treasure and research hub.

Its nine subject departments cover everything, from science to international languages, while special collections feature rare books, historic travel posters, menus, fashion plates, and over a hundred and sixteen thousand photographs documenting the city's past.

Visitors can enjoy docent tours or take part in programs ranging from citizenship classes to borrowing hiking gear or musical instruments to podcasting.

Truly a multitude of ways for Angelinos to explore and learn.

From all of us at LA City, you can watch these stories and more on Channel 35, or anytime at lacity.gov slash TV.

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

Until next time, explore and enjoy all that Los Angeles has to offer.

Our department has tremendous map and genealogy collections, but today I want to highlight one of our lesser known collections, the California Index.

The California Index is a vast and unique resource for information relating to the history of Los Angeles and California.

Besides citations from books, magazines, and newspapers, the database contains scans of documents and ephemera, such as this pamphlet published by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in 1924.

The 20s were a boom period, and the population of Los Angeles more than doubled between 1920 and 1930.

New Angelinos were drawn to the city by images of endless sunshine, orange groves, bathing beauties, and limitless opportunity.

This pamphlet on the cover hits the trifecta of iconic Los Angeles imagery.

Snowcat mountains, orange groves, and palm trees.

Of course, over here we have a beautiful woman enjoying a hike.

That's another key marketing image.

Beautiful people enjoying outdoor leisure activities.

And if we turn to the inside, we see another iconic LA image, the crumbling mission arch.

That's part of the Spanish Fantasy Past, a mythology created to help romanticize early Los Angeles history.

And on the back cover, we see throngs of people enjoying the Sandy Beach.

This pamphlet really contains all of the top images used to entice people to Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce was an aggressive promoter of the city.

Pamphlets like these flowed out of the chamber's offices.

In 1924, nearly three million pamphlets, leaflets, and postcards were sent out across the country.

This pamphlet is just one of the many champs in the California Index.

And I encourage everyone to explore the index on the library website, www.lapl.org.

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

Today is Friday, the thirteenth day of February in the year twenty twenty six public comment for today's meeting will be taken in person in this chamber.

Mr.

Clerk, can we begin our proce, Raman, Rodriguez, Soda Martinez, Yaroslavski, 10 members, and a forum.

Mr.

President.

Alright, first order of business.

Approval of the minutes of February eleventh, twenty twenty six.

All right, Councilmember Ron Moves, Councilmember Bloom and Phil seconds.

What's next?

Commendatory resolutions for approval.

Councilmember Lee moves.

Councilmember Price seconds.

Can we run through our agenda for this morning?

Item number one is an item noticed for public hearing.

Items two through four are items for which public hearings have been held.

For item four, the personnel and hiring committee report has been submitted, circulated, and is available under council file number two six zero one five.

Uh zero one zero five, Ms.

President.

Our votes are required for consideration.

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

Do we have specials this morning?

Members, any specials?

Going once.

Specials.

Councilmember Rodriguez.

Item four for a separate vote and questions.

Item four for separate voting questions.

All right.

Any other specialist members?

All right.

Uh what items are available for consideration at this time, Mr.

Cork.

The council may now vote on items two and three.

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

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

11 ayes.

All right, what's next?

The council may now move on to presentations.

All right, before we move to our presentations, we have uh from council district 14.

A special announcement from Councilmember Jurado.

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you so much for that, Council President.

Colleagues, our students are leading right now and they're doing it with courage.

Last week, hundreds of high school students walked out of their classrooms and marched to City Hall with handmade signs, banners, demanding ice out of LA once and for all.

It was student-led, it came from the heart.

I saw them with their organizing supplies, distributing signs, checking in on one another, all while standing in solidarity with our immigrant community.

Our youth are not waiting for someone else to defend their communities.

They're choosing action.

They're choosing solidarity, they're standing up with their classmates, for their parents, for their neighbors who are being targeted at every turn.

So today I'm honored to welcome LAUSD board member Carla Griego.

Her district from East Hollywood to Eagle Rock through Korea Town and Pico Union and into parts of South LA has been deeply impacted by these raids.

On the first day of school after winter break, ICE conducted raids across Northeast LA.

Children came home from school to missing parents, a trauma no child should ever have to endure.

Later that day, she and I stood together with community leaders outside of Eagle Rock Plaza to denounce the cruel actions of this federal administration and demand commit uh demand accountability.

Board member Griego has been an unwavering pillar for her district, standing on the front lines for students, educators, and families, navigating fear and uncertainty.

She's worked tirelessly to ensure schools are prepared, that resources are available and accessible, and to know that young people aren't alone and really she really cares and is trying to make sure that they know that during these times.

And so it's my honor to welcome LUSD board member Carla Grego to share her testimony this morning.

Thank you.

First, I want to thank uh council member Isabel Jurado for the invitation to come to chambers to provide testimony of how federal government's actions have impacted the communities I serve.

My name is Carla Griego, and I am the LA Unified School Board representative for Board District 5, which covers the Northeast Los Angeles from East Hollywood to Eagle Rock, extends down through Korea Town and Pico Union to portions of South Central and South East Los Angeles from Vernon to Southgate.

For over a year now, we've witnessed how inhumanely our communities have been intentionally terrorized by the federal government.

Without regard for human life, our community members have been abducted from the streets, their homes, and their places of work.

Across the district, families have been ripped apart, several students have self-deported with their families, making the hard decision to interrupt their academic studies for the sake of keeping their families together.

Instead of finding joy in the classroom and in the company of their friends, many students from four years old to 22 years old come to school every day wondering if when they get home their family members will be there, impacting their mental health and their overall wellness.

This administration continues to have no regard for students, our schools and communities.

Time and time again, they continue to directly target them.

Last spring, DHS try to enter two of our elementary schools in South LA, Russell and Lillian Elementary, which is one of my schools.

Thankfully, we at LAUSD had trained our principals and staff beginning in February as we foresaw the possibilities of our students being targeted.

And thus, our brave staff and principals did not allow DHS entrances onto the school premises.

But that didn't stop them.

They continued to drive around school neighborhoods, targeting street vendors, restaurants, grocery stores, and home depots adjacent to our schools, causing fear and panic as our students travel to and from school, as in the case in Santee High School, even if as our students were learning.

We knew that ICE would not have the decency to respect time-honored celebrations such as graduation.

In fact, as families and students were celebrating the end of year at Huntington Park High School, ICE staged right behind the school at a Home Depot lot.

Imagine the fear this caused.

Again, our staff and principals ensured that our campus was secured and families were invited to stay as long as they needed to or until they felt safe to leave.

And so for graduation, some schools offered virtual viewings so families could witness their loved ones walk across the stage.

This is heartbreaking as some of our students were robbed of a well-deserved celebration of perhaps one of the most pivotal moments in a K-12 experience.

The stories are endless for our students.

At the start of the school year, ICE wrongfully targeted, retained at gunpoint, and handcuffed a 15-year-old student with developmental disabilities outside of our Lita High School.

And on the first day of school, when many of our students and families were excited to return after the winter break, ICE raided our neighborhoods and several of our schools in the Northeast were impacted, including Eagle Rock High School, Rockdale, Eagle Rock Elementary, Dahlia Heights, Glassall Park, Sotomayor, Atwater, Irving, and Fletcher.

At LAUSD, we understand that in order for our students to thrive and learn and to be ready for the world, they must first feel safe.

And so we are committed to doing everything we can to support our school communities.

We are conducting quarterly trainings of our principals who then train our staff, and I mean everyone is trained, from cafeteria workers to bus drivers to our buildings and grounds and our after-school personnel educators.

We have established a compassion fund to support impacted families.

If families are concerned about walking to school, they can request home to school transportation.

This can be ongoing throughout the year, or if there is an ICE incident near the school, as it was the case at Santee High School.

If families still do not feel comfortable sending their child to school, they can opt in to attend Virtual Academy.

We are doing everything that we can to provide our students the education that they deserve.

And every Friday, we also offer know your rights webinars for our families.

We also have We Are One booklets at every school, which outlines all the resources available to families, from food to housing to legal help.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge that as in any social movement throughout history, the youth have led in the way to push us, elected leaders to do more.

And in this moment, we have witnessed our youth throughout Los Angeles County showing their courage and force as they walked out of schools, demanding that Ice leave our cities, that they are protected, and that institutions like LAUSD support them, the students with know your rights trainings and establishing dream centers for students.

Last week we saw over 4,000 students organize a walkout, calling out, calling for ICE to leave our communities alone, standing up for their parents and their peers.

Another thousands of students walked out this week, and today, as I speak, there are thousands of students who are going to walk out in the southeast LA area.

In my district, parents are forming patrol groups to keep watch in the streets near our schools.

Educators are arriving to school one to two hours before school to also ensure our streets are safe from ICE educators.

Communities are riding a bike bus to school in Maywood to accompany students safely to school.

I want to thank council members who Osoto Martinez, Yunisis Hernandez, and Isabel Jurado, who have partnered with my office and other board members to support the effort of keeping our streets safe.

I encourage all of you to continue to center policies for affordable housing, for tenants' rights and supports, and for holistic community-based support and care.

Our students are your constituents, and I know firsthand that mental health, housing, and community safety are critical needs.

I encourage all of us to continue to work together to get ice out of our city and all of the cities in the US.

We must continue to come together in support of our most vulnerable communities and support one another.

Because as we've proven, it is only our communities who take care of each other.

And as our community members say, solo el pueblo salva el pueblo.

Thank you.

Thank you, board member Griego.

Thank you for your leadership in standing with our students and making sure that our schools are safe place.

You know, sometimes school is the safest place for our students when home isn't safe or public spaces are being threatened, and we can't govern in isolation.

And so I was so excited to bring her in here because our intergovernmental relationships, we are we need to work together in order to provide solutions for our constituents and for our students and our families at this time, and not be in our silos because it's really that's really what we got to do right now.

So thank you, Carla, for your leadership, and I look forward to continuing to work with you.

And thank you, Council President.

Thank you so much, Councilmember, and thank you to our school board member for sharing with us this morning.

All of us have schools in our district and are vulnerable to the kinds of horrors that you describe, and so us working together is very, very critical.

So thank you for being with us this morning in Los Angeles City Council.

All right, our uh next presentation will be led uh by Councilmember Nazarian of the second district.

Welcome.

Thank you, Council President, colleagues, and fellow Angelinos.

Today we are gathered here to commemorate the start of Ramadan, which officially begins Tuesday, February 17.

Here in Los Angeles, as the Crescent Moon is sighted, we join millions around the world marking the spiritual beginning together, united across neighborhoods, nations, and cultures in reflection and hope.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Lunar Calendar and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community.

For those who don't know, some of the core observances of Muslims during Ramadan include fasting from dawn until sunset.

This is the process intended to build self discipline, spiritual reflection, and empathy for those less fortunate.

Another item included is the iftar, which is the evening meal to break the fast at sunset.

Tarawi is the special nightly prayer held at a mosque and zakat and sadaka, or charity, which is a central pillar of Ramadan.

Now, I'd like to introduce you to two amazing organizations serving the Muslim community in my district, the Islamic Center of North Hollywood and the Burbank Islamic Center.

First, the Burbank Islamic Center has been a nonprofit religious and community anchor for families in Sun Valley and the eastern San Fernando Valley since 2012.

They operate with a big family atmosphere, emphasizing hospitality hospitality where everyone is welcome.

Throughout the years, it has transformed into a comprehensive community campus featuring a multi-purpose room, a women's prayer area, and a children's playground.

They are devoted to the mission of developing American Muslim identity through robust youth and educational initiatives.

Additionally, they provide essential life cycle services, including marriage ceremonies, tajweit classes, and traditional funeral services.

It is my honor to introduce to you Mr.

Majdi Bitar from the Burbank Islamic Center to say a few words.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning, everyone.

Honorable Honorable Council Nazarian and the rest of the city council.

Thank you for taking the time to meet with us today.

My name is Munzer Al-Mahdi, and I am here representing the Burbank Islamic Center.

We came here not just to talk about our place of worship, but to talk about our home in our district.

The Burbank Islamic Center has been a part of the fabric of Sun Valley for about 14 years, and we are proud to call Los Angeles East San Fernando Valley our home.

We are neighbors.

We are your neighbors, your small business owners, and your fellow first responders.

I want briefly to highlight three pillars of our community's contribution to this district: service, dialogue, and civic duty.

In regard to the service, our faith teaches us that the best among us are those who benefit others.

And in regard to the dialogue, we believe that good citizenship requires building bridges.

And for the civic duty, to us, being a good citizen means taking care of the place we live.

We are not just residents in the district, we are caretakers of this district.

Council Mannazerian, our goal is simple.

We want the Burbank Islamic Center to be known not just as a place of prayer, but as a community asset.

We are here to partner with your office to support our shared constituents and to continue proving that people of faith can be the strongest advocates for thriving, safe and united Los Angeles.

Thank you for your leadership and for the opportunity to share our story.

We look forward to working with you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you very much.

You are a community asset.

We have another community asset amongst us.

We also have the Islamic Center of North Hollywood with us today.

Open since 1992.

It began as a modest storefront and now operates out of Strom Avenue, serving the Muslim community in CD2.

They are known for their humanitarian efforts, especially through their feed the hungry program, which distributes food to anyone, no matter what religious background.

These programs operate throughout the year, but they specifically scale up their efforts during the holy month of Ramadan.

They have played a pivotal role in channeling faith through civic service and charity in the San Fernando Valley.

Colleagues, it's my honor to introduce to you Mr.

Abdul Lala from the Islamic Center of North Hollywood to say a few words.

In the name of our Creator, the most merciful and beneficent.

Salam to you all, which in Arabic means peace to you all.

This is the Islamic way of greeting whenever we meet each other.

So I want to convey salam to you all.

Thank you.

First and foremost, I want to thank you all, the whole city council and the city of LA, and especially to Mr.

Nazavian to invite us here and give us this acknowledgement to bring it to everybody's attention that we as a Muslim, we are part of LA.

Islamic Center of North Hollywood, which in the short we call it IC Noho, has been established 30 years ago in a storefront, which was about 800 square feet.

That's where the community of Muslims started in the North Hollywood area.

Today, thanks to Allah, thanks to God, that we have over 5,000 square foot building adjacent on the boundary of Burbank and North Hollywood on Strom Avenue, and we have the pleasure or we thank Mr.

Nazarian to visit us during the last month of Ramadan at our center, and we really appreciate that to share with us.

And we are as well very much concerned what every citizen of LA should be concerned about the homeless people, the poor people, the needy people who need our help, who need our assistance, and we are always there at a community level to participate in any opportunity we get, whether to send the youth for the food distribution to the poor and the needy, we are there.

Our center is open for everyone who walks in and asks us for anything, especially during the month of Ramadan, where we have food available for 30 days for the whole month in the evening.

So many from the neighborhood people who just come to attend because they want to eat, because they want the food, and they know it is open for everyone, and we are open for everyone to come in and share with us.

We are there to help any help the city needs from us through our council member.

And believe it or not, we have a very good relationship with Mr.

Nazarian office and his staff.

They've been very helpful in resolving any parking issues we have or any special parking we needs for the street during the month of Ramadan because we are open a little bit late during this month, and they're very accommodating.

We really appreciate not only Mr.

Nazarian office but also the city police department and the parking department to help us along with it.

Only one request which I want to make to you all, that there's a tremendous number of Muslim youth who attend the schools in the LA area, and we like to approach the LA School District to give us the opportunity during the month of Ramadan, just to go there and make a small presentation by the youth who are attending the school.

It's not that we want to go as an adult, we want the Muslim students to go and make a small presentation to their class or to the school and bring them attention to what Ramadan means, what the fasting means and what Islamic faith is, and they are also part of this come of the community and the school district.

We really appreciate once again to invite us here.

We appreciate Mr.

Nazen's office and his staff to give us this opportunity and to bring this recognition.

Thank you so much.

You all have a good day.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And uh fortunately, we had a school board member here who probably will be taking this message back.

And we're happy also to work with our educational partners to see what opportunities there are to work in addressing the call-out that you just made.

Um colleagues, both of these organizations play an important role in the valley uh during Ramadan and obviously outside of the month of Ramadan as well, offering communally communal uh fast breaking prayers and overall engaging and connecting in Council District 2 as well as San Fernando Valley of all faiths.

Thank you so much to both of you for everything you do for the Muslim community of Los Angeles and Council District 2, as well as for all of San Fernando Valley and our region of California.

Thank you very much, and I'm honored to present to both of you a small token of appreciation from the city of Los Angeles on behalf of this council, who every member has signed this resolution.

Thank you for what you do day in, day out, and thank you for being part of the fabric of Los Angeles and making Los Angeles all the more richer.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

Nazarin, we have a couple speakers on the queue while you're getting uh getting those beautiful photos.

Councilmember Park of the 11th District.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Councilmember Nizarian, for bringing this to council today as we mark the beginning of Ramadan and celebrate the faith traditions that make our city so diverse and so vibrant.

I'm especially proud to welcome some of my incredible community members from New Horizons School in SATAL.

I've had the opportunity to spend time on campus in your classrooms and seeing firsthand how values and identity are core to the curriculum and student development.

It's an honor to have you here with us today.

Thank you for your partnership in our community and happy Ramadan.

Councilmember Raman of the Fourth District.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Councilmember Nazarian for bringing this presentation.

And it's really meaningful to me.

I grew up in a, was born and grew up till the age of six in the state of Kerala in South India, where a quarter of the population is Muslim.

So I heard the music coming from the mosques regularly, and it, you know, my community there was really um suffused with Muslim culture.

And it's really remarkable to be here and to see it again marked in City Hall.

And I know particularly for me, Ramadan has so much meaning.

It's not just fasting and eating, it's really about to me, as I've understood it, to understand the plight of those who are less fortunate during by experiencing this and going through it every single day.

And it is a remarkable testament that hundreds of millions of people uh all over the world undertake this together, both um as a marker of their culture, but also as a service to their community.

And it is it's really remarkable to have you here and uh to be able to mark this day with you.

So thank you, Councilmember, and thank you to all of you for being here.

Mr.

Blumenfield, thank you.

Thank you so much, uh, Councilmember Zaren for bringing this forward.

This is a beautiful holiday whose message is needed now more than ever, given the times that we're in.

Uh so I'm very grateful and just wanted to add my voice and say, you know, Ramadan Barak.

Thank you so much, uh, members, and Mr.

Nazari and Claus.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, colleagues all for lending your voice of support.

Los Angeles is for everyone.

Uh all of us have made this a better city and a better region.

So thank you to all of you and thank you.

Welcome to the students, to the people's house.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Our next presentation will be led by Councilmember Price of the Ninth District.

Morning, colleagues.

Black History Month is a time to reflect not only on individuals who shaped history, but also on the institutions and spaces that have uplifted our communities and opened the doors that they when opportunities were limited.

Here in Council District 9, the legacy lives on through organizations that foster creativity, economic development, economic empowerment, and cultural pride.

This morning, I'd like to start by recognizing a company you may or may not heard of before, Shandana Toys.

But before we get into it, I'd like to share a short video.

The exhibit here is part of the Black doll show, and that takes place every year from December to the beginning of March.

The Shindana dolls are actually made by Black Company, and that was Operation Bootstraps.

It came out of the 1965 riot at a time when African Americans did not see themselves.

My favorite Shandana doll is uh career Wanda.

And Wanda was actually the first clone Barbie doll in 1976.

But I would like to see as young people to take away that they can create anything that what they do today represents tomorrow, and that they can become doll designers and be proud of what they see.

Yes.

Thank you for helping to preserve the stories and history that continue to inspire our communities.

Shandana Toys, with its manufacturing facility on Central Avenue at 61st Street, was founded by civil rights activists Louis Smith and Robert Hall at a time when black children really saw themselves reflected on store shelves.

As a response to the 65 watts riots, Smith and Hall created Operation Bootstrap.

Some of us remember that being a forerunner to the Brotherhood Crusade to help address long-standing systemic inequality and neglect amongst black residents in South LA.

Shandana Toys was born out of bootstrap and carried forward to a vision to rebuild to ignite opportunity and to restore uh pride through economic empowerment and cultural representation.

I'm probably the oldest one in here that remembers the the the uh slang, the term from uh Operation Bootstrap.

It was learn, baby learn, right?

Piggybacking on the burn, baby burned that had been popular years before.

Through dolls and educational toys, black children were able to see themselves and honor their beauty, their culture, and their potential.

Its influence extended far beyond the toy lines, and it went to reshape industry standards and open the doors for more authentic representation.

Sandana Toys created jobs, supported local designers, entrepreneurs, and invested back into the community with industry support from Mattel, including training and resources, the company expanded its reach and provided the community driven innovation and a path to strong national development.

Perhaps most importantly, the the company remained reminded a generation of children that their stories deserve space and that their dreams are worthy of being seen.

Through the company itself, although it's now a part of history, I think its legacy certainly lives on.

And today we're honored to have a special guest.

Please join me in welcoming Adam Smith, the son of Lewis Smith and Marva Maxley, two of the founders of Operation Bootstrap and Shidana Toys.

Adam.

Okay, thank you very much, Councilmember Price.

And I would like to say we are honored that the council district is recognizing the organization that was an institutional part of the community in that area in the late 60s and early 70s.

Their presence and impact in that community reverberated throughout the entire country.

Now, it was at a time when they started when there was a large amount of civil unrest, much like we see today in our societies.

And my father had a dream and a goal and a vision to rebuild and help restore that community and help that community.

How should I say recognize and recognize their value, even though their community may have been in ashes, but to understand that great things grow from ruin, or great things can develop, can develop from impoverished circumstances.

Not knowing, not really understanding or fully understanding where I was or what I was a part of, um, and seeing the development team, seeing the production rooms, um, seeing the the hope that came from a facility like Shandana Toys and Operation Bootstrap.

So, on behalf of my family, I would just like to say thank you very, very much.

We want to thank you and the family uh again for the legacy and on behalf of the community, which you were in the middle of our.

Thank you, members.

Now I'd like to introduce another uh organization that has helped thousands of families build generational wealth, not only across LA, but nationwide, Broadway Federal Savings and Loan.

Do we have the uh video?

How we federal bank was a black-owned bank that served the South Central part of Los Angeles, all of Ninth District.

It was founded in 1946, and the founders were both my grandfathers, my dad's dad, H.

Clyde Hudson, and my mom's dad, Paul Williams, were part of a group of community-minded citizens who invested 150,000 to start this bank, and it opened its doors on January 1st, 1947.

So, what was happening at the moment of the founding of this bank?

Blacks couldn't get loans.

There was a redlining that went on that said banks wouldn't make loans in certain neighborhoods.

They just happened to be black neighborhoods.

Group of blacks realizing this is a problem that people couldn't get loans, black people couldn't get loans, they formed this bank so that they could provide loans for home ownership, for businesses, and that's really how the black community in the 9th district got started.

My family instilled in me a value of giving back, that's part of this bank is to give back to the community to be a part of the community and the growth of this community.

And so banking is like the core of building wealth in any community.

Broadway Federal Savings alone was once the second largest black-owned bank in the United in the United States.

As we heard, it was founded in 1946 by Dr.

Claude Hudson, who was a prominent American businessman at the time, and doctor, alongside Paul Williams and others.

The bank was built by a circle of early founders and community leaders who had a clear mission to provide bank services to individuals, families, and organizations who routinely were excluded from many existing financial institutions at the time.

Although Broadway Federal's main branch, located on Broadway and 45th Street, was destroyed in a fire during the 1992 riots.

In 1965, it began its conversion to Broadway Federal Bank, Broadway Federal Bank, transforming from mutual savings and loan to a stock savings bank.

Originally established to provide access to home ownership in return for returning African Americans in World War II.

Broadway Federal took took part in historic merger in 2021 with City First Bank, forming one of the nation's largest mission-driven banks.

Focused on financing affordable housing, supporting small businesses, and increasing access to capital in historically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, Paul Williams, who you saw in the video, the grandson of the founders, was able to join us.

However, we're honored to have Albert Odell Maddox, son of C.

Albert Maddox, an early founder in Broadway Federal, and in fact who served on the board of directors until 1986, Albert served on the board from 1986 to 2019.

And I'd like to invite him now to just say a few words.

Mr.

Maddox.

Thank you, Councilman Price, and thank you, Council members, for recognizing Broadway Federal Bank, Broadway Federal Savings and Loan.

It truly was founded and operated as a community institution.

Much of its history operated as a mutual savings bank, which means it was owned by the depositors.

Chartered in 1946, the original founders were H.

A.

Howard, Paul R.

Williams, Albert Maddox, Thomas L.

Griffin, H.

Claude Hudson, Norman Houston, Helen Gahagan Douglas.

Each of those professionals had a strong had strong ties to the community and a history in its development.

Each had a belief in the rights of all to private property and the importance of self-determination.

Their mission was to provide loans for African Americans and community members as homeowners and small businesses.

Those loans were widely unavailable or neglected by traditional banks.

I can tell you that I witnessed Broadway from the 1950s and on as truly committed to its customers, its employees, and to its mission.

Thank you.

Mr.

Malx, on behalf of the grateful community, we appreciate your commitment.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Price.

We've got a speaker on the queue.

Once you're done taking pictures, all right, Councilmember Hutt.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Councilmember Price, for bringing in two institutions in the 9th district.

I'll start with the doll manufacturing because I had a baby Nancy when I was younger.

And it's exciting to see that you're still going strong and that the collection that Miss Billy has is really outstanding.

I think we can see it at the William Grant still, right?

Museum.

And I think folks should go and see those first black dolls.

My sister had one too.

She dragged it around.

And we were really happy to have dolls that look like us.

The features were rounder, the cheeks were cheekier, and it was fun to play with the dolls.

So I love baby Nancy.

And then as for Broadway Federal savings, you know, that was the institution you put your first money in.

And we were really proud of Broadway Federal.

My grandfather banked there, my mother banked there, and I banked there.

So thank you so much.

When Broadway Federal moved to Ingwood, it seemed a little closer depending on where you live.

So thank you for bringing all of them in.

And I see some friends in the audience, Alvinette who retired from the city, Billy, who retired from the city, and Sandra?

Is that you?

Oh, Everest Manley, who really makes sure that people go see black films.

There was a time where you would buy your ticket when a new black film was coming out and you went to buy your ticket to go see the film, and the theater would sell you a ticket for Batman when you went to see Sell Brother Number One.

And so uh Sandra made a difference so that you made a concerted effort to buy the ticket so that those uh companies, those production companies would get the credit for the black films and really expanded what that looks like.

So look at all the icons you bought in.

Thank you, everybody.

Thanks for being here.

I think I might have uh jumped the gun, Councilmember Price.

So I'll cede the floor back to you.

That's okay, it was a good it was a it was a good setup.

Speaking of theater, uh my last honoree today is the Lincoln Theater in District Nines.

Come on up, gentlemen.

Located along Historic Central Avenue, the Lincoln Theater stands as LA's most important, one of LA's most important cultural landmarks, recognized for its local, state, and national significance.

Since its opening in 1927, almost a hundred years, it has served as a refuge and for creativity for working class African Americans who were often excluded from other venues during segregation in Los Angeles.

Central Avenue was the heartbeat of black culture on the West Coast, and the Lincoln Theater earned the recognition as the West Coast Apollo, welcoming legends such as Duke Ellington, Billy Holliday, and Edda James.

The artists who graced the stage and the audiences who filled these seats helped shake American music and cultural history.

In addition, the Lincoln Theater welcomed public speakers and served as a trusted gathering place where the community could come together during important cultural and civic moments.

While best known for entertainment, the Lincoln Theater nurtured young talent and provided space for collective creative expression.

Today, the theater remains a crown jewel of this historic corridor in CD9.

And as the theater now enters a new chapter, its legacy must never be forgotten.

Now I'd like to invite Van Scott, Chief of Special Projects with the Coalition for Responsible Community Development, who's here with Mark Wilson, Executive Director and others, to join me.

And CRCD are the current owners and stewards of the Lincoln Theater.

And so we want to learn what's coming up.

Good morning, and thank you, Councilman Price, Council President, Council members, and residents of the City of Los Angeles.

Thank you for including us in this Black History Month celebration.

Thanks to the efforts of Councilman Price, the City of Los Angeles, the Coalition for Responsible Community Development, is now the owner of the historic Lincoln Theater and the two surrounding lots.

Sierra City, as we are commonly known as, has three phases planned for this large site.

One phase includes renovating the theater into a cultural and performing arts center that not only benefits the residents of CD9, but the residents of the greater Los Angeles area and the country.

It will also operate as a workforce training center for youth and adults in fields of lighting, sound, videography, and technology related to live performances.

Our vision for the theater involves turning it into a hub for live music, live musical and theatrical performances.

Excuse me, the way it was in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.

During this time, all the top black entertainers performed at the Lincoln Theater, known as the Apollo of the West, including Duke Ellington, Matt King Cole, Billy Holiday, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Fats Domino, B.B.

King, Sammy Davis Jr., Lena Horns, Sarah Vaughn, and so many more, including Quincy Jones, who you'll hear from his son in just a moment.

We are in conversations with the Quincy Jones Family Foundation in Los Angeles and Carnegie Hall in New York.

With their support and expertise, we know we are building a team that will ensure the renovation success of the theater into a 21st century performing arts center as well as its long-term operations as a multicultural performing arts center.

Another phase on this site includes turning the lot adjacent to the theater into a 60-unit affordable housing development with commercial space on the ground floor that will complement the theater.

This development is expected to begin construction in late 2026.

The third phase, which is on the across the alley from the theater, and the housing development I just mentioned is another affordable housing development that we're in the process of pulling together, which we expect to start construction in 2028.

As you can imagine, these three sites will not only transform Central Avenue between 23rd and 25th Streets, but will transform the city.

We welcome you to join us in this effort.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Van.

You mentioned uh having some conversation with the Quincy Jones family.

I understand Quincy Jones III is with us.

This proposed effort with the with the Jones family and other entities certainly has the potential to expand arts and opportunities.

Discussions are also being had with the Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Hall.

And so we're happy to have with us today.

I just think about my childhood.

I grew up in a music house.

Right.

Okay, I'm sorry.

Thank you, and good morning.

Thank you, Councilman.

So, on behalf of uh Carnegie Hall, and I've been a board member on Carnegie Hall for four years, and I wanted to share a brief brief brief story that I that I that came to mind today.

And when I first went on to Carnegie Hall to uh see the facility, I had never been there before.

I went there and I was standing on a stage, and uh I got chills because it was a moment that reflected reflected in me that I was going to be curating content on one of the most prestigious venues in the world.

And then that I got that same feeling the day that I went to the Lincoln Theater and stood on that stage.

And I said to myself that you're going to be curating content from from this venue as well.

And I just wanted to say uh Carlson McCurns that on behalf of Robert Smith and the entire Carnegie staff, they're fully committed to helping restore and bring back this facility in the way that it should it's supposed to be, and the way that it was.

So when you see the video, you'll understand exactly what what I'm talking about.

Let's run the video.

Thank you, Terry.

The way they talked about Carnegie Hall was I was like the main stage to get to.

Carnegie Hall has always been such a prestigious and renowned venue.

What I've been surprised to learn about the hall's you know contribution to black history is just the breadth and the range of participants from Sarah Vaughn and Count Basie.

Mahalia Jackson Luther King to Buster Ryan's and Jay-Z.

I looked on the wall and it was a bunch of pictures, old pictures of just nostalgia, right?

And I was like, if I could bring that back, then I know I'm doing something.

Welcome to Carnegie Hall.

What really excites me is the fact that they have a lot of other programs that people don't know about.

It's a lot of incarcerated men and women that are very talented.

I love what we're doing in the criminal justice space.

It's always the opportunity to reach back specifically to the youth.

And what Carnegie is doing is giving them opportunity to still create on their art.

What a tribute and owe to mothers that they can work with successful creators to create lullabies.

The play USA program that gives funding for instrumental training.

This endeavor has been one that I think is long overdue, but I absolutely feel cemented that magic is gonna come out of this collaboration.

Carnegie's in it for the long haul.

They wanted me to create a council of individuals, tastemakers, just people that move the needle in the industry.

The group that we have assembled leading the council is phenomenal.

I had to be a part of this.

If you just look at the programming of the last two years, it's just unprecedented.

Sold out.

Our community came out and drove looking like money.

The hall is never felt like this.

We've never had this type of energy in here.

Like this is really, really special.

Get up on that stage and share some stories and give knowledge.

Amazing.

Y'all feeling good, Carnegie Hall!

We're changing the culture of Carnegie.

Like 1000%.

We are Carnegie and we are a student.

But we don't forget where we came from.

Carnegie is a venue that day one openest doors to everyone.

We will continue to push the narrative that we, the council is for us all.

What we're doing is bigger than us individually.

It's for generations that will come after.

Shandala Toys, Broadway Federal Savings and Loan, and the Lincoln Theater.

It's my sincere hope that their legacy continues to light the path for future generations to come and inspire all Angelinos to achieve the best.

Thank you.

Let's make black history every day.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Price.

Great presentation.

We have uh council member Rodriguez on the queue.

I'll let them take their photo real quick.

Wait, wait.

Let me just also comment that the glue to this whole project has been big rich.

So let's get rid of just get rid of shout out.

Thank you, Mr.

Price.

And uh hold on, guys, don't go walking away yet.

Um, well, first of all, I want to acknowledge all the honorees that you brought in today for the incredible and remarkable contributions in history that you made.

Not just, you know, I had a I have a very dear friend who was a designer for Mattel with Barbies.

And so when I I recognize the immense importance of making sure that young girls had that representation, someone that they could something that they could identify with.

So I wanted to say thank you so much for that and what what you what you all have done to make the immense contributions that you've made.

But this project with the Lincoln Theater is something just remarkable to me.

Um, as someone who had a deep original passion that if I hadn't fallen into politics, I would have I really saw myself on the Broadway stage uh doing musical theater.

I really appreciate the collaboration of what this means for Central Avenue, for one of the core parts of our city's history.

Um, but this collaboration is really phenomenal in so many different ways.

You talked about the workforce development piece, you talk about the arts.

This is an intersectional moment of all of these things happening.

And of course, uh, and with the legacy of Quincy Jones and everything that I grew up admiring my entire life.

Uh, I think it was, was it Herb that uh honored him when I think he got the his star, Kern when uh it was herb that uh did uh the recognition, and I was so bummed that I wasn't there for that moment because I grew up uh just I grew up as as you know from a kid, all the Motown history and Quincy Jones and just everybody, all of the musical contributions.

This is such an important intersectional moment for our city on Central Avenue with Lincoln Theater.

When you talk about Carnegie Hall, you talk about all of these pieces coming together.

This presentation is so much larger than I think anyone really recognizes and appreciates right now in this moment, and I couldn't be more excited for what this is going to mean to the core of Los Angeles on Central Avenue, but of course, to the entire city.

Its connection from its history to what it's going to present day provide residents in the city of Los Angeles, and of course, musically.

Because, because you know, I think about Harlem and the Apollo Theater and what that means for the resurrection and kind of revitalization of that community, what this is going to mean here.

So I'm just incredibly excited and welcome you all to City Hall for this well-deserved honor and recognition for both the history and the present of what it all means to our city.

So I just wanted to congratulate you, Mr.

Price, on this uh on this incredible work.

I know you've probably been an instrumental part, you and your team in helping to bring this all together, but to each and every one of you for your commitment to seeing this all the way through.

This is a remarkable revital revitalization effort and infusion of cultural significance for this part of our city.

So I just wanted to thank you and congratulate you on this well-deserved recognition.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Rodriguez, and and I just ask all the members of this council and the folks in the gallery to please join me in giving a big round of applause to Councilmember Price.

This is a this is a big deal.

This is a big deal.

What Mr.

Price has put in front of us today is absolutely brilliant.

You know, part of what happens in the discussion about Black History Month and civil rights and the civil rights movement is we talk about Montgomery, Alabama, and what happened there was important, and we talk about Birmingham and what happened there was important, and we talk about Washington, DC, and everything that happened there was important.

But what gets left out all too often is what happened here in the city of Los Angeles for the freedom struggle, not just for black people, for everybody, and so you have woven together a beautiful tapestry of the resistance that comes out of this city from Broadway federal savings saying, if y'all don't want to bake with us, fine, we'll have our own bank.

Lincoln Theater and Lincoln Motion Pictures.

Lincoln Motion Pictures was one of the first independent film companies ever anywhere.

And it started when people saw Birth of a Nation and what that was doing to portray black people as savages, basically, and it became a big film in the U.S., got shown at the White House.

Black folks here in LA said the way we deal with that is we're gonna make our own films and we're gonna have to make our own, we're gonna have our own theater and our own spaces.

And then Shandana Shidana Toys, the same thing.

You know, there was a Barbie movie, and I was I love that movie, but I was upset that they didn't talk about Sandana Toys because again, it was a direct challenge to society in this country putting out one standard of beauty, and you everybody had to go along with that standard of beauty, and Shaddana Toy said, No, no, you don't.

We can do it different.

And all of that came out of the city of Los Angeles, and we get to honor it here today in the chambers of our own city hall.

So thank you so much to all the honorees, and thank you so much to Councilmember Price for this beautiful presentation.

All right, with that, I'll ask the city attorney if he'll prepare us for public comment.

Yes, Mr.

President.

So for today, the only items that are open for public comment is actually item number one, which is notice for public hearing, and you also have the opportunity for general public comment.

So when it is your turn to speak, once you get to the podium, or if you're using the wireless handheld microphone, we would ask that you please let us know if you want to speak to the item or general public comment or both the item number one, which is a reap item, and general public comment.

When speaking on the item, you must be on topic.

If you stray off topic, or if we cannot tell whether you're on topic, you will get one brief warning from me or the council president to please get back on topic.

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

For general public comment, you can speak to any of the other items or anything else in the city's subject matter jurisdiction.

Again, we will tell you when your time is up.

I have a couple more announcements.

If I could please have the interpreters make this 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.

One final announcement.

So in order to help us run an efficient public comment period, we would ask that you please wait until you hear the name that you signed up under before lining up to speak.

After you hear that name called aloud, 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 Dr.

James Thomas, Miller, Alex, Richard Conley, Paloma Bustos, LA Valley, Junior M, and Candy.

General public comment.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Okay, I stand to report a series of troubling actions that undermine the integrity of the Charter Commission.

Compromise public trust, raise serious concerns about fairness, transparency, equity in the reform process.

For several months, I have raised concerns that the Commission staff had been coordinating with the mayor's office in ways that compromise the Commission's independence.

These concerns are no longer speculative.

Staff recently admitted that they cannot perform their duties without copying the mayor's office.

This admission, copying the mayor this admission raises serious questions regarding improper ex parte communications, political interference, and what is intended to be an independent charter process.

Even more disturbing is the pattern of discriminatory treatment towards Black and Asian Pacific led organizations.

At nearly every juncture when these organizations attempted to provide input, they were treated differently from other stakeholders.

They have been last to be engaged, their proposals have been unilaterally dismissed without deliberation, and their prospectives have been afforded.com.

Again, that's LA Council Comment.com.

Uh, you can find that by doing a quick Google search, or you can find the URL at the top of every council agenda.

Uh thank you.

And Speaker, if you can wait over at the side, yeah.

If you wait over at the side, yes, please.

Just really quick.

Um, so next speaker.

I just want to acknowledge that this is just understood.

Speaker, we need you to vacate it.

So we can move on to the next speaker.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Uh, general comment.

Okay.

So you have one minute.

Thank you.

My name is Paloma Bustos, and I'm with the Sunita Jane at the Traffic and Initiative of Aloyola Law School.

Our research and report on FIFA and the work and the Olympic games calls on both FIFA and LA 28 to each set aside about three million dollars from their own budgets to prevent trafficking and exploitation, given the well-documented increase in trafficking and labor exploitation risk associated with mega sporting events.

This funding will support worker outreach, legal services, coordination across service providers, and independent monitoring to prevent exploitation before it happens.

With the World Cup less than six months away, the city has a support and the responsibility to move these protections forward now.

I also want to emphasize that these recommendations from our report you are hearing today are not coming from one organization alone.

Our report and recommendations are supported by 10 state legislators and 42 organizations across the city and county and state of California, including legal service providers, worker advocates, survivor led organizations, public health partners, and community groups.

I actually have a your office that should have a receive a copy of the report, but I actually have copies of here with me that I will provide to your staff.

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I would like to call up Bobby Terracotta, Marcus Scott, Joe M.

Paloma B, Steven, Eric Andrews, and Audit LA.

Hi there.

Oh, and Richard Connolly here.

I'm gonna be making a general comment.

Okay.

So we have one minute.

Go ahead.

Got it.

Good morning, everybody.

Los Angeles deserves a city hall defined by the highest standards of integrity, for free from ethical lapses, self-dealing, and any appearance of corruption.

We need stronger ethics rules, full transparency on potential conflicts of interests, independent oversight and real accountability for everyone involved in city government, no exception.

Recent scandals and ongoing concerns about the handling of public contracts, funds, and influence in major initiatives have eroded public trust.

These issues highlight the urgent need for reforms to prevent conflicts, ensure decisions, serve the public interest, and restore confidence in our institutions.

As a resident, I propose enforcing expanding transparency requirements for all officials and affiliated entities.

I also want to take this time.

I see the Olympic flag over there.

I call on all appropriate authorities to urge Casey Washerman to step down from leading the LA 2028 Olympics due to his association with Jeffrey Epstein and Glenn Maxwell.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning, Mr.

Herman.

You have one minute for the item that's item one and one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Everybody.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Look at that.

I'm being I'm being contested here because Uncle Tom, Larry Harry, dog up there, knows that the appeals and objections for this lien on the property at 3107 South Dalton Avenue.

Yeah, look at the resistance.

Look at the dissent.

Look at the opposed opposition that I bring to this country.

That this fucking shit on liens is unconstitutional, and you have every motherfucking right to come near and protest.

Otherwise, you are dumb motherfucker.

You gotta protest.

You gotta stop this.

Mr.

Herman, this is your only warning.

You need to speak to the item specifically.

Or you can move to general public comment if you'd like to speak to leans generally.

42SC 1980.

Everybody, let me read into the record.

The action of the case 220 CV 02291 doc keys for the record granted by the federal court of David O'Carter, and that of Balial A.

Saley and Nathan Hockman who appeared in court this past Wednesday smoking scam.

Why is that?

Why were they there?

Because these close sanctions, unconstitutional violations of the law.

Everybody, it was this rules, item number 24 rules.

LA City Brown Act.

Each member shall attend all regular and special meetings except for illness, unless a leave of absence has been granted.

Why has that illegal price been doing these wrongs?

Majority vote, a regular meeting at which quorum is present.

Fuck you grow.

Speaker, your time has expired.

And for members of the public who are here or listening via YouTube, thank you for your patience.

Just to be clear, when you're speaking to the agenda items, it does need to be connected to the specific item.

Obviously, if people would like to speak to the departments that are underlying the actual item itself, you can always do sort of in general.

Good morning, speaker.

Which items would you like to speak to?

General comment.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

There's been nine deaths in the past five weeks at Men's Central Jail.

It needs to be closed down.

It fucking needs to be closed down.

To continue.

In the words of Armando Herman, quote, if you don't stir things up, you become a small faint voice.

End quote.

We find this to be an honest evaluation.

Most of the representatives are not paying attention during public comment.

This is public time, not email time.

There is a reason for the bold language.

The forefathers of this country saw a reason for the bold language and wrote it in to the highest law of this land.

It's first on the list.

Next speaker.

Before the next speaker begins, I would like to call up A, Rick Cole, CJM, Ginny, Stefan Fable, Candido, Palin, and Sophia Fortier.

Good morning, speaker.

What would you like to speak to?

General public comment.

Okay, you have one minute.

Go ahead.

My name is Eric.

I'm a photographer who's been documenting LA's response to ICE since June.

For the third time, I'm here to talk about what actually happened at the student walkout last week.

Councilmember Herado, I was glad to hear you acknowledge the students, but truly supporting them means being honest about what happened to them.

The LAPD was lined up hours early to prevent them from getting anywhere near the MDC.

I watched as they drove motorcycles around behind the kids to spook them, charged them by the dozens with batons out, shot a less lethal into the crowd of teenagers and more.

They busted the lip of an adult protester and baton the hand of a journalist right in front of the kids.

I watched those kids get radicalized in real time.

And then on Tuesday, I watched assistant chief Harrelson tell the police commission they did not move to crowd control techniques that day.

That is a lie.

Also, the LAUSD fired a teacher named Ricardo Lopez for trying to help the kids.

So it's wild to bring a board member here to praise them for walking out.

He should be reinstated.

I appreciate you saying the council needs to work together and not be in their silos.

Uh I was gonna address the rest of my comment to Councilmember Rodriguez, but she is not here.

So thank you.

Next speaker.

Hey, Captain Pico, the side talk.

Which items?

I assume item number one, please, and general public comment, but it's for the lean, right?

You have one minute for yes, it's it's a reap item related to the property located at 3107 South Dalton Avenue.

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

Go ahead.

Thank you.

So we have another nuisance abatement.

Um the city loves to shake down the uh regular folk when they're broke.

Um, when both the regular folk and the city is broke.

Uh the real nuisance is the city, whenever they run into the red because they don't know how to manage our money.

They start putting uh fees and enforcing things that allegedly mean something to them, but they don't unless they need money.

Uh, it's pretty ridiculous.

I don't know the property owner of that property.

He could be a he or she or they could be a dick for all I know.

Maybe they deserve it.

Who knows?

I just know that the only reason why they're issuing this is because the city needs to basically flip every sofa cushion for coins that they can, including if it's your sofa cushion at home.

Um, it's pretty ridiculous that uh the charter commission wasn't notified that the deputy director is uh a former uh staff member for Neri Martinez, so she was a general public comment you have one minute.

While she was uh out in during the whole uh feds hate situation, which is allegedly why the charter commission started.

Um you guys love activists that are in the past, you don't like activists that are alive today or that are still doing their go work.

Um Isabel Herado was the fuck the police candidate, and now she says nothing when the kids out there are being hit with rubber bullets and being tear gassed.

Eunysis, uh allegedly the tenant candidate, but she tried to get the uh residents at Hillside Villa to sign something that they couldn't talk shit about their landlord to each other, and she also was a part of getting their fees.

I think it was like $15 million, like waived and shit and giving them cash.

Pretty crazy.

Um, it's it's wild.

Everything is a mess.

Um, you guys aren't gonna protect us.

And honestly, you should be scared.

This all goes on because the government's not afraid of the people.

Uh, and they're clearly not afraid of God either.

If they're afraid of either or they would change their whole behavior.

I forgot what I was gonna say.

LA Valley Gun Club.

Next speaker.

Before the next speaker begins, I would like to call the last few names on the list.

CM, Bilal A, Phoebibiana Fuentes, Andrew Grabenner, Ace Meerisle, and Joe M.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

General public comment.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Good morning, Council members.

I'm speaking on behalf of the Sunita Jane Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School.

As Los Angeles prepares for the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games, we must address the real trafficking risks tied to major sporting events, especially labor trafficking.

We urge four immediate actions.

First, publicly release the draft human rights action plans for meaningful community and survivor review.

Second, schedule full council review of the FIFA human rights report and convene the ad hoc Olympic Committee in February to review the LA 28 plan.

Third, require FIFA and LA28 to fully fund these plans because unfunded plans do not protect workers.

Finally, ensure city agencies prioritize labor enforcement and public health coordination before and during events.

The greatest risk is labor trafficking.

Construction, hospitality, and service work rely heavily on migrant labor, where abuses often occur during recruitment before enforcement ever begins.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Good morning, sir.

Item four, which is about abatement, and then uh public comment, sir.

Okay, so item four is not open for public comment, but you can speak to attorney general if you'd like.

The only item that's open is item number one.

Okay, let's do that abatement, yes.

That's it's a reap item.

So, if you want, whatever.

Let's go on.

Uh, abatement, I just looked it up.

It has the lesson of something, and uh, you know, in Porter Ranch over at the uh Burnson Park, you know, there's graffiti all over, and it it breaks my heart that it started on Resita.

Okay, it's going all the way down.

Anyway, let's go on to public comment.

Okay, you have one minute, go ahead.

I had a dream.

Did I wake up this morning that uh the that ICE is not going to be funded?

I'm please somebody say yes.

I asked a few people, nobody could give me an answer.

Hopefully that's true.

Which means that in Van Isa, we're not going to have to look at uh ICE agents at the federal building.

So somebody please tell me that's true.

I was down here today because I need to pick up some whistles because we're ready.

I don't care what we have to do, but anybody that stands by and watches this, and I I have a message for my uh the probably the best chief that we've ever had.

Chief McDonald, yes, stand with your people, with your officers, but please protect the uh the protesters that who are standing up for me who stood up for people like me in the uh in the past.

Please, you can do uh great things by uh supporting us and not ice.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Uh just general comment.

Okay, you have one minute.

Go ahead.

So for the let's see.

Hamilda here.

So, let's see.

Uh that's that's an interesting statement.

I think I would prefer street lights, not looking at the stars.

That's all real.

That's a real interesting opinion to say, oh, yeah, I want to give all the money for street lights to the LAPD.

Oh, well, just look at the stars.

I guess the stars will guide us and try to keep us from getting injured.

Wow.

So, fuck Jim McDonnell.

Jim McDonald should be fired.

You had the power to do it for some reason, you know what council members like UNESCO Hernandez, who's currently chatting it up with City Staffer B.

Staffer B.

Taking bribes in Las Vegas.

That's who you know, Sernandez hangs out with instead of working to get Jim McDonald fired.

Really impressive.

Woo!

Call on the call, vote at any time I heard.

Good morning.

So, Speaker, Mr.

Sagara Bollinger, this is your first and life formal warning.

Please do not disrupt this meeting.

We're moving on to the next speaker.

Good morning.

Which items would you like to speak to?

For general comment.

Okay, so we have one minute.

Go ahead.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Fiviana Fuentes, a law student representing the SUNA Jane Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School.

I am addressing Los Angeles' preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games.

While the council is adopting recommendations from the ad hoc committee on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, LA 28 has yet to schedule a meeting to discuss its required human rights plans due on December 31st, 2026.

At the same meeting requests for 300,000 and independent anti-trafficking audits of LA 28 contracts were deferred until the human rights plan discussion protections that should already be a part of the substantially plan.

Council members also raised concerns about security for residents and immigrants.

Ahmed recent ISIF actions, these protections cannot wait.

Our recommendations are negotiating an MOU among ICE LA28 FIFA and the city to prohibit immigration informants connected to the games, requiring LA 28 and FIFA to provide 250,000 of for legal monitoring to protect communities from ICE enforcement.

Thank you.

Council President, those are all the speakers for public comment.

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

Mr.

Clerk, what item is before us?

The council may now vote on item number one.

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

Close the roll.

Tav you like to vote?

13 ayes.

Alright, what's next?

The council may not vote on item number four, called special by council member Rodriguez for a separate vote.

Council Member Rodriguez.

Yes, I'd like to invite the housing department up for questions.

Okay.

Hi, good morning.

Could you please provide a quick overview on the function and role of uh what this uh position authority is supposed to provide and what the request is here?

Certainly, uh Greg Spiegel for the Los Angeles Housing Department.

Uh the position is the uh assistant general manager, and the position would lead uh the new homelessness bureau.

Um this was part of the staffing plan that was approved by city council in December, and um this particular ask is for an exemption from the civil service requirement, which I think was the position was already authorized.

It's gone through personnel committee, so it would just be this is an exempt position, so this is to approve that exemption.

And to approve an exemption for this assistant general manager position, which will perform what duty exactly.

What is its what is the role of this position?

Um it's in the report, but the this would be the leader of the bureau that would be the um also the external uh face of the bureau, so it would uh help coordinate all the strategies.

So the if we want to talk specifically about what the bureau would do um during the first year, the department really wants it to focus on trying to uh um streamline and shorten the time that it takes to uh administer contracts to uh pay invoices, which have I think we all know it's taken way too long, and so that would be an important part to do during this first year to establish that better process to better coordinate homelessness policy within the region and um have a more coordinated voice for what city council policies want to put forward.

Um so there's all kinds of regional bodies, so um appearing on those with a consistent message from the city, coordinated within the city, so we have uh a coherent way in which we're addressing things rather than a more siloed approach.

Um, so when you talk about contract management and execution that this person would oversee, you're still talking about contracts that would be administered by Lhasa.

Is that correct?

I think that is the current um, yes.

Okay, so to be clear, so we want an assistant general manager to oversee and facilitate the contract execution by an agency that we already know and have multiple examples of, has been, frankly, committed malpractice in lack of oversight in the current contracts that they currently execute and oversee.

That they don't provide the same.

So we have, we're basically bringing in an intermediary to pretend that they're gonna facilitate overseeing an existing failed structure.

And so this is just more of again, colleagues, I'm just bringing this to everybody's attention again, uh, because what we're talking about is providing a position authority for someone to oversee a failed and broken system.

We haven't changed anything fundamentally, you're accelerating the contracts potentially.

This individual will help accelerate the contract execution for an agency that is not holding service providers accountable, because we haven't fundamentally corrected anything that is broken with the system.

So I just, again, I I thank you.

Okay, this isn't, of course, listen, this isn't at you.

This is the lack of leadership and coherent response to a broken system.

And so I just wanted to bring this to everybody's attention once again, because we're just again rearranging the deck chairs of the Titanic.

There is nothing fundamentally different with the structural changes that are being led or initiated through these position authorities that are being created in this bureau.

And so I wanted to.

And we have multiple examples that when we execute these contracts and manage them directly, we can have better accountability outcomes with the dollars that we spend.

We're spending more money, we're we're sustaining a broken system with LASA and providing a new intermediary to provide oversight to help accelerate the contracts, cut down the time to pay the people that are not being held accountable.

What the hell are we doing here?

And let's just be clear, because again, I just wanted to remind everybody that there are two pending reports to engage in this conversation about what real reform looks like, that has not been scheduled.

Again, Ms.

Raman, 297 days since my report that has come back on the creation of a homelessness department has not been scheduled 297 days.

The motion that has another report that has been pending for 177 days, is the idea that we can directly contract with service providers and be able to evaluate the outcomes associated with their work.

So I just wanted to bring it to everybody's attention again that real reform can actually be a complete completed and executed if these items were just scheduled for conversation in committee.

We have two pending reports, one has been sitting for 297 days, and one has been sitting for 177 days.

So if certain individuals are very excited about and have a sense of urgency for reform, let's have the damn conversation.

So thank you.

I will remain a no vote on this position, and let's stop creating this ruse of reform.

Let's actually have the conversation that eliminates the duplication in oversight without any greater accountability.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rahman.

We'll ask the folks in the gallery to keep it down and not disrupt this meeting.

Then take care of the problem.

It's your first warning.

Mr.

Candido, you've been warned for disrupting this meeting.

Mr.

Candido is removed, subject to rule seven.

You're with removed.

Have a wonderful weekend.

We'll see you soon.

Let's open the roll on this item.

Close the roll.

Dad would like to vote.

Eleven eyes, three no's.

Alright.

What's next?

Council has motions for posting and referral.

They are posted and referred announcements members.

Announcements members going once.

All right.

I'll ask everybody in the chamber to rise for adjoining motions.

Looking to my left.

And looking to my right, Councilmember Jurado.

We'll ask everybody to respect the speaker during the adjourning motions.

Today I rise in honor of Florente Peter Ibanez, beloved librarian, educator, historian, and tireless advocate for the Filipino and Filipino-American community.

His passing is deeply felt across Los Angeles, and his legacy will continue to shape our community for generations to come.

Florante joined LMU Loyola Law School in 1992, supporting countless students, faculty, and staff while helping shape a more inclusive and thoughtful academic community.

He believed that access to knowledge is a matter of justice and that when information is shared, people are empowered to change their lives and their world.

Beyond academia, Florente was a pillar of the Filipino American community in Los Angeles and throughout UC uh throughout California.

He was a co-founder of UCLA Samahang Filipino, and if you know them, they're a force to be reckoned with at UCLA, part of the Mother Coalition, Mother Orgs Coalition at UCLA, and he co-founded UC Irvine Kababayan.

He helped create spaces of belonging, leadership, and pride, spaces that continue to nurture new generations of leaders today.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't say that without his leadership, I probably wouldn't be here.

I mean, having Samahang Filipino be a political organization, that's where you learn how to be an organizer in college, and even helping to elect the first Filipino ASB president at UCLA.

I mean, just the work goes on and on.

Alongside him throughout this time is his wife and partner of 51 years, Rosalind Estapa Imbañez.

They co-authored Filipinos in Carson and the South Bay and preserved the living history of our people.

He established the Florente Peter Ibanez collection at Cal State Dominguez Hills, an extraordinary archive documenting Filipino-American history, culture, activism, and community life from 1940s to the present.

And because of his work, future generations will know that what we were here, and very specifically here in Los Angeles, and that we organized, we struggled, and we built community and we thrived.

And he supported so many organizations throughout our uh throughout the city, Coyumongi, Lions Club, SEPA, Phil Am Art, and many others, and he worked tirelessly to uplift our community.

Even to his very last days, Florente was a mentor to young Filipinos, finding their voice, their purpose, a photographer who captured both joy and resistance, a musician, an athlete, and a gifted storyteller.

He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend.

And he is survived by his wife, Rosalind Rose, his daughters, Gabriella and Michaela, his grandchildren, and a loving extended family who so graciously shared him with all of us.

And so it is my profound honor to lift up someone who dedicated his career and his calling to preserving all of our stories and opened countless doors for Filipino Americans.

And I think it's so fitting that there's a walkout happening outside because his commitment to youth development is just like if you meet a Filipino, they'll have a story about Florente here in LA.

It's just Florente and Rose.

It's just that's just he was just so integral to this movement.

And I think, you know, continuing this work to devote his life and make sure his life is really immortal.

And so I want to may you rest in peace and power, but in the mortal words of Florente Ibanez and his optimism and poetry, the air is dirty, but the sky is blue.

So may rest in peace.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Jurado, and thank you to Florente's families for being with us.

Uh, Councilmember Um Jurado, I'd like to be added to this uh journey motion with your permission.

Uh, Florente was definitely a pillar of the social justice movement that we all went through uh coming of age uh uh into the leadership of this city and to the the leadership of civic life.

So thank you so much for this journey motion.

Do we have other adjourning motions?

All right, seeing none, we're adjourned.

Thank you so much.