We recognize that.

I want to remind our community that there is strength in numbers, and there are uh so many of us here in Los Angeles, and where government isn't able to intervene or support.

We have wonderful partnerships with the consul generals from all the different Latin American countries, from our nonprofit organizations, from our labor unions.

This is what they're trying to erase and stop us from doing.

They're trying to prevent us from being authentically who we are.

And this event with everyone that's turned out is a reflection that we are in fact here and we will stay here.

Right now, one of the most powerful things we could do to protect our families here in Los Angeles is to build community.

It's to know who your neighbor is, is to have their phone number and call and can call them in case of an emergency.

Events like these are what help build relationships with communities so that we can survive these tough moments, and that's what helps the government do the right thing.

That's what overcomes these moments is community power people power.

Challenge yourself to conserve.

Turning off the faucet when you brush saves up to 10 gallons of water.

Taking a five minute or less shower saves up to 15 gallons of water.

Washing only full loads of laundry saves up to 30 gallons of water.

And fixing a running toilet can save up to 50 gallons of water.

Keep it in mind all day, every day.

It's water conservation the LA way, welcome to the city of Los Angeles, where technology, sustainability, and innovation converge to enhance the lives of nearly four million Angelinos.

Beyond the city limits, the greater LA region is home to nearly 13 million people, an interconnected, ever-evolving community.

In a world linked by technology, whether you're joining us in person or tuning in from afar, welcome to LA This Week.

Across downtown Los Angeles, modern landmarks like the Department of Water and Power Headquarters echo the forms and forces of nature.

The skyline was further redefined in 2003 with Frank Gary's Walt Disney concert hall.

It's sweeping exterior said to capture the motion of a conductor's baton.

Its interior, meticulously crafted to elevate every note.

The city is investing in its future by expanding science and technology education, weaving innovation into young lives, and inspiring the next generation to lead in these essential fields.

Today, the Hidden Genius Project is here with a host of partners putting on an event called Tech Slam.

In partnership with Leaders Up, we're creating an opportunity for young people to explore career pathways, skills, networks all related to sports and technology.

I've been participating in NGS projects since last summer.

It's been really cool.

It's been a really great experience.

I've learned a lot, uh, met a lot of new people.

So many of our young people love sports, so many of our communities love sports.

Oftentimes we make a mistake and we say, well, it's not realistic to have a professional sports career.

And so we want to make sure our young people get to understand what's possible for them and that they can pursue their dreams, even if those rooms are related to sports.

They're very realistic, and technology is a great way to get there.

It's very important for youth to be exposed to technology and industries that aren't typically available for them.

And so our Tech Slam is allowing them an opportunity to be exposed.

So today we have AI workshops, we have robotics and Legos and a lot of expo partners as well that are teaching them and exposing them to technology.

We're just really trying to expose them to the intersection between sports, tech, and business, and help them understand that if you love basketball, there's so much opportunity for a career that maybe isn't just being on the basketball court.

If you love, you know, F1, there are so many things you can do other than maybe just drive the car.

Have these kids understand that you can have a pro sports career without maybe being a pro sports athlete.

The most exciting thing that I've done with the Hidden Genius Project will probably be today to be able to enjoy all the benefits and opportunities that come with the program.

Since I was little, I know I always wanted to do something I had to do with tech.

Joining the Hidden Genius Project really helps solidify like what I want to do.

They're teaching us new stuff that would just help me and better like my resumes for college, my better resumes for job applications, all that different type of stuff.

So it's been a really good help overall.

Even though it is a long program and it takes a lot of work, it's definitely worth it.

And it's been really fun.

So Leaders Up has launched the LA Economic Empowerment Alliance that is really ensuring that we center young people and designing a roadmap for their own economic empowerment.

We know that 18 billion dollars will be spent in this region because of major sporting events.

We want to ensure that a billion of those dollars are spent on internships, mentorship, career pathways, skills development, and real jobs that will help young people be included in our regional economy.

I think it's critical, mission critical.

Listen, really, when you start talking about like upstream approaches to making sure people don't become impoverished, you have to build out youth development trainings and pipelines so people are not actually scrambling at the last minute to figure out what they want to do, how they want to succeed.

What are we putting in front of people?

Who are we connecting the young folks with?

What kind of mentorship programs are we putting together?

I think you can only know what you're exposed to.

And so many of our youth will see, you know, just the game on TV, but it's never demystified for them exactly how it works, what's going on behind the scenes, how many people have put this moment together.

We really just want to connect these kids to their dreams and help them reveal the genius that's already within them by making sure that they have the resources they need to do so.

Today we have over 100 young minds taking over City Hall.

Everybody stand up and wave.

Yeah.

We put this event on every year.

We've been doing it for 13 years.

We collaborate with a lot of different sponsors, and the kids are able to do all these wonderful K-12 STEM activities.

It's a really great opportunity to expose the youth to STEM, especially in areas where there isn't a lot of representation.

It's important that we continue to create pathways for young people to come into City Hall.

They have to know that this is their house and to get them politically engaged early on so that they understand that the quality of their life is based off of political decisions, political decisions that they have an influence on if they are politically engaged.

And as you take on your activities, lean on your classmates.

If your bootprint looks tough, brainstorm with your group.

If your tower falls, ask your peers why, ask them for help.

That teamwork is how you can build and how you will build a future that works for everyone.

They'll be drawing a blueprint of a tower made out of spaghetti and marshmallows.

And then in the second activity, they'll be using their blueprint to build that tower as high as they can possibly build it.

Even though with our paper, we didn't make it exactly look alike because when we first tried, it didn't go exactly planned.

So then we added more structure and we we paid more attention to it.

As engineers, we do our design, but then we get into construction, we learn that things don't always work the way that we design them.

There's external factors.

So they're gonna learn maybe we need more material.

Maybe we need to double up, maybe our drawing we need to go completely different.

We all work in a team.

We didn't leave anybody out.

The message is you know what, as long as you're kind, you're creative, and you like teamwork, then you've got all of the ingredients to be a fabulous engineer.

It's really important for us to make sure that the kids have representation, that they know that people look like them or building the city and keeping things going.

So many of us here are Latino, and we really need to bridge that gap and show that it's possible because there's not many of us in civil engineering.

It was fun working as a team and collaborating, and um that loud was my favorite part.

We want to inspire the children.

In Los Angeles, collaboration drives the projects, programs, and policies designed to deliver sustainable results for residents and businesses.

The city remains a national leader in sustainability, generating more than a hundred thousand green jobs and installing the highest number of EV chargers in the country.

Working in hand with communities, LA also advances neighborhood infrastructure projects from supportive housing to solar powered street lighting, building a cleaner, more resilient future for all.

Lighting is important to community because it equals public safety, it equals access.

One of the main calls that I get in my council office is hey, when is my street light going to get fixed?

And so today with the solarization of these 91 lights in Lincoln Heights in Cypress Park, we're moving our city and our neighborhood to the 21st century.

We are deploying around 91 solar lights.

These lights will be able to provide lighting without the traditional electrical system that we have below.

The city of Los Angeles as a whole, actually, many other uh major metropolitan areas have been hit by theft and vandalism.

This actually takes away the incentive of theft.

Removing the copper wire removes that incentive.

Lighting has always been an issue.

The council member is correct about the time it takes.

The light pole outside my house was out.

I put in a service request, and it literally took a year and a week before they came in and serviced it, right?

So having um reliable lighting in this neighborhood, this is a working class area.

People walk their dogs before they go to work, it's still dark.

When they come home at night, it's already dark.

So having lights out there makes it safer for everybody.

We all know sometimes lights go out and there's not enough money in the budget.

But the solar lighting, it's economical, it's clean.

I mean, I think it's a brilliant idea.

I'm happy that we have lights and we're gonna have lights.

That makes me more confident in going out, walking around my neighborhood.

I feel safer.

There's been studies that prove what people feel intrinsically, right?

There's University of Chicago study that shows that adequate lighting can actually drive crime down by 30%.

So massive savings and a environmental change to what would have been, you know, a policing challenge.

This is ninety-one lights in two neighborhoods.

But my goal is as Chair Public Works to get this into the entire city of Los Angeles.

Because when an emergency happens and our grid goes out, these solarized lights will stay on and they'll keep our committees lit while we're having to deal with the different issues that come up.

As a resident here for over 30 years, uh I have used uh applications that the city provides as the 311.

As I walk around the neighborhood, I put up refities requests, street lighting, any other thing, things that are a problem, and they respond, right?

So part of the reason why this area was chosen was because of the amount of calls that we had and stuff, right?

So it's very important for people to get involved and not just complain about oh, it's not working and they're not taking care of it, right?

There's applications, there's ways for us to be proactive.

I'm glad that the council office is listening to us and it's paying attention to our requests.

And the community is here and they voice their opinions, and I think it's important for the community to continue to voice their opinions and requests and be allies with the council office so we can better our neighborhood.

It's gonna benefit us all.

Welcome to the Cielo, our newest supportive housing community for 99 individuals who now have a permanent home.

Affordable housing development is a challenging process, only because there are so many partners to make this work.

Funding from the city, the county, the state, and the federal government, coupled with service dollars, so that we can wrap all of our residents who live here in the care and support they need to remain stable and successful in their housing.

This is a particularly interesting project because this was a modular project.

So this is a project that kind of showed that it could be built quicker and for less money.

If you see the outside, you'll see how beautiful project it is, and just really excited about it.

After six years on the street, my mental health started to take control of me.

I had to accepted the streets to be my home for the rest of my life.

To be honest with you, it was my first time doing any kind of speech like that in front of that many people.

So there was a little bit of nervousness, but everybody that was here, I know why they were here and appreciate every single one of them.

So it made it a lot easier.

You know, and Cielo offering that was tremendous.

We won't build anything in my district without wraparound services, without having that mental health, the drug addiction of component steward, and to try to take a chance to come into housing because we can help you get off the streets.

When asked about public safety deeply and in dialogue with people, the conversation is not about cops and robbers and victims.

What we heard today about public safety is that what makes people feel safe is economic security, is strong community, self-empowerment.

At Calcutta LA, our mission is to educate the next generation, and that includes civic engagement.

So beyond their major or their specific programs, they have a role to play in the civic community that they choose to be in.

And so today is all about giving them those resources to do that work safely.

This is where young people are with bright minds and they're open-minded still.

They're here because they want to learn something.

So why not share in a space where people are open to learn and can be contributors?

Well, I want them to not just live in fear.

I want them to live in the fact that the first thing they're here is to get an education, and we're trying to give them the surroundings with them to achieve it, and we want to have the workshops where they can go and not find all the solutions, but at least get the information.

So if we help the people who help the people, we will build a better Los Angeles, and Los Angeles is truly for everyone.

Los Angeles was named one of the top digital cities in the nation for its use of technology to streamline services and to boost security.

Counted among the safer large cities in the nation.

LA has built its progress on collaboration.

City leaders, community members, and the police department work side by side strengthening neighborhoods, protecting immigrant angelinos, and partnering with residents to address crime where it happens most.

Here in the city of Los Angeles, where you know they say it's the city of angels, right?

You have a lot of darkness that's happening throughout the day, throughout the night, where children as young as 11 years old are being trafficked on our local streets.

Human trafficking is a major problem, not only here in Los Angeles, but globally.

So it's important that we bring this into a visibility in the most powerful ways.

Thank you all for being here today, and more importantly, thank you for the work you do every day when no one is watching.

This is our second annual human trafficking summit for LAPDU.

And this is a collaboration summit where we have law enforcement officials, we have uh representatives from the city attorney's office, district attorney's office, U.S.

attorney's office, advocacy groups, and the support groups for people who are trafficked, especially the sex workers.

And we all come together and we have presentations, we share ideas, we share intelligence, things that are happening on the streets, best practices, and how to combat and address the human trafficking epidemic that we see on the streets of Los Angeles.

And that is what today's summit is about.

It is about bringing together this broad coalition of entities and communities to leverage all of our resources to combat this problem, particularly the sex trafficking of children.

Summits like this are important not only for uh education of the people that are working within this industry, but also letting the community know how pervasive this issue is.

Man, now Lake County, it is one of the epicenters of sex trafficking.

Figaroa, of course, is the most famous of all the tracks as they call them.

And that's where children as young as 12 years old are being trafficked.

It's right in broad daylight.

We drive past it every day.

It's like these children are just lost.

It is a collaborative effort because we can't just do it with law enforcement alone.

Support groups and service groups can't do it alone.

We all have to work together, and also the prosecutorial part of that with the city attorney and district attorney, the U.S.

attorney's office of going forward with the prosecution of those who are offending and those who are trafficking these, especially minors here in the city of Los Angeles.

We can't walk by situations where somebody is being held against their will.

Somebody is being put in an extremely dangerous circumstance over and over again.

So we all have an ability to be able to do something about it in our communities.

All of you are doing that every single day.

And the courage it takes to do what you're doing is amazing.

Los Angeles is also advancing smart city initiatives, upgrading infrastructure like connecting street lighting that responds to real-time conditions, expanding public Wi-Fi, and exploring new mobility solutions to reduce congestion and emissions as part of long-term plans through 2028.

Strong relationships lay the groundwork for lasting success while working together toward a common goal.

Sports, especially team competition, build discipline, perseverance, and resilience.

A truth often echoed by basketball greats reflecting on the journey behind their achievements.

Excited about being in LA as the CEO of the Legends of Basketball.

One to make sure that we got into the community and do the same thing for the community it did for us, which was to raise us, give these kids an opportunity to hear from us, learn from us.

And feel the energy that we bring into any gym that we walk into.

We're here in the 10th district at Michelle and Barack Obama's sports complex.

And what we have is an amazing thing: a free clinic from kids from the second grade to the ninth grade.

We got so many great legends from WNBA legends, Paul and Global Trotter Legends, ABA Legends, and NBA legends.

Just given the fullness to the game.

Just showing the kids life's new basketball.

And we're just excited to be here.

Sports teaches us so much.

And I was lucky to have a safe environment to experiment with different sports.

And I quickly learned that it taught me discipline.

It taught me perseverance, how to fall down and get up, how to believe in myself, how to be confident in who I am.

And so I'm hoping that we can come here and give our kids that same message because I know when we do, they end up being something far greater than they thought that they could ever be.

It is important for us to be here and put on these clinics because we again we want this, we want to show the kids the opportunities.

We want to instill in them what someone instilled in us, and that's the morals, the value, the hard work, the dedication.

Just being here is step one.

And so once they're here, now we're gonna teach them some of the life skills as well as basketball skills.

In today's world of all the technology that we have, uh, with social media, the internet.

We're seeking to always empower our brains and our minds, but if they don't learn how to move their bodies in a way that keeps them healthy and not just healthy but keeps them connected to others and having fun, uh, then we're giving them something that is really gonna be detrimental as they get older.

Because we need to learn how to take care of our bots.

I really just want to tell the parents, continue to put your kids in sport.

They may not be NBA player, WMBA player, next, you know, major soccer player, but there's something important about being on a team sport that they can carry over into the workforce, they can just carry on through life about being a teammate, about dedication, about sometimes working together for a common goal.

So there's bigger opportunities, there's bigger reasons why sport is good for young kids.

If you can't stop, won't stop, shoot the rock till you're good enough to reach the top.

Welcome to MacArthur Park.

Welcome to Council District One.

My comments might be a little bit longer, but there's a lot to share around the budget.

The budget is so incredibly important to the city, but also to the quality of your life.

For next year, we are looking uh at a 91 million dollar gap that is uh in our outlook, uh, based on continuing levels of service.

The budget process is extremely important because it reflects how the city prioritizes the money that comes from us as taxpayers and residents.

Um so what the city allocates to different departments uh for different programs really shows what the city is prioritizing at that given moment.

I believe that the city needs to invest more in our crumbling infrastructure and mobility and transportation.

We need to invest more in alternatives to just police.

Well, for decades, we've wanted unarmed alternatives to armed policing.

We know that people are having mental health crises, and we don't need armed police officers going through those doors.

We need actual clinicians.

It's just a really tiny part of that entire $13 billion can actually make that happen citywide.

My hope that when the new budget is signed in June, that we have an expansion in unarmed crisis response teams, that we have the investments to fix our sidewalks and create more curb ramps, and that we beef up departments such as our Wreck and Parks Department, our LA Animal Services Department, our Bureau of Street Services and Sanitation that have been cut the last several years.

Just as a reminder of the incredible and costly needs that the city faces uh today.

At least one billion dollars in uh backlog requests.

This is just backlog for sidewalk repair.

This budget is going to be very uh difficult, as you mentioned, and we're gonna have to be a real balance of trying to reduce spending, reduce what we do overall, and hopefully have some revenue.

If we don't get involved in the budget process now, then we will never know where those tax dollars are going or have it go to the places that we desperately need for the people of Los Angeles.

So that's why it's important that people pay attention right now before the budget gets dropped in April.

Oftentimes people tell me, yes, my tax dollars pay for the government.

But most times people don't know where their taxes are going to.

And so if they want to learn more, they can go onto my website.

You have a choice.

Do you want to just be upset about your street lights not getting fixed?

Or do you want to engage and get activated and tell the city I want you to invest my tax dollars and fixing my street lights?

Join an organization.

This is where the action is happening, and you are more powerful than you think.

Nobody knows the trouble.

Cam was founded in 1977, so we're coming up on our 50th anniversary next year.

For over 40 years, Cam has been collecting African American artists, and we've been at the vanguard of that work.

So we have an incredible collection of works that range from Betty Saar to David Hammond to Noah Purafoy to John Outerbridge.

And we try to show them as often as we can.

And it's a special place.

It was made by the community for the community.

At CAM, we say Black History every day, but we recognize that Black History Month is an important opportunity to reflect and celebrate the contributions of Black people, past, present, and future.

At CAM, we rotate our exhibitions regularly, so there's always an opportunity to come back and see something new.

We also have a slate of programs that range from talks to performances to workshops to art activities to yoga to dance parties.

So there's something for everyone here at Cam.

When visitors come to the museum, I hope that they leave with an understanding of the contributions of African Americans, but also to understand that that experience is multifaceted, diverse, and extraordinary.

In Los Angeles, technology is transforming daily life.

From smart street lights and sensor-equipped infrastructure that improves safety and energy efficiency to high performance green buildings designed with advanced sustainability systems.

Across transportation, the city is expanding EV charging networks, modernizing traffic management with real-time data, and investing in cleaner public transit to create a more connected low-emission future.

Thanks for joining us.

You can watch these stories and more on Channel 35 or at LACity.gov forward slash TV.

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

Until next time, get out there and explore all that Los Angeles has to offer.

Challenge yourself to conserve.

Turning off the faucet when you brush saves up to 10 gallons of water.

Taking a five minute or less shower saves up to 15 gallons of water.

Washing only full loads of laundry saves up to thirty gallons of water.

And fixing a running toilet can save up to fifty gallons of water.

Keep it in mind all day, every day.

Kid, nut.

All right, good morning, and welcome to the regularly scheduled meeting of your Los Angeles City Council.

Today is Friday, the twenty-seventh day of February in the year twenty twenty-six.

Public comment for today's meeting will be taken in person here in Van Eyes City Hall.

Thank you.

All right, first order of business.

Approval of the minutes of February twenty-five, twenty twenty-six.

Councilmember Lee moves, Councilmember Padilla seconds.

What's next?

Commendatory resolutions for approval.

Councilmember Blumenfield moves.

Council Member Yaroslavski seconds.

What's next?

Mr.

President, if you'd like, we can go through the agenda.

Items one through seventeen are items for which public hearings have been held.

Ten votes are required for consideration.

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

We have any specials members.

Nine, ten, and eleven special for comments.

Nine, ten and eleven.

Thank you.

Any other specials members.

Would the council like to move on to presentations?

Yes.

Make sure you're all in the shot.

Tall people in back.

Nobody's short.

All right.

Good morning, colleagues.

Thank you, Council President.

Uh, once a year, Los Angeles does something pretty rare.

We slow the traffic, we open the streets, and for one day we use our roadways for something other than daily commute.

The LA Marathon allows us to see our streets differently.

Our streets look different.

They're filled with runners, families, volunteers, and neighbors cheering from the sidewalk.

They're places where people come together.

The course runs through neighborhoods that define Los Angeles.

It brings runners from Dodger Stadium through downtown, Koreatown, Hollywood, mid-city, and all the way out to the finish line at the ocean.

And along the way, you see something special.

Actually, it ends in Century City, doesn't it?

Who wrote these?

Um, show up on the sidelines early, earlier than most of us are awake, to support people they've never met.

They cheer each other on, they hand out water, they encourage runners who spent months training for a challenge that takes real discipline and commitment.

This year we're marking 40 years of the LA Marathon.

It began during a moment when Los Angeles chose to think bigger, inspired by the legacy of the 1984 Olympic Games, and we created what would be the fourth largest marathon in the country.

As we prepare for LA 2028 and welcome the Paralympic Games for the first time, we have another opportunity to show what Los Angeles does well.

We host the world, we organize at scale, and we bring people together.

Training for 26.2 miles takes discipline and support.

Building a city that works for everyone takes the same.

On March 8th, Los Angeles shows what commitment looks like.

People line up, support each other, and finish what they started.

So it's now my honor to introduce uh our first speaker, Murphy Ryan Schreiber.

Please come on up.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You know what?

Let me finish this before I start.

Okay.

So sorry, one sec, Marie.

Uh standing with me this morning are leaders representing the Los Angeles Marathon and the McCourt Foundation, which organizes the event each year.

Before I invite our guest speakers for comments, I'd like to give a warm welcome to Marie Reichschreiber, Howard Sunken, and Lucy Murray.

Uh now it's my pleasure to introduce a great city leader, Murphy Ryan Schreiber, the chief operating officer at the McCourt Foundation.

There you go.

All right.

Thank you, Council, for welcoming the McCord Foundation and the Los Angeles Marathon today.

Already been introduced is Howard Suncoin and Lucy Murray, but also with us today are our race ambassadors who are very influential runners in the local community.

And as you can see by the t-shirts, some of our legacy runners.

Our legacy runners are runners who have done every Los Angeles marathon.

I've finished all 40 of them dating back to 1986.

And this is just an absolutely incredible feat that they've run year after year after year.

And it demonstrates the grit and determination embodied by the marathon in the city of Los Angeles.

Getting to the marathon itself for this year.

And tomorrow there are 7200 kids that are running the 26 mile, which is an after school program that we produce with the LA Unified School District.

According to Brand Finance, which is a highly respected brand valuation agency in out of London, the Los Angeles Marathon is the 10th 10th most valuable brand marathon brand in the world.

Our the Los Angeles Marathon charity program, which um allows 125 other nonprofits to raise funds during the marathon, has raised over 80 million dollars in its history.

We'll raise another 4 million dollars this year.

From a sustainability standpoint, the Los Angeles Marathon is only one of eight marathons in the world that have achieved evergreen status by the council on responsible sport.

Um there are very, very few events worldwide that are able to achieve this status, and we're very proud of having finally gotten there last year.

From an economic perspective, uh the economic impact of the marathon is pegged at 120 million dollars annually.

Um to put that in perspective, the Oscars' local impact is about 135 million dollars annually.

The estimated economic impact at the Super Bowl up in Santa Clara was 500 million.

So if we do a little bit of math, every 4.2 marathons equals one Super Bowl.

And the Super Bowl comes to the Los Angeles area on average every 7.2 years.

So the marathon is a sustainable and um reliable economic engine for the city for the city.

Um, in closing, we are proud stewards of this race.

Um we thank you for your continued support and for today's proclamation, and most of all, we invite you to come out on Sunday, March 8th and see the marathon.

Thank you.

Uh thank you, Murphy.

Colleagues, now it's my pleasure to present the council resolution naming March 8th as Los Angeles Marathon Day in the city of Los Angeles.

So why don't we see you over here?

And again, we have to think about having this.

All right.

Thank you so much for that presentation, and uh we will all smile a little smile uh when we see our runners uh running through our city for the great LA Marathon.

Before we go to public comment, uh Madam Clerk, um council member uh Padilla had a comment on one of the items we voted on, so I want to uh yield the floor to her uh to um let us know her thoughts on the matter.

Okay.

Thank you, Council President.

I wanted to make uh some talking points related to item 17.

Uh council members, I rise today to ask for your support for this motion, which I see was already passed, so but regardless, um, I want you to know why this is important.

This seeks to ensure transparency and proper governance for one of our critical advisory bodies, the Van Nuys Airport Citizen Advisory Council.

The Van Ayes Airport Citizens Advisory Council has served as our commute has served our community since its establishment in 1985, two years before I was born, reviewing issues affecting Van Ayes Airport operations and providing essential advice.

However, recent actions by the Board of Airport Commissioners underscores a need for greater clarity and codified council oversight regarding how it operates its structure.

I want to emphasize that this is a win for the community today with their actions and this motion moving forward.

The council will now get informed when there is a change to how they operate.

My message is simple.

Community voices must be protected, respected, and centered in every decision moving forward.

Families living near and around the Van Ice Airport experience the impacts of the decisions made by the airport every day.

So it's about balance, fairness, and protecting the well-being of the communities we represent.

And I also want to take some time to thank councilwoman um Yaroslavski, because when there was a change, she respected jurisdiction the jurisdiction and reached out to me so we can discuss what we can do moving forward to make this better.

So as the governing body overseeing the LA World Airports, this council has the authority and responsibility to ensure transparency, accountability, and to establish clear council direction for a community advisory structure that reflects impact in neighborhoods and the ones we represent.

And here we are moving in that correct direction.

So thank you all for uh agreeing to vote on this on consensus.

It's about strengthening community engagement, reinforcing oversight, and ensure that no operational changes move forward without meaningful residential input and letting the council know.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Padilla.

Now we will hear from uh Councilmember Hernandez on items eight, nine, and ten.

Yes, thank you.

And it's gonna be a long one, so please bear with me.

I will try to go through these as fast as possible, but they're all really important.

Uh for item number nine.

Colleagues, uh, one of the biggest complaints we all get in every district is streetlights, not just CD1, all of us.

Street lighting is a basic service and a critical part of our public safety ecosystem.

If the lights are out, people feel unsafe.

The utilitarian street lighting program lets us bring lighting to hillsides, canyon communities, alleyways, and other places traditional poles can't reach.

And it worked at virtually no additional cost to the city, aside from one liaison position at the Bureau of Street Lighting.

LADW P crews installed the lights on their existing polls.

We eliminated uh we eliminated the coordinating position, and the program has since stalled.

Meanwhile, we're paying out millions in liability claims tied to neglected infrastructure, deferred maintenance, as we all know is very expensive.

Investing in basics isn't radical, it's fiscally responsible, and our communities don't care which department owns the poll, they just want the street lights to work.

My motion focuses on restoring the position by exploring all necessary code changes and interagency agreements, all to make sure this work continues without interruption.

Thank you, Councilmember Jurado, for seconding this motion and for joining me in calling for a return to utilitarian streetlights.

Colleagues, let's get this access to the finish line so we can continue to do everything we can to make sure the city is well lit and moving in a fiscally responsible way.

I urge your I vote on that.

Uh for item number 10.

Colleagues, we all we talk a lot about fiscal responsibility.

Uh, we scrutinize expenditures and debate allocations, but fiscal responsibility also means making sure city services match what Angelinos are living through in their neighborhoods every day.

Today I'm asking for your support on my motion to improve graffiti abatement.

I'm sure we can all agree that removing graffiti from our public rights of way and municipal facilities is important because it impacts public safety and the quality of life across our city.

But the truth is that graffiti removal services are in a free fall as funding for graffiti abatement programs has been reduced, reduced, and has not kept pace with rising cost and service demands.

Data from the Office of Community Beautification shows that in fiscal year 23-24, the 24-hour response rate for graffiti removal requests stood at 65%.

Today, that 24 hour response rate has plummeted to 36%.

The 48 hour response rate has dropped from 50% uh down to uh down from 76% just two years ago.

The volume of graffiti location abated without proactive work has also been severely contracted, falling from over 331,000 locations in 2023-2024 to under 77,000 in the current year.

As a chair of public works, I want to reassure Angelinos that this council and the city are not simply throwing up our hands in the face of budget constraints, but rather that we can work smarter, optimizing our responses through rigorous analysis.

These constraints mean we have to assess how we deploy our existing resources.

We need to grapple with the geographic reality of vandalism in Los Angeles.

While graffiti is undeniably a citywide issue, allocated dedicated daily abatement resources to areas that require infrequent servicing while other communities are drowning in utmet needs is the most uh is the opposite of fiscal responsibility.

My motion offers a common sense fix, it instructs the Office of Beautification to deliver a comprehensive report on our graffiti uh on our current graffiti abatement contractors, assessing their performance, geographic distribution, and cruise sizes.

And most importantly, it requires cross-referencing 311 request volumes by council district and repeatedly targeted locations to develop a formal prioritization matrix.

And again, thank you, Councilmember Jurado, for seconding this motion.

Colleagues, I urge your support on this motion, uh support on this motion so that we can transition from an inefficient deployment model to one that is equitable, data-driven, and truly fiscally responsible.

And last one, I'll speak on uh item number 11.

Colleagues, I'm proud to speak before you today to bring a long awaited vision to life for council district one.

My motion instructs the Department of Transportation to fabricate and install a permanent ceremonial sign at the intersection of 8th Street and Valencia Street in Westlake, designating it as Francisco Morasan Central American Community Square.

As president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839, Francisco Morasan was a visionary leader who fought to transform the region into a single progressive nation.

He was a fierce champion for liberal reforms, specifically protecting the freedoms of the press, speech, and religion.

While his opponents eventually fractured the republic into two into five nations, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, Morasan's dream of a unified people lives on.

Today, nearly one million Central Americans live in Los Angeles County, and 600 of them living in our city alone.

Their presence defines the culture and economic landscape of neighborhoods like Westlake, MacArthur Park, and Pico Union.

The sign will publicly commemorate Francisco Morasan and visibly celebrate the large, significant presence and profound contributions of our Central American neighbors in Los Angeles.

And uh Councilmember Jurado, thank you again for seconding this motion.

And thank you, colleagues.

I urge your I vote on these items.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you so much.

Uh Councilmember Hernandez, who's made a strong and compelling case for a yes vote on items eight, nine, and ten.

So we'll open the roll on those items.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

All right.

And with that, uh Mr.

City Attorney, I'll ask you to prepare us for public comment.

Yes.

So, Mr.

President, um, none of the items are open for public comment today.

They've been voted on.

However, any member of the public can speak uh on anything within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city for a minute.

So when it's your turn and you come to the podium, please just begin speaking.

And Mr.

President, if I may, the vote uh just taken is on items nine through eleven.

I'd like to call up Johnny G, Steven Brackett, Fran Pataski, Joe C, and Stacey Sayara Bullinger.

Good morning, City Council.

I am very upset at the homeless encampments of my Encino Tarzana Library, including the friends of the library group who profile the elderly to volunteer at the bookstore.

All people can volunteer, not just the elderly.

Let's put an end to injustice.

Also, I want to thank uh Mr.

Bloomfield, especially Elizabeth, for helping, helping us help Latinos in your district in regards to trying to build a home in their families.

Thanks, Bob.

Thank you.

Good morning.

I'm Steve Brackett.

I'm a 50 plus year resident of Van I's or Lake Balboa.

I'm also a member of the Van I's Airport Citizens' Advisory Council.

I'm very concerned about the happenings that are before you and Boac regarding the council.

There are issues that are in the purview and rights of you council members that are in jeopardy.

And I hope that you really pay close attention to your file number 251514.

We have ample information to provide you to protect the community from those who would rather deprive us of the opportunity to uh present our recommendations to you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I'll call up Steve Leffert, DSA Margaret, Timmy, and Nick Most.

Hello, my name is Fran Patowski.

I'm a C D-12.

I want to thank you for having these meetings in the valley.

It's tough to get into the city.

I'm hoping you support Council File 2515-14.

We need more transparency of what's going on in our area also.

For the FAA at the time of the airport was created in 1928, along with the flight pass, and the area was 80 acres of open flat farmland, which included my area and CD 12.

When we asked for change, we told that the airport was there first.

Well, the city allowed the homes to be built at that time, and which was a much different time.

There were less planes, less no jets.

There was no noise and fumes.

The noise was a little bit of the fumes, a low-flying prop planes going 1200 feet over our homes.

I'm asking that this council to require the master plan for Van Nuys Airport and independent independent environmental review before any additional changes are going on.

We're trying to sneak in different changes right now.

Please, please help the community.

We need your help.

We need your support.

Thank you.

Natya Rahman had already endorsed Mayor Bass.

And then she said, I'm gonna answer the race.

Once I saw her running from constant shoes, and then she said they were just on a weekend.

They approached her just to say that they were unsatisfied with her position on local development.

That confrontation made her cry.

I don't know how such a coward could possibly run LA.

Oh, Nithya Ram is a grifter, but and paid for by developers and Hollywood and Zionis.

I know I'm gonna vote.

Gonna vote for A.

Why is it that whenever I make a song just for Nithya, she doesn't show up?

Um the IDF and shout out smoking scan.

Hi, my name is Steve Lefford.

I'm a 50-plus year resident of the San Fernando Valley, living about a half a mile from Van Eyes Airport.

Um the Citizens Advisory Council that was established back in 1985, did not include any particular requirement for residents of the by the appointed council members to be on that particular council.

Suddenly Boac decided that they needed to be residents.

Um to represent residents who live and have to put up with the noise and fumes from the airport all the time.

But why is the mayor's three appointees and Boac's three appointees not re have to require the same residency to be on that board?

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I'll call up a few more names.

Medal of Honor, Navajo Joe, Bobby M, Gunny Joe, and Candido.

Please.

Please begin.

Oh, okay.

Thank you.

Good morning.

So a minute isn't a lot of time, so I just want to first of all say thank you to Councilmember Padilla for her participation and support in both 2515-14 as well as 251505.

I want to thank Councilmember Blumenfeld for the thoughtful amendment on 1205.

I don't know that all of you understand the gravity of what's happening.

This is so much more than just the unethical, immoral, and unauthorized manipulation of a citizen advisory body.

This is a systemic toxic culture within Lawa that has been exercising overreach, misconduct, abuse of office, and abuse of authority for the past three decades.

Ma'am, that's your time.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate you coming.

Speed reading.

Councilmember, my name is Nick Mosic, and I'm the general partner for Southwest Aviation, an FBO that is operated at Van Ise Airport for 54 years under two different leases.

I want to let you know that the five recently issued RFPs are so poorly drafted with misrepresentation of development conditions or blatantly missing data information that a true competitive bid process cannot occur.

This will lead to extensive renegotiations between the selected winner and subsequent challenges by other parties to the RFPs.

Two of these RFPs where no development is required offer a 10-year lease as an example.

A direct violation of the executive directives passed by Lawa in 2002, that limit terms to five years.

This is your time.

Thank you so much.

Before the next speaker, I'll call up a few more names.

Danielle, Steven Leffert, Sue Steinberg, Uwe Kerner, and WW.

The Gun Club.

Hold on one second, Speaker.

We can hold the time.

And I just want to to the folks that uh are commenting on the uh Lawa issue.

Uh we put this issue on the agenda in the valley specifically so uh you all could come and speak.

So we're really happy and eager to hear from you.

We do have to keep everybody to the same rules.

That's why we keep cutting you off.

Uh but we want you to know that that uh we held a meeting, this item here specifically, so you could come and we could hear from you.

So thank you all so much.

All right, you could go.

So so he said that they brought that item over here, but they didn't reopen it for public comment.

So you only have general public comment.

You don't have the extra minute to talk about that item.

If the city council was so interested in our opinions, they would do what has been done before, which is like reopened public comment for certain things.

Um the uh marvelous Padilla here once reopened public comment after it had been closed because a lot of the people that she supports and support her had come and weren't able to speak.

So she called for public comment to be reopened, and it was.

I was there that day.

Um there is a rule in the rules and whatever that allow any one of these people up there in the horseshoe to call for an item to be reopened for public comment.

And they very rarely, if ever, do that.

That's how much they care about our opinion.

There's been a water fountain over here that's been broken for probably years now.

Um it's pretty ridiculous.

It's hard to even know what else to say to y'all because you're so fucking despicable.

Uh it's LA Valley Gun Club, LA Valley G C at Gmail.com.

Uh hit me up.

We need to take the control of the city.

The charter needs to be destroyed.

Charter Commission needs to be uh pretty much wrecked right now.

We need to stop that's your time.

We're gonna go to the next speaker.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Next speaker, we need a microphone.

Thank you.

Oh, she has it.

Okay.

My name is Danielle Sweet.

I live across from Havenhurst from the Van I's Airport.

I am bed bound 95% of the time.

Obviously, I'm on oxygen.

I have MS, I have fibromyalgia, and on top of everything that I'm dealing with in my own body in my own home, I have to worry about the fumes and the jets taking off 24 hours a day, approximately every eight minutes.

I've lived in the neighborhood 30 years.

I bought my house a year after the quake.

In that time, to now, it feels like I moved next door to LAX.

I have no peace.

We are dying.

I have metals in my hair.

Thank you very much for coming to speak.

Before the next speaker, I'll call the rest of the names.

Latino Purple Heart.

Sage Beatrice.

Mr.

City Attorney, the gentleman in the black uh button-up polo with glasses and a ponytail, and the woman next to him with a uh trucker hat on, have just gotten their first and last warning.

Okay, understood, Mr.

President.

Please begin, Speaker.

Uh I can get you if you want.

I don't want you to feel left out, Mr.

Candido.

Sorry, Speaker, please go ahead.

The floor is yours.

Steve Lefford again.

Um the idea that you passed the motion before you had public comment on the issue.

Uh, I think that's despicable, despicable on the part of the city council.

If you want public comment at a city council meeting, do it before you vote to pass a motion.

You might want to change your mind.

You might want to amend that motion.

It just seems totally unfair, along with you know Boac's uh uh fist action to change the bylaws of the CAC whenever they feel fit or threatened by the community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'll call up a few more names.

Sean Murphy, Suzanne Gutierrez, and Candido.

My name is Uva Kerner, a small business owner, California Flight School operating partner of Southwest Aviation Business that operated Van Ice Airport over the past 54 years under two leases.

The City Lease proposals recently issued by the Southwest Aviation Leasholes and the Heart Street property are to death for small aircraft businesses at Van Ice.

This area is converted to jet operations.

There are no available relocation spaces for our current tenants and businesses at Van Ice Airport.

These proposals threaten to displace flight schools that train next generation of pilots, the mechanics who keep our fleet safe.

Small businesses are left struggling to survive.

The proposal will displace numerous of our small businesses, women and minority-owned businesses, caused the loss of over 80 jobs.

The outcome will be massive noisy jet parking lots and uh full of pollution.

This is not modernizations, economic and cultural loss for the San Fernando Valley.

Thank you.

Did we get two minutes?

One.

Okay.

Well, first of all, thank you, Melder, for having the city council.

Oh, speaker, we'll restart your time.

If you could speak a little more into the mic, we'll hear you better.

Thank you.

Um again, thank you, Melder, for having the city council meetings take place monthly here in the land of the forgotten, otherwise known as the Valley.

The recent NTSB findings that Burbank and Van Ice Airports are the next likely location for a major aviation accident.

Should be a wake-up call to everybody in this room.

Preemptive measures need to be taken before there's a catastrophe.

It's not a matter of if, but when something's gonna happen over our already overcrowded skies above our homes.

There have been previous motions passed by the LA City Council, but yet to be acted on.

Motions 22, 1489 and 231339 have been on the books for years, but have yet to take effect.

Where's the formation of a community involved committee for a new specific airport plan?

Motions need to not just be passed but implemented.

It shouldn't be only have a few seconds, but I just want to say it shouldn't be a few benefiting at the expense of the community's health.

Thank you.

What can we do to slow these cars down in my neighborhood of district three?

Just don't.

We need to slow these cars down.

There was three accidents this year.

Christmas Eve, when Wednesday, Wednesday afternoon when I was waiting for the bus to go to choir rehearsal, and back in January, two serious accidents.

We need to talk to the member.

I want to talk to the member of my Bob Bloomingfield's staff or a cop that's in Topanga Canyon, West Valley.

I need to I need to talk about this.

We need to stop these cars and need to zoom by at night.

Nobody can get any sleep in the area in my neighborhood.

This is ridiculous.

Thank you.

Hi, please begin, Speaker.

My name is Suzanne Gutierrez.

I'm a 23-year pocket resident, and I live right next door to the Van Ice Airport.

I'm co-founder of Fume Fighters United, and I'm here representing many of our pocket neighbors who are unable to make it today.

Thank you all for passing on consent 25 15-14.

Very much appreciated.

Thank you.

But I'm also here to tell you about ongoing corruption with Lawa and the Van Israel manager, Jacob Hake.

In case some of you haven't read the motion, it's about his lies and unauthorized unilateral removal of four city council appointed members of the Citizens Advisory Council in August last year.

He deaf defiantly lied to council offices and the public about having authority only for his lies to be exposed by the actual Boac resolutions he violated in a self-serving actions.

Lawa's dishonesty and shady actions have a real negative effect on my neighborhood and the rest of the valley.

If you go to Vimeo and type in Jacob Haik, Van Eyes Airport Manager lies, and you can watch in person what he's doing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Please begin.

And thank you, folks, for coming out here.

Uh quickly, uh, you know, I'm a little pissed off this morning.

I wake up and uh a gentleman who looks like me, uh Mr.

Carbello.

What happens?

He's now being accused of all these things.

I hope the process goes through and he's found innocent.

The thing that had bothered me the most is that when I saw Alex Padilla, no matter what he did, an MIT graduate, everything he did.

I was here at the first meeting, he was here at his last meeting, and yet he was treated like a criminal.

Sometimes that's why I figure, you know what?

I should have been a criminal because I'm a pretty good criminal.

But I chose to try to be a better person than that.

It jumped my it jumped me and went to my family my sons.

But we're a military, we support this country, and when I see a man like Donald Trump get away with everything, and then every person that looks like me, they're always accused, they're always taken down.

And uh, you know, as I look around, most of you, I think we can count on you.

Uh Porter Ranch, you guys were talking about spirit, all the time.

Thank you.

How many times do we have to say?

All right, Mr.

That's that's that's your time.

Thank thanks, Mr.

Morris.

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

Uh that concludes public comment for this morning's meetings.

Madam Clerk.

Uh, what's before us?

The council has motions for posting and referral.

They are posted and referred.

Announcements.

Announcements, members, council member Hutt.

Thank you.

Am I on?

Hello?

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Good morning, everyone.

As we close out Black History Month, as well as the winter Olympics in Milan, I'd like to honor Debbie Thomas, who is the first black medalist in the history of winter Olympics.

Deborah Janie Debbie Thomas was born on March 25th, 1967, in New York.

And she grew up in San Jose, California.

Debbie began skating at the age of five and enter her first competition at age 9.

Her early training took place at Los Angeles Figure Skating Club, where she quickly distinguished herself as a rising talent.

Debbie is best known for her intense rivalry against the German figure skater Katarina Witt, who at the time was widely considered to be the top figure skater in the world.

At just 18 years old, Debbie defeated the two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1986 World Skating Championship.

After earning a bronze medal in the 1988 winter Olympics in Calgary, Debbie solidified herself as one of the best competitive figure skaters in the 1980s.

Debbie was equally ambitious off the ice.

After her Olympic journey, she finished her engineering degree at Stanford University and then graduated from the University of Arkansas Medical School to become a practicing orthopedic surgeon, specializing in hip and knee replacement.

Debbie was in Debbie has inspired thousands of women and people of color from across the globe to pursue winter sports.

Since her success in 1988 winter Olympics, almost a dozen other African American athletes have won medals.

And I personally think this number will continue to grow in the coming years, as we saw in this past winter Olympics.

So as we prepare for all the exciting events coming to Los Angeles for LA 28 Olympics, let's remember the athletes like Debbie Thomas, who broke barriers and shattered glass ceilings for future generations.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Hutt.

That was a very timely and I appreciated uh recognition.

Mr.

McCosker.

Thank you very much.

I remember when Debbie Thomas was skating against Katarina Vitt, and that was really exciting to be an American and to see an African-American young woman win that win that gold medal.

And I think also propelled winter Olympics in the United States to made it way more popular.

That's right.

Um and those were in the years when the summer and winter games were in the same year.

So apropos to celebrating young women who are fantastic athletes, I want to take a moment to recognize three girls' basketball high school teams from the one-five that will be competing tonight in the LA City Finals.

Really proud.

First, we have the Gardena High School girls' basketball team.

They are back in the finals after their last appearance in 2024.

They'll be competing against the number one seeded team from C D 8, Washington Prep High School in the Division III finals.

The game is at 4 p.m.

at LA Southwest.

Next, next, because the riches in the one-five continue next, we have our own number one seeded Harbor Teacher Prep Girls Basketball team.

That's the school that is right at Harbor College.

It's a great school.

Be competing tonight for a chance to go back to back as champions of Division III.

And they will be facing off against CD2's own North Hollywood High School at Birmingham High School.

At Birmingham Charter High School tonight at 6 p.m.

But last but not least, wishing I could be in three places at once.

We have Wilmington's own banning high school girls' basketball team who will be aiming for a back to back title.

They'll be matched up against Bravo High School from the 1-4.

And they'll be playing at 8 p.m.

at Garfield for the division four title.

But seriously, for all of our student athletes, especially the young women, who are, you know, the future Debbie Thomas's world.

They're working hard on the court, but also in the classroom.

I'm really, really proud of the fighting spirit of all of these great teams in the one five, and I wish them all the best of luck.

And I'm sorry to CD eight and CD two and CD 14, but I think we're gonna sweep tonight.

All righty then, Mr.

Nazarian.

Just a friendly wager.

Whether you win or lose, I'll treat you to lunch in the valley again in North Hollywood, next to the Huskies winning grounds.

Thank you so much, Mr.

McCosker.

Also, Council, uh, I'm very excited to announce that uh tomorrow morning, 10 a.m.

at the Hyde Park uh metro station at the intersection of Crenshaw and Slaussen.

We will unveil uh the signage and have a big celebration uh marking Crenshaw and Slaussen as Nipsey Hustle Square.

Uh, we'll be there with his family and the community.

Uh, we're expecting uh hundreds, maybe thousands of people out uh tomorrow morning uh to celebrate that.

It's uh been a long journey to get to this point.

Um, you know, Nipsey also lived uh a life uh that is you know commiserate with being a son of this city, and the aspiration and hope and passion that he put into everything that he did uh to build a very neighborhood.

He he caught the bus on that corner, he sold his first mixtape on that corner, he sold t-shirts and socks out of the back of his trunk to raise money to record his first album that uh later got nominated for a Grammy on that corner, and he eventually bought the corner uh before he unfortunately passed away.

So we're excited about the celebration in C D eight tomorrow morning.

Yes, he was taken from us through gun violence.

Yes, all right.

So uh tomorrow 10 a.m., Crenshawn Slaussen.

Uh, any other announcements, members?

All right, seeing none, we'll ask everyone in the chamber to rise for adjourning motions.

I see council member Padilla.

No adjourning motion.

Uh, any adjourning motions to my left?

To my right, seeing none, we adjourn.

See you all next week.