Kate that to potential rescuers and then start coming up with the plan, right?

If you need to maybe come up a cliff or you need to assist yourself and helping get rescued, come up with the plan.

So that's an acronym we like people to try and memorize if they find themselves in a precurious situation.

You want to make sure if you're gonna be hiking in peak season, like in the spring or summertime, consider hiking in the morning when the weather's a lot cooler or in the afternoons when it's not as warm.

If you're gonna be hiking in the fall or winter, be assured that it's not gonna be raining on you at some point when you're on that trail because uh that brings a whole nother element uh to your ability to get on and off that trail, such as uh water, rock and debris flows, uh making the trails a lot slipperier, sometimes being washed out.

So those are the two things to consider depending on the climate and the weather you're gonna be experiencing.

I will get my weather app anytime gonna hike to make sure I know if it's gonna rain or if it's gonna be super hot, that impacts when I go.

And what I bring with me, wearing a hat is really important, the shields from the sun and the sunscreen.

Doing a little bit of research what the weather's gonna be doing that day.

Are we gonna be in a red flag day?

Are we gonna be having a high heat advisory?

Is it gonna be raining?

All these things are gonna affect your ability to be able to stay safe and have a good time while you're hiking on the trails.

It's my passion.

I love being outdoors.

I love the fresh air.

I love the nature.

Um, I love breaking the sweat and getting the exercise.

Getting away from the city and kind of in a quiet place.

I feel more centered.

It's a stress release.

Just gives you the space for yourself and for your brain to have a race from all the things that are going on in the world and to just look up and see, you know, the trees and the view.

So we're here at Pan Pacific Park in Council District 5, celebrating Earth Day with LA Sanitation and many of our city and community partners.

Earth Day is a time where we come together as a community, but also as a city as the sanitation and the department of public work to help educate the public about the innovative approaches and the resources that are available to sustainability, composting, recycling, and so much more.

Today is the 10th anniversary of Earth Day LA.

We are big fans of protecting the environment, reducing plastic waste, and making it easier for people to live a sustainable life.

We're very excited here to invite the community to come and learn about all of the work that sanitation does, our wastewater treatment, our stormwater activities, our solid resources and recycling.

These are major programs that we do to help protect the environment.

We even have a bike repair clinic.

We even have a toy swamp booth as well.

We're giving away trees, we're teaching kids and families how to recycle and compost, and there's so much more that we're teaching the public and also promoting our application as well, SORT LA, where it teaches people how to throw away your garbage and your trash.

So today I'm looking forward to all the kid activities, the happy children out here learning about how to be zero waste in their households because kids are so good at teaching their parents, and that is such an important factor for the future and for our city and how our neighborhoods look.

I think um keys are important because uh they helped us eat and breathe better.

When you come to this event here at the city for Earth Day, we're gonna help you get free trees and learn how to use the mulch and you can go home and this is a family environment.

It's a great day.

It feels good out here.

You're helping the environment to reduce, we use the recycle.

The theme of our event is planet versus plastics.

We're really trying to outreach to the community and let them know that things need to be done to reduce the plastics that are produced.

We need to recycle the plastics that are in the everyday commodities that we use.

This is an annual event.

So this means in addition to today, next year, and the following years after, for the subsequent Earth Days, we would love to have everybody continue to participate, to bring your friends, just to learn about individual work that they can do to make a contribution.

It's good to help the Earth.

Through its historic telescopes, including the iconic Zeiss refractor, visitors can peer into the night sky, tracing planets, star clusters, and distant galaxies.

And inside immersive exhibits and the Samuel Ocean Planetarium transform complex scientific ideas into vivid, unforgettable experiences, making the vastness of space build personal and immediate.

While the observatory offers vistas of Los Angeles, the city itself cultivates a vast array of cultural, athletic, and professional milestones that honor the diverse talents of all Angelinos.

LA remains dedicated to inclusivity.

From supporting city interns taking their first steps to embracing the vibrant colors of the spring holy festival.

The city even offers specialized soccer clinics to ensure our blind and visually impaired residents are fully engaged in LA's vibrant rhythms.

Today we just launched this blind soccer season.

And it's just amazing to see all like how happy and hyper the kids are to play and get that energy out.

And seeing how they can actually play alongside people who are older than them, younger than them, and basically collaborate and connect with other people whom they might not otherwise be able to connect with.

Now we're gonna do side shuffles, side shuffle.

Because it's not just for people who are blind, it's for anyone who wants to play soccer in an inclusive way.

Because if you hear this, the ball, this has rattle in it, so you can hear where the ball is at all times.

And that makes it so that you can pass and dribble and shoot just like anyone else at any time.

All the programming that we do in my mind serves one purpose at the end of the day.

And that purpose is to empower everyone.

When I lost my sight, I thought that I wouldn't be able to play sports like anyone else, or I wouldn't be able to have fun with my friends or do any activities.

And so I'm out here showing everyone that it's 100% not the case.

If your kid has a disability, what no matter what it is, is so that way they can go out there and know that they can do everything that their friends are talking about.

But I mean, you put them over the progress in entrenamiento.

When I lost my sight when I was 12, I uh mostly stayed home because I didn't really think that I could do much.

Like I was like, oh, I'm blind, I can't play sports like everyone else, I can't do things like everyone else.

But when I started learning about adaptive sports, that's when I was like, wait a minute, I can play the sports like my friends.

So when my friends talk about soccer or basketball or archery or all these other sports or golf, I can connect with my sighted peers and non-disabled peers as well and understand what they're talking about and build connections that I otherwise wouldn't.

Because without these sports, the kids just gonna be staying inside, not really doing much, and not being able to be active.

But with these sports, it gives the youth a chance to be able to connect with fellow youth their age, whether they're disabled or non disabled, and give them a chance to be active and participate in things that they otherwise might feel like they couldn't.

Today we're celebrating the holy Earth Bloom music and dance celebration here in Lanark Park.

A vibrant celebration of the beginning of spring, and it celebrates Holy, which is an Indian American festival that welcomes the arrival of spring.

Los Angeles is a melting pot, and we know that the city is what it is because of the contributions of all the communities and cultures, and uh I think every future generation needs to know about the art and culture that makes the city so special.

It's our responsibility to pass on our culture, you know, and the best way to pass in our culture is through music and dance.

So, what's unique about us today, the holy earth bloom festival is it's not just music and dance, it's not just culture and community, it's really about sustainability and regenerative practices, and so the whole idea behind today is spending time with each other, but also spending time with the Earth and remembering that we are part of nature, we are nature, it's not someplace that we go to, it is someplace that is inside of us.

I really really urge you to claim this is your day.

Don't leave here with anything like I wish I had said or I didn't feel comfortable saying.

Today is an opportunity for a number of the pathway interns to get exposure, work experience, and knowledge of how the city operates, how it operates, and also how to become a civil servant.

This is the group, and this is the day.

This is an opportunity to network but also get to know the cohort of interns that are enacting change in LA and making an impact every day.

So it's an opportunity for me to also get to know how LA functions through the public sector.

Currently, I am pursuing a graduate program at Cal State Northridge for urban planning.

I'm getting to know people that are in my field, and we can help each other out in the sense of connecting each other to other job opportunities, even just having friends relating on where we are in our career journeys.

I think with the City Pathways event, it'll be great for you to use as a reference to explore different types of departments here and explore like where I would like to go career-wise, since I'm still very much in this phase of like exploring.

I recently graduated from college, so I'm definitely trying to gauge what are my interests, what are my weaknesses and strengths, and how can I better use that to guide myself in my career.

My current major is urban planning.

There's a lot of policy that goes into it, a lot of engineering that goes into it.

Not only have I been able to talk to people, meet people in the industry, but I've also been able to learn more about what I want and like maybe what that job entails.

Now that they've had all these experiences to go through and understand the personnel process, it builds on an experience that they've had for the last several months working in public offices and working in the mayor's office and working in various departments.

This is like a better culmination than a graduation, because it is an extension of your career path.

Treat this as the next day of your career.

In the 1960s, the observatory helped prepare astronauts from NASA for the Apollo program, equipping them with the knowledge needed for humanity's first journeys to the moon.

From the beginning, the observatory was built on a radical idea that access to the cosmos should not be limited to scientists on remote mountaintops, but instead shared with the public.

And today, it continues that mission, offering free access to lectures, exhibits, and planetarium shows that bring the science of the universe within reach for everyone in Los Angeles.

That connection between city and sky is still celebrated.

Marking more than a century of public astronomy, the Los Angeles Astronomical Society has hosted community star parties at the observatory, inviting Angelinos to look up and experience the universe for themselves.

The Los Angeles Astronomical Society attracts the nerdiest herd animals in the finest city on the face of the earth.

That's you.

That's you.

Live it.

The Los Angeles Astronomical Society is celebrating its 100th birthday.

We were founded in 1926, and it being 2026, we hear it's time to throw a party.

How are we doing, Los Angeles Astronomical Society?

Cheer louder, it's raining.

This is a hundred years of public service to the people of Los Angeles with telescopes, talks, outreach in schools, fighting against light pollution, and generally sharing the wonders of the sky with the people of LA.

One of our primary missions is doing telescope outreach.

And we do a star party here every month.

So we're doing the biggest version of what we normally do, and we're celebrating by having a hundred telescopes out here today for each of our hundred years.

I'm here with my college's science club.

We're really looking forward to seeing the different types of telescopes that are here because it seems like there's a bunch of really cool different things that are going on here, and I'm just really excited to learn more about space and the stars, especially with the Artemis mission that happened recently.

So yeah, it's very cool.

I think it's just a really cool place to come out, especially because it's free, so it's very accessible to people.

It's always best to learn more about the stars and the world around you.

Los Angeles is actually a really relevant site for astronomy.

Mount Wilson Observatory, they've housed the world's largest telescope twice with the 60 inch and the 100 inch.

Edwin Hubble notably discovered that our galaxy isn't all there is in the universe, and that the universe is indeed expanding.

That happened right up there on the hill.

There's a lot of astronomy happening right here.

Southern California is really important in the history of astronomy.

And now we're going back into space, we're going to the moon, and I think it's an even better time to be celebrating.

Happy birthday.

Happy 100th, and let's hear it for another hundred years more of looking up.

We're here at the Los Angeles Festival of Books.

It's a really awesome time to see just so many varieties of books.

We started over here at the children's section, but we're going to move over to the adult fiction.

And you're seeing so many cultures represented, so many amazing artworks, and just a great thing for LA to come together.

So we have two different activities going on.

We have the Lexicon activity, which is a large 16 by 20 book that is essentially a living and growing book.

People are gonna come and they add a collage, they add a word, they can add their name.

And then we also have a bookbinding activity.

It's more so just creating a little mini-sized book that people can walk away with, and they can decorate it, they can emboss it, can just have fun and be creative and do whatever they want.

We've got three different booths going on.

So we're signing people up for our commemorative Central 100 library card.

We're giving away our rotunda color by numbers coloring page with a custom 12 pack of colored pencils to complete the challenge.

We are giving away free books in English and in Spanish, and we're also celebrating the launch of our Papa book, Central Library Pops with Angel City Press.

They have uh authors here signing books.

So I can't wait to see Amy Tan and all sorts of other people.

First of all, it's a huge community gathering.

So people feel part of Los Angeles.

And the other is that we need to read books.

You know, there's so much on TV and all these other ways that are taking people's time.

And so to remind people that it's good to read books is a wonderful thing.

People love books.

No matter what they tell you, people still read.

But I think they still want information.

They still need uh opportunities to find out new things.

And books are a good avenue for those things.

There's so many authors here telling us about their work and how they do it and on various subjects that are of interest to everyone.

And what I know is in order to sell a book, in order to inform people that you have books, you have to actually trust the people.

You have to get out and talk to them.

And so they've done an excellent job of setting up booths, sending up different tents, setting up different opportunities for authors to get their word out about their works.

It opens up the possibility of kids being introduced to new books.

So anyone, any age, anybody is able to come in, kind of find what they're interested in.

That's how you find kind of books that you want to read.

We're hopefully gonna see approximately 160,000 people.

Last year we saw 2,000 that came through our booth alone.

And I just think it's really important for DC to be out here because a lot of people still don't know what the Department of Cultural Affairs is, what we do, what we offer, and find ways to engage in the arts.

Reading is so important, especially if you have young kids.

I think it's something they should definitely be exposed to.

They have read alouds for all different ages over here.

They can do get a read aloud.

I just think there's something for everyone.

I think it's so beautiful that everyone's come together and really celebrate books and celebrate each other as a city.

It's free, it's easy to get to.

There's so many amazing things to see here.

Great talks, great artists.

So definitely recommend it for anybody next time.

Prom is just one of those events.

It's really the culmination of your K 12 education.

And it would be sad if a child couldn't attend prom because they couldn't afford a suit or a fancy dress.

We find that many of our families in the LA area can't afford uh the dresses and the jewelry and the suits that go along with this.

So it gives us an opportunity to give back to our communities.

Costs of things are very high, so giving them an opportunity to have that prom dream come true with a nice dress, it's always a good feeling.

We can kind of launch them on their adulthood with this special gift.

We are giving away prom dresses and suits, shoes and handbags and makeup.

We're here to make sure they have an amazing prom.

Getting dresses for free, shoes for free, jewelry, makeup, this is like a huge opportunity.

So many dresses and so many options.

I absolutely loved it, and I think it was phenomenal.

I got my suit, nice formal uh suit.

Uh, it's been nice.

There were a lot of options, and it was really hard for me.

I was picking through dresses, you know, going back and forth trying to find a color scheme for my prom based on the um theme.

I got my dress, I got my makeup, I got my jewelry for that day, and I also got sheets.

When you see a mom come in with her daughter and share in this pivotal moment that both of them are gonna remember for a lifetime, that takes the cake every time.

I mean, not only does it support, you know, those who may not be able to afford a suit, but also to break the stigma between the you know officers and community.

Law enforcement is here to support you.

We aren't just here to solve crimes, we are here to build a relationship and a partnership with our community.

This is a chance to give back, so we're here for it.

I love to be generous and donate the girls' faces when I see them in the fitting room and they're happy.

To me, that's the best thing.

Thank you so much for this event.

Um, the opportunity to come and shop for one of the important things in my life.

Thank you for the time you put into this, and just thank you for all of it.

I think what was so significant today is the commemoration and celebration of Arab American Heritage Month, the contributions of so many city employees.

So this was really significant in recognizing it.

There were four honorees today from the Brewer Engineering Street Lighting, Zelda Sanitation, as well as the Bureau of Contract Administration.

These are the hard working behind the scenes, talented people, and they have been a significant part in ensuring that we have a city that functions.

Just a testament to their work ethics and who they are as Angelinos.

Los Angeles is a city for everyone, and Los Angeles is a city of diversity.

The citizenships of the people who are living here are contributing to the well-being and to the flourishing of this beautiful city.

We don't forget where did we come from, but we cherish this, our roots, and you continue our future.

I am very thankful, very honored to receive the Arab American Heritage Award.

It means a lot to me because of what's going on in the world, especially in Palestine and Lebanon.

I am an Arab, a Palestinian American.

It feels great to be honored by the city of Los Angeles.

It's both humbling and powerful at the same time.

So many people carry with them the heavy griefs and concern about their families in other parts in the Mid East.

And we should celebrate and recognize that.

Check out these things to do.

Join LA City's Department of Recreation and Parks for its annual family festival.

Salute to Recreation.

Head to the Northridge Recreation Center for three days of fun activities on Friday, May 15th, Saturday, May 16th, and Sunday, May 17th.

Activities include teen night, sports tournament, senior dance, and battle of the bands.

There will also be food and drinks, a marketplace, beer garden, and fun for the whole family.

Find out more at recreation.parks.la city.gov.

Los Angeles Public Library is celebrating the diversity of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities in Los Angeles and AAPI Joy.

This free festival for all ages will explore AAPI voices then and now.

Celebrate the city's rich AAPI heritage and help forge a shared future of acceptance and inspiration with the greater Los Angeles community.

The day-long event includes performances, talks, crafts, and more with an opening line dance at 11 a.m.

Visit LA's Central Library for AAPI Joy on Saturday, May 16th, beginning at 11 a.m.

and continuing through 4 p.m.

Learn more at LAPL.org.

Wreckin Parks, along with the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, presents a wheelchair basketball skills camp on Saturday, May 16th and Sunday, May 17th.

Westwood Recreation will host youth and adult clinics made possible by the LA 28 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

There will also be special guest appearances by Team USA Paralympians.

Pre-registration is required as space for the camp is limited.

The Play LA wheelchair basketball skills camp takes place on Saturday, May 16th, and Sunday, May 17th.

For more info, go to Recreation.parks.la City.gov.

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

In many ways, Griffith Observatory is more than a landmark.

It's a bridge between Earth and sky, past and future.

It has appeared in countless films and television shows, embedding itself into the cultural identity of Los Angeles.

But beyond its cinematic allure, it continues to fulfill its original mission to inspire wonder.

In a city defined by dreams, this hilltop institution reminds us to look up and imagine what lies beyond.

Its location within Griffith Park provides the ultimate outdoor view of the Hollywood sign, complemented by immersive exhibits exploring the wonders of space and science.

The Griffith Observatory is dedicated to transforming visitors into active explorers of our universe.

And here above the city lights, Griffith Observatory reminds us that no matter how vast the universe may be, it's always within reach if we simply take the time to look up.

Thanks for watching.gov forward slash TV.

And don't forget to follow at LA City on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

Until next time, get out there and experience all the wonderful things that Los Angeles has to offer.

Mm-hmm.

To the regularly scheduled meeting of your Los Angeles City Council.

Today is Wednesday, the thirteenth day of May in the year twenty twenty-six.

Our apologies for starting uh late this morning.

Uh Mr.

Clerk, um, let's begin by calling the roll.

Bloomenfield, Harris Dawson, Hernandez, Hutt, Harado, Lee, McOscar, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Raman, Rodriguez, Soda Martinez, Yaroslavsky, 11 members, and a core, Mr.

President.

All right.

Uh, first order of business.

Approval of the minutes of May twelfth, twenty twenty-six.

Councilman moves, Councilmember Bloomfield seconds.

What's next?

Commendatory resolutions for approval.

Councilmember Hernandez moves, Councilmember Rodriguez seconds.

Can we run through our agenda?

Items one through three are items noticed for public hearings.

Items four and five are items for which public hearings have been held.

Items six through twenty are items for which public hearings have not been held.

Please note for item number nineteen, there is a journal correction.

For the fiscal impact statement, the city clerk reports that for option one, if the council determines to adopt the proposed initiative ordinance, there would be no additional financial impact relative to election costs.

For option two, the city council determines to submit the proposed ordinance to the electorate at the November third, 2026 general municipal election.

There will be zero to minimal additional financial impact relative to election costs since there will be citywide races included on the ballot.

Ten votes are required for consideration.

All right, without objection.

Hi, thank you, Council President.

I would like to continue item eight for one month, please.

And that would be to Friday, June twelfth, twenty twenty-six.

Councilmember Price.

Any other specials members?

All right.

Um clerk, what items are available for consideration at this time.

None at this time, Mr.

President.

Would the council like to move on to public comment?

All right, before we go to public comment, I want to yield to Councilmember Price for a special introduction.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

We've got a visitor from Washington, DC with us today.

My dear friend Frank Smith Jr.

Frank stand up, please.

Frank is a is a hero and an advocate of the civil rights movement, was active, founding member of SNCC, student nonviolent coordinating committee.

Back in the day.

Yeah.

Served.

Served as a member of the Washington DC City Council, I think two terms or three terms, right?

Excuse me, four terms.

And is currently the founder and president of the uh African American Civil War Museum in Washington, D.C.

that's going to chronicle the history and legacy of black soldiers during the revolutionary war, during the civil war.

And so we just want to uh welcome Frank with us today.

Thank you so much.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Mr.

City Attorney, if you can uh prepare us for public comment.

Yes, Mr.

President.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The items open for public comment on the agenda are items one through three, items six and seven, and items nine through twenty.

So again, the items that are open for public comment on the agenda today are items one through three, items six and seven, and items nine through twenty.

Item number eight has been continued to June 12th and is thus not open for public comment.

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

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

We will tell you when your time is up.

I have a few more announcements.

If I could please have the interpreters make this first one allowed to the room, please.

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

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

Thank you.

If you have made an accommodation request pursuant to the ADA in order to make use of the wireless handheld microphone, please let the sergeants know by raising your hand when it is your turn to speak, so that they can provide you with that wireless handheld microphone.

Finally, in order to help us run an efficient public comment period and to accommodate as many people as possible, as you can see, we have a lot of folks who are here today.

Uh, we would ask that you please wait until you hear the name that you signed up under, called aloud before lining up on your left-hand side of the council chambers to speak.

Thank you.

Before we begin, I'd like to call up a few names.

Melissa Dokodole, Jessica Durham, Eric Cruz, Edgar Jimenez, Stuart Waldman, and Marina Zamora.

I'll also make a quick announcement as you finish public comment.

Please exit to your right.

Good morning.

And uh again to help us get through as many people as possible.

Uh, if you could also, once you get to the podium, please state which items you'd like to speak to and whether or not you would also like general public comment.

And if I could also have the interpreters make that announcement aloud to the room in Spanish, I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

Good morning, what would you like to speak to?

Uh item 20.

Okay.

So you have one minute for the item.

Go ahead.

Uh, good morning, council members.

My name is Edgar Dias Jimenez.

I have work at Quantas LAX for 10 years.

Uh right now right now I make like uh 2250 an hour.

I'm a father of two kids.

Uh I have a daughter and a son.

Uh my rent is almost like two thousand dollars for a one bedroom apartment.

Uh I had to pay rue uh food, uh, health care.

Right now I don't even have health care, only my kids and my wife.

Uh I had to pay bills, transportation, taking I take care of my kids too.

Uh and at the end of the month there's nothing almost nothing left.

I work hard at LAX.

I help the ser I am a self-service.

Uh I'm a server, I uh I'm a bartender, sometimes I do dishwashing.

Uh and I help all the travelers.

But after ten years, I think I should be earning a little bit more because I work a lot.

Thank you, next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Item number 20.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Good morning, Council members.

My name is Eric Cruz, and I have worked for Concord Collective at LAX as a cook for the past two years.

I'm also a father.

My daughter will turn two later on this year.

Right now I'm still living with my parents because the cost of living in Los Angeles is so high.

I work hard, I show up, and I help keep LAX running.

But even with a full-time job, it is still hard to afford a place of my own and support my family.

I'm counting on the wage increase this summer to help me provide for my daughter.

That increase is not extra money, it is money for rent, diapers, food, gas, and basic things the young family needs to survive.

Taking this way taking this away from workers like me will be devastating.

Please do not lower our wages.

My daughter is counting on this, and so am I.

I urge you to oppose this motion and stand with airport and tourism workers.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And uh I before we begin with the next thank you.

Uh, before we begin with the next speaker, if I could have the interpreter's assistance with this announcement.

So the uh I'm glad everybody's here today, and I can see that we have a lot of folks here who are holding up signs.

Uh one of our council rules actually limits the size of the sign to eight by eleven.

That's eight inches by eleven.

So I would ask that you please if your sign is larger than that and you're able to fold it so that it complies with that size, so please do so.

The rule is not designed to be punitive.

It's because in cases like this where we have a lot of people, we want to make sure that other people behind you can actually see the meeting.

Thank you.

And Mr.

President, before we move on to the next speaker, there's been a request to hold items 19 and 20 on the desk.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Item 20.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Good morning.

My name is Melissa Doggo Doggle.

I am a member of Unite Hero 11.

And I'm a constituent of Council Member Soto Martinez, and I have worked at the Walter Vistoria for seven years.

Please reject item 20.

The Olympic wage is supposed to be ensuring workers who are welcome.

And count on health care protections they were promised.

This motion would push back where it's on both.

Corporate interests already overturned this law through a multi-million dollar campaign that they lost.

Now they're threatening the city to get from this council what they can't win from voters.

Please stand on the side of democracy and with working families to vote no on item 20.

I yield my time.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names.

Reverend Rosa Manriquez, Rob Nothoff, Maria Cortez, Belinda Gonzalez, Elisa Diaz, and White 2 VLA.

Good morning, Speaker.

What would you like to speak to?

Stuart Waldman, public comment and item 20.

Okay, so you have one minute for the item, that's item 20, and one minute for general.

Please begin with the item.

Go ahead.

We're here in support of uh item 20.

Uh, the proposal is a common sense solution.

Uh no one is saying to repeal uh the wage, just asking it to be spread out a little longer to help businesses be able to um brace for that impact.

Already with the passage of the of the original ordinance, thousands of jobs have been lost.

A construction project in the valley that would have created thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs was cancelled, and that may never come back.

The fact is that we are not asking for uh something this problematic.

We're just asking for the time to be able to uh allow businesses to be put in a position to pay this wage.

Um, we think it's uh a good solution, and we appreciate all the work on that, and uh look forward to hearing if there's any changes uh as well.

General public comment?

Additionally, um I understand that there may be some discussion about the restaurants.

Ah, I still have time.

Okay, hold on.

Can we pause the time really quick?

So uh again, I assume we're gonna hear from competing views today.

Would really appreciate if everybody could be polite as possible and not interrupt other people when they're at the podium to speak.

Thank you.

Uh additionally, I understand that there's uh discussions about the restaurants in the hotels, that the way the um the proposal with the regions um doesn't hit all the areas that are of concern, especially in the San Fernando Valley.

Um we are hoping that there'll be some amendments uh that make it more fair and touch all parts of the city uh to ensure that people continue to have jobs in those restaurants.

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names.

Yanwen Gu, Araceli Ortega, Rosa Manriquez, Ronald Bermudez, and Fidel Vasquez.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

I think it on the map.

Okay.

So good morning.

My name is uh Maria Uh Samora.

Uh, I need a translation, please.

So member the local once del Consejo Price Food for Union.

Hello, I am a member of Local Eleven.

I work.

Uh I work for Flying Food Group as of uh a year.

I live in Councilman member Price's district, and I'm asking that you vote uh opposed to the ordinance.

The corporations are threatening the efficiency of city services unless if the council members cut the salaries of the employees.

And take away uh health care.

And that is against the ethics and the laws of the city that they are put in place exactly exactly to avoid situations like this.

That the corporations threaten uh the economy by cutting uh wages and health care.

And giving in to that threat not only uh harms the workers.

And it tells uh in the corporation, the city that extortion works.

And the tourism workers, they already appealed and they actually won this battle.

They show that the voters.

Oh, okay.

So thank you.

Next speaker, and while we're waiting for the next speaker, I'm gonna ask the interpreters to interpret this as well.

If we run out of time to hear you today, or if you run out of time at the podium, you can always provide additional public comment online.

And you can do so by visiting la councilcomment.com.

Again, that's LA Council Comment.com.com.

LA Council Comment.com.

And you can find that address at the top of every council agenda.

Yes, you internet se puede ver in la parte superior de la hoja del agenda del Consejo.

Thank you.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Item 20 in general public comment.

Okay.

So you have one minute for each.

The way it will work is you'll see one minute, you'll hear a buzzer, and then you'll get an additional minute for general public comment.

Please begin with the item.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

My name is Rosa Menriquez.

When poor workers receive a pay raise, their health improves dramatically.

Studies have found that when minimum wages go up, rates of child neglect, underage alcohol consumption, and teen births go down.

These are the words of Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize winner in his book, Poverty by America.

This motion is extortion.

The industry is plainly saying that if you don't cut wages in health care, they will try to destroy the budget of the city of Los Angeles.

Along with thoughts and prayers, the impoverished are told to have hope.

That is an easy way to turn your back on your workers.

If you are not willing to be that hope through fearless leadership and protection, don't turn your back on us and kneel before corporate bullies who use millions of dollars to oppress us while they protest they don't have funds for their workers.

Don't abuse the worker who is destitute and needy, whether they are a fellow Israelite or foreigner living in your land and in your city.

Pay them at the end of each work day.

They're living from hand to mouth and need it now.

If you hold back their pay, they'll protest to God, and you'll have sin on your books, Deuteronomy.

Along with thoughts and prayers, the impoverished are told to have hope.

I'll end with one more quote from Matthew Desmond.

The unprincipled act of trapping the poor in a cycle of debt has existed as least as long as the written word, it might be the oldest form of exploitation after slavery.

Do the right thing, be principled, have integrity, and fearlessness.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Item 20 and general.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Uh good morning, uh, Council members.

My name is Maria Cortez with Hotel Irwin, a family owned hotel Irwin in Venice Beach.

I respectfully ask for your support in adopting this exclusion for hotel restaurant workers.

Hotel restaurants in Los Angeles are already facing rising labor costs, inflation, slower consumer spending, and growing competition for nearby restaurants that are not subject to the same requirements.

For family owned hotels like ours, additional mandates can lead to difficult decisions such as reducing hours, cutting services, or closing restaurant operations all together.

This exclusion offers a fair and balanced approach that protects employee while also recognizing the financial reality hotel restaurants are facing.

Thank you for your consideration and time.

So we as Mexicans will make our carnecala, and it could be with using firewood to give it more flavor.

I'm from San Fernando Valley, so please uh I ask you not to uh put this law into effect.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

I'd like to comment on the number of name is Gerardo Villaruela.

I am from the San Fernando, and I'm against it.

So in my restaurant, we used uh coal to uh make um roast chicken uh on the grill.

And this would end up ruining my business, which my family and I have depended on for many years.

And um, we have many workers who also depend on our restaurant, and so us uh our restaurant being ruined would also leave other families to be in ruin.

And so that's why we're here to ask for your support so that we can continue in business.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

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

Paloma Bustos, Alita Morales, Mark Krause, and Shao's son.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

I'm here to uh comment against a proposition five.

I have a restaurant, El Michacano.

Limpieza y todo eso.

Okay.

So uh I have a restaurant, and uh basically part of what we cook at our restaurant is grail chicken, and we use firewood to grow that chicken.

And so we are I'm asking for you to support to not uh approve this proposition so that we can continue to focus on elements outside of that.

Thank you.

Gracias.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Good morning, Lisa Baca, California State Horseman's Association.

I'm here to speak to General Public Comic and Nine and Five.

I'm here to represent the thousands of families and ranch workers who enjoy barbecuing our carna sala safely.

We are not the issue.

Uh last January, there were over 2,000 horses during the fires that migrated from evacuation sites throughout LA.

We know fire.

We are not the target and should not be the target of limited fire resources.

We believe that those resources would better be sent focused on uh Lake Hollywood, Griffith Park, Hansen Dam, and dealing with the unhoused encampment fires that happen weekly, weekly in Hanson Dam.

I personally ride a public trail operation through Hansen Dam, and there is fire all the time from unhoused people that cook their meals um in the park.

So please rethink item number five and oppose targeting residential barbecues.

They are not the problem.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Uh good morning.

Uh, we'll like to speak on item 20.

Okay.

So you have one minute for the item.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Uh good morning.

My name is Ronald Bermudez, and I'm a member of Unite Here Local Eleven.

I have been a member for over 10 years around the downtown area.

And I'm here to say vote no on item 20.

I believe that there's a shakedown scheme afoot.

Corporations are threatening the city with the lost tax revenue unless you cut the wages and health care for working people.

So here's the deal.

Today the council votes to put the grocery seat tax repeal on the ballot and directs the city attorney to draft the wage cut.

Nine days later, the council approves the wage ordinance.

Then once they have what they want, corporations withdraw their own ballot measure, workers lose their wage and health care.

Corporations walk away clean with everything.

Don't give in to this vote no on item 20.

Thank you.

Good morning, Rob No Tov.

Good morning.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Thank you so much.

Uh good morning, Council members.

Uh, my name is Rob No Tov with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, where we're proud to represent over 800,000 workers across every industry in LA County, including the brave workers standing right behind me who are here today because they have had enough.

Let's move forward with this.

Let's actually put this to bed.

We have already passed this.

This continues to come back as if it's like a bad Jason horror movie or something like that.

Let's put this to bed once and for all.

As a reminder, this body move forward.

A deal is a deal.

We have moved this forward, we've legislated it.

Second, the people who did not want this went to try to move referendize this item.

They took it to the LA voters, tried to collect signatures, put millions of dollars behind that effort, and it was rejected.

This is not rolling this back this wage, which is the highest in the country, which people should be proud of, is the word the voters want.

They've rejected the referendum.

Let's move forward our lives.

And the other thing I'd say is there's a signs behind me say stop the shakedown.

People are trying to move a gross receipts tax to try to repeal this, and we know the impacts it would have on our city workers, but we ran a poll on this.

Again, city voters, this folks of LA are not in favor of what is what trying to be done and legislated by this body.

Repealing the gross receipts tax polls at 22% when we do that.

When we tell folks what this will do, when it takes away the essential services, when it takes away potentially fire, when it takes away police, when it takes away sanitation, when it impacts 911 operators, folks are gonna overwhelmingly reject this.

It goes to a 70% disapproval, it caps at 22%.

This is something that will be rejected at the poll, so let's not fall for the shakedown.

Let's stand with the strongest work, the salted the earth workers uh who are standing behind me, and let's put an end to the charade.

Thank you.

Good morning, what would you like to speak to?

Item 20 and general comment.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

My name is Mark Krauss, and I'm with the Democratic Socialist of America, Los Angeles.

I'm from El Sereno, City Council District 14.

And I implore council to not give in to this billionaire shakedown, and to stand with the Olympic wage, because in our city, it's workers over billionaires.

It's people over corporations, it's community power over capitalist greed.

It's shameful that the council president has brought item 20 forward after years of organizing from a powerful labor community coalition that won the Olympic wage.

That coalition is here today, and we are here to say stand with working people, vote no on item 20, stop the shakedown.

I yield my time.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names.

Ariel Moore, Gerardo Oriel, Fatima Marietta, Maria Salinas, and Tomasa Martinez.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Uh item number 20.

Okay, so you have one minute for the item.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

My name is Paloma Bustos, and I'm with the Sunita Jain at the traffic initiative at Loyola Law School.

I urge you to vote no on efforts to weaken wages or health care protections for hotels and airport workers ahead of the Olympic and World Cup.

The city already voted last year to support the Olympic wage.

Council should not should continue standing with workers instead of giving to pressure from corporations.

The World Cup is just one month away, and these events are expected to bring huge profits to hotels and tourism businesses.

The workers helping make these events possible and deserve fair wages and healthcare.

So good morning, my name is Alida Morales.

My rent is actually two thousand eight hundred dollars.

And with my income, I have to support five people.

So it doesn't go very far.

But can we pause the time just to let the interpreters catch up, please?

So I at first I was, you know, I was okay with this new salary, but we still end up having to come back here and keep fighting for this salary, and now you want to take away 20%.

And I work for flying Food Group, and they are a company that makes millions and millions of dollars, and they pay us peanuts.

Please vote no on this proposal.

What are you doing?

Please vote no on 20.

Please help us.

Okay, Mr.

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

Go ahead.

Okay, assholes.

Listen up.

Don't say that I have to fight for fucking three more dollars to pay for my my costs.

I can't even buy a pumpkin at the market, just like your head.

Haven't I spoken before this jury, before this city, and before the public, that you waited too long to explain the reason why you have to wait till 2030 for $30 fucking raise when you can't even buy a house in California for $30 fucking dollar raise?

It's the same fucking shit.

People are suffering.

It's not because of Trump, it's because of this fucked up local government and your fucked up corruption.

Can you translate that, please?

Keep going.

Miraway, translate, pendejo.

Not how it works.

Keep going.

Okay.

Or I'm gonna move you to general public comment.

This is your only warning.

You're here at the moment.

I want to comment on item number 15 and explain the other questions.

Are you listening, Fatso?

Numero 15.

Yeah, you guys can laugh because he thinks that he's the government that's running us.

And so you have all of these fucking veterans that can't pay their rent, can't pay their food, they're sleeping on the streets.

Uh these fucking veterans that have served for this dumbass government.

God bless you.

Donald J.

Trump and David O'Carter.

Stop this corruption in Los Angeles and California.

I warned earlier this is not on the agenda.

You said item 15.

I'm gonna move you to general public comment.

You have one minute.

Go ahead.

Now into my general public comment for the record.

In my case in my hand, I will file for the record case number CV1207261, DSF, SHX, Michael Hunt versus the City of Los Angeles.

I'm gonna read it into the record politely and with all courtesy to the public.

Violation wore offensive clothing.

Violation, have signs.

The t-shirt said fuck white nigger sick too.

Let me repeat the t-shirt, not mine on here, it says art, because I'm an artist and I can display art on my shirt, asshole.

Not like the dick on your back, monkeys.

So the t-shirt said fuck white niggers sick too in violation of city LA public commission hearing decorum.

However, the plaintiff is informed and believes, and upon such information, believes and alleges that the fucking city expelled him for simply saying, your turn your time is expired.

If we hear you again, it will constitute a disruption of this meeting it'll be subject from pursuit rule seven and rule twelve next speaker.

Good morning.

Sorry about that.

Uh what would you like to speak to Buenos Hi good morning.

Uh 20 and general public comment okay so we have one minute for each go ahead my name is Tomasa Martinez and I'm an ACE member.

Uh four years ago we started working for uh Olympic wages.

We stay strong on having fair wages and health care for our tourist uh tourism workers I still keep three ACE has been here for three years fighting for higher wages and lower rentos and the council shouldn't be changing their votes now all of a sudden you should be voting no to this we need to have we can't have all of this poor and rich people it's over we're done with that um speaking on public comment and item twenty good morning you have one minute for each go ahead my name's Fatima Morieta I'm a lifelong Angelina and a former hotel worker I'm here today with jobs to move America to urge you to vote no on the motion to cut wages and health care for tourism workers the city has already let workers down by not demanding a strong human rights plan ahead of the FIFA World Cup.

You have a chance to write that wrong and stand by tourism workers today it's heartening that we're here again reminding you to stand with workers just weeks before the World Cup a mega sporting event that the city will profit from made possible by the labor of hundreds of tourism workers many of him of here of them here today this past summer I spoke with voters across your districts as these companies pushed their referendum campaign to defeat the wage and Heleno saw through the corporate deception stood with workers and we won.

Honor your commitments to your constituents stand with workers protect workers don't keep to corporate tactics thank you.

Before the next speaker begins I'd like to call up a few more names Diana Rios Sanchez Reverend Gary Williams Jordan Long, Lara Bonnett, and Mark Krause.

Good morning what would you like to speak to?

Item 20 and general public comment okay so you have one minute for each go ahead my name is Nella McCosker I represent Central City Association of Los Angeles or CCA.

We are a downtown focused organization but represent businesses and institutions across the city let me say first that I have fundamentally disagreed with the process that has led us to today wages and benefits ought to be negotiated at the bargaining table that is a time honored tradition to balance the power of labor and business whose interests are inexorably entwined in ensuring that we have good strong wages and businesses that are open if we have to go through that process which much of this council did legislated wages for an industry outside of the bargaining table then what we have to do in a moment when and I think the speaker just before me referenced FIFA that's an example of a major global event that should have had hundreds of thousands of visitors and we are not seeing those bookings we're seeing the cost of fuel very dramatically increasing.

I think I have one more minute.

And and at a time when, as I see in my geography, hotels empty, hotels closing, all of the small businesses that surround them relying on their success to keep their doors open.

It is fair and right to balance or rebalance a worker pay scale so that we can meet this moment and balance the challenges that this tourism industry faces.

Moving forward, I would really respectfully request that this council not legislate benefits and wages.

But if we have come to this moment, let's take a look at these uh adjustments and figure out a way to keep this industry alive as we do try to welcome the world and appreciate the benefits for both sides of this issue.

Thank you.

Which items would you like to speak to?

20.

Okay, you'll have one minute.

So my name is Jordan Long.

I work for Delta at LAX, I'm a bartender, and I'm also a constituent of uh Council President Marquise Harris Doss, and I live in Baldwin Hills in the house that my grandparents helped raise me in.

So this is important to me.

I'm particularly disgusted that he's introducing a motion that would lower wages for airport and tourism workers like me.

Because I would expect my council member to stand up for working Angelinos, not help giant companies take money out of our pockets.

It's absolutely astonishing and disgusting to see my company spend millions to stop hard working Angelinos and our families from earning a better living wage.

Delta is an official partner of LA28, along with the hotel lobby and united.

And they're trying to undermine the very workers who make the Olympic Games even possible to host in this city.

Council President Harris Das and I am asking you directly as your constituent, withdraw this motion.

Do not lower our wages.

Do not be fooled by corporate threats against the city budget, stand strong and defend the Olympic wage.

Your politicians, do you want the image or the impact?

Because you could lose both if you go the wrong way on this one.

Thank you.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Good afternoon, my name is Lorena Mendes.

20 in general, please.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Oh, you're not.

I fought for the Olympic wage.

I've even participated in hunger strikes to be heard.

We asked the council members to stay firm.

And when you voted in favor for us, this changed our lives a lot.

And being able to enjoy more time with my family and not having to stay past my eight hours working overtime just to pay my rent.

We want to live and enjoy our time with our family, not having to survive.

Generally, and we thank you so much for this because you supported us, and we want to urge you to stay firm with this.

That's why I'm here.

Don't take this away from us now.

Don't let the airlines and the hotels intimidate you to uh fool you to lower our wages.

For us the workers who are there working hard every day representing uh so that they can actually enjoy their business uh flourishing.

And making it possible that tourism and uh LAX can circulate well.

We are the workers who are going to welcome the world during the Olympics.

I think we deserve respect and a fair wage to be able to live.

Please, I ask you to stay firm once again.

Thank you so much.

God bless you.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

My name is Laura Banuet, and I'm speaking on on item 20.

Okay.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Please begin with the item.

Go ahead.

Good morning.

My name is Laura Banuet, been here plenty of times, and I'm a member of Unite Here Local Eleven.

I work uh for HMS Host at LAX, and I have my daughter in college, depending on me.

Please vote no on item 20.

Council President Harris Dawson, which is not here today or was, the Olympic wage ordinances sick exists because tourism workers reserve a living wage.

Workers believe and have been counting on these increases.

Two years ago, I was one of the members, uh union members who um we went on a hunger strike in front of City City Hall, and we all met with the president, Harris Dawson, and we all and you supported us, you committed yourself to your support to our cause.

We know that airline and hotel interests are willing to threaten city revenue to hold the city hostage until workers give up their wages and health care.

We have endured the pandemic and rising costs.

Now, just as relief was in reach, corporations want to rewrite the rules, do not let them vote no on item 20.

Don't turn over our tortilla.

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names.

Laura Escavell, Lorena Mendez, Olga Ruiz, Mario Gonzalez, Deborah Lewis, and Bertie Roberts.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Good morning, I'd like uh public comments and um uh 20.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Okay, thank you.

Uh, good morning, everyone.

My name is Gary Bernard Williams.

I'm a pastor at St.

Mark United Methodist Church of Los Angeles in the 8th District.

And today uh I stand before you with all my sisters and brothers behind me because we urge you to say no, to vote no on this motion to put the wages and health care for tourist workers.

It's an outrage that this body is considered taking away wages and health care, increases for workers who will be working during the Olympics and the World Cup.

These are the people that the tourists will see first.

It's been a full year.

The Olympic wage will ensure that thousands of workers would finally have the increase that will help their families.

If you pass this motion, wholesale workers will suffer with no health coverage.

This is extortion.

The industry is planning and using this against the city to make more money.

So we ask you to please vote no on this.

I'm a housekeeper at Roseburg Hotel.

I clean the rooms of one of the most famous hotels, and even so I still don't have enough to pay my rent.

Thank you so much.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to me?

Article 20 and commentary general.

Okay.

Yeah, 20 in general.

So you get uh one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Hello.

I am Maria Gonzalez.

I'm a member of United Here Local 11.

I worked in this industry for more than nine years, and I live in district eight.

Please vote no on item number 20.

Councilmember Harris Dawson, for two years the tourism workers have fought for this Olympic wage.

And they helped defeat a corporate campaign of millions of dollars.

To take that away from us now.

This motion would cut the salaries for more than 20% by more than 20%.

And would take away healthcare coverage for another complete year.

The workers counted with this improvement after years of fighting.

Please do what the voters asked for.

Vote no on item number 20.

Thank you so much.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names.

Tasnim Chalkari, Yovin Houston, Yamalet de Paz, Paloma Bustos, Trump LA, Special Master, and Corruption B Trump.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Good morning, my name is Pastor Brighty Roberts, and I'll be speaking to item 20 in general public comments.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Good morning, Council members.

My name is Pastor Brighty Roberts.

I am the community organizing director from Unite Here Local Eleven.

I've also been serving in the ministry for more than 20 years here in Los Angeles.

I'm here today not as a political voice but to bring you a moral message.

These workers, these workers behind me, these workers who are speaking to you who are the very backbone of Los Angeles' largest and most profitable industry, tourism, who the city could not survive without have done everything right.

They organized, they negotiated in good faith, they made their case to voters of Los Angeles, and the voters agreed.

The process deserves respect.

What troubles me very deeply in this moment beside the craven nature of bowing to corporations who wish to extort our city is that the rules can change after the fact, that a promise made to working people can be quietly walked back when powerful interests apply enough pressure, dismissing the voices of tens of thousands of workers and their family and their children.

People of faith across every tradition understand what it means to keep your word.

We teach our children that a commitment is a commitment, that you do not mislead people who trusted you.

These workers trusted the city, they took unpaid time off week after week after week, even though it cut into their budget to speak to you and to go through a democratic process.

They trusted you.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Thanks to this uh ordinance, I was able to pay the rent without worrying about myself or my family ending up on the streets.

And I've also been able to pay my medical bills on time, and I've been able to benefit from a level of stability that I hadn't had before.

Now workers have been able to have housing and a better life.

But what would happen if our salaries go down?

No podemos permitir esto.

We can't allow for that.

It's not right for a billionaire corporations to want to take away something that we've already won.

I'm here to remind you to stay strong.

Delta United.

American Airlines and Gastado Millions de dollars.

Delta United, American Airlines have all spent millions of dollars to threaten you to convince you to not give us what we're due.

General public comment.

And now they're threatening the budget, and it is really an embarrassment.

It's a shame.

And so we're here to ask you to support workers and don't give in to this corporate pressure.

Los Angelinos Corporation.

We have value and it matters.

We want respect, we want justice, and what you we want you to honor what was already signed into law.

We're human beings and we deserve a fair life.

We don't want for them to continue to play with play around with us day after day.

And so we're here in front of you because we are the backbone of this economy.

We're the ones that keep it moving.

So say yes to being able to support workers for social justice for the for us as people, and to be our warriors to be able to fight for us and protect us.

Thank you.

What would you like to speak to?

Good morning.

I'd like to speak to item 20 and public comment.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Good morning, uh Council members.

My name is Deborah Lewis.

I've been a voter and a resident of Council District 11 since 1980.

My husband and I have both worked at LAX for many years.

As of this year, I've been uh server at a company at the airport for over 42 years.

Council Member Park, I'm speaking to you as one of your constituents.

I know that uh homelessness has been one of the um points that you have been uh campaigning upon in our district.

Well, I need you to understand that I personally know LAX workers who are on the verge of homelessness.

These are people with jobs.

I'm here to stand with my brothers and sisters who depend on the living wage to support their families.

We don't need uh council to make it harder for them.

We need you to raise the workers up, not to help the companies push them down, especially at a time when the gas prices, the rent, and the food prices are outrageous.

We want and you want to eliminate our raise, shame on any council member that would support uh proposition 20.

When the world is on our doorstep, and is this the face that you want to show the world?

Is this what Los Angeles is supposed to become?

We ask that you please vote no on Proposition 20.

Support the workers and lift up everybody in Los Angeles.

Thank you very much.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Just the general public comment.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Tazanim Chowdhury, and I am a campaign specialist for the Los Angeles Black Workers Center.

I'm here today because workforce equity recommendations were unanimously advanced by the Charter Reform Commission, and I have not been able to go to meet and confer process.

These recommendations are about modernizing hiring, creating real career pathways into stable city jobs, and ensuring accountability for black workers and communities that have historically been locked out of public sector employment.

For years, black workers in LA have remained understaffed, hiring process remained outdated, and access to good union jobs stay out of reach for too many working people.

We're calling on the council to stand in solidarity to encourage the EERC to help move our recommendation forward through the meet and confer process for our workforce for Angelinos.

Thank you.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

I know you guys miss me, but yes, I'm here again.

Umfortunately, it's not for a good reason.

Um, this is disgusting, utterly disgusting that you are guys allowing the city to go and push back our wages.

We worked hard for that.

For three years, we worked hard.

I was able to get treatment, see specialists that I usually cannot afford.

I was able to do that with that race.

I was able to take my son out to Disneyland with that race that never he has ever been before, and he's 16 years old.

These things that I I've I've always wanted to do for my kids.

I was able to do go out to eat and sit at a restaurant and enjoy it, not worrying about oh my god, is this gonna push my light bill back?

This is disgusting.

Please vote no on this.

This is supposed to be Los Angeles, the city of angels, not the city of corporate greed and ivy.

Thank you.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Hi, item 19 and public comment.

Okay, so we have one minute for the item and one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Good morning, council members.

On behalf of the Sunita Jane Anti Trafficking Initiative, I am writing to emphasize the need to include anti trafficking and anti-exploitation prevention and planning and funding for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Large scale events can increase risks of labor exploitation, wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and trafficking, especially for immigrant communities, low wage workers, youth, and those faking economic insecurity.

These risks should be treated as core public safety, public health, and labour protection concerns.

City agreements with LA 28 should include dedicated funding for prevention and response, including public awareness, labor rights enforcement, culturally responsive outreach, safe reporting systems, survivor-informed and community-based strategies, frontline training, and supportive services for those affected by exploitation.

Without upfront investment, the city is likely to face higher long-term costs through emergency responses, public health, victim services, homelessness services, and labor and criminal justice symptoms.

Hi, General Public Comment.

Okay, commentary public, motion 20, traduction, performance.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Hi, my name is Yamila de Paz.

I am a member of United Here Local Eleven, and I've been working at Flying Food Group for the last 22 years.

And so instead, we want to be able to increase salaries for workers through the Olympic wages they're supposed to be, as well as to have health care for all members of the industry, including hotel restaurant workers.

Don't give in to the corporate pressures to vote for proposition 20.

Vote no and support workers.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Saludos, my name is Eloisa Galindo, so member of ACE.

Hi, my name is Eloisagalindo.

I'm an ACE member, and I also wanted to talk about reclaiming our schools.

At ACE, we have been work we have been fighting for Olympic wages since the beginning of this fight.

We urge you to vote no to uh hurting Olympic wages.

Estamos hablando de la quarta economía más grande del mundo, California.

California has the fourth largest economy in the world.

And we've I've been coming here many times asking you to not privatize public education to provide fair housing and wages.

And you see the problem is is that you all are sellouts.

You all are here that are I've been sold to all of these million billionaire corporations.

And we're coming through ice race we have people living on the street and then you come out with this propaganda.

Recibo receivo campagnes we're seeing all these advertisements that are saying that it's been paid by the apartment associations and it should be a shame you shouldn't feel ashamed for that because you should be here listening to us and giving us what we need.

I'm sorry I wanted to also say uh comment on item 20.

Okay, sorry go ahead you have an additional minute and because we're living in California and you're turning your backs on the people of California.

And many of you are over there sitting at the same table with all the other sellout politicians and the corporate billionaires laughing at all the things that you're doing to us.

And I want you sell out politicians to understand that you should be serving the people and I know those who are out here who are really here for the people like Unicius Hernandez grandes para attacking and I've been looking around and seeing all those big billboards out there attacking the very politicians that are actually here for the people and it's really important for you to understand and I reiterate that you should be working for the people you are representing the people and I get all of these different papers about people's campaigns saying that we're all for housing we're all for supporting workers and then you're turning your backs on us.

Okay.

Good morning what would you like to speak to so okay ladies and gentlemen so appreciate everybody's enthusiasm on both sides I also appreciate that everybody's here, but in order to accommodate as many people as possible, please uh hold keep your applause to minimum.

I'm grateful for the fact that you're doing so after the speaker's done.

But we want to make sure we hear from as many people as possible today.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Hi, my name is Elisa.

I would like to comment on item 20 and general public comment.

So you have one minute for each, go ahead.

Hi, good morning.

My name is Elisa Valencia and I'm a member of Local 11.

Soy constituente del Concejal Price.

I'm a council member Price's constituent.

And I've been working for Flying Flu Groups for 20, or I'm sorry, two years as a packer.

I've been packing for about 20 airlines.

We're here to ask you to vote no on item 20.

Like the uh the public commenter from the Federation of Labor said previously.

Today is a shameful day for the city of Los Angeles when our politicians go to support corporate billionaires.

And today our elected officials are voting on whether or not they want to take away our wages as well as taking away our health care.

You know how long we've been fighting for this win.

Because we're the ones that spending our money in LA.

We're the ones paying the rent.

Please vote no on item 20.

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names.

Stacy Segara Bullinger, Jenny Guerrero, Jolene Mallard, Ezekiel Overa, Goodson, Hayden Muir, and Maria Salinas.

Good afternoon.

What would you like to speak to?

Public comment and 20.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

I worked as a dishwasher and flying food group for three years.

We are the backbone of LAX.

I'm working to support my mother and two younger siblings.

And you want to provide relief for them.

Where's the relief for us, the workers?

Please vote no on Article 20, item 20.

Thank you.

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

Steven Klubeck, Kurt Peterson, Ashia Anderson, Fibiana Fuentes, and Ezekiel Olvera.

Good afternoon.

What would you like to speak to?

General public comment and item 20.

Okay, so you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Thank you so much.

Hello, Council members.

My name is Nick Steuerblock.

I'm a senior researcher at Lane.

A full year after council voted to pass the Olympic wage, the motion before you cuts wages in health care for workers about to host the world's largest events.

We urge you to vote no.

The shameless push by the tourism tourism industry to repeal the business tax in exchange for cutting wages is being justified by the same tired argument that the tourism industry industry is in crisis and can only be resolved off the backs of workers.

But this is not the first time the tourism industry has used scare tactics to stall stronger working standards.

When LA City Council passed higher health care benefits for airport workers in 2009, industry spokespeople warned that flights would decrease as a result.

LAX then saw record passenger numbers every year over the next decade.

When LA City Council passed a hotel worker minimum wage in 2014, we heard repeatedly from industry groups that jobs would be lost, construction would decline, and hotel performance would fall.

But our study comparing hotel markets between 2014 and 2019 show that LA had the highest rate of hotel job growth, strong hotel performance, and in 2019 had the largest number of hotel projects under construction in the world.

The industry's apocalyptic warnings could not have been more wrong.

This dynamic is true today.

Just eight months into this policy's implementation, the industry has put out reports that blatantly disregard basic facts.

The American Hotel and Lodging Association, one of the backers of the business tax repeal, makes the claim that 14,000 hotel workers will lose their jobs as a result of the Olympic wage when there are only around 16,000 hotel workers in the city.

They claim hotels have closed that are in fact still open, and another industry report repeatedly blurs the lines between predicted and actual job loss, showing no evidence for either.

Similar points have been repeated every time workers have won higher wages, but these arguments could not be more cynical as the industry proposed to host in quick succession the World Cup, Super Bowl, and Olympics.

We urge you to stand with tourism workers who are relying on wage and health care increases this July and to vote no on the motion before you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

What would you like to speak to?

Item 20 and public comment.

Okay, you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Good morning.

My name is Joellen Mallard, and I am a member of Unite Here Local Eleven.

I have worked as a cook feeding Los Angeles and its tourists for over 15 years.

The Olympic wage represents a promise that the workers powering Los Angeles tourism will share in the city's Olympic success.

This motion breaks that promise.

We heard that members of the council themselves call these tactics blackmail.

If you know it's blackmail, the right answer is not to surrender.

The proposed changes would cut wages by 20%, delay health care protections for a year, and carve out exemptions to strip coverage from hotel restaurant workers entirely.

These are not adjustments.

They are the industry getting through this council what they couldn't win from the voters.

Reject this motion.

Defend the dignity of workers across this city.

I yield my time.

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

Yaharia Reyes, Mari D, Betty Toto, Mark Krause, Britney Taylor, and Emmanuel Cabrera.

Good afternoon.

What would you like to speak to?

I'd like to speak on item 20.

Okay.

So you have one minute for the item.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

Good morning.

My name is Hayden Muir.

I live in Heather Hutz district, District 10.

I am a father of a two-year-old, and I am a member of Unite Here Local Eleven.

I work as a cook at the Walder Pastoria, and I've been waiting for these health care protections to take effect.

Please vote no on item 20.

This motion would delay health care protections for hotel workers for an entire year.

Working families who have been waiting for these protections to kick in, finally counting on them this year, and now being told to wait again.

The industry fought hard to strip this health care requirement.

And now they want your help to delay it one more time.

Workers have already defeated a multi-million dollar campaign to take this away.

Thanks to Los Angeles voters.

Vote no on item 20.

Don't finish the job corporations couldn't.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

What would you like to speak to?

Good afternoon.

I would like to speak to item 20 and also public comment.

Okay.

So you have one minute for each.

Go ahead.

Okay, thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Aisha Anderson, and I am of a I am a member of Unite Here Local Eleven.

Um I see that Harris Dawson is nowhere to be found.

He's been gone for such a long time.

And I really wanted to talk directly to him since I'm one of his constituents of uh his district, Lamert Park.

Um, so this council also vote no on item 20.

This council has a choice today.

You can stand with a billion dollar corporations demanding concessions, or you can stand with the workers like me who clean rooms, cook meals, greet visitors, and keep LA tourism alive.

We have waited years for wages and protections that were supposed to start this year.

Say no to this attempted bait and switch.

Please defend the will of the voters and the dignity of working people.

Vote no on item 20.

By the way, I'm pretty sure lots of you have grandmothers.

Don't we love our grandmothers?

Well, you know how I spent my Mother's Day.

I was working 10 and a half hours at SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills to make sure everybody else had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Why my grandmother was in the ER.

Stress because trying to figure out how we going to fix the foundation beam in our ceiling.

It's belt to cave in.

26,000.

26 in my grandmother's stress.

And you're talking about taking away wages from me when I'm trying to help her.

So, in the famous words of Rihanna, pay me what you owe me.

Don't act like you forgot.

Bitch better have my money.

Which items would you like to speak to?

I I really hate to follow that.

That was incredible.

Um, I'll take items 18, 19, 20, and general public comment.

Okay, you'll have three minutes for the items, one minute for general public comment.

Thank you.

I wish Groat had stayed up here.

I haven't seen him in a while.

Wanted to say hi.

Um, so item 18 is relative to funding for multiple multidisciplinary services supporting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, and human trafficking.

This is obviously very necessary and a good motion to have on the agenda.

I just think it's interesting how many issues that we have to deal with with funding and supplementary solutions that often come down to um housing.

One of the main reasons, particularly women become unhoused is because they're fleeing domestic violence and they don't have a place to go.

Um, oftentimes domestic violence includes financial abuse.

I can speak to this because I'm a survivor of domestic violence and experienced financial abuse, and I remember being in that desperate situation of do I stay?

Because if I leave, I have nowhere to go.

Item 19 is relative to an initiative petition regarding the repeal of the Los Angeles City business gross tax receipts on virtually all businesses operating in the city.

Now, in this motion, um, we have um potentially freezing unfunded positions in our upcoming adopted budget, because if this passes, we could be in even worse straits with uh relating to the budget.

Um, although now what we're seeing is that the voters can pass something that the people worked for, and y'all can come in and make amendments to essentially gut it.

Uh, we've seen that with ULA.

We're seeing that with the Olympic wage.

Um, so I'm hoping if this does pass, um, maybe we could see some action on your end to help remediate some of the fallout we have, but I'm not gonna count on that because it seems like y'all are owned by private interests and corporations.

So moving on to item 20.

I think it's a disgrace that we're even discussing these amendments or any sort of repeal.

Um, the the workers and the voters um have decisively said these people deserve a living wage.

$30 an hour if you're working full time isn't even um really enough to be earning a great living in LA.

It's enough to get by.

Um, y'all make over $200,000 a year on taxpayers' dimes, and you're debating over whether people who serve food and clean hotel rooms should just be able to afford a roof over their head and to feed their families.

And I find that really disgraceful, and you should all be ashamed of yourself.

Um, and particularly council, the council member in this chambers who happens to be running for mayor.

We should be hearing a lot more support from workers from her, at least if she wants anyone to vote for her for this upcoming election.

One minute.

Tonight there was supposed to be a debate.

Televised with four different candidates.

The first major one to include Ray.

Until Marbasa Nitya Bolt said, No way.

Disappointing as it is, it comes as no surprise.

Nitya always runs when she senses demise, didn't want to be called out on all of her lies.

She's paying Adam Conover to propagandize, and Hollywood is bankrolling.

Her campaign because they're all good friends with Nithia's producer husband.

She's a classic corrupt politician.

Do you think the city's better now?

Better now.

In Maya, since Nithia's been around, been around.

Some of us never thought she'd let us down, let us down.

She promised everything, didn't deliver anything.

Whoa.

I can't help but notice that Hugo Soda Martinez's name is still up there for quorum, but I saw him out in the hallway.

So maybe y'all want to address that and pay attention to the workers.

Vote no on item 20.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names.

Andrew Grabener, Anna Palacios, Eric Cruz, Reverend Gary Williams, Sheldon Taylor, and David Huerta.

Which items would you like to speak to?

I'm gonna be speaking to General Comment and item number 20.

Okay, you'll have one minute for each.

If you could please start with item number 20.

Okay.

Council members, delaying this wage increase is not a neutral action.

Delay is a decision.

Delay means tourism workers continue falling behind while the cost of survival keeps rising.

Working people in Los Angeles are being crushed by inflation, not just from rising oil and gas prices connected to the war, but from the continued rise in the essentials.

People cannot live without food, rent, housing, transportation, and basic necessities.

Consumer prices just rose 3.8%, the sharpest increase in three years.

Gas prices jumped 5.4% in a single month.

Families are paying more every time they buy groceries, pay rent, or fill their tank.

And yet, while workers are struggling to survive, the hotel and travel industry continues reporting billions in revenue and growing profits.

Hilton reported nearly 3 billion in quarterly revenue with 9% year over growth.

Delta brought in over 14 billion in revenue this quarter and exceeded private expectations despite despite higher fuel costs.

Hotel room revenues are continue to rise across the industry.

So the question becomes: if the industry can absorb record profits, why are workers expected to absorb, absorb permanent economic pain?

These workers kept this industry alive through instability, crisis, and recovery.

They are not asking for luxury.

They are asking for the ability to live in the city.

They help power every single day.

At some point, we have to stop protecting corporate comfort over human survival.

A $30 living wage is not radical in Los Angeles in 2026.

What is radical is expecting people who clean rooms, repair food, move luggage, and keep this tourism economy functioning to survive on wages that no longer match the reality of this economy.

I urge you reject this delay motion and stand with the workers, not cooperative.

Thank you.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Uh, item 20.

You'll have one minute.

Hi, good morning.

My name is Manny Cabrera.

I am a member of Unite Here Local Eleven.

I work at the Western Bonaventure, and after nine years, I still struggle to make rent.

Vote no on item 20.

This proposal would cut wages for hotel workers by more than 20% and delay health care protections for a full year.

This law was already a compromise.

Workers waited years for a law to pass, then waited again while corporations delay a $25 rate until this July.

Enough waiting.

These are not just members.

Well, these are just not numbers.

They are rent payment workers need to make.

Healthcare protection workers were promised, and because of that, families were stretched even thinner.

We fought for the Olympic wage because workers in the city deserve dignity and respect.

Now, after failing with the voters, corporations, because of their greed, are trying to pressure the council into doing what the voters will soundly reject.

Please stand with the workers, not corporate pressure campaigns.

Vote no and stop the shakedown.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Maria Briones.

I'm a member of ACE.

And would you like to speak to, ma'am?

Excuse me.

Which items would you like to speak to?

Uh number 20 and public comment.

Okay.

I'm not going to repeat every word that everybody has been saying.

It's just that you guys need to be fair.

You have to remember where you're coming from.

Every one of you were not born rich.

You were poor like us.

You work hard like us.

You uh uh broke your backs and working like us.

Now you have a seat, you're making a lot of money, and you are forgetting your roots.

That is rude.

And Mr.

Dawson, for you two back on your word, that is a chain.

For Jiang Lee to start uh also the uh these uh revocation of the uh raising the wages, it's a it's a chain.

He's a sold out, and most of you are sold outs too.

So you have to abide by the rules of the government, and you guys gave your word that you guys were going to uh accept the race uh afforded for the workers, and that is a shame that you guys are backing out on it.

So you have no word, you have no shame, you have no owner.

Is that what it is?

How much uh uh did they pay you?

How much you know the millioners have been in the back and they had been laughing at us all morning?

That is unfair.

They have no change after all, you know, the people right behind me uh are the ones who are making them rich because we are hard worker people, we are hardworking people, we honor our work, and we want to uh own our is well our words.

So stop being so shameful, stop being so shitty, stop being so greedy, my God.

These people need the protection from you.

You have to give it to them.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

What would you like to speak to?

As indicated on the kiosk, all items in general public comment.

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

Go ahead.

So, item seven is related to the mayor's emergency declaration related to the devastating wildfires and the palisades, other parts of the city.

So, this recovery effort has been very focused on rebuilding for the Olympics and for all the big sporting events, and not for rebuilding communities and the homes at a speedy and efficient rate.

And the council member for the 11th district, uh, the one beloved council member, the Pacific Fellow said, literally hasn't made no effort to lobby the federal government to actually Trump to stop his nonsense, send in the aid for the fire, wildfires and such.

She's too busy thanking him at events and such.

That's that's what Park does.

And she said very little about the ice raids, of course.

So let's see.

Let's move on to a few other things here.

We've got tree care in CD1.

That's good.

The lot of the trees need to be trimmed a lot more.

There's a lot of very overgrown trees around the city.

So if we could get those trees trimmed a little bit so that they're not obstructing the sidewalk or things like that, that would be interesting.

So we have item 18, which is related to supporting victims of domestic violence, sexual assaults, things like that.

So again, as many might know, I think it's what, like 40% of cops beat up their wives.

The LAPD is currently covering up certain incidents regarding sexual assault that their own officers may have committed within their department.

Heard like the Gabriel Espadas case and things like that that you have all have not said anything about.

So you should probably work on that a little bit.

So we have repealing the business tax.

It's item 19.

It seems like at the very least, I mean, this is like a ballot measure, so uh not much you can do about it, I guess, but but it does seem like that at least big corporations and such should still be paying these business taxes and things like that.

They can definitely afford to do.

So we have item 20.

So MHD wants to re delay the minimum wage increase for tourism workers.

So I this minimum wage increase already is pretty insufficient, frankly, and such.

It's $30 an hour is not even really a living minimum wage in the city.

That's how high the cost of living is.

So now you want to delay it even more.

It should be higher than $30 an hour, and it should apply to all workers in the city and such.

But no, you just want to delay it even more.

So yeah, welcome back.

Spent like took a little break there, Tim.

So you started 40 minutes late today.

What was going on that required you to start the meeting 40 minutes late?

And you got a huge crowd of people here.

You won't even give an apology or an explanation.

Mark, please just made a little comment.

Oh yeah, we're starting late.

Then he walked out.

He's he was the one who was delaying the meeting the most.

He walked in like 30 nine minutes after the meeting started, walked out five minutes after the meeting started, but nowhere to be seen the rest of the meeting, such.

So now we're hearing that can confirmation that ice is gonna be at the World Cup.

So what are you all gonna say or do about it?

Are you all going to oppose that or not?

Fire Jim McDonnell.

These World Cup and Olympics are making things more unsafe for everyone, giving Trump all these extra law enforcement powers, which he's gonna use to target undocumented immigrants and everyone he doesn't like.

Fire Jim McDonald.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon.

What would you like to speak to?

Hola, my name is Anna Palacios.

Do you not hear locality?

Good morning, my name is Ana Palacios.

Um I am a member of United Here Local Eleven.

I'm here again because I'm very upset.

Because I have to come back here and talk about something that was already won.

I worked and fought alongside other workers who are here today.

We've done hunger strikes and we've done all types of other organizing.

Having to move around and getting up early to try and achieve this goal.

A goal that was already achieved.

And there are many other workers that had to do the same thing as I did.

Why are we backpedaling on something that you guys already voted for?

You know what?

We won by fighting in the streets.

Without any money, like these other big corporate corporations that do have it to do this work.

We did our job.

You all have a decision to make.

You all know how much it costs to live in Los Angeles.

We want you to keep your word.

We want you to maintain the trust that we could have in you because we voted for you.

And we will do our part and continue our fight to make sure that we are all voting no on this item.

Los trabajadores de Los Angeles.

Voters, workers in Los Angeles, we all need to have that trust.

We're going to continue to fight for our Olympic wages as they should be.

Gracias.

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up Maria Tenoco and Claudette Contreras.

Good afternoon.

What would you like to speak to?

Item number number 20.

My name is Sheldon Taylor.

I'm a USW SERU member.

Um in the first week of June, it'll be 35 years of um worked at um LAX.

And um I got a phone call while we're sitting out here from my uncle telling me that my first cousin just passed.

And um his name is Kenneth Badwood, and I'm gonna read his name to the record.

You know what?

We've been coming here for over three years for this.

We had to sit off in a committee room for a couple of times when Price was heading the committee for tourism for us to get this money.

We know we feel like we begin now.

We went to the committee.

They changed the committee.

They were gonna vote on it.

Then they canceled the vote that day.

Now, General public comment.

Can the city just please vote?

No, I can understand it's hard to stand up against, you know, big corporate.

Not hard, but you want to be fair, I guess.

But um, you know, we didn't fall for this.

We didn't be coming there for three years.

Can you just stand up and say no?

Stand up with the workers in your in your constituency in your air and just say, hey, look, no, we're gonna stand up, we're gonna stand by our word, and just say no to the corporation.

Because it's not, you already voted for it.

It said yes, you didn't pass it.

We didn't have referendums, they didn't pass it with the city and everything.

We we didn't be through this.

Just say, you know, no, no, no, no to you.

Let's not rewrite the maps.

Like, you know, like, what are we doing?

Let's not rewrite the map.

Let's just say, hey, look, we're going to say no to the corporations and stand with the workers.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon.

What would you like to speak to?

Uh item 20.

Okay.

And is it just item 20 or is it item 20 in general?

In general, please.

Okay.

So go ahead.

You have one minute.

Good morning.

My name is Belinda Gonzalez.

I'm a member of USWW.

I work as a passenger service agent in LAX for three years.

I'm just here to remind the council that we can't continue to listen to millionaires while Angeles are our birdie making ends meet.

It doesn't make sense.

We shouldn't be trying to keep people, we should be trying to keep people housed, not unhoused.

I ask that you stand with the workers, the same workers that our airport run every day.

So please vote no on 20.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

What would you like to speak to on item 20?

Okay.

Go ahead.

You have one minute.

Thank you.

My name is David Warata, and I'm here to and for public comment to on item 20.

I'm here to urge you to vote no on the motion.

This city and this council made a promise to the essential workers that make LEX run and the hospitality industry run.

Workers are here, are predominantly workers of color, black, brown API immigrant workers.

The Olympic wage was a recognition that as a city workers who make this economy work are to be seen.

That they're valued, that they matter, that their work deserves to be compensated.

For too long, workers have been paid poverty wages and denied health care.

You change that and change the lives of tens of thousands of workers in Los Angeles.

Workers like Jovon Houston, who is here today and went on a hunger strike, and her life has been changed because she has health care.

This is a similar, this is a matter of justice, social justice, economic justice, worker justice, immigrant worker justice.

And I just want to say we have entered into the last 72 hours in good faith to reach an agreement.

And for them to hold hostage, this city, these workers and deny them the justice that they deserve.

That is not justice, that is greed.

And this city council, if it votes for this today, is rewarding that behavior of greed.

This council to vote no.

Thank you.

Okay, I believe that concludes public comment.

There are no more speakers on the queue.

Council President, all the names have been called.

There's one more speaker.

Okay, one more speaker.

So go ahead, sir.

Next speaker.

This is the last speaker that we have who signed the list.

Good afternoon.

Okay.

Who's ever yelling in the back?

You need to stop or leave.

This is your only warning.

That was the woman in a black shirt, and I believe it was a blue or denim uh vest.

Good afternoon, sir.

Sir, what would you like to speak to?

Good afternoon.

Uh, this is just a public comment.

Representing my community of El Sorino, uh, in regards to some slum lord tactics that we've had in our neighborhood.

Um, and I just want to we have a immediate press release that we're s we're going to talk about, but I just want to give every single council member that's here a copy of the immediate release and just list some of our demands very quickly.

Um, we want to apply east standards equal to the West site standards for ED One.

Uh, please pause ED one by right approvals for developers under active enforcement.

Federal scrutiny hability litigation, release outstanding PRAs within three days, including the city's replies to Sola, it's doable email.

Um, ask Council Member Jurado to freeze the funds for that they're using for the development, immediate funds to the development and halt out L E PD escort of this project immediately that's happening right now as we speak.

Thank you so much for listening to us.

Okay, that concludes public comment.

Um, before we move any further, we're going to take a um twenty-minute recess.

If folks can be back here by uh five to one, we'll start no later than one, uh, to return back to council.

So we are taking a short recession.

Um, I'm not a little bit.

Also, almonds, performance, or It How is it so?

Mr.

Clerk, we want to.

Mr.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Blumenfield, Harris Dawson, Hernandez, Hutt, Harado, Lee, McOscar, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Ramin, Rodriguez, Soda Martinez, Jaroslavski, 15 members, and a core, Mr.

President.

Alright, what's before us?

The council may now vote on items one through three, six, seven, and nine through eighteen.

Alright, let's open the roll on those items.

Close the roll on those items, tabulate to vote.

All right, what's next?

The council may now vote on item number four, called special by council member price for recusal and an amending motion.

Harris Dawson Herado.

All right, Mr.

Price is recused.

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

Correcting ay.

All right, what's next?

The council may now vote on item number five for amending motions five A and Five B introduced by Councilmember Rodriguez and for comments.

Councilmember Rodriguez.

Thank you.

Colleagues, I rise today with the concerns that we heard from several of the speakers that joined us in council today regarding recommendation number four of this report.

And let me be clear.

Wildfire prevention and public safety matter deeply to everybody in the city of Los Angeles, especially as we continue to face growing climate and fire risks.

However, we need to be thoughtful about the types of policies that we're advancing here.

And having conversations that single out, barbecuing in a residential area on a red flag day, misses the mark.

And frankly, is tone deaf when we know that so many of the fires that are actually impacting neighborhoods have often been derived from other activities that are not being enforced on.

So instead of talking about targeting residents during red flag days for family gatherings for the Carnesadas, that we know this type of policy would frankly land on the feet of certain communities and not others.

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

Uh close the roll tabulate to vote.

All right.

What's next?

Council may now vote on item number 19.

Motion 19A.

Harris Dawson Blumenfield.

All right, uh, members, in addition to 19A, I recommend that the council adopt the revised ordinance dated May 13, 2026, which would effectuate the change in the recommendation number two of amendment 19A.

Uh members, uh, what is before us is a um product of uh long negotiations that I want to thank uh labor leaders uh for coming to the table in earnest to have over the past uh 72 hours uh and uh business leaders as well.

Uh oh, okay.

I want to thank folks for negotiating uh in uh good faith around the the issues that lead up to this item.

Uh but on this item uh the council's hands are um our choices are limited.

Um there has been a motion, there has been a uh ballot measure that has been circulated.

Signatures have been uh gathered and certified by the clerk, and so now it's uh before us.

It's uh our requirement that we either adopt it as a motion, which I don't think there's any energy for, uh, or uh that we forward it to the November uh ballot.

And just for the record, this is the ballot initiative that ends the gross receipts tax for the city, which amounts to uh today 800 million in the coming years uh a billion dollars or more of the city budget.

We're in the middle of the budget process now, and we know how much every dollar counts.

Uh, and so this uh measure should it appear on the ballot and pass um hampers our ability to have a city as we know it uh all together.

And so uh with that I'm gonna ask our um chief administrative officer to come uh to the table and give us a summary of uh the report that he distributed uh almost 10 days ago that lays out uh long term, midterm, and immediate impacts of this uh measure uh being formally considered by the people of Los Angeles, Matt Zable.

Okay, thank you very much, Mr.

President, members of the council.

Um I'm gonna walk you through today a few things.

Number one, we'll we'll walk you through the measure, what it will do.

Um we'll discuss the magnitude of the potential revenue loss and the actions that will be required to be put in place uh concurrent with placing this item on the ballot, which would trigger should this measure be approved uh by the voters.

So just by way of background, um the city's business tax is the second largest source of general fund tax revenue.

It trails only property tax.

The gross receipts tax is often referred to has rates that range from a dollar per $1,000 of gross receipts to $4.25 cents per thousand dollars, with the exception of cannabis-related business taxes, which have different rates and would be um unaffected uh by this measure.

Um in recent years, uh the non-cannabis portion of our business tax has shown uh surprising resilience following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2122.

Um cannabis revenue actually decreased while non-crack cannabis uh business tax grew by over 70 million, which helped to stabilize uh the general fund uh in our recovery.

So the measure uh which is before you today, um, if it were approved, it would eliminate the business tax uh entirely uh on all businesses uh with the exception of cannabis.

Uh it would be effective on January 1st, 2028.

Um, it would eliminate the revenue source for fiscal uh 27, 28, and all subsequent fiscal years.

So it's a permanent reduction.

And because it would impact the following year's revenue, the year after the next the upcoming fiscal year, um, immediate reductions would be required should it pass in November.

So let's talk a little bit about the fiscal impact.

So if we look at our general fund revenue, we uh, as I said, our business tax is our second largest source of general fund tax revenue, property taxes is number one.

Uh you see departmental receipts um as another large portion, but that's um that is not a tax revenue source.

Um so this chart shows the impact if the tax were removed from the proposed budget.

So I use the numbers from uh the budget that is currently being under consideration with uh with the budget and finance committee.

So in the first year of loss of this tax, um, we would realize some prior year taxes, so it would uh result in a $740 million dollar loss in the first year.

This loss would create an unprecedented fiscal vacuum, which would immediately trigger massive spending reductions.

Beyond the immediate $740 million shock, my office estimates that repealing the tax would trigger an annual general fund revenue loss of an even greater $860 million average, and that would just be over the first five years.

It would increase thereafter.

To manage a shortfall of this magnitude amidst existing structural deficits and rising contractual obligations, the city would be forced to implement austerity measures far more severe than those seen during the Great Recession or during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And the reason for that difference is that while those previous crises were significant, they were ultimately transitory shocks followed by a period of recovery.

In contrast, the permanent elimination of the city's second largest tax revenue stream would open a massive structural fiscal gap requiring immediate ongoing service reductions.

And so to give you a sense of the magnitude of the revenue loss, 860 million represents virtually 100% of what the city currently spends for salaries and benefits for all of the city's firefighters.

It represents 98% of what we spend for the full cost of all of our firefighters.

Furthermore, it represents everything we will spend on more than 3,700 police officers next year.

That's nearly half of our police force.

Oops, there we go.

To provide a clear understanding of the potential impact, and I typically don't like to put uh charts like this up on the screen, but it's it's important in this case.

Um we ran a hypothetical scenario in which the tax repeal was implemented for the upcoming year.

So if we needed to apply it this year, and again it would result in a loss of 740 million out of an estimated 832 million in non-cannabis business tax.

Under this scenario, uh the general fund as presented in the mayor's proposed budget would fall from 8.59 billion to 7.85 billion.

Uh and more critically, and this is um why I'm using this uh this chart, this table of our unrestricted revenue, the city's pool of of unrestricted revenue that's flexible funding used to pay for most of our core services.

That would shrink by 12% from $6.97 billion to $6.23 billion.

You can see up there where I have library and recreation and parks and also fire.

So because the city charter mandates specific minimum funding levels for the library and the recreation and parks departments, these charter-protected appropriations would consume a larger share of a smaller pie.

Uh, and this would further be intensified by the pending ballot initiative uh concerning the Los Angeles Fire Department, which will also, which also is expected to be on the November 3rd ballot.

This measure would establish a maintenance of effort requirement mandating that current levels of fire protection services would largely be spared from reductions.

There would be some impact as the maintenance requirement is tied to a percentage of the budget, and if the budget shrinks, uh the maintenance would also go down, but the remaining unrestricted revenue available for all other city operations would be additionally reduced, and the required cuts would be even more severe.

Council members, I've I have heard some of the proponents of this measure uh argue uh incredibly that the loss of business tax would not impact public safety.

That is impossibly false.7% of unrestricted general fund revenue to police.

So not only would this measure require massive reductions to public safety, it would also debilitate our homelessness response, our street cleanliness programs, and would put all of our Olympics preparedness efforts in severe jeopardy.

Because of the magnitude of the revenue loss, should this measure be placed on the ballot?

Uh I am recommending, and honestly, more than that, I would be insisting that we take actions now to include in the fiscal year 26-27 budget so that we can begin the emergency reductions required in the event that the voters repeal the business tax.

We won't have time to begin a long discussion about how we manage, we need to do that work ahead of time so that should it pass, we implement immediately.

So the recommendations uh in the report in front of you include the scenario that if we wake up on November 4th, and this measure has been adopted by the voters, it lays out what you would be uh required to do.

Uh and so we would start with an immediate declaration of fiscal emergency.

Um this will allow us to begin the layoff process, and thousands of layoffs would be required.

That is not a question, that is a certainty.

Um, we would uh have to immediately impose a hard hiring freeze.

Um, this would not be managed hiring or priority critical hiring, it would be a hard hiring freeze.

Hiring would need to stop uh entirely, and that would also apply to LAPD.

Uh we would need to cancel all police hiring for the foreseeable future, and I mean no hiring.

Um the reason that we would need to or we recommend uh to cease all police hiring is that we would be in a situation where we would need to reduce the police force by up to 2,000 officers.

Uh we would also, I'm also asking for instructions uh to immediately uh should it pass, begin uh uh negotiations with our labor partners to renegotiate uh the labor agreements.

We would need to uh at very minimum as at the same time as we're making all of these other reductions uh negotiate a suspension or cancellation of any uh future increases.

We would not be in any position for the foreseeable future to grant any increases in in salaries or benefits.

Uh we would also uh provide options to you to reduce our homelessness response, 323 million uh in the proposed budget of general fund is dedicated to our homelessness response.

Uh we would also need to uh rescind any new spending, any new spending that would be part of the proposed budget.

Essentially, this uh measure would render the proposed budget or the ultimate adopted budget uh largely irrelevant.

Uh we would need to defer or cancel capital projects.

Um we would present a list of layoffs to you immediately after uh before January, we would need the council to adopt those layoffs or approve those layoffs so that they could begin in January of 2027.

As we all know from last year's experience or this current year's experience, the layoff process is not only extraordinarily disruptive, but it also takes a long time, and we won't have the time in the fiscal 27, excuse me, 27-28 budget to wait for the layoffs to be um in effect.

Excuse me.

We would need to lastly, and it lastly of the discussions of the recommendations that we have today, we would need to reevaluate our Olympics planning and preparedness.

It would put everything that we're planning to do in preparation for the Olympics in question.

And then I'll just close members with this.

As you're considering the impacts of this measure, I'm aware that there may be an opportunity to secure some agreement from the proponents to withdraw the item from consideration.

They they are able, while we are required to put it on the ballot, they could withdraw it.

And that opportunity may require uh a very uh difficult uh vote uh on another item, and that framing uh isn't fair, um uh it isn't right, and I certainly understand that it is a difficult decision at a terrible time, but uh that does not change the reality of the damage this measure would do to the city, uh, regardless of the outcomes of the upcoming elections.

The commitments that you have made uh to your communities, the plans and the goals you have for your districts and your priorities citywide uh would largely be rendered moot should the business tax be repealed.

Um, should this measure be adopted?

The primary responsibility for whoever occupies uh the seats around this horseshoe, whoever occupies the mayor's office, will be uh to oversee and implement uh a systematic and permanent degradation of our most vital city services.

Um with that, Mr.

President, I'm happy to take questions.

All right, questions members uh on this item.

All right, seeing no uh comments, thank you, Mr.

Zabo.

Uh my understanding is uh and uh where's our city attorney?

I just want to make sure we're following the law exactly okay.

Uh my understanding uh Mr.

City Attorney is that um we have three options at this moment one is to adopt the grocery seats tax elimination as an ordinance as a council, the other is to uh hold a special election, which would incur costs, the third is to place it on the next regular ballot, which is in November.

The fourth is to do nothing and be sued by the proponents, at which time the expectation is a judge would give them injective relief, force the city to do a special election at our cost and pay their legal fees.

Can you uh just walk us through your understanding of that?

Uh yes, um, the city attorney's office.

Um, when faced with a certified initiative petition, you're right, Mr.

President, the uh options are limited.

The choices before the council are either to adopt the ordinance directly or to put it on a ballot at either a special standalone election occurring within 110, 140 days of today, or to put it on the next regularly scheduled city election, which is in November, uh the regularly scheduled city election as the clerks reported would be at no additional cost to the city election-wise, the standout on election.

Uh, the clerk estimates would cost the city around 30 million dollars to put on.

So those are the options before the city council, um, and it's a mandatory duty under the charter for the city council to take one of those actions.

There is also, as you well know, uh provisions in the charter and the election code that um allow the city the proponents of the in of the measure to withdraw the measure from the ballot up and until August 7th.

Alright, uh thank you so much.

So, with that, if there's no uh discussion, members, I'll make a motion that we move this item to the November 2026 ballot.

That will require both a second and a vote of the council.

And Mr.

President, uh, can I just confirm the verbal amendment uh a second to your 19A?

Motion 19A.

Okay.

I have uh Councilmember Padilla on the queue.

You know, I just uh wanted to say something.

I think um we went through this very quickly.

I think there's a lot of people in the room that understand this, but I think for the sake of the public, just be a little bit more clear.

Mr.

Zabo has always presented in a very um professional uh way, uh very uh nonchalant in his approach of telling us what this could potentially uh occur.

But let's be honest, he literally just gave a presentation about how this would cause an economic apocalypse for the city.

Um so I want to make sure that everyone understands that that this would be very bad for us.

Um, and also to emphasize, correct me if I'm wrong, we're also adjusting the language of what would be on the ballot to emphasize the amount, correct?

This is also an adjustment-specific language, so that voters on their ballot will read the impact.

Um that is correct.

The uh ballot question um it includes the estimated loss revenues from the repeal, and as it was presented to you today, that's approximately six eight hundred and sixty million dollars per year, and that will be in the will be written out.

That's correct after this vote.

Correct.

It's it's it'll be in the let's present it to the voters.

Just wanted to double check.

Thank you.

All right, councilmember Rodriguez.

Yeah, I just to dovetail on what Miss Badia says.

I also think as we have conversations as a council, what we have to be prepared for is whether or not that actually passes.

What are the economic impacts of decimating an industry that is part of paying this business tax?

And I want that to inform my colleagues about the decisions that we make around this horseshoe, because there are very real implications about the ability for businesses to actually make it in Los Angeles, and you know, we got to be thoughtful about the policy positions that we're all taking that actually land more people in unemployment, and actually hinders our ability to collect business tax.

So it's not just found, the threat is not just found in this one item below.

It's and so I just wanted to reinforce that uh oftentimes uh, especially those who want to now purport to be uh you know advocates for creating a more hospitable business environment.

Uh you got to show up and actually do the work and make sure that we create an actual environment where businesses can be successful because that does also hurt our bottom line, and uh I think it's just important to keep that in context and perspective when we make decisions around this horseshoe.

Thank you.

All right.

Any other uh comments, members?

All right, seeing none, I think Mr.

Clerk, we have a motion and I have a second from Councilmember McCosker.

That's correct, Mr.

President.

All right.

So we can open the roll, and this vote is a vote to send this measure to the ballot in November, as opposed to adopting it as an ordinance now, or holding a special election at the expense of the city, or doing nothing and being sued by the makers of this amendment.

Come on up, Mr.

Zabo, if you've got something, and being forced to do a special election and pay legal fees.

So before I open the roll, I want to yield to Mr.

Zabel.

I just wanted to confirm your your voting on your motion is for 19A.

Great, okay.

Yes, we're voting on 19A, and it's been moved and seconded, which is to place on the ballot.

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

15 ayes.

All right.

What's next?

The council may now vote on item number 20 with a question whether to substitute with motion Harris Dawson Lee.

All right.

Alright, members, before you um you have we have a uh what I would describe as a uh partial amendment to our living wage ordinance.

Uh as you know, um and there's still corrections going on, apparently.

Um as you know, there's been uh a move by our business community to collect signatures uh with the purpose of ending the gross receipts tax.

Um there has been uh a lot of concern that began to rise with the passage of the living wage ordinance.

Mr.

Soto Martinez, do you want to go before you'll wait?

Okay.

Before the uh or at the passage of the the living wage ordinance, there's been some conversations which is represented in the motion uh or amendment that's before you today.

Uh I want to assure every member of this council and every member of the public that the labor movement uh has come to the table uh in good faith, has moved a lot.

Uh the business community has been at the table from the beginning and move some uh and continues to move.

Uh we frankly about an hour and a half ago ran out of time and had to come here and hold a vote.

Uh but there is a commitment on both sides to continue to negotiate.

So what we have today gets the city attorney started uh on a process that we expect to come back to on Tuesday.

Uh my expectation, and I say this to all the parties involved.

My expectation is that what comes back Tuesday will not be what we have uh in front of us today.

Uh, the details of how that happens still have to be worked out.

Uh but effectively uh it's our role as a council to mediate uh between sort of two opposing forces, the people who work for us and are residents of this city and the people who have businesses uh and who in many cases are residents of this city.

And uh so with that, uh that's what you have before us.

It represents an adjustment of the wage schedule uh and an adjustment in the insurance um provisions, uh, both of which are less than what is current law.

Uh, but again, we will continue to uh negotiate.

And with that, uh we'll hear from Council Member Soto Martinez.

Thank you so much, Council President.

Thank you.

Um first of all, thank you for for giving that intro on uh everything that's going on right now in the city.

And look, I think my colleagues in the public knows where I stand on this.

I was against item 20 before it was put on the agenda.

I am against item 20 as is a substitute.

I just want to highlight that 20 F is an is a it's an it's a point that has not been discussed in any way, shape, or form, which I think is a problem, it's a problem, it's a poison pill, and I'm asking that to that be removed, uh which will allow for the waiver of employees' health care directly with their employer, not through a certified process with the Office of Way Standards.

So, uh Mr.

Martinez, I want to make sure Soto Martinez, I want to make sure I understand.

So my understanding of this is that this allows a person to receive cash instead of insurance company coverage if they have insurance somewhere else.

And we're saying we don't want that.

This is an issue that came up in deliberations with the first the first law, and I understand that there were some disagreements about it.

Those disagreements have not been discussed in the last 24 hours, last 72 hours.

I think putting them in here is problematic.

Uh, moreover, the conversations around this issue were very clear from the Office of Wage Standards that the current process right now is should an employer so should an employee have health insurance.

There is a process that they go through the city to get an exemption from the employer, allowing workers to go directly to their employer to get an exemption from their boss so they can get out of this uh pay in the health care, I think is dangerous, a slippery slope, and it allows for abuse.

I recognize that the issue is an important one that was brought by Mr.

Nuzair.

If someone's spouse has health insurance, we should make that process as easy as possible, but allowing it to go through the employers, I think is incorrect.

And so we are already dealing with an issue that is extremely sensitive.

I don't want to derail the conversations that are happening.

I am not in favor of motion 20.

I think workers fought for a very long time to get health to get health insurance to get wages, and I understand those conversations are continuing to happen, but um I would ask that point F be removed uh from this motion.

All right, duly noted.

Uh we'll discuss, but I expect it we'll accept something like that as a friendly amendment.

Council member Hernandez.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, you know, I I'm the daughter of immigrants and I grew up in a union household.

I know what it looks like when parents work exhausting jobs, sacrifice everything, and still struggle to make ends meet.

I know what it means for families to budget down to make the to make ends meet and I know what it means to depend on health care benefits to survive.

It's devastating when powerful people decide how workers should be paid and how they should be forced to absorb economic hardships while corporations continue making billions.

That's why I'm no on this amendment.

I was no one 20 beforehand, and I cannot in good conscience help corporate lobbyists strip hard-earned wages and health care benefits away from these workers.

Workers that organized for years for the Olympic wage, they endured a multi-million dollar opposition campaign from airlines, hotel corporations, and industry groups trying to crush them, and they still won.

Now, after all that, we're supposed to swoop in and water it down.

Absolutely not.

Workers plan their lives around these ways raises and health care subsidies.

People budgeted for rent for groceries for child care for medical appointments for survival, and now corporate interests want us to throw a rent into all of that because their profit margins might shrink a little bit.

Give me a break.

We're talking about some of the lowest paid workers in one of the most expensive cities in America.

People cannot afford eggs, they cannot afford groceries, they cannot afford to get sick, and they cannot afford to drive if they do live in another city, because gas is expensive.

And instead of asking billion-dollar corporations to sacrifice, we are once again asking workers to shoulder the pain, and I reject that vehemently.

The people who are going to clean the hotel rooms, prepare the food, and move travelers to the airport and keep this city functioning deserve uh during the Olympics, deserve to share in the wealth they create.

They should not be pushed deeper into poverty while corporations profit off the global spotlight.

This motion sends a terrible message that corporate pressure matters more than workers' lives, and I will never side with that.

Public dollars and public policy should reflect our values and my values are what the workers, working families, unions, immigrants, and struggling families, not corporate greed.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you, Councilmember Hernandez, uh for uh that discussion.

Uh any other members before we go because the queue is clear.

Councilmember Blumentfield.

Thank you.

Just want to make sure I understand what what we're being asked to vote on.

And normally when you vote for a motion to instruct city attorney, you are voting because you agree with the substance of what is being put forward, uh, and you're asking the city attorney to draft it in this way.

You have presented to us a slightly different model for this, which is what what I hear you saying is that negotiations are ongoing.

Vote for this and somewhat as a placeholder, as a placeholder, uh, and then the negotiations will continue.

But that in this particular case, voting for this does not really morally commit you to all of the details that are being voted on.

Because if we're expecting something to come back that's gonna be different, we're reserving the right to vote differently as well.

I mean, we always have that right, but generally speaking, when something comes back, if it reflects what you asked for to be written, then you vote for it.

But in this case, it's a little bit different, and I just want to make that very clear.

And and you know, we talked about ideally just postponing this till an agreement could be made, and legally, I guess you can, but politically, that that cannot happen.

Um, so I'm you know, prepared to to acquiesce to what the president is asking for and to to create to buy some more spit time and space for this negotiation.

Uh, but I just wanted to be clear that in this case, what we're voting on is not necessarily the strict letter of what we are what is in what is what we are instructing the city attorney to write.

We are basically creating a placeholder so that this comes back back to us for a vote.

I mean it has to come back to us no matter what, but we're sort of on a wait and see attitude on that.

Got it.

Councilmember Rodriguez.

Thank you.

Um, so we've already seen some very real implications that have occurred just based on our economy right now.

And we can't have blinders on about the impacts of what's happening to these industries that are being affected by a policy that we adopted without proper engagement with the businesses that would actually be affected.

And among those, I you know, I no one is attempting to prevent an opportunity for people to earn a living wage in this city.

But what we have to talk about is the businesses that will cease to exist if we adopt policies without any regard to the implications of those business maintaining operations in the city.

We have seen multiple hotels.

Council member Rodriguez, yes, sub city attorney.

Members of the public.

So if we cannot continue business because of disruptions, then we may have to vacate the room.

So I'm gonna ask for everybody to please be polite.

Uh Councilmember Rodriguez does have the floor.

Again, everybody was listening to the public comment on both sides, but please do not disrupt this meeting, or we're going to have to start warning and removing people, which we do not want to do.

I'm sorry, Councilmember.

Well, again, I guess some people are okay with the best paid unemployed workforce.

I'm not.

And so what we have seen is we have seen several hotels go up for sale on a fire sale.

We've seen the transition of ownership.

We've seen several restaurants close down.

And I don't know about you, but if you don't have the restaurant service in a hotel, it actually is less attractive to stay in those facilities.

And in fact, what it incents is more families looking at short-term rentals versus staying in hotels, which has other dire implications for our neighborhoods and for maintaining good hotels with labor protected jobs.

And so there are impacts with the decisions that we make around this horseshoe.

And it's for that reason that I'd like to add the following instruction to instruct the city legislative analyst with the assistance of the city attorney to prepare findings consistent with the amending uh hotel minimum wage ordinance to include an exclusion for the restaurants in hotels.

Request the city attorney to draft an amendment to Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 18601 to define restaurant as follows.

A restaurant shall be defined as an entity that provides food and beverage services to the public, is a commercial space, and a restaurant does not include entities that provide workers who perform the core functions of the hotel employer, such as providing room service and or banquet services to the hotel guests.

And so this is about making sure that these restaurants that are being forced to close in many respects because they can't compete with other facilities that are outside or just outside the door of the restaurants are able to actually stay open and remain accessible for patrons.

And I ask for your I vote.

Is there a is there a second to this motion?

Thank you, Councilmember Park.

All right, uh, I see no more members on the queue.

Councilmember Park was a second, Mr.

Soto Martinez.

I just want to have clarity on Mrs.

Councilwoman Rodriguez's motion, which I am completely against, but uh what is what would what item would that be now?

20 B?

Yeah.

Yeah, 20 B.

20B.

Okay.

Let me know when the item is being voted on.

Yeah, it'll be soon.

Stay tuned.

Uh all right.

Uh Ms.

Mr.

City Attorney, we've got a couple corrections uh on 20A as an apple.

Uh one deletion uh that Mr.

Soto Martinez uh brought up, and I think there are a couple other corrections if you could read those into the record.

Yes, I I have some of those.

So this is with regards to, and please correct me if I'm wrong, Mr.

President, substitute motion for item number 20.

Uh the if you turn to page three towards the top there's a correction to section d i i uh and that would strike or remove the language that starts with employee working for an employer uh servicing the airport end of the struck or deleted language and substitute in employee working for a hotel so the relevant portions of this clause we will read uh beginning on july first 2027 and annually thereafter each july first the payment amount for health benefits provided to an employee working for a hotel uh and then it will continue from there all right section and strike section f as in frank by council member sort of martinez yes so it would be the the the an addition to the amendment that was read out or the change I should say the correction that was made before subsection F beginning on page three about halfway down will be struck uh slash deleted in its entirety all right mr okay I'm trying to understand this I thought D two was correct you were saying it's correcting it yes so the motion was introduced by the council president uh and so he is seeking to make a friendly change because it's his own motion to the written motion that everybody has a copy to okay and because it's being accepted as a friendly since it is his motion uh there is no need to introduce a separate amendment for it so what would be left one more time so what would be left the cash and lo plan is gonna stay or go it'll go.

Meaning it's gone meaning it's we're we are so whatever we negotiated back in December of twenty four whatever we discussed it's gone like that right now.

Sorry I I'm um it's very conflicting right now because I'm hearing different things.

So I'm gonna ask the city attorney can you just go to the table Donnie to come explain to me explaining thank you yes yeah into the into the mic please good afternoon council members Danya Minasian for the office of the city attorney the cash and lo stays as is so it's still in the ordinance nothing will be changed BCA will be required to check for waivers and approve the waivers if F is not um approved today for amendment.

Got it.

So so that provision we would not change it from the way that it's been up until now the provision would stay but the process of accessing the provision would stay the same.

Was there any change made or modification or clarification made that was encaptured by F from what was put in what was voted upon in December of twenty four.

Yeah there is one clarification and that is um or a health plan in which the employee or the employee spouse it used to just say employee spouse, domestic partner or parent, and the word employee was added in order to cover employees that might have two jobs where they have insurance through another means, but they already have insurance, so they can ask for the cash and loo.

Okay, so that's an that's a benefit that we want to maintain.

Yeah you you can amend on and you can ask for that amendment, and we can add the word employee into those sections.

Okay.

Okay, we're good with that.

Good with that.

We're saying different things.

All right.

Mr.

President.

Yes, sir.

I agree with Hugo Soto Martinez on this narrow point.

On this narrow point, we have just spent in good faith, labor and good faith, um, employers in good faith, negotiating around some terms and changes.

Yes.

This is not an issue that came up.

That's right.

This precise issue is dealt with in the adopted language from back months ago.

I won't have the date.

The language in this substitute motion would modify the process, the procedure.

Not against modifying the process or the procedure.

What I'm for is sticking to the construct, which is correct, that Mr.

Blumenville described.

I appreciate that we might want to change that.

But for the sake of remaining in good faith and to give ourselves a chance from one half hour after this meeting until Tuesday, to come to a compromise, I am not for throwing something in to your motion, unintentionally, that puts us on a course that the parties aren't discussing.

That's right.

That's right.

I am in agreement with this in concept.

This is not something that has been a part of the negotiations, and so uh this is a technical amendment that I think had been in the works for months and months uh that we put in here.

We'll pull we can pull this out, leave it as is, and come back to it uh at a time that makes sense.

Okay.

Okay, okay, thank you.

Uh any other comments, members.

Uh, if seeing none, uh Mr.

Clerk, can you uh let us know what's before us?

And the council may now vote on whether to substitute with motion 20A.

All right, there's a motion to hold a vote to uh substitute the motion.

Let's uh open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote, three nose.

All right, what's next?

The council may now vote on uh motion 20b, introduced by council member Rodriguez and seconded by Councilmember Park to add the instructions.

All right, Mr.

Soto Martinez.

Uh thank you so much.

I am completely against this in the most strongest terms that I can possibly express.

This is the issue when we start bringing up something that we discussed for weeks, months, years when we passed this original this original law.

This was something that was introduced back then to try to water down the original law that we passed.

And I find it.

Yeah, I'm glad you're pushing your button, Councilwoman.

I find it shameful that someone would present this today in the middle of conversations and negotiations on something so sensitive to try to get something that you wanted back then.

It is really the worst part of of this building that people when people talk about the why they don't trust this building, it's for reasons like this to try to sneak something into screw workers over is despicable, and I hope every single person on this body votes no against this motion.

Because if you vote yes for this motion, what you're really saying is that you want to find a way to water the policy that we pass.

You're saying that certain workers deserve a wage in health care, certain workers don't, and it's you're doing the bidding of the corporate class of the city.

So your vote for yes means that.

So I hope every single person votes no against this right now.

Councilmember Soto Martinez.

Councilmember Rodriguez.

Thank you.

I can't help that certain people don't understand what it's like to operate a business in the city of Los Angeles.

And that's what we're talking about.

All right, folks.

The when it comes to the restaurant industry, Councilmember Rodriguez, please look, folks.

The last thing I want to do is conduct these votes without an audience.

This is the last thing I want to do, but I absolutely will do it.

So please respect the speakers while they're speaking.

We're giving time to respond after they're done.

You do not have to be ridiculous and introduce and interrupt people while they're speaking.

Councilmember Rodriguez.

The restaurant industry is an industry that I have had to assist through the course of COVID, through the aftermath of just all of the economic implications, they are struggling.

We have watched legacy businesses continue to close.

But we also know that they run on razor thin margins.

And so when you have a restaurant that is offering services that is not part of the core operation of the company, they're running independent, they are leasing space within these hotels to operate, they're not they're now being subjected to the same standards, and they're not you're you're subjecting them to the same standards of what's being negotiated for those that have historically been represented by these unions.

And so what I'm saying to you is that these restaurateurs are being now subjected to increase the cost of their labor and have to compete with restaurants that are located just outside the hotel building.

And as a result, they lack the competitiveness to be able to sustain their operations in that establishment.

And so this is just part of a conversation to make sure that this city is capable of retaining certain businesses to be able to operate in the city.

And so what's shameful is the idea that there's no distinction between how businesses are able to function and operate in the city.

By the way, businesses that contribute to the tax revenue that allows us to fund for those critical city services, and so this is about making sure I know it's not cute to allow people to be able to successfully operate a business in this city, but they are the job creators of this city.

They are the people that employ so much of what makes LA a culinary institution that people come to Los Angeles to experience, but apparently their mistake is if they do so in a hotel.

And so I'm just trying to make a distinction so that many of these restaurateurs that are bringing this wonderful culinary environment into our city are able to actually survive.

That's what we're talking about here.

And it's there's a very simple distinction between those that are providing the banquet service or doing the room service, which is part of the core function.

This is separate.

These are independent restaurants that are operating out of hotels.

That's what the distinction is.

But I know it's really cute to paint with a broad brush to try and show up.

This is a very clear distinction about what we're talking about here, and it's about making sure that in good faith we show up for the very people that are actually putting creating a lot of jobs and creating the kind of culinary environment in the city that we all enjoy.

And so, you know, that's that's all this is.

It's a very simple distinction that seeks to make sure that we can have both.

That's it.

So colleagues, I ask for your I vote.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Councilmember Hernandez.

I think um I just want to say that I we we do very much recognize the importance of small businesses.

I think that's why some council members are working to create rent caps and rent protections for our small businesses so that they're not a you know displaced.

Uh, but what we're just asking here is that the waiter that it that serves us in the restaurant in the hotel gets the same protections and services that the hotel uh worker who's cleaning the room gets.

That's all, and so we don't want a dichotomy between workers.

So I support what Councilmember Soto Martinez is uplifting.

All right, all right.

Seeing seeing no more members on the queue.

Uh Councilmember, we have Councilmember Nazarian's name appeared on the queue.

Okay, so let me let me understand this and let's let's let's bring down the emotions and notch down so that we can clearly understand one another.

Just the way how F was struck out.

I wish I had the heads up earlier because I wouldn't have even risen up and said anything.

Makes perfect sense.

I would have supported it.

But just that way of lack of communication is what gets us here, and then add to that the fuel of everyone coming over and you know showing their emotions.

So just taking a couple of steps back, given what this proposal today we're voting on, has in it components that chose four different areas within the city to provide a benefit.

Why are we doing that?

That's what I'm trying to understand.

Why?

If and and if this was negotiated months ago, so let me see what you see.

So let me be clear, Mr.

Nazarian, before you go further.

Please, that provision has been substituted out, so that's gone away.

And council member Rodriguez has made a different uh amendment that would cover restaurants in every hotel.

So that that whole thing about zones and things that's gone, that's not in discussion anymore.

Councilmember Rodriguez has put something forward that were define a restaurant or define a hotel restaurant and separate or provide a distinction between those workers and workers who work in the hotel.

That's what's before us right now.

Wow.

Okay.

Um I don't okay.

If that's the case, I'm willing to support this.

I think it's important that restaurants that are not owned.

Let's be clear again, and clear since we're doing this on the fly, why don't why don't we clarify this for the public so that everyone understands, and not just you guys.

I love the fact that you're here, but there's many more of you that are watching this and are trying to make sense of what their city government is doing.

So clarify this for me.

The whole argument of this was that the businesses that are located in the hotel end up not falling under the same requirement as the hotel because they're not the same business.

Correct?

Correct?

Okay, I'm gonna whoever is yelling out, I'm gonna ask for assistance from the sergeants in the room to please identify them so we can provide them for warning.

Again, we are doing our best to get through this.

It has been a long day for everyone.

We appreciate everyone's patience, but we have to be able to continue this meeting.

So whoever yelled out, I believe it was from the rear on my left-hand side of the council chambers.

This is your first and only formal warning.

Do not disrupt this meeting, or it'll be subject to removal pursuant to rule seven and rule twelve.

Thank you.

So who's who's gonna answer that?

Does the city attorney want to come up answer or who's gonna answer that?

The question is, what we're discussing is businesses that are in the hotel that are not owned by the hotel.

That was the carve out that we are discussing, correct?

Dania Minasyan, city attorney.

My understanding is that the motion that council member Rodriguez made is asking for a report back from CLA to define exactly how restaurant lessees will be defined, and it would basically revert anyone who's in a restaurant working for the restaurant that's a wholly separate leased uh business, will revert back to minimum wage and will no longer get the hotel minimum wage.

Currently, those individuals get the hotel minimum wage.

If this if this is advanced and there's an exemption placed, those workers will revert back to hotel minimum wage.

The the wage ordinance that we passed back in December.

They current these these restaurant workers in the leased restaurant space currently get the hotel minimum wage.

If we advance the motion that council member Rodriguez made is to give them an exemption, which means they will no longer get the hotel minimum wage.

They would revert back to the regular minimum wage.

So if you want the numbers, the difference would be the current wage, which is 2250, would revert back to 1787.

On July 1st, it would revert to 1842.

But the concept of this was that these hotel, these restaurants are also we don't, first of all, we don't know what they're getting paid.

We're assuming that they're gonna be reverting back.

They might they they might all have their own negotiated rates.

Second, second, there's tips involved that we don't know what that brings up their hourly or weekly wages to.

Okay, two two things.

I'm I'm assuming that the restaurants that are in the hotels are following the law, and if they're following the law, they would be paying the hotel minimum wage rates.

Okay.

The tip issue in California cannot be used to make up any kind of a minimum wage deficit.

That's California labor law.

So I don't think the tip issue is relevant to the minimum labor standard that you're setting as a matter of policy.

Okay.

One second before I ask another question, please.

Okay, so then let me just understand there's gonna be no exemptions whatsoever, right now there is no exemption.

Anyone who works on a hotel property, whether they work for the restaurant or the hotel, they all are covered on as a hotel worker under the hotel minimum wage ordinance.

That's the current law.

Okay.

And was there okay?

Uh I'm I'm gonna stop the questions at this point because the level of confusion here is we're making decisions on the fly.

I was still operating based on what the proposal was that I read over the weekend.

And so that's off the table, but now there's no exemptions again.

Even though these are businesses that are not controlled by the hotels, true?

They could be or they could not, yeah, they could be wholly separate businesses, but if they're located in the hotel, they are covered.

Yeah, it is not an ownership designation, it's a geographic designation.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Dr.

Flatt, you you said what I was just gonna want to clarify the way that this motion is drafted is that it would not, there is no ownership clarification here.

It's just if they're within the physical boundaries of the hotel, whether they're leasing space or whether the the the uh restaurant is owned by the hotel.

Councilmember Hodato?

Point of order, Council President.

Um, you know, with our previous stricken amendment uh or uh substitute that was entered about Section F, because it wasn't part of the negotiations, it was stricken out of the conversation, and in the same vein, we ended the debate about that issue.

And so if we're doing that for a former issue in the same council, and we're striking something because it's not part of the current negotiations at hand, then we shouldn't even, you know.

I'm gonna vote no on this, and it's not part of the package that we're negotiating right now.

And so with that, because it's not part of these negotiations right now, and it being inserted, it's your right to do that.

Um, council member uh Rodriguez, but I I would, you know, for that I'm gonna vote no, and I'm gonna call the question.

All right.

Uh I've got people on the queue who have not spoken, or at least one person on the queue has not spoken.

So I'll go to Councilmember Padilla on this, uh, and then we'll take a vote on calling the question.

Councilmember Padilla.

Yeah, I am.

You know, I don't like to see my council colleagues be confused.

Um, so I want to take a shot at this, and hopefully the city attorney can be uh tell me whether I'm understanding this right or not.

So um there is the existing, there is an existing wholetale ordinance in the city of Los Angeles.

My understanding is that that wholeta ordinance, as mentioned, is not related to ownership, but who actually operates within the physical building of what is a hotel, and in the existing hotel ordinance, there is no different set wage, whether you are part of the um corporation that runs the hotel operation, and there's also no exemption whether you work at a restaurant, even though the restaurant could be a subcontractor, whether you're a valet, even if the valet could be a subcontractor, correct?

Correct.

Okay, so that this new thing that we just voted on on item 20, the Olympic wage supersedes the existing hotel ordinance, correct?

Yes, it changes the wages and the health benefits.

Okay, so what we have on the table with Miss Rodriguez's amendment is that at minimum compared to what we had in the past, we're not talking about what was once upon a time discussed years ago before we had the hotel ordinance to exempt valet or bars or anything of that sort.

This is councilwoman Rodriguez just saying restaurants.

Is that correct?

As far as I read on the a motion that was introduced today, yes.

Okay, so going back to Mr.

Nazarian was saying or asking, is if we omit or exempt restaurants, it doesn't necessarily it doesn't necessarily mean that they would have to automatically go back to the city's general um minimum wage, it just leaves it to the negotiation of those workers and the operator that is generally a subcontractor to a hotel, correct?

Or a lessee, or what, or someone who's leasing space, it would force that to be are you saying her her or her amendment would make it to anyone who's a uh who's leasing?

No, my understanding is she's just whoever is defined as being restaurant as restaurant.

Okay, no further questions, but I got I got Mr.

McCosker.

Thank you, thank you, Mr.

President.

I just want to underscore council member Jorado's points, and I don't want to hear any cheering at all because councilmember Rodriguez has every right to bring this motion, absolutely every right to introduce this, it has every right to be seconded.

And in a normal world, a report back is something that we would expect to see, but I'm just going to urge my colleagues that while we are in these negotiations, it is probably best and most advisable to keep a focus on the issues that we have in the substitute motion with the recent elimination, and I'm going to uh urge a no vote on this amendment.

And again, not substantively because I don't think it needs to be discussed, but I think we need to give ourselves a chance between now and Tuesday to put together something that puts us in the best possible position vis-a-vis all of the communities that are interested in this issue.

And I say this with some hesitation because I'm not against reports back, but I am for right now staying focused on the central issues of what happens July 1st, what happens to health care?

When do we get to the wage?

So I'll just urge a no vote.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

McCosker.

Uh so we have a uh the question has been called.

Everybody who is uh there's no one in the queue who has not spoken.

Mr.

City Attorney.

So you yes, so in order to call the question, it has to be the first thing that comes out whenever someone makes that motion, it requires a second, and you can't call the question after giving your speech.

So if there's a new motion to call the question, uh if it's coming from the chair or someone else, or Mr.

McCosker, is and this will be limited to uh item 20b, the amendment.

And is there a second to Mr.

McCosker's motion?

Second, second, all right.

Okay, what happened?

She can okay.

Council Councilmember Raman, you're standing up.

Sorry, I just wanted to ask what are we voting on now?

So right now, if you while you're making your speech, if you call the question, we'll be voting on calling the question.

Okay, yes, let's call the question.

Got it.

All right, a second, Councilmember Raman.

There we go.

Apologies.

So it'll be uh and it not everybody has not had an opportunity to speak, so it will be 10 votes required to call the question on 20 B.

Right.

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

Sorry, this is this is only our if we're gonna close debate, folks.

This is not on the topic.

This is only to close debate on this topic.

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

All right, I was pretty sure Mr.

Price didn't want to keep debating.

All right, now the question is before us.

Councilwoman Rodriguez uh made a motion uh to look at a separate wage for restaurants inside hotels.

Councilmember McCosker, call for a no vote.

Councilmember Rodriguez and others call for a yes vote.

So let's open the roll on that question.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Five nice, ten no's.

All right, this motion fails.

Councilmember Hernandez.

Council President, can I move to note and file that amendment, please?

Um, all right.

What's next, Mr.

Clerk?

Can I give a second?

Yes, a second.

Seconded by Councilmember Hanato.

We could vote to note and file that amendment.

It's all right, Ms.

Clerk.

What's next?

Uh we could vote to note and file that amendment.

Oh, we need a vote on noting and filing.

Yes, please, Mr.

Mr.

City Attorney, can you uh explain for the public and the members the impact material impact of noting and filing?

So the amendment failed, so there's no need to actually note and file it, but if there's a motion and it was seconded, then the council can take an action on that to note and file.

I probably have this wrong, but it's my understanding that it could still come up on the agenda for Friday if it doesn't get noted and filed today for the it won't come up on the I'm getting confused with the overall item.

Understood, it will not come up on the agenda on Friday.

I can speak with some authority on that.

All right, what's next?

Uh Mr.

Clerk.

The council may now vote on substitute motion 20A.

All right.

This is the whole item.

This is the place of what I'm describing as a placeholder uh motion that allows us to continue negotiations going forward uh with the expectation that we come back Tuesday with uh something more complete.

Let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Ten ayes, five noes, all right.

What's next?

Council has motions for posting and referral, all right.

They're posted and referred.

Announcements members.

Sure, no announcements.

All right, I'll ask everyone in the chamber to rise with reverence for adjourning motions.

Councilmember Price.

Ms.

President, I'd like to be recorded as a no on that vote, please.

All right, nine six, Mr.

Price.

Does not change the outcome.

Oh, sure.

It does not change the outcome, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, I'm Council Member.

Just announcement.

Okay.

All right.

Any adjourning motions to my left?

No.

I have an announcement.

Mr.

Lee has an announcement.

Yes.

Colleagues said tomorrow in Council District 12, we are having our annual making movies that matter.

This is our annual youth film festival that has now become the largest youth film festival on the West Coast.

Just like we had a presentation from Councilmember Soda Martinez earlier in the week regarding a different film festival and educating our youth because we are in the backyard of Hollywood.

We hold it at the Soraya every single year at Cal State Northridge.

I believe we have a we have a special guest, Victoria Justice is our co-host this year.

And I think we have a beef video.

Oh, making movies that matter.

Coming up to the Making Movies That Matters culminating experience here at the beautiful Soraya.

You know, supposedly it's become the largest youth film festival in the Western Hemisphere.

I just want to remind you, May 14th, Red Carpet opens at 4 45.

We are gonna have food provided by Chick-fil-A.

We're gonna have you know drinks, we're gonna have music, but most of all, we are going to celebrate all of you and the amazing movies that you made.

I'll be there for you.

I'll see you here.

Thank you very much, Mr.

President.

Thank you so much, uh Mr.

Lee, and congratulations.

We're looking forward to the big things coming out of CD 12.

All right, I see Councilmember Rodriguez has an adjourning motion again.

Ask everybody to be reverent and silent while we were remembering this lost soul.

Thank you, colleagues.

I rise today to adjourn in honor and memory of Socorro Norma Gallegos, who was born July 28, 1934, and passed away peacefully on February 16, 2026, surrounded by her loving family.

Born in East Los Angeles to Sara and Manuel Valenzuela, Socorro was raised in a large and deeply connected family that shaped her values of compassion, resilience, and service.

Known affectionately as Norma to those closest to her, she built a life-rooted in hard work, love for her family, and dedication to her community.

She worked in electronics assembly and served as a preschool teacher at La Casa Community Center in St.

Gabriel.

No matter how busy life became, she always found time to give back.

From San Gabriel to Silmar, she became deeply involved in community service through organizations like Silmar Graffiti Busters, Meet Each Need with Dignity, known as Mend, and St.

Dedicus Catholic Church, while also volunteering her time to support local political campaigns and civic causes she believed in.

Above all else, Norma was devoted to her family.

She was a loving wife to Pablo Gallegos, whom she married at the historic La Placita Church near Placitos Vera.

A proud mother to Norma and Pablo, and later an incredibly devoted grandmother to Liana and Natalie.

Her family remembers her as someone full of warmth and joy, often sitting at the dining room table playing restaurant games with her granddaughters and sharing stories about her childhood.

Even while facing Alzheimer's in her later years, her spirit remained gentle, loving, and strong.

From humble beginnings, Norma built a life rich with love, friendship, and faith and community.

Today we honor her life, her service, and the examples she leaves behind for her family and community.

May she rest in peace.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Rodriguez, and our condolences to you and your family.

Thank you all so much.

All right.

So ignore more adjourning motions, we're adjourned for today.

Thank you all so much.

Got to see the full kind of marquee of the Lancashire Marts Center.

We host the Bebby of Productions, be it dance productions, music productions.

Sometimes we'll have a film screening.

Uh art.

I think that sort of flexibility is something that brings me back every time.

The theater is very intimate here.

It really feels like you're just right up in front of the talent when you come watch a show here.

We also do youth programming here.

We work with uh different local artists to be able to provide free programming for children to learn how to sew.

Uh, we have a fashion class, uh, we have um music classes specifically for uh percussion and drums.

We also have uh another music class for piano, and then uh we also have a dance studio.

Uh, it's in our mezzanine.

That is for our dance class that we have here.

Our mission here is just to grow the performing arts, really.

So whether it be someone trying to uh bring out their own original productions, or like sometimes we even have uh different groups come in to teach after school classes.

Uh, being able to grow the performing arts in a community is is what makes Lancasham Arts Center stand out.

The city investing into places like this is because it gives a place for people that were not as confident, the ability to express themselves and uh give a space for people that are a little bit different, another space to play because uh being able to play is so important just for our mental health as well as uh for the like the health of the community, and uh it just makes the world a better place.

We look forward to having you here at Lancashire Marts Center.

Uh, whether it be taking part in our free programming as well as uh being able to come and just watch a movie or watch a show, we look forward to having you over here.

On Instagram, our Instagram handle is DCA underscore L N K.

Uh, you can also find out uh more about us on culture.lacity.gov.

That's our website.