Los Angeles City Council Meeting - May 15, 2026

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 a 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, Sword LA, where it teaches people how to throw away your garbage and your trash.

And then we're gonna flag you in our hands.

So today I'm looking forward to all the kid activities, the happy children out here learning about how to be zero waste and 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 you they helped us eat and 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 for use and 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 feel 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.

Boy, boy.

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.

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.

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.

But when I started learning about adaptive sports, that's when I was like, wait a minute, I can play this 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 not 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.

It's a vibrant celebration of the beginning of spring, and it celebrates Holy, which is an Indian American festival uh 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 on our culture is through music and dance.

So, what's unique about us today, the holy earth wound 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 some place that we go to, it is some place 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.

The legacy of Griffith Observatory is deeply intertwined with world history.

During World War II, its planetarium became a vital training ground where pilots learned the art of celestial navigation using the stars to guide them across vast and uncertain skies.

That role continued into the space age.

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 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.

I figured 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, and 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 just 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 book finding 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, they 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 access the test to 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 tips, 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, of 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 breath alone.

And I just think it's really important for DCA 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 get a read-alud.

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.

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 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 shoes.

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 a cake every time.

I mean, not only does it support, you know, those who may not be able to afford a soup, 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 Bureau of Engineering, street lighting, 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 of the Mid East.

And this is an act.

If you will, almost of courage to come out and say no.

We live with dignity.

We came here, we're building this country, we're building this city, and we should celebrate and recognize that.

Hey LA, 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.lacity.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.

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.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.

Catch these stories and more on LA City View Channel 35 or at lacity.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.

It's not so Good morning.

Good morning, everyone.

Good morning.

Good morning, and welcome to the meeting of your Los Angeles City Council.

Today is Friday, May 15th, twenty twenty six.

Public comment today will be taken in person in the council chamber for today's meeting.

Clerk, can you please call the roll?

Blumenfield, Harris Dawson, Hernandez, Hut, Herado, Lee, McCosker, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Raman, Rodriguez, Sota Martinez, Yaroslavsky, eleven members present in a quorum, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you very much.

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

Commendatory resolutions for approval.

Council like to run through the agenda?

Yes, please.

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

The trade travel and tourism committee reports for items two and three have been circulated and posted to their respective council files.

Thank you.

Without objection, those items are now before us.

Members, any items be called special.

Of the order.

Oh no, no, excuse me.

Please call the roll on those items.

Okay.

Clerk, please open the role.

Close the roll.

Tabulate the vote.

Thank you.

What's next?

The council may like to move on to presentations.

Thank you very much.

But before that, we do have an announcement from Council District 9.

Councilmember Price, do you have an announcement?

Yes.

Thank you.

On behalf of Councilwoman Hernandez, I'd like to invite you to join me in welcoming the Mashintucket Pequad Tribe.

They're visiting with us today.

The Manitoucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

Let's get a man.

Today we're fortunate to have an opportunity to collaborate with such a longstanding tribal nation, especially as we work toward uplifting the native communities here in Los Angeles.

This visit will foster meaningful engagement between the Manon Tucket, Pequad Tribal Nation, and Tribal Nations in the Los Angeles region, including the Girinbello Tonga tribe of Mission Indians and the Ferrandindo tribe of Mission Indian, while also connecting with key municipal community leaders.

I want to especially recognize Chairwoman Batoya Cliff and Treasurer Merlin Reals, who are with us today.

Please start great.

Their leadership and contributions to tribal governance, economic development, and community well-being serve as a wonderful reminder of what Angelinos should fight for.

Please join me again in welcoming the leadership of the Band Tucket Pequad Tribal Nation.

Thank you very much, Councilmember, and welcome to your Los Angeles City Council Chambers.

With that, we can move on to presentations.

And this morning, our first presentation is from Councilmember Blumenfeld, and that is for Jewish American Heritage Month.

Council Member.

Come on, get the whole group up here.

We'll all stand around when we do this.

Come on up.

Okay.

Yeah, please come.

Come on up.

All right.

Well, thank you all for coming together to celebrate the 10th annual Jewish American Heritage Month here in the City of Los Angeles.

And I want to thank so much.

Uh my colleague Katie Arosloski, the Jam LA Jam for Jewish American Heritage Month, co-founder Adina Bleich, Stephen Sass with the Jewish Historical Society, and the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, all of whom really helped make this day possible.

So thank you all.

I also want to recognize two leaders who helped make this a success for many years, who are uh no strangers to this, who are part of City Hall and they are back for this.

I'm talking about our former controller Ron Galpron and former council member Paul Coretz.

Thank you guys for being here as well, right here.

When we when we started this, uh what is now an annual event a decade ago, we wanted to bring together diverse Jewish community throughout the area.

And we wanted to highlight different themes to help highlight the impact Jewish people have had in our local and our national culture.

A lot of times people don't realize how much the Jewish community really has been interwoven uh in every aspect of society and culture.

This year, our marquee celebration is called Playing It Forward, championing championing Jewish values through sport.

Right before this meeting, we unveiled a dynamic exhibition and public program that celebrates the enduring contributions of Jewish athletes, institutions, and changemakers who've helped shape the landscape of sports in Los Angeles and across the nation.

Athletes like Lillian Copeland, who won a gold medal at the 1932 LA Olympics for the discus throw.

Between winning silver at the 1928 Games and Gold in LA, she graduated from USC Law School and later joined the LA Sheriff's Department for 25 years.

It highlights triumphs at the Maccabi Games and also the terror of the 1972 Olympic Games that were in Munich.

And it recognizes allies like the LA Rams and their inclusion efforts and their fight against anti-Semitism.

When we did the unveiling, I talked about how they had they blew the shofar, which is a Rams horn, the first time it had been done on national television during an NFL game.

And we have local community leaders like Danny Goldberg, the head of Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, an amazing organization that has for 40 years honored all sorts of local Jewish athletes and trailblazers.

As Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the program highlights powerful stories of determination, courage, and resilience, demonstrating how Jewish values continue to inspire leadership, community building, and excellence in sport.

And today we're fortunate to have several groundbreaking Jewish athletes who will share some of their personal stories.

Now, you all remember the the one of my favorite films, Airplane.

There was a comedic scene in one where one passenger offers the other one a little bit of light reading, and he hands them this tiny little pamphlet called Jewish Athletes.

Now, the reality is, while that's really funny, uh Jewish athletes have been at the forefront of some of the biggest sports moments in history, helping create indelible moments.

So before we get to our honorees, I'd like to welcome my colleague, Katie Yaroslowski, to say a few words.

Councilwoman Yaroslavski.

Thank you, Councilmember Blumenfield.

Uh it's great to be celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month with you.

Uh for one last time.

We're gonna miss you.

Uh we're, but judging by the number of Jewish former city electeds here, uh Ron Galperon, my predecessor, Paul Coretz, and his wife Gail, the previous unofficial councilwoman for the 5th district, Gail Coretz, uh, and of course, uh Zev, who's here.

I have a feeling this won't be your last Jewish American Heritage Month in these chambers.

Councilmember.

Um, I want to thank you and the entire council district three team for leading this year's festivities and all of our partners at JAHMLA, GMLA, J Fed, and the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California, my team as well for all your work.

As Bob mentioned, this is an exciting time for sports in our city, and we are thrilled to be honoring the legacy of Jewish athletes and sports figures here in Los Angeles.

Um, and that goes way back, that history goes way back to USC star Lillian Copeland, who set a world record and won a gold medal in discus at the 1932 Olympics here in LA.

And of course, LA Dodger Sandy Koufax, who famously sat out the first game.

He famously sat out the first game of the 1965 World Series because it was Yom Kippur.

That worked out well because Sandy went on to win games five and seven, was the series MVP, and went on to become one of the greatest pitchers of all time.

He also got a breakfast burrito place named after him on Fairfax, which is quite good.

You should go check out KOFAX.

Um there it is, it's verifiable proof that you should never work on the high holidays.

Um the Dodgers might not even be here if it weren't for one of my predecessors in CD5, Councilman Roz Wyman, who was largely responsible for bringing the Dodgers to Los Angeles.

Uh, there's a picture of here of her up here, teaming up with Sandy Koufax for the Jewish Federation's Rescue Week in 1958, 59.

Uh, we've had a long history of LA sports, a long history in the LA sports world.

And I think that maybe because one of the greatest virtues of our city is that we welcome people from all backgrounds and encourage them to follow their dreams and excel at their natural talents and abilities.

So it's not surprising that so many Jewish athletes and sports personalities have flourished here in Los Angeles.

Today we're lucky to have quite a few members of the Jewish sports community with us.

Your discipline, sportsmen and womenhip, and competitive spirit are inspirations to all of us.

I would like to ask all of you who are here to rise for a moment so we can give you a round of applause.

Many of you I think are already standing.

So thank you for all that you've done for our city and for your respective sports.

There are too many Jewish Olympians, Paralympians, and professional athletes to mention them all, but today we are honored, we're honoring several great ones whose Jewish values of fairness, teamwork, and resilience have helped propel them to the top of their game.

And I'm excited that you all are here.

Thank you for helping to make today so special.

And now I'd like to introduce Joanna Mendelson from the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles.

Good morning.

I'm Joanna Mendelson, Senior Vice President of Community Engagement at Jewish Federation Los Angeles.

On behalf of JFed LA and on behalf of Jackie Karsh and Alison Gingolds, we thank you so much to the City of Los Angeles for inviting us to partner in celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month and honoring the many contributions of Jewish Americans have made to our city and to our nation.

We are especially grateful to Councilmember Bob Blumenfeld and Katie Oslavski, as well as Steve Sass and Adina Bleich for their leadership and making today's celebration possible.

JFed LA is committed to supporting a vibrant and thriving Jewish community in Los Angeles.

And that spirit is reflected in this month's celebration of Jewish joy, culture, identity, and countless ways.

Jewish Angelinos have helped shape and strengthen our city.

Los Angeles has been placed where Jewish life can flourish, and sports is one of the many ways that spirit comes alive.

Sports have a very unique opportunity to bring people together across generations, cultures and backgrounds, creating connection, pride, and community.

And the Jewish community is so proud of our contributions to the world of athletics.

Although small, you may say, but we have some incredible leaders here today who represent individuals who have broken barriers, who've defied what's humanly possible, who's represented the United States on the world stage and have inspired generations of young people to pursue excellence not only in sports but in life.

So today we are proud to honor those athletes and the values that they represent, perseverance, resilience, teamwork and determination.

JFET LA is also so proud to support the athletics through our long-standing partnership with LA 84, a phenomenal organization that helps to ensure that every child, regardless of background, can participate in sports and experience the confidence and community that athletics can provide.

This partnership is so precious to us.

In a world where differences can serve to divide us, sports can be an incredible unifier of cultures, communities, and backgrounds here in Los Angeles.

So as Los Angeles prepares for the 2028 summer Olympics and the summer Paralympics, we are excited for our city to once again welcome the world, showcase the diversity of our spirit and unity that defines Los Angeles.

And Jewish Federation Los Angeles, we are exploring ways to help support and celebrate these athletes, visitors, and communities who will come together in this historic moment for our city.

Thank you again and enjoy today's celebration.

All right, to get us started, we have a special video message from Ally Reisman, a highly decorated American artist, artistic gymnast who served as the captain of the gold medal-winning Fierce Five and final five U.S.

Olympic teams in 2012 and 2016.

Throughout her competitive career, she won six Olympic medals, including three golds, making her one of the most successful and consistent gymnasts in American history.

Let's roll the roll the tape.

Hey everyone, this is Allie Raisman.

I just wanted to say thank you so much from the bottom of my heart to the city of Los Angeles for this special honor, especially during Jewish History Month.

It's very meaningful to me and my family.

I have so many wonderful memories of performing to have an Aguila.

And you know, as I've gotten older, I've just been able to reflect on that as it's been so many years since these recognitions are so special to me and mean the world to me.

I have always felt really proud to not only represent the United States when I've competed, but also the Jewish community.

So thank you so much.

I am counting down the days until LA 2028, and I hope to see you all there.

Bye.

Awesome.

Alright, now let's get to the honorees.

Our first honoree is Maccabee Los Angeles, a pioneering Jewish American soccer organization that became one of the most successful soccer clubs in U.S.

soccer history during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Founded by Holocaust survivors and immigrants in Los Angeles, the club provided young athletes with high level competition while building a strong sense of community and cultural identity.

Maccabi Lost uh LA won five US Open Cup championships and became a symbol of resilience and immigrant ambition in Southern California soccer.

For the first time in decades, today we have many members of this historic team gather here today, including legendary actor Eric Braden, founder of the JCC uh Maccabi Games, Eli Marmor, Abraham Jumbo Cohen, Chaim Gonsar, and Moshi Hoffman.

Let's give them all a big round of applause.

And first, to say a few words, uh, one of the folks I just mentioned, we have the legendary film and television actor, Jewish advocate Eric Braden.

He is a TV and film icon and Emmy Award winning.

Uh he's the People's Choice Award-winning actor.

Uh, is a television icon and arguably the most popular character in daytime history, and has starred uh Victor Newman on the number one rated daytime uh drama series, The Young and the Restless.

He's been on that for over 46 years.

Braden arrived uh and has appeared in over 7,000 hours of television, so guaranteed anyone here who's ever turned on that TV has seen him.

Uh he's been on the TV since 1961 when he arrived in Los Angeles.

Shows like Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Nanny, Mission Impossible, The Man from Uncle, Murder She Wrote, How I Met Your Mother, I Could Go On.

Uh, but also films including Titanic, Colossus, uh, the uh Forebin Project, and of course, Escape from the Planet of the Apes.

But today we are also celebrating him as part of the groundbreaking soccer team in Los Angeles.

So, Eric, please come forward.

Welcome.

Good morning.

Thank you very much.

I would like to recognize first of all Eli Mamour, who was left full back in our team, and Marshall Hoffmann, Sweeper, Abram Cohen, Pini Benzaken.

They were all my teammates.

I was born in Nazi Germany in 1941.

I grew up under the bombs of that dreadful war.

I grew up in Germany, post-war Germany.

Until 1959 when I left America at the age of 18.

In German high school, you didn't learn about the Holocaust in the 50s.

It was not talked about.

Well, they talked about German soldiers who died in the Russian front or the Western Front.

They didn't talk about the horrors of the Nazi regime.

That I learned here.

In Ali.

I was homeshake.

I've never heard of Mein Kampf, but I said it seems German.

So I went to the theater.

It was a Swedish documentary.

About the beginnings of the Nazi era in 1933.

And his terrible ending in 45.

They talked about the show.

Auschwitz.

And the horrors.

Visited upon the Jewish community of Germany.

One of the most assimilated Jewish communities in the world.

More than America, more than England, more than France.

Jews had fought in the First World War, won Iron Crosses for Germany.

And then came along this rebel raser, this fascist.

And all fascists always need an enemy.

So what's an easier enemy than Jews?

So Jews were responsible suddenly for the loss of the first world war, etc.

For all the ails that befell Germany after the first world war.

Of course, none of that was true.

None of it was true.

If you want to draw some parallels to today, and I will only shortly mention that, the enemy that is painted on the wall are the Latins who come here.

Hard-working, family-oriented people.

However, someone made them the enemy from within.

Nonsense.

Total nonsense.

But fascists always need an enemy.

Anyway, when I came to the Maccabees, I had not known of the Holocaust until I saw that film.

And I met the managers right near Dorsey High School.

We practiced on a Tuesday night for the first time.

And they spoke German.

They were German Jews who had left Germany in the 30s.

Those who left, who were wise enough to know what was coming.

Out of 500,000 Jews in Germany, 300,000 left before the Holocaust, 200,000 died in it because they did not believe that could happen in Germany.

So I began to play for the Maccabees.

And I was determined to prove that Germans are not genetically predisposed to anti-Semitism because they weren't until the Nazis came along.

I played for the team with pride.

I talked to members of the management who had numbers on their forearms.

The more I learned about it, the more defined I became, the more proudly I played with Eli Mamour, with Hoffmann, with Abraham Cohen and Benzaki and Benny Beanstock against all the teams in town.

Our main stadium was Jackie Robinson Stadium next to Dorsey High School.

And we fought the first and second world war all over again every Sunday.

We had teams from Argentina, Chile, Peru, England, Wales, Ireland, Poland, Scandinavia, Germany, etc.

And we encountered many an anti-Semitic remark.

But these Israeli boys are tough guys.

They didn't take any shit, excuse me.

They were tough, a totally different generation of Jews.

They bided no anti-Semitism.

You said something anti-Semitic to Ali Mammour, he would stand up to you immediately.

I learned from that experience to stand up to whatever prejudice encounters you or you encounter.

I boxed in the gyms of LA, 70th and Hoover, 108th and Broadway.

I met black people for the first time.

We are all the same.

We are all God's creations.

There are no differences in our aspirations, none.

We are truly all the same.

We need to get to know each other.

Human contact is so vitally important to overcome stupid prejudices.

I played against tough Latins, against tough, with tough Jews, against Arabs, against all kinds of peoples.

Toughness, intelligence, genius is not only the purview of one group.

It is universal.

We just need to give people a chance.

Anyway, I'm here in LA.

I love the city.

Been here for over 60 years.

And let's straighten out the potholes.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr.

Braden.

In addition, we have some of the some of the amazing people that you mentioned.

I'm going to start with Ellie Mamor, who's the founding leader and longtime driving force behind the Maccabee or Maccabi Los Angeles.

Together they faced taunts and anti-Semitic tirades from fans using the power of athletics.

They fought hate.

Ellie.

Hi, good morning.

I thought I speak before Eric.

Because they say in the Bible that you should not praise yourself.

Let somebody else praise you.

And I'm here to praise the one and only uh player, friend, a guy who exemplified the spirit, the inclusivity, and pride of the Maccabees.

My name is Eli Marmor.

I'm one of the players of the iconic storied Maccabi team of the 70s.

And of course, Eric Braden was a big part of this of this team.

We already mentioned that for that Eric is not a soccer star, he's also a movie star.

And for four and a half decades, he played on daytime TV as Victor in The Young and the Restless.

Four and a half decade decades, and continuing strong.

Okay.

Now I want to write uh say a few things.

At times where pride, perseverance, and identity came together.

This honor stood for something even greater than champions.

Though non-Jewish himself, he stood shoulder to shoulder with us, with his teammate, through moments of anti-Semitism, adversity, and challenge.

And every time he showed up with loyalty and courage.

As a German playing with a Jewish team, he displays integrity and unwavering friendship.

It is an honor.

Now it's I was supposed to first one.

It was an honor for me to speak about him.

And I was supposed to call him to the podium the way he wanted to be called.

Eric, Hans, Guregas, Brayden.

All right.

Sorry for any mix-up on the on the uh the speaking order.

Now we have certificates for for you, uh, Eric, in fact, Kayam, and all of the Maccabees folks that are here, but rather than do them right now, why don't we?

I'm gonna turn it over to Katie to do the next honories, and we'll do all the certificates at the end in order to keep things moving.

So, councilwoman.

Alright.

Um, thank you very much, council member.

Uh, next we're gonna honor Carl Borak.

Carl Borak was one of the US U.S.'s premier fencers in the 1960s and 70s.

He won the gold medal in Epay at the 1967 Pan-American Games.

In 1969, he won the U.S.

National Foil Championship and the Sabre Championship at the World Maccabe Games in Israel.

In 1971, he returned to the Pan Am Games and won another gold medal in the foil event.

In 1972, he was named to the United States Olympic team, after which he retired from competition, but continues to serve in various capacities to help promote the sport.

Carl's an inductee in the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

It's an honor to introduce Carl Borak.

Please give it up for Mr.

Borak.

So Carl's speech is compromised by the effects of his battle with cancer, and he's asked me to read his comments, which I will do now.

I'm honored to be here celebrating Jewish Heritage Month along with Mitch Gaylord and Chelsea Goldberg.

I'm grateful for this invitation.

In 1956, after elementary school, I would walk to the Westside Jewish Community Center for an after-school activity.

It was there that I was introduced to fencing.

From the moment I held the foil, it was a love affair with a sport that still lives in me to this day.

I was motivated to excel and to seek goals that were not easily obtainable.

Fencing is a great sport.

It's a thinking person's game, a game of physical chess.

The Olympic team was my ultimate goal and a 10-year competitive journey that took me around the world.

One major highlight was the 1969 Maccabe Games, where I competed in six events and came home with four medals.

It was my unforgettable introduction to Israel and an opportunity to meet many great Jewish athletes, some of whom are still friends today.

The competition side of my quests culminated in the Munich Olympic Games, and I witnessed the Black September terrorist massacre of the Israeli team.

Two of my friends from the Maccabe Games were killed, and it took time for the scars to heal.

I ended up competing when I came home and focused on building, I ended my competing when I came home and focused on building my career as a producer and filmmaker.

The confidence I learned from fencing helped me greatly in succeeding in this path.

But fencing never left my life.

I turned to a leadership role and served as captain on four U.S.

Olympic teams and countless others.

I've helped to grow the sport domestically and globally and fostered many athletes, and I'm pleased to say there are many great Jewish fencers, past and present.

For those of you with children and grandchildren, it's a great sport to introduce them to.

If they succeed, almost all of the top universities in the U.S.

have fencing teams.

The lessons of perseverance I learned as a fencer are certainly one of the reasons I was able to survive my two battles with cancer.

I hope you will all check out the fencing events during LA28.

It's going to be an exciting games.

I'm proud to say the U.S.

team has become one of the best in the world.

Thank you.

Beautiful.

Okay, our next honoree is Chelsea Goldberg, a SoCal native who started playing roller hockey at a young age and eventually took her passion to the ice, where she got recruited to play at Northeastern University.

Along the way, she broke both legs, which hurt her chances to make the US Olympic team.

Nonetheless, she was drafted by the Boston Blades of the Canadian Women's Hockey League.

And she's also been involved in the Maccabees USA community, using athletics to help connect and inspire Jewish athletes through international competition and mentorship programs.

She's especially active in promoting women's hockey and expanding opportunities for young athletes in the sport.

And this is the second time I've had the opportunity to meet Chelsea.

I was proud to help her celebrate in 2020 when she was inducted to the SoCal Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

In addition to her playing career, Chelsea is speaker and advocate, focused on leadership, inclusion, and combating anti-Semitism through sports and community engagement.

Let's give Chelsea a round of applause and bring her up.

Chelsea.

Hi, everyone.

Being here for Jewish heritage Recognition is truly such an honor, especially surrounded by so many amazing people.

I'm incredibly grateful, so thank you for having me.

I've always been very proud to be Jewish.

My connection to Judaism really began with the values, traditions, and sense of community that my grandparents instilled in our family, and that my family continues to carry forward each and every day.

Those lessons have shaped who I am.

Over the years, I've continued to deepen my faith and strengthen my connection to Israel, especially through my passion for sports.

One of the things I'm most grateful for is being able to combine two parts of my identity that means so much to me: hockey and Judaism.

I truly love the intersection of faith and sport and the way both can bring people together, inspire resilience, and build community.

Quick note: I actually had the opportunity to take Team Israel Women's Ice Hockey to Estonia and help coach them at World Championships this year.

And this was one of the first, thank you.

And this was actually one of the first times I've truly felt the anti-Semitism firsthand.

I won't get too much into it, but we did experience a bomb threat to the hotel, and it was crazy.

That's all I'll say for now.

But what I do want to say is my grandparents are no longer with us physically, but I know that they are here in spirit today, and I know that they'd be incredibly proud.

In a world that can feel filled with division and hate, moments like this matter.

It is so important that we continue to stand together, celebrate who we are, support one another, and find reasons to lead with pride, unity, and hope.

Thank you all so much.

Next up is Mitch Gaylord.

Mitch.

Mitch Gaylord attended UCLA.

Go Bruins.

There's some Bruins in the house, where he won the U.S.

National Gymnastics Championship and the NCAA Men's Championship.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics, he led the U.S.

men's team to its first ever gold medal.

He also won a he also won a silver in vault, a bronze in parallel bars, and a bronze in rings.

He was the first American gymnast to ever score a perfect 10 in Olympic competition.

Wow.

In 1985, he served on the President's Council for Physical Fitness, and he is an inductee in the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

It is my honor to introduce Mitch Gaylord.

Thank you so much.

It really is my honor to be here this morning.

Good morning to everybody.

My Jewish life and my gymnastics life actually started as a young boy in Van Ice, California.

I went to Stephen S.

Weiss Temple.

My mom and dad were actually uh founding members of the congregation, and I spent many years there learning about the Jewish heritage and what it meant to be Jewish.

And I started my training at LA Valley College on trampoline of all events, where I learned that the love of flying was just what I was meant to do in life.

I love the feeling of flipping and twisting in the air, and that eventually morphed into the coaches wanting me to try this incredible sport of gymnastics.

I fell in love with that as well, competed through the LA city championships.

I went to Grant High School in Van Nuys as well.

Shout out to them.

And eventually found my way to UCLA, one of the greatest colleges in this country.

Had the most amazing experience there as well.

We won the NC2A championships in 1984, which was about four months before the LA Olympics was to be held in Pali Pavilion.

So I got the double home court advantage in the Olympics.

The United States, Los Angeles Polypavilion.

We had a tremendous crowd cheering us on, and I couldn't have been prouder to be part of that team and doing what we were able to do there.

One incredible memory I want to share with you along the way to getting to the Olympics was competing in the Maccabees games in Israel.

It was a highlight of my life and career, it kind of the merging of my Jewish life and my gymnastics life in one place, and I'll never forget that experience as long as I live.

Thank you so much for having me here today.

Let's win some more gold medals in LA 2028.

Thank you so much for being here.

Now it's my pleasure to introduce Adina Blyke from Jewish American Heritage Month LA and Stephen Sass from the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California.

Hi.

Good morning.

This is the next generation of Jewish LA.

I have a teammate today, Mr.

Jonah.

Good morning, everyone.

We're here today not only to commemorate Jewish American Heritage Month and the amazing heroes we've just met and those featured in the exhibit.

I hope you'll go see all of the stories that are there with the confluence between faith and sportsmanship, but also to celebrate a double header of epic proportions.

The sports puns are coming, so just like get into it.

Okay.

Here we go.

That's right, Adina.

This year we're also marking Jam LA's 10th anniversary, and we're honoring Councilmember Bob Blumenfield as he gets ready to complete his council term.

In fact, he was elected 13 years ago, so this is his bar mitzvah year on the council.

But don't worry, we won't ask you to chant your Hof Torah.

Ten years ago, you joined with us and then council members Rue and Coretz to establish Jam LA at City Council.

Since then, every single May, you've stepped up to the plate for us, and you've been our ultimate MVP, hitting it out of the park as a true franchise player for the community.

Ten years of dedication is a historic run.

That's longer than most coach contracts in this town and certainly many Hollywood marriages.

Bob, just some of the themes to go back.

From being Deborah extraordinary female change agents to Sedek Setic Tier Dove, a hundred years of pursuing social justice and from La Chaim, our city's Sephardie and Mizrafi roots to all have what she's having, LA Jewish Delhi stories, which we think was probably your favorite.

Your support and commitment has brought the stories of generations of Jewish Angelinas out of the archives into City Hall and across Los Angeles.

We'd like to invite Mary Kohov of Ellie Metro Community Relations and member of our Jam LA Advisory Committee to join us as we present a few gifts.

Hold please.

First, as you move on to the next chapter in your life, we want to give you this piece of art by artist Rebecca Shore.

Inscribed is a phrase from Deuteronomy, which says, Baruch Atabivoecha, Baruch Ata Bitseitecha.

Blessed are you in your comings and your goings.

Thank you.

And Mary is here to give you a very special themed, and everybody here is going to want one, Metro Jewish American Heritage Month tap card.

Also, in recognition of your devotion to, and some would say your obsession with the Dodgers, we have this specially designed baseball cap for you.

It has Dodgers in Hebrew.

And it has your nickname, Bobby Blue also in Hebrew.

As you play it forward and prepare for new adventures.

Please know that your legacy here, both for CD3 and for our entire city, is a Hall of Fame Grand Slam.

Finally, we'd like to acknowledge the entire city council for your ongoing support of Jam LA and the Jewish community citywide.

From San Pedro's Temple Bethel celebrating its 104th anniversary in the 1-5 to Breed Street Show, 111 years and counting in Boyle Heights.

From the resilience of Cahilat Israel and Chabad and Pacific Palisades to Valley Villages Adot REL, the first synagogue in the San Fernando Valley.

And from Sinai Temple's first home in Pico Union to its longtime home in Westwood and all the way to Hammock Home in West Hills and the many landmark congregations, organizations, and cultural spaces in between.

Jewish Los Angeles is deeply woven into the diverse, richly textured tapestry that makes our extraordinary city our home.

Thank you all very much.

I'll go back to Mike.

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that, and that's very kind of you, and I'm very appreciative.

And thank you so much.

So before we close, I don't know if there are any members on the queue.

Yes, yes, there are.

But one other little bit of trivia.

We were talking about uh Mitch Gaylord.

I you may not remember this, Mitch, but you and I have been in the same place at the same time.

A little bit of trivia.

Uh last time that happened was 42 years ago.

But uh you probably don't remember.

I remember really well because you were winning an Olympic medal that I was watching from the stands.

Thank you very much.

Um, next up in the batter's box to continue our sports analogies is Councilmember Rodriguez.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council members Blumenfield and Yaroslavsky.

I didn't realize that I would be here in the presence of your Bur mitzvah.

This is awesome.

But I, you know, and I appreciated that you opened up with again airplane for those of us of a generation of a certain age group.

Airplane was a something of a time-honored favorite.

So it was a leaflet, famous Jewish sports legends, just to correct you.

It wasn't a pamphlet, it wasn't even big enough to be a pamphlet, it was a leaflet.

But um, you know, it's it's really it's emblematic of Los Angeles that we would have this recognition here today that spans so much uh in the way of diversity of contributions to our city and to harness this conversation around sports, which is a great equalizer.

Uh doesn't matter your background, your history, it's uh it's about the competitive nature of sports and being the very best and showing up to perform in those roles.

Uh, you know, my mom uh was a huge Sandy Koufax fan.

Uh, in fact, still has that was the only jersey she owned when we were growing up, going to all those Dodger games.

But if she knew that I would be in the presence of Victor Newman from The Young and the Restless, uh, with all of his contributions in sports, or you know, Mitch Gaylord, watching you uh during the 84 Olympics as a young girl here in Los Angeles.

It's really wonderful to have you all here today to celebrate the contributions that each of you have made in your respective sports uh competitions, but more so about what it really means as we embark in preparation for one of the greatest competitions that the world offers in the Olympics, and how it really can be a great benefit to bridging so many divides in helping to ensure that people recognize how game meets game, and that's what this is really all about.

So I want to thank you for using this as an opportunity to talk about and celebrate that it is in fact more than just a leaflet about the famous Jewish sports legend.

You have quite a bit of history and contributions that you've made in the area of sports.

So thank you so much for this wonderful presentation.

I learned a lot today, and uh welcome Victor Newman.

Uh, you have been on the television sets for so many of us growing up, and I might have ditched a class or two in college just to stay tuned on Channel 2 to watch on CBS.

But thank you so much.

Thank you for a wonderful presentation.

Mazletov, Mr.

Bloomerfield.

Thank you so much.

We have five more speakers on the queue, and we have a full agenda.

You are encouraged to give your muzzletov briefly.

Councilmember Hutt.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Good morning, and I want to say thank you for bringing in people that have really made a difference in the city of Los Angeles.

You bought up so many memories for me.

The Jewish center, where uh Mitch learned a fence, is where my brother and sister learned to swim.

So that's exciting that that many years it has bought in sports enthusiasts and Olympic winners.

Victor Newman is in the house, everybody.

I actually turned, was home for five minutes yesterday and turned on young and the restless.

And it's really exciting to see you.

Welcome to our city hall.

But welcome everybody for your contributions to making the city what I always call the tapestry of Los Angeles, the 10th district where Wilshire Temple, I didn't hear it in the runoff.

Wilshire Temple is, which is a temple in my district, 160 years old.

But thank you so much for your contributions to sports and to the cities and to my old colleagues, it's good to see you here.

Thank you.

And uh Masletov, happy barmit for thank you, Councilmember Soto Martinez.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Chair.

Uh, just want to thank you, Councilmember Blumenfield and Yarislavski for uh having this presentation.

It's always great to see your former elected leaders here as well.

Uh, the J Fed and Jamalay represented.

I'm sorry, I did not grow up watching uh soap operas, so uh my apologies, but I looked you up and sounds like a wonderful career.

Uh but you know I really appreciate the you're bringing sort of the theme of sports into this.

Uh, the minute you mentioned uh the Maccabees, I was like, what is this about?

And so I quick did a quick Wikipedia and actually didn't know about that.

Uh as a big soccer aficionado, uh, what a wonderful part of LA history.

Uh, the US Open Cup is the oldest soccer tournament in the United States history, and you guys have are tied for the most championships uh in that long storied history, so really incredible.

Um, also hearing about the gymnastics and fencing and so much more.

I think it's just really wonderful.

And what I really appreciate about this presentation also is that it turned into a celebration of your career, Councilmember Bloomfield.

Uh, I think it really speaks to all the things you've done for the Jewish community, and it's great to be recognized on this in this month, uh, Jewish American Heritage Month.

And again, thank you all for the folks that are here, and it's wonderful to have you here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Park.

Park.

Thank you, Council President, and um thank you, Bob and Katie, for bringing this incredible presentation today.

It's been uh just an honor to get to join you with it.

And you know, Bob, I think this is gonna be your last presentation for um Jewish American Heritage Month, and it's bittersweet in that way, but I think we really owe you a round of applause for everything that you have done to acknowledge and lead in our community.

Um, to the entire committee, you know, Adina and Mary and Steven, all of you who put this incredible um event together, and the presentation up in the gallery is spectacular.

If you haven't had an opportunity yet to go up and see the murals celebrating Jewish athletes, it's absolutely fantastic.

Uh, I also had the privilege of getting to recognize Danny Goldberg this morning with um Jewish Sports Hall of Fame for Southern California.

And I I want to say this again publicly.

Thank you for all of your leadership.

Uh, not only does he spend his time acknowledging and lifting up others, he is also a Palisadian who lost his home in the fires last year, and despite all of that personal hardship, you have continued to show up and to serve others.

So thank you so much for everything that you've done.

And to all of our honorers too.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lee.

Councilmember Lee.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and thank you, Councilmember Blumenfield and Coretz and Jay Fett and everyone who is a part of this presentation.

And you know, just sports has a way of really sort of connecting us to a community.

You know, when you when an athlete uh from your community is on that team, it makes you feel part of that team.

You know, just last week I had the first Korean American person that was on the Dodgers.

You know, Sandy Koufax, I'm sure, had that same sort of impact, where you know, young boys and girls, he was our hero, and then they would learn about his Jewish heritage, and hopefully understood a little bit more about uh Judaism.

But uh just want to say uh to Eric.

I have never heard these two uh talk about someone as a guest here in City Council more than when you're up there speaking.

Uh, they uh they do quite a impersonation of the uh ladies in the uh in the uh in soap opera.

So thank you for all that you've done, especially your contributions to the city of Los Angeles and Chelsea.

Uh you know, this is sort of goes beyond about your your Jewish faith just for being you know a strong you know woman athlete uh playing uh for team USA.

You inspire even young ladies here in Southern California, like my daughter, to play ice hockey and to know that this is a man-woman sport.

It's just a great sport, and really appreciate you being here as well.

Thank you, Council members.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Price.

Council members Bloomfield uh and Yoroski for bringing this very exciting presentation in today, as always.

Uh, let me just honor the extraordinary contributions of Jewish Americans that have really made our city, our country, and our our community uh better because of the struggle for justice.

The bond between black and Jewish communities is deep and historic, we know uh Jewish Americans march alongside the king, helped found NAACP, uh, and put their lives on the line uh during the summer of freedom.

This is solidarity wasn't just a moment of history, but it really was a statement, and we appreciate it.

It's a living legacy that continues to shape how we show up for one another even today.

Here in LA, we carry that tradition forward, standing together against hate, anti-semitism, and and racism.

All very provalent, unfortunately.

Uh, to our Jewish community, we see you, we stand with you, and we're proud to celebrate with you and your heritage.

Your resilience and your enduring contributions and fabric to this city have made a big difference.

We congratulate you, we salute you, and thank you for being here with us.

Thank you.

Thank you, and Councilmember Horalo.

Thank you so much for bringing this presentation to the forefront, Councilmember Blumenfield and Yaroslavski, and thank you, Councilmember Bloomenfield, for your leadership on this presentation.

Uh I love the recognition.

I realize it's gonna be the last one you'll give as council member.

And so thank you for showing us how we should be representing our communities year after year and how we may represent our district, but for certain communities, we are citywide you know, representative and in showing that responsibility.

Yeah, Victor Newman, Eric Brown, um, my grandmas on behalf of my two grandmas.

They you mean so much to our family, um, and have been so much of um, you know, if I were to change the channel, there was a slipper that would be thrown at me.

And and so to hear you and to hear you speak, not just about you know the soap opera drama, but to speak so eloquently about what it means to represent your community and the diversity of Los Angeles, I really, really appreciate you and all of the leaders in our communities.

And I see the fellow former electeds, but maybe not recovering politicians, as I've heard earlier, but um seeing you here today, and so really want to thank you all, athletes, the history and the impact that you made on our city, and as we welcome the Olympics again, so thank you, everybody.

Thank you.

And Councilmember Yaroslavsky and Councilmember Bobby Blue to close.

All right.

Well, we have some ship.

We're gonna do the certificates in respect out of the time because I know we're we're crunched here.

We'll do the certificates and photos in the back area.

I encourage, and so everyone who's been part of the presentation afterwards, please join me in the media room.

Uh I encourage everyone to check out the exhibit on the bridge.

It's fantastic, and join us in the fore court for some uh sports themed food.

Uh, you can guess, hot dogs, pretzels, that kind of fun stuff.

And uh we'll see you then, and thank you for uh giving us this time.

Happy Jewish Heritage.

Thank you so much, Jewish Heritage Month.

Our next presentation will be with Council Member Yaroslavsky, who will stay at the podium, to be honoring athletes from UCLA.

But I want you guys to go.

As this group group exits, we will prepare the podium area for the NCAA National Champions of Women's Basketball from UCLA, and that presentation will be by led by Councilmember Yaroslavsky.

Thank you for supporting.

Okay.

If everyone could exit if you're going to exit, and those that are staying for the next presentation, please be prepared for the next presentation, which is by council member Yaroslavski, and we will be honoring athletes.

From UCLA.

Thank you.

If you could give directions to our honored guests, yeah, so that we could quickly next and more quietly exit.

And continue with presentations.

We have five more presentations today.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Quiet please in the chambers.

Thank you.

Councilmember Yaroslavski.

I have some folks I'd like to have join me up here.

We have some student athletes and supporters.

Alright, as they make their way up, I'm gonna get started.

Um, well, you can see the building, all right.

Colleagues, today is a truly exciting day in council chambers.

We get to celebrate excellence and true fighting spirit.

I'm honored to recognize the 2026 UCLA women's basketball team.

Or as we know them best today, the 2026 NCAA National Women's Basketball Champions.

I have to say that as a proud Bruin, and I know several of my colleagues are also very proud Bruins, wrapping their blue and gold with pride today.

I just happened to find this dress in my closet.

And as a former female athlete, this historic moment feels that much sweeter.

But you don't have to be a Bruin to feel the excitement in this room.

As Angelinas, we're all united in our pride for what this team has achieved with their decisive 79-51 victory over a storied South Carolina program in the championship game.

These resilient student athletes set a new standard of greatness both on and off the court.

Coach Close said all year: the talent is our floor, but our character will determine our ceiling.

That mentality is what drove this team to bring home UCLA's 126th national championship, the reigning NCAA champs of Los Angeles.

I was gonna make a comment about the Trojans, but I'm not gonna do that.

I want to take a moment to name these champions to ensure that's in the record.

Temea Gardner, Amanda Mews, Lena Billick, Sienna Betts, and Christina Caramuzi.

The team was also made up of a historic class of seniors, most of whom are probably warming up for games right now as professional athletes in the WNBA.

This class set a record with five players drafted in the first round: Megan Grant, Gianna Neitkins, Charlese Lager Walker, Angela Dugalich, Dugalich, Lauren Betts, Nikki Rice, and Gabriela Jaquez, who I want to note became the first Mexican-American woman to win an NCAA basketball championship.

I also want to recognize the Powerhouse behind this team, head coach Corey Klose and the coaching staff who poured their hearts into this team.

Their extraordinary leadership, dedication, and commitment to this team were essential to reach the summit of collegiate athletics.

This first NCAA era title is a testament to your ability to mold individual talent into a singular, unstoppable force.

As Coach Close shared after the win, her perspective on empowering these players, both as women and as student athletes was shaped by her relationship with the great John Wooden, whose indelible mark certainly lives on in this team.

With us today, we also have the outstanding team and department staff, Corey Mueller Athletics Communications, Karen McDowell Content Creation, and Pam Walker, Director of Operations.

Thank you all for working tirelessly behind the scenes to support the team and make it all happen.

To the players and everyone who is part of this championship team, your legacy as part of this historic team is not only for your school and this town, but also for a generation of little girls who can now see themselves on TV doing big and brave and hard things.

Now it's my pleasure to introduce the woman who has built a program over the past 15 years of sustained excellence and postseason success in Los Angeles, the 2026 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year, head coach Corey Close.

You all are spectacular.

Thank you so much for showing the Bruin love and for honoring these amazing women.

To steal something from Pam Walker, she's been saying all year that the least impressive thing about these women is how good they are at basketball, and they're pretty darn good at basketball.7 to team GPA during the winter quarter when we traveled the most.

I agree with you, that's wrap your minds around that.

And uh not only that, but they have led for three straight years in the athletic department for the highest amount of hours of community service that they've done as a team.

And so it truly is about impacting the community.

It's not just about putting, as I say, putting a little orange thing and an orange thing for a high percentage of the time, that it really is about who they're becoming and who they're impacting.

They'll roll their eyes at me.

Um, but I say all the time that the only two things that will stay with them for the rest of their lives from these four years is who they become and who they impact.

And really, what you got to see in the championship realm is a commitment to character and a commitment to habits of excellence.

I had the wonderful uh privilege of coaching with USA basketball, and I was uh, you know, really struck that um they'd won more gold medals than any other country.

They've won, I think for women's basketball nine in a row now, and they never talk about gold medals, they only talk about gold medal habits.

And that became our quest.

We knew we had championship level talent, but could we be disciplined enough to have championship level habits?

And that the culmination of them mastering their craft.

And and through my time with Coach Wooden, I kept thinking about the pyramid of success.

That competitive greatness is a byproduct.

Competitive greatness is a state of mind, it's a peace of mind knowing that you did your very best.

We did all of the uh the foundational work of teamwork and friendship and loyalty and industriousness, all of the the foundational part of the pyramid of success, and really it is a byproduct.

Um I really I've told this story so many times, but there's no other way for to encapsulate our vision other than telling it one more time, is that on my fourth day on the job at UCLA, um a guy named John Valley came into my office.

I was mentored by John Wooden for 15 years, and I had never met this particular alum.

And he sat across from me and I was overwhelmed.

I hadn't hired a staff, I didn't really know what I was doing yet.

And he said, I've been married 38 years because of what Coach Wooden taught me.

I've started three successful businesses because of what Coach Wooden taught me.

I've conquered cancer three times because of the strength Coach Wooden gave me.

And then he really got me.

He said, I survived the death of my 12-year-old daughter Erin because of the way Coach Wooden loved me.

And they said, Welcome back to UCLA, I'll see you dribble for the cure, and he walked out.

And I ran over to the computer and I looked him up, and he didn't even mention that he was the starting guard on two of Coach Wooden's national championship teams, and he played seven years in the NBA because it paled in comparison to the man he became, and that became our quest.

How many John Valley stories can we create?

And I am so proud of the habits, the character, the giving spirit that these amazing women behind me have chosen to embody.

And I was uh going through the airport, I had a speaking engagement in Portland yesterday, and I was going to the gate, and this um this man and his son stopped me and he said, Um, we just watched every game, and he said I my son wouldn't even turn to watch the March Madness men's game.

He only wanted to watch the women, and I'm so uh it has nothing to do with I'm a huge men's basketball March Madness fan, has nothing to do with what he didn't do, didn't do, but this little boy uh found it captivating to support and cheer for these amazing women, and I think this is a cultural thing, it's not just a basketball sports thing.

I actually really I think it was Chelsea, the hockey player that was talking about the intersection of sports and the intersection of faith.

We have a phrase in our program that all of you is welcome here.

And if we don't show the world that you can disagree without being disagreeable, that you can be passionate about your convictions and your character and your beliefs, and they can be different, and that's okay.

I still have so much to learn from you, and I am as proud of the unity that they've shown in those fronts as I am about the way they performed in the championship game, and I'm pretty darn proud of that.

So thank you all very much for your support.

Bo Bruins, thank you.

And I'll bring up somebody a whole lot smarter and more articulate than me, an amazing player in our program who's gonna lead us and share a few words to me a gardener.

Okay, I'm a little taller, so I'm gonna put this up.

First off, I just wanted to show appreciation for you guys for inviting us here to be amongst you all.

It's truly been an honor and a privilege to represent not only UCLA but Los Angeles as a whole.

Um I also wanted to acknowledge and shout out our seniors that aren't here with us today, um, but they're chasing their dreams right now, and they're such an inspiration to all of us.

Um, but I want to give them their flowers as well.

Um sorry, what's it?

Uh, the season was truly one that we all will never forget.

Uh, the relationships that we built were ones um that are going to last a lifetime, and I can truly say that we were a family and we're all sisters, and that was really the main thing that carried us through this entire season, um, which is how close you were, and you all could see how connected we were.

Um, and really the byproduct of that was a national championship.

And secondly, thank you so much for your continued support of our program.

Seeing everyone support us at every stage of our season was truly amazing to see, and it means the absolute world to us, especially as woman in sports.

It was great to see the support and attendance growing poly throughout the season.

We would not have made it as far as we did without the support of Los Angeles and this community.

So thank you so much.

As we celebrate last year, we're equally as excited for the next chapter for our team.

And with that being said, we hope to see you all on Pauly next season.

Go Burns.

Thank you very much, uh, Coach Close and Tamiya.

In recognition of UCLA's remarkable accomplishment as a brew, and I'm especially thrilled to present uh we have a plaque to UCLA Athletics, Coach Close and the team.

Hang on, council member.

We do have, we do have members on the queue.

Can they speak before you present that beautiful plaque?

Yes, we can do that first.

If you promise to trade the plaque for the trophy.

Councilmember.

Yeah.

Okay, thank you so much.

I'm a double Bruin.

Um proud double brewing.

Great for the school, I wasn't an athlete.

Everyone watching women's sports.

It took many phone calls to get you here because you had to go to school, is what we were told.

That you were had school commitments and everything's been a world run.

But we are so proud of you.

The city of LA is so proud of you.

We're city of champions, and now being part of that legacy, um, that's the honor that you get to have that nobody else around this horseshoe gets to have.

And so thank you for bringing that to our city for women's sports.

We're on the cusp.

I'm tired of woodenisms, and um I'm hoping that we get the Corey closes here because the water uh the grass that you've watered right here has grown into something great, and the character that you all have developed on and off the court, that is something that you know every parent, every person, and that will take you through everything.

And so, really, what you've developed, the talent you've developed.

So, you got me flustered, ma'am.

Um the talent that you've developed here with these girls who are growing into strong women and gonna lead into outside of basketball and become like it's so exciting for your future and exciting for the city of LA.

So, thank you all for being here.

We're so proud of you and GoPro Eds.

Thank you, Councilmember Rodriguez.

Thank you, Councilmember Yaroslavski.

You know, after you ladies won, the first person I asked, we said, Are you gonna bring UCLA basketball in for us to give a proper celebration?

And I'm so glad you all are here.

Congratulations on a remarkable achievement.

So many decades in the making, you made history, and well, you made her story.

And what's coach, thank you for everything that you said.

It it really transcends sports, and it's such an important message for everyone to understand and embrace, and it's an example of why you all have achieved what you have achieved.

Um, I really you make us all proud, and when I see how women's basketball in particular has really grown in its embrace.

I remember when it was um, oh gosh, uh, I remember when the WMBA was first kind of growing, right?

Cheryl and uh Cheryl Miller and everyone that was so much a part of that pioneering spirit that was introducing the world to how remarkable women athletes really are, but never really recognized.

I'm so happy to see ladies, you getting the due respect that you deserve.

Um, and you know, when you when you please when you see Gabriela Takis.

I got goosebumps just saying her name, thinking about what it means for our community to finally feel seen on the stage, uh, and and the contributions that her brother is making.

You know, our community historically has not really been seen in the sport, and but each of you brings so much tremendous pride as Angelinos, but as ladies pioneering in the sports world.

I want to say congratulations on a well-deserved recognition and championship.

You make us all really proud, and I look forward to seeing each of you continue to ascend in your own respective on or off the court.

You know, Billie Jean King talked about how important sports is for women to be in the C C in the C suite.

And so these are the these are the lessons and the experiences that will help shape your greater success in your future.

And I just ask that you please impart that same uh all those same lessons to other young women, whether they are in the sport or not, because these are the lessons that transcend the court.

So congratulations on a well-deserved accomplishment.

We're all very proud of you, and we thank you for joining us here to get the recognition that you deserve.

Congratulations.

Thank you, Councilmember Lee.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh, thank you, Councilmember Yaroslavsky, for bringing in these amazing women.

Uh, to the amazing women on this team, thank you for all the hard work that you put in, not only during the finals game or the tournament, really your whole lives that led you up to this moment to bring home that championship to our city and allowing all of us to celebrate with you.

Uh, I'm sure the work you've done is just immeasurable.

And to Coach Close, uh, I know how hard you work because I've sat next to you at a Sierra Canyon basketball game while you are recruiting and scouting uh the women of that team.

So thank you so much for all your hard work as well, your amazing words and uh go Bruins.

Thank you, Councilmember Soto Martinez.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Chair.

Uh, Councilman Yorosowski, thank you so much for bringing the Lady Bruins here and giving giving me personally so much joy.

I've been watching the Bruins as an LA native Angelino, been watching Bruins my entire life.

And uh last year, a little bit around this time, I was like, you're gonna bring them in, you're gonna bring them in.

And then we lost in the semifinals.

It was heartbreaking.

But there was a lot of pressure this year, and I can't imagine how much pressure you must have had.

Six seniors, all sort of at the end of their career, and we did it.

I mean, it was so joyful.

I'm not watching the men's basketball anymore.

I'm watching the women's women's basketball.

I've had the pleasure of going and watching you live at Poly Pavilion, and I know six of y'all couldn't be here today off of doing greater things, but uh thank you for giving me joy and the city so much joy, and Coach Close.

Congratulations on four more years and no pressure, but you know, if you get one more, I'll be very, very happy as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I do want to add my voice to say I think I'm I without fear of contradiction, I can say I'm the biggest women's basketball fan in the room right now.

And that came from when my girls were growing up, they were at Bishop Montgomery and they were playing basketball at Bishop Montgomery in the Noel Quinn era.

And Noelle and I got to see Noelle play at Bishop.

My daughter got one of my daughters got to play with her.

I got to see her uh play at UCLA in the W and then coach in the W.

And I am just so proud uh so proud of UCLA as a single UCLA grad in my postgraduate experience and Coach Close.

I could not be more excited that your contract is extended.

And I look forward to you coaching many, many, many more years here in the Southland.

With that, Councilmember Yaroslavsky.

Thank you, colleagues.

So there's a heart out at 11 30 um for the for the folks behind me.

So we're gonna take a quick picture.

Okay.

In front of the horseshoe with all members.

We can do that, that.

That'd be wonderful.

Right now, without recess, we'll come to the center and we'll take a photo.

I can explain to the point.

Okay, we're doing that version.

Thank you so much.

Okay, we go which way do we go?

Can we just tell you how we're trying to make that team for five seconds.

I'm gonna bring in a guess.

Yes, we can in a guest.

All right.

Thank you so much.

We remain in session.

No, it's okay.

It's a short half time.

And then I look for you.

Oh, we have one more than I think about it.

We see though, I think I'll just go to it a little bit squishy.

Okay, also maybe it's here we can go out and see how it can work on this.

Okay, we'll see you so we'll be good.

Okay, I think we'll have to go to the last one, here we're still trying to say it's because here's the last session, we're gonna use it or not is it the hand of talking about that, so we're in street strategies, uh, 10 to 15%.

Oh, maybe we haven't heard of that because I think this is a lot of people, we're the phone.

Yeah.

Oh, I think we're there.

No, something else is right now, I think it's something like that, it's like alternatives or not.

All right, let's get together.

Hello there, congrats.

Absolutely.

I don't know.

Oh, that's amazing.

This side move one inch this way so I can see the system.

I think you folks are thank you.

Uh, you can do it.

Stats, you got a room.

Yes, thank you.

What if we can shop in the middle of the way?

Sorry, one last one.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for the one.

Thank you so much and congratulations.

We will now move to our next presentation, uh, which is led by council members Raman Lee and Harado to recognize Hapa Day.

Councilmember Raman, Councilmember Lee, Councilmember Harado.

You may take the podium.

While we are waiting for that presentation, Councilmember Soto Martinez has a recognition.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Salta Martinez.

Yes, thank you so much.

Mr.

Before we uh move on to I just want to acknowledge we have Glenn Felice elementary school in the back.

Can you young kiddos get up and say hello to everyone?

So they're here, Mr.

Herman.

You will sit down.

You are disrupting the presentation.

These kids are taking a lot of leadership and at water village.

They we recently celebrated Earth Day by planting over a dozen trees, and now they're here at City Hall to learn all the things that we're doing.

Thank you so much, Councilmember and Lee for giving me a couple seconds to acknowledge Glenn Felice Elementary.

Say hello, everyone.

Hello.

Say hello, you're on you're on TV.

Wave, wait for the cameras.

Hello.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Soldier Martinez.

And welcome to your city hall.

Now we will move to our presentation.

Councilmember Rahman.

Great.

Thank you all so much.

I am very pleased to be standing here with my other co-chairs, Council members John Lee and Councilmember Isabel Harado.

As we continue to celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander heritage, culture, and traditions across Los Angeles on Hapa Day.

Uh for those who don't know, Hapa is a Hawaiian word for half, part or portion, and originated to describe children of native Hawaiians and European settlers.

But today it's used more broadly in Hawaii, the Pacific, and the U.S.

mainland to describe anyone of mixed, combined Asian or Pacific Islander and white heritage, but really of anyone of mixed racial ancestry.

Now more than ever, celebrations and recognitions like today are essential in a world that feels more hostile to immigrants than before.

The individuals we're going to be honoring today inspire a sense of the hope that future generations of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders will remain connected to their culture and history.

I bring with me to this council floor an immigrant's perspective from my birthplace in Kerala, India.

And I know firsthand how significant it is to feel that one's native heritage is represented and respected in these chambers.

And I'm excited to be doing it again for A N H PI Heritage Month again.

And as I look around this room at all the beautiful people, proud to stand alongside one another, finding commonality amongst their differences, I am reminded that being part doesn't make you less, but it makes you more.

It makes you wholly vibrant, it makes you wholly you, and I want to extend my gratitude to Hapa Global for once again reminding us that every day is Hapa Day.

And now I wanted to invite my colleagues, Council members John Lee and Isabel Herado to also give their remarks.

Woo!

Well, good morning, colleagues.

Good morning, colleagues, and I'm honored to join Councilmembers Raman and Herado on this day.

There is no presentation that I'm a part of that's more joyful than Hapa Day, the group that comes as they always come on with so much energy and uh bring so much happiness to our chambers.

You know, recognizing Hapa Day, a meaningful occasion that you know celebrates individuals who identify identities beautifully span multiple cultures, communities, and traditions.

Hapa generally refers to people of mixed Asian or Pacific Islander heritage or and another background.

But beyond a definition, Hapa Day is about belonging.

It is about recognizing the riches, the resilience, and unique perspectives that come from living at the intersection of cultures.

During AAPI Heritage Month, we celebrate the many communities that make up the fabric of Los Angeles.

Hoppa individuals remind us that identity is not always simple or neatly defined, and that diversity is often at its most powerful when it reflects multiple lived experiences.

This day is especially meaningful for me as the father of two HAPA children.

Like many families here in Los Angeles, my family reflects the diversity that makes this city so special.

My hope is that every child growing up in our city feels proud, proud of every part of who they are, fully seen, fully valued, and fully embraced.

Today we are also honored to recognize individuals and organizations who continue to uplift and represent the HAPA community and to celebrate the next generations whose voice and talents will continue shaping a more inclusive future.

Thank you very much, Mr.

President.

Now I'd like to invite Councilmember Herado to say for you.

Thank you, good morning, everyone, and happy Hapa Day.

It's wonderful.

Woo!

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Ramon and Councilmember Lee for helping putting this together.

It's wonderful to be back and see this celebration continue to grow each year because if there's one thing about Los Angeles, it's that we're a city shaped by people who carry more than one story, more than one culture, more than one way of seeing the world.

We're many cultures all at once, all in one city.

And Hapa Day is such a beautiful expression of that, honoring every part of who we are and celebrating what happens when those parts come together to create something new, creative, and unique.

And honestly, when you look at artists like Lafay, actors like Hudson Williams, and athletes like Alyssa Liu, as writer and photographer Katie Gee Salisbury puts it, the Hapa girlies are having a moment.

You can really feel it right now.

ANHPI and mixed heritage artists aren't just part of the culture.

They're divining what the culture looks like and sounds like today.

And we're celebrating identity, creativity, and community, and not as something fixed, but as something that is alive and ever evolving.

And that spirit is exactly what makes today feel so special.

And I'll now hand it over back to Councilmember Rahman.

I'd like to actually invite Councilmember Lee up to give our.

We have a video.

Oh, we have a video first.

Okay.

I'm sorry.

No, no.

Hi, I'm Chanel Iman, sending a shout out to you, Hoppa family.

Congratulations on celebrating the fourth year of recognition by the city of Los Angeles.

Happy Hapa Day.

So Hapaya Linda.

So it is Harango.

Hamkey.

Yeah, I just am took his nida.

I'm so honored to recognize once again Hapa Day in the city of Los Angeles.

Congratulations to today's honoree, DJ Hoppe.

Annual Hoppe Day.

It's a proclamation celebrating people of mixed heritage, particularly mixed Asian heritage.

Hoppa is a Hawaiian word for part.

That sentiment, the idea of being part something and part something else, has spread beyond the islands of Hawaii.

This term really resonates with so many of us.

Today's presentation is so incredibly meaningful because it uplifts those who don't really fit neatly into one box.

It affirms that there is beauty in complexity and strength in multiplicity.

And Hapa, we stand for unity and embracing everyone.

I stand on the shoulders of those who have come before me, especially the previous generations who fought to pioneer Hapa Day in Los Angeles.

And thank you to the city of LA for being at the forefront of honoring our Hoppa heritage.

The world and the powers that be tell two sets of people you shouldn't be able to get together.

We're gonna make laws so you can't get together.

Not only do you get together, you make up a tribe and create a whole movement behind it.

And so that's the spirit of resistance that is so Los Angeles and so hoppa.

So thank you for that, and a big round of applause to everybody who's a part of the Hopper movement.

Thank you.

As we mentioned earlier, as we mentioned earlier, we are uh going to be honoring some people today.

So I would like to introduce to all of you Captain Rachel Rodriguez from LAPD Olympic Area.

Captain, please join me.

It is my honor to uh introduce Captain Rachel Rodriguez this year's Hoppe of the Year honoree.

Captain Rodriguez, who leads LAPD's Olympic area, has dedicated nearly 20 years of service to the Los Angeles Police Department and is a trailblazer as the first Korean American captain in LAPD history.

As the as the daughter of a Korean mother and a proud second-generation member of LAPD, her story reflects public service, leadership, and the rich diversity that makes Los Angeles so incredibly special.

Please join me in welcoming Captain Rachel Rodriguez.

Honorable council members, community members, and guests.

I am humbled and honored to be recognized today as your fourth annual HAPA awardee.

Today I'm surrounded by my family, my colleagues, and my wonderful community that is also here today.

Thank you for supporting me daily.

I am a proud HAPA woman, a mix of Korean and Mexican descent.

Uh nearly 50 years ago, uh a Mexican Mexican American man serving in the United States Marine Corps, uh, met a Korean woman while he was serving and deployed in South Korea.

As a, as I say, the rest is history.

But lo and behold, they had three HAPA children raised with values and respect of two different cultures.

Strong work ethic, perseverance, and a duty to serve.

And they instilled in us the strength of both the Korean and Mexican cultures that we could achieve anything we set our minds to, and that is the true American dream.

Today I have the incredible privilege to serve as the first female Korean commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department.

And I lead the men and women of Olympic Division, where they proudly serve and embrace a multicultural community.

At its heart is Korea Town, the largest Korean population outside of South Korea.

It's surrounded by vibrant Guatemalan and Salvadorian neighborhoods.

It is an area graced by very various religious institutions, such as the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the Islamic Center of Southern California, and St.

Brennan, among other Catholic churches.

It is a place where community organizations such as the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles, the Olympic Boosters Association, and the unification of disabled Latin Americans serve.

This community represents what Hapa Dag proclaimed, a celebration of different cultures melded into one rich, prosperous community.

A blooming mix of Michelin-starred restaurants and delicious cuisine, innovation and entertainment for all.

It's a place where we will bring together multiple cultures this summer at Seoul International Park as we welcome everyone during the World Cup.

So let's celebrate this day and give gratitude to the generations that came before us, the brave men and women who led with love and open doors for us to dream big and carry out the mission to make our communities enduring, safe, and prosperous, a place where we can all call home.

So happy HAPA Day to all that are celebrating here with us, those that are afar, and to the next generation will stand where we're standing today.

Thank you, and may God bless you all.

Captain, we can skip here for a second on behalf of the City Council and all the residents of the city of Los Angeles.

Want to thank you for your work at Olympic.

Present you as well.

We have three two more.

Oh, gotcha.

Thank you.

I am so excited to recognize our next honoree, Jordan Lucas.

And I I really really am so excited.

I wasn't feeling too well, but I wanted to be here to make sure that we lifted you up today.

Jordan is of Hawaiian and Filipino descent and raised in Southern California.

He comes from a family with an esteemed athletic lineage.

His grandfather played football for the U.S.

Naval Academy, his father played basketball for the University of Hawaii, and his brother competed in basketball at Oregon State University and the University of Nevada.

Today he continues this legacy on the volleyball court, distinguished by his exceptional skill in execution, but with his own flair.

A prominent student athlete at Cal State Northridge, Matador Jordan has drawn attention for his confident and authentic style of play, as well as for helping spark a national conversation about accountability and sports commentary after a commentator directed inappropriate and harmful remarks towards him, and was later forced to issue a formal public apology.

While Jordan is already a recognized figure within the LGBTQ Plus community, we also celebrate his emergence as a rising star within the HAPA community.

Over this past month, he has acquired more than 350,000 new followers on social media, and he's utilized his platform to transform his negative experience into a constructive national dialogue.

And his steadfastness, leadership, and resolve have earned him features on ABC News, CNN, and the New York Times.

Jordan's contributions to the sport have been exemplary.

He ranks third at C Sun in total points, second in skills, sixth in both Aces and Diggs, and we commend him for his dedication.

Although he graduates from CSUN this year, he maintains an additional year of eligibility, and we look forward to with great anticipation to his continued success.

Congratulations, Jordan.

Thank you so much, Councilmember.

Sorry.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Raman, for this honor, and also thank you to you all for having me here.

Being Hopper is something that means so much to me, and it being API Heritage Month is just so surreal to even be in this building right now.

So thank you so much.

And being a part of the LGBTQ community, and also being a figure in sports.

There's not so much representation, so I'm just really glad that I get to be a part of it.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

On behalf of the LA City Council, we want to make sure that we honored you with this certificate signed by all of us.

Thank you.

Okay.

Our final honoree today has been a driving force behind making this celebration possible.

Hapa Global has helped uplift the voices of mixed Asian communities, ensuring that their stories, their culture, and their place in our shared history are seen, heard, and celebrated.

Because understanding identity isn't a single moment.

It's a lifelong journey, especially in a city like Los Angeles, where so many people carry more than one culture, one language, and one story.

Hapa Global has helped build pride across communities of mixed heritage, reminding us that being multiracial doesn't mean being in between.

It means being fully everything you are.

At this time, I'd like to welcome Tia Lugoski, the founder of Hapa Global, whose advocacy helped lead to the city's recognition of Hapa Day and continues to advance the idea that every day is Hapa Day.

Tia.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Good morning, Mr.

President.

And honorable members of City Council here in Los Angeles.

Thank you for having us from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you.

And this means more than you can ever encounter.

I don't want to make a mistake, but what I have going to say will be mumble, so I wrote a few notes for me, so I'm gonna read.

It means a lot more than the word of that check in a box.

It means a lot more than that.

Um this HAPA day that we are having here, makes all of us truly a uh community feels truly a deeply uh respected and vibrant, connected with mosaic over diversity that makes us uh Los Angeles, the greatest and most beautiful city ever.

Thank you so much for having us here as Hapa Day and being a role model city to recognize us as I'm leaving multiracial myself every single day that I'm living here that we want to embrace, we want to recognize one another, and we want to share our love with everyone in this room and beyond.

I hope that all of us in this room we can make the history over having Hapa Day goes beyond Los Angeles.

Thank you so much, and thank you so much for all the happers being here.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

Oh, I think I want us to tell them.

Welcome.

Ellie and Erie Purdue to sing somewhere over the rainbow.

Blue birds fly.

And the dreams that you dream of, dreams really do come true.

Someday, wish upon the star.

Wake up where the clouds are far behind.

Me where trouble melts like a lemon drops.

So over the rainbow.

And the dreams that you dare to owe.

Oh, I can't.

Thank you.

All right, now we're gonna close with the Hapa Day song.

Happy Day Happy Day birthdays.

So thank you of the month of May.

A special day to celebrate.

Hey, hey, it's a hopper day.

Come on, y'all.

Oh yeah.

Hoppa Nation everywhere.

Oh, waking up to a brand new day.

Oh, get on board a hopper tray.

Hey, it's a hopper day.

Come on, y'all.

We just want to say.

So beauty for.

Yes, you are.

Come on, y'all.

We just want to say you are so beautiful.

Yes, you are.

Here we go.

Hoppa story not been told.

Everybody want to know.

Hoppa curves tell you that to you.

Uh-huh.

Hoppa story is not been told.

Everybody want to know.

Hoppa curves tell it that is to you.

Hoppaday.

To you, everybody.

Hop a day to you.

Hoppa nation of on the world.

Celebrated.

One more time.

Hop a day to you.

Hop a day to you.

Hop a nation on the world.

Celebrating Hapa Day.

Thank you so much.

We do have some members on the queue.

And I will begin with Council Member Hutt.

Councilmember Hutt.

I know I'm talking too much today.

No, it's quite right.

It's such a wonderful day to celebrate all the beautiful cultures in the city of Los Angeles.

So but I I couldn't help but get up because this is the beauty.

If I'm in Topeka, Kansas, I do not see this kind of culture.

And I'm just so happy to see Hopaday that was something that we're celebrating, that we love on one another for what we have together.

Where does she go?

She's sitting down.

Captain Rodriguez from the Olympic division.

I'm so happy for her when she moved up the ranks and to see a woman empowered.

So congratulations.

And didn't know you were Hoppa, so I wonderful.

Um, Jordan, the volleyball player at C Sun.

We all watched what you did with power and grace, and we got your back.

Don't worry about it.

We got your back.

And for Tia who comes and is recognized for the work that you've done to bring people together to understand that this is a culture.

We appreciate you.

We appreciate your words.

And to um DJ Hoppe, I know you didn't speak today, but last year we appreciate your contributions and to the performer.

Thank you so much to bring joy and beauty to what this means to and to find each other in the culture you have developed a tribe.

And that is really beautiful.

So thank you, Councilmember Raman, Councilmember Lee, Councilwoman Hertaro, thank you so much for bringing this together and reminding us about what's beautiful in Los Angeles.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Councilmember Price.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I actually want to just thank our colleagues, Raldo, Lee, and Robin for bringing this important celebration to us today.

You know, we all uh have a chance to really recognize and appreciate the diversity that's in our in our backyards and in our homes.

You know, we're proud uh grandparent uh the Japanese son and uh I have a late uh mother-in-law that was Filipina, and so I just appreciate the rich diversity, the culture, the intertwining uh that really represents the basis of our community.

So again, thank you for being here.

Thanks for celebrating, and thanks for making us great again.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Raman, Councilmember Lee, Councilmember Alarado, happy hoppa day to everyone.

Thank you all so much.

Thank you, members.

Our next presentation will be Councilmember Jorado.

You will keep the podium, and we have a 40th anniversary to celebrate.

But before we get to the next presentation, uh the city attorney has an announcement.

Yes, so Mr.

Herman, I was informed that you were the one who interrupted or disrupted the presentation with your clapping uh when the uh hoppa singers were singing over the rainbow.

Uh, you know the rules.

Do not disrupt this meeting at any point.

Uh for members of the public who are new here, I understand there's been a lot of confusion uh also on Reddit as to uh Mr.

Herman and the enforcement of the rules against Mr.

Herman.

We'd just like to let everybody know that unfortunately we cannot control the signs that he puts around his neck or the shirts that he wears.

Uh the Brown Act does not require him to be polite or respectful during these presentations or during these meetings.

Uh and we cannot control what he says during his public comment.

However, uh, ironically, his actions do highlight the need for these presentations, uh, and that we should continue to honor uh both Jewish American Heritage, Happa Day, uh, and all of these students who are here uh just going on tours for City Hall.

So we appreciate your patience and we apologize for the appalling things that they do and say.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, uh Mr.

President.

We can continue.

Thank you.

That was first and last warning.

Councilmember Alrado, the podium is yours.

We're waiting for folks to file in a little bit.

We are 40 strong for 40 years.

Hold on, let's see if we can get everybody.

Oh, Joel.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

I think we got mostly everybody.

It's truly an honor to be here today to celebrate an extraordinary milestone, 40 years of Proyecto Pastoral.

Woo.

That's 40 years of love, service, organizing, and deep commitment to the people of Boyle Heights.

Proyecto Pastoral was founded in 1986 by Father Greg Boyle, and a group.

And a group of courageous women from Boyle Heights who believe their community deserve dignity, opportunity, safety, and hope.

And from that vision, they built something transformational.

What started as a grassroots effort, rooted in faith and community, has become one of the most important institutions on the east side.

For four decades, Proyecto Pastoral has shown up for Boyle Heights families again and again.

They launched child care cooperatives and early education programs for working parents.

They opened the Guadalupe Homeless Project to support unhoused refugees and immigrant families fleeing violence.

And after a tragic drive-by shooting, shook the community.

They created impacto, giving young people a safe place to go to after school, during summers and during some of the hardest moments in their lives.

That work matters because every young person deserves somewhere they feel safe, supported, and believed in.

Today, they are still on the front lines supporting immigrant families, building rapid response networks, expanding civic participation, and helping residents organize for the future they deserve.

What inspires me most is that Proyecto Pastoral has never simply provided services.

They have built leadership, they have built belonging, and they have built community power.

And today, we also honor the women who helped build this legacy.

The women joining us here today, and the women who are no longer with us, whose vision, labor, and love continue to guide this work every single day.

Their fingerprints are all over Boyle Heights.

You can see them.

Because of Proyecto Pastoral, thousands of children and families have had the opportunity to dream bigger, live with dignity, and become leaders themselves.

And that legacy continues under the leadership of Raquel Roman.

Let's give a round.

Her leadership reflects the very heart of Proyecto Pastoral, compassionate, fearless, and deeply community-driven.

And I'm grateful to her partnership, her advocacy, and her continued commitment to Boyle Heights.

Raquel, over to you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, and on behalf of everyone at Proyecto Pastoral, thank you to the City Council, Councilwoman Isabel Jurado for this recognition and honor as we celebrate 40 years of community, faith, and service in Boyle Heights.

This recognition truly belongs to the people who built Proyecto from the ground up, the founding mujeres of Dolores Mission and Proyecto Pastoral, who in the 1980s came together to reflect on the challenges facing our community.

Immigration, violence, poverty, and the lack of opportunity for working families.

They did not wait for someone else to save the community.

They became the solution.

From a tiny childcare program run on a stage to opening shelter doors for refugees fleeing civil war, to creating opportunities for youth and families, Proyecto has always been rooted in one simple belief.

Everyone deserves dignity, safety, and hope.

For 40 years, Proyecto has been a safe place for immigrant families, for youth, for the unhoused, and for those searching for healing and opportunity.

And while today we celebrate our history, we also recognize the responsibility of this moment.

Our communities continue to face displacement, economic hardship, and fear.

But Proyecto has taught us that when community comes together with courage and love, transformation is possible.

I want to thank our staff who's here today, some of our staff, our volunteers, our community partners, our donors, and especially the residents and families of Boyle Heights who continue to trust us and shape this work every day.

And finally, I want to honor the women who planted the seats of Proyecto 40 years ago.

As one of our founders, Yolanda Gallo once said, Plantamos semillas y nunca nos imaginamos que iban a dar tanto fruto.

Today we celebrate the fruit of those seats and recommit ourselves to the next four years of justice, dignity, and community.

Muchísimas gracias.

Thank you.

Thank you, Raquel.

Now I'd like to welcome Margarita Hernandez, a longtime East Side resident and community advocate.

Originally from Mexico, Margarita has dedicated herself to supporting Boyle Heights families and systems impacted youth through her work with Projecto Pastoral.

Her story reflects the strength, resilience, and care that define this community.

Please join me in welcoming Margarita Hernandez.

Una union para todos.

Aprendi que nosotros.

In summary, what I have learned from Project Pastoral is faith.

For me, what it means is unity, it's love, it's companionship, it's strength, and it is joining together to create something stronger.

Thank you.

So beautiful.

And now I'd like to recognize Leticia Galvan, a long time Boyle Heights resident and one of Projecto Pastoral's original community leaders.

Since the organization's earliest days, Leticia has dedicated herself to uplifting families through advocacy, leadership, and service.

As a single mother, she modeled resilience and community care for her family, a legacy that continues today through her daughter's work with Proyecto and her granddaughter Annelise, who now serves in the city family with Councilmember Yarislavski.

Please join me in welcoming Leticia Galvan.

Hello, my name is Leticia Galvan, and I would just like to say as a single as a single mother, I was greatly supported and was able to get by.

Thank you to the people at Dolores Mission and also Proyecto Pastoral who supported me while I had to work having two children.

And despite what I've been through, I am just so proud that now my two uh my granddaughters are now professional women, and I just want to say thank you to Father Gregorio and all of the people at Proyecto Pastoral.

Thank you.

And now I'd like to introduce Joe Diaz, a proud Boyle Heights native raised in the Pico Eliso Housing Projects, who continues to serve the community that raised him.

Through his work mentoring young people at the Boyle Heights Technology Youth Source Center and supporting community programs at Pican Recreation Center.

Joe represents the next generation of leadership that Proyecto Pastoral has helped cultivate for decades.

Go to any community event in Boyle Heights, and there's Joe wearing one of his many hats.

Please join me in welcoming Joe Diaz.

Um first I would like to thank City Council here, each one of you guys.

It's um it's your job to help, and this is what you guys continue supporting Proyecto Pastoral in 40 years.

My mother was one of the founders.

Um, you know, in the 80s and 90s, we didn't have much.

We had each other.

The women had each other, they protected and provided services for the young youth, especially those individuals who are in gangs.

There was eight gangs in a two and a half mile radius of Pico Liso, Lisa Village.

These women were the women who were going out in the middle gangs and say, hey, why are you guys fighting?

There was a peace walk, they created peacewalks among the housing development and told them we don't want you guys shooting each other.

We want you guys.

So they created barbecues for them certain days.

But Proyecto for 40 years has been creating services for the community.

It started off in Pico Liso, Lisa Village.

Now it's grown.

They're at schools, they're at Homeback Middle Schools, they're at Roosevelt, Roseau Continuation.

This is the growth of what home uh Project, sorry, I was gonna get the other one.

But Proyecto has done.

Without Projecto, there is no homeboy industry.

These women went to Father Greg and said, hey, what can we do?

How can we help with jobs?

This is what this is what Proyecto is all about.

And again, thank you, Councilmember, for recognizing.

I saw Ronald test here, but this guy, these individuals love what they do, these women, it's about giving up.

Giving, I got distracted.

These women, these women are what the what this community needs.

And if the community like this, Boyle Heights, and the city of Los Angeles had more Proyecto Pastorales, it would be a little way different for them.

Thank you.

Sorry.

Thank you, Joe.

Are there other members on the queue?

No, it's Councilmember.

Okay, great.

Um, you know, a couple weeks ago we had a presentation about the gang truce, and they kept mentioning putting the public back in public safety in neighborhoods like Boyle Heights.

That's what these women did.

They put the community in community safety and made sure when the city services were falling short that our constituents, our children, our families felt safe, and they were the ones leading the way.

And you know, when I say there is uh one strong woman behind every one strong woman, is a whole lot of strong women, and that's at these mujeres are and so because of Proyecto Pastoral, thousands of families have had the opportunity to dream bigger and build brighter futures.

And so today, on behalf of the city of Los Angeles, I proudly recognize Proyecto Pastoral for 40 years of transformative leadership, unwavering compassion, and extraordinary service to Boyle Heights.

Your work has changed lives, strengthened families, and empowered young people and helped generations of residents believe in their own power.

And so, congratulations on this anniversary, and thank you for showing us what true community looks like.

Oh my god, like that's your face.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Our next special recognition is from Council District 13, Hugo Soto Martinez.

Okay, it's okay.

Thank you so much and happy anniversary.

Thank you for all of your work and community.

You'd be the last speaker, friend.

Thank you.

We're just getting set up.

Give us a few seconds, colleagues.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Chair.

I am extremely excited to be standing here today as we honor someone who many of us had the pleasure of watching win a championship with our beloved Lakers in 2010, and someone who has been an incredible advocate for mental health awareness, the one and only meta world peace.

He is a defensive player of the year, an all-star, and of course, an NBA champion.

Meta will probably go down as one of the best lockdown defenders in NBA history, but his greatest legacy, and the one that I want to honor him today, is something he has built off the court.

Many of you might remember that after sinking that incredible three-pointer in game seven against the Celtics.

Sorry, Celtics fans, if you're out there, Meta famously thanked his psychiatrist in his post-game interview on the court.

If you're a basketball fan, NBA fan, you're gonna remember that that is one of those sort of unique and special moments that is always gonna be in your memory.

But after winning the NBA championship, Meta donated his salary and even auctioned off his championship ring so you could donate the proceeds to mental health charities.

He's spoken in front of Congress to advocate for mental health awareness for young people, and he founded the Artest Foundation to empower young people through athletics, education, and mental health support.

Now, some of y'all might know that I talk quite a bit about mental health and the need for therapy and psychiatry because I myself have been in therapy for almost uh 13 14 years, and I know that having access to that helps young people heal their trauma, work through many issues, talk about their feelings and process, and especially for those of us that have lived in more working-class communities of of color.

We know that these tools are not accessible to many folks in our community.

But through his work, Meta has shown a generation that it is okay to go to therapy, that it is okay to ask for help, to that is that it is a strength to recognize that and take action because ultimately that is to be for you for the betterment of your own self.

But before we hand over the mic to Meta, we have a few special guests with us here today that would like to say a few words.

First up, we have an advocate for mental health and child protection, a close personal friend of Meta's, who he credits with helping him get on the right track when he was younger.

I like to welcome Roger Aleya Bernstein.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

It's a really difficult name to pronounce.

So when you called and said, you know, would you speak, you know, about you?

I was really excited just to talk about our friendship and who you are.

So today being Meta World Peace Day and echoing what you said when you and I first met, and I don't know anything about the game, so thank you for sharing that with us.

Um we talked so much about mental health because I know nothing about the world of sports, and we bonded over our shared love for impact, for mental health, for truly making a difference, and we had this deep conversation about you explained what Malice at the palace was because I had no idea what had happened that day.

And we went down this deep rabbit hole about the deep stigma that surrounds those of us who struggle with mental health.

And as you mentioned, um, I've spent my life devoted to child sexual abuse prevention.

I'm a proud survivor and a mother of four.

And throughout that journey, I worked with so many people and myself have struggled with my own mental health issues throughout my life due to trauma.

You know, how we can show up and create spaces that are so much more inviting and welcoming for those of us who struggle.

And over the time that we've known each other, you have been someone who A has such deep integrity for the truth, for doing the right thing, for showing up for people that you care about, even when it's unpopular, and for always advocating for those who are truly in need.

And I think that one of the things that's most special about you that I've seen so much over the years is how you show up for children.

Meta is very close with my children, and both on a personal level and a collective one.

I've seen how deeply he cares about the community, about Los Angeles, about suffering in the world, and how he is always the person who truly just puts his heart on the line, his time, and invests in his relationship, his family, and in what truly matters.

So congratulations to you today.

Thank you for all that you do for creating so much awareness and space and for being the person that you are.

Thank you so much.

Now, here to say a few words about Meta, is the California Deputy State Controller for Taxation and the chair of San Francisco Human Rights Commission, someone who has worked with the Artest Foundation as well as many of Meta's other initiatives, Haseeb Emran.

Happy Meta World Peace Day, Los Angeles.

I'm so so honored to be here on such a historic day.

My name is Haseeb Emron.

I'm an attorney, I'm the California Deputy State Controller to our great state controller Malia Cohen.

I'm also chair of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission.

All those fancy titles to the side, I'm a friend and a brother to a great humanitarian, a community activist, a mental health leader, and an MBA world champion that goes by the name Meta World Peace.

Can we give this man a round of applause?

And the one thing that I love about MetaSoul so much is his ability, unique ability to bring people together and to solve the problems that we face in our everyday society.

So whether it be a three in the morning call or an early morning text message, meta world peace calls me and says that the kids in South LA don't have anywhere to exercise.

Let's build a basketball court or that is back to school, and the children of Los Angeles don't have the school supplies and the equipment.

So let's get a backpack together.

Let's get laptops ready for our children to be able to succeed.

And it's the idea of always paying it backwards and forwards.

So as we gather here today on such a historic day, I'm so so honored to be here with Meta.

And it's only fitting that we celebrate Meta World Peace Day during Mental Health Awareness Month.

Such an important day to those that are living in a silent struggle, those battling depression, hearing voices inside their head telling them that they're not worth it.

We're here today during Meta World Peace Day to tell you that your lives matter to love, to uplift each other, to continue to care for one another.

That is the shared humanity we all share as human beings.

That is human rights.

And Meta, I want to thank you right here personally in this moment because it's just been about a year that my own cousin was shot and killed during a mental health crisis.

And one of the first calls that I made was the meta world peace.

And we talked through it, we prayed together, and we found solace in the moment.

And we promised that we're gonna work together on this issue each and every single day.

So, Meta, I want to thank you.

I want to congratulate you, brother, for the all the amazing things that you continue to do to shine a light on the amazing Los Angeles community.

You are part of the fabric of this great, great state, of this great community, and I'm so honored to be here.

And just last but not least, you're an amazing man, a father, grandfather, a husband, NBA world champion, meta world peace, continuing to shine a light on the things that make you so so great.

God bless you, brother.

Happy Meta World Peace Day.

Thank you so much, Hasib.

Next, I would like to introduce the president and chief executive Officer of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, and someone who has also worked closely with Meta and his advocacy work, Victor Dominguez.

Thank you, council member, members of the city council.

What a beautiful day it is.

Happy Metal World Peace Day here for the city of Los Angeles.

I'm honored and privileged in so many ways to know Meta World Peace, not just as a professional basketball player, not just as a humanitarian, but most importantly, as a friend.

Little less than a decade ago, Meta Roe Peace and I worked in partnership and really looking at how to develop a strategy of how we're going to address youth mental health.

And because of him, today we have more than 20 mental health therapists and social workers that are supporting our youth mental house issues and opportunities and crises that face many of our communities and individuals throughout the county and city of Los Angeles.

And because Meta endorsed the work that we were doing and was our spokesperson.

The big reason why we do the work is because of the advocacy and because of the support and because of the friendship of Meta World Peace.

I also want to thank Meta and a couple other experiences that he provides.

Many of my team members throughout the city, but also our families and youth.

You can see him at a local gymnasium, whether that be the why in Van Nuys, whether that be the why in East Los Angeles, or the Y in Crenshaw.

Meta Rope's has always made himself available.

Anytime, I have no idea how you do it.

I think he runs on a clock of 28 hours a day.

But he truly has made himself completely accessible, completely available, as long as it is to do good.

And so today, as we not only celebrate and recognize Meta World Peace for this special recognition, today is also an opportunity for all of us to uplift and to advance this mission that you are on to ensure that everyone has the opportunity for overall well-being.

So Meta, congratulations, thank you for your friendship, and thank you for being here in Los Angeles and being our champion.

Thank you, Meta.

Thank you so much, Victor.

Next, we'll hear from Meta's mentor and a renowned poet who will be reading an original poem for us today.

Please give it up for Jim Zukin.

Thank you.

Meta's Day.

Today we honor our esteemed friend who became a man in an ungentle land in the project's reign of rage.

Meta came of age.

Expected not to thrive, surprised to stay alive, facing down rip tide.

Sometimes spirit himself, a self unto self unknown.

Sports held him tight from doing and dealing.

His hands want to play with the fun little circle.

Once the ball held his hand, eyes locked on the rim, his salvation about to begin.

Flash forward, shot, heard round the world.

Game seven, watched in heaven, Meta's three-point miracle.

Auctions game ring for hundreds of K, gives it all away.

Mental health had a good day.

A new man emerges, thanks his therapist on primetime TV, a moment in sports history.

Every fan connected with heartfelt humanity.

UCLA named him their depression hero on World Health Day.

Father of five, who all adore him.

Sadie, Ron, Jeron, Diamond, and Hero.

Today, Meta's pushing a baby carriage.

Hero, his baby, with hands of Meta, Grace of Maya, ineffable spirit, all his own.

Hero lives on a lily pad in the RTS home.

Thank you so much, and that was beautiful.

Now, without further ado, please give it up for our honored guest today, NBA champion and mental health hero, the man himself, meta world peace.

Alexia, thanks for reaching out.

There you go.

We met at one of these conferences here in Los Angeles.

I'm always attending these different conferences and we connected.

And then she reached out and said, Hey, would you want to accept an award?

We want to honor you.

And I've been doing a lot in the community of Los Angeles, really since day one.

Um I got here in 2009.

Before that, I started my journey on giving back, even well before the NBA, living two different lives for the most part, the philanthropic side, and grew up in the tough streets of Queensbridge Project, so navigating both lives wasn't it wasn't easy, but we did it.

And when I got to fast forwarding, when I got to Los Angeles, one of the first things I did, I tweeted, I said, who want to play football on the beach?

And these are the type of things I used to always love doing is bringing community together.

So we started to get a group of people after my Laker practices in Doc Wild the Beach and just playing, we called it Sandball.

And we would do that so I can get extra work in.

So that's an example on how I started to get kind of immersed in the community of Los Angeles.

And as I discovered more about Los Angeles, obviously I grew up, I was I was um living in different parts, but I was also going to South Central and different things like that.

And I started to learn about Los Angeles, and I was no longer in New York City where I'm from, I said I wanted to uh be a part of the community where I'm at, you know, in honor of where I'm from.

So as we won a championship, and I think my psychologist actually, she called me and said, Meta, I'm not your psychiatrist, I'm your psychologist.

And I said, I never knew the difference, so I said, sorry.

But it actually was something was good out of that because the stigma around psychiatry and being a medical doctor, the reason I didn't push back on it was because people are a little bit um less open to saying, hey, I'm I'm seeking help.

You know, I'm a I'm gonna uh take medication or I'm gonna see a psychiatrist, MD doctor, versus saying I'm gonna see a psychologist.

So that's why I let I let that kind of just ride out a little bit because I thought I wanted to give more people the courage to come out.

Um I had a concept and I was in Sacramento where I wanted to uh do YouTube sessions with therapists, social workers, because I wanted to deal with children, so you need a social workers and you needed the parents to sign off and different things like that.

Because when I was doing my therapy sessions, I can pay for, I can pay for marriage counseling, I can pay for um parenting class, I can pay for you know anger management class.

And you know, as I received my bill, I'm just like, how are people paying for their?

You know, how are you gonna pay for a marriage counsel?

I'm flying somebody from Pennsylvania to to my home.

You know, I'm like, this is impossible.

So I wanted to create a way where the masses could receive therapy.

I also did some stuff with Chicago University.

They had a program where they would um where their therapists that they were training was charging $19 for therapy to the students and I think even a community.

So that was um, that was really a great program to be part of.

And as I got older, you know, I had my 501c3, it was called XL University, still the same EIN number since 2007.

We changed it to our test university.

Um the the mission and the missions changed over time, but one of the the one of the um most consistent missions was mental health.

It's giving back and focusing on mental health.

We're now trying to actually create a university.

I wish my partner Kate Humasura was here, but she's not here today.

She was gonna speak today.

Um she came from Fusion Academy, so we're actually in here in Los Angeles trying to create uh education with um kind of call it brook and mortar, if you want to say, just to create more programming.

One of the things I did when I raffled off my championship ring, we raised 670,000.

We gave all the money away.

I wish I would have had a facility.

I wasn't thinking like that.

Back in 2010, you know, I'm retired and I have my own firm and now I'm thinking a little bit differently.

But I wish I would have put that capital to something that was more sustainable.

Well, we also recently had someone donate some money to our foundation, but it was a lot of pushback.

They said, Well, what is Meta doing in the community?

So, what is meta doing in the community?

Because I didn't have the proper paperwork, you know, so they can track it, but my track record is online.

You can go online and you can see that I get that I raffled off my championship ring.

You can see that I'm on the board of UCLA Psych Ward, and you can just type in medical piece and mental health and a bunch of stuff will come up.

That's my track record, right?

But this is really important because getting the support of the state and the city, because not a lot of people know how to um create impact.

I was speaking to some celebrities, and they were they were asking me, how do I give back?

How do I not only with my capital but with my time?

So as an athlete celebrity, I don't like to be considered a celebrity, honestly, but as an athlete in talent by default, you know, we want to give back, but sometimes we don't have the resources and assets or even the know-how.

So I just wanted to throw that out there.

We want to, we don't we want to leave this place a better place, not just a defensive player of the year.

Not just a Grammy Award winner, but we want to leave this place a better place, and this is why I invited a few of my special friends and special people to come speak today because it was such a special day, and for us to gather together and see some some faces for the first time.

You know, and uh and for us to really, this is a special moment.

I know it's only May 15, 2026.

I know this is not gonna be 2027 Metal World Peace Day, it's not a holiday, but it's a special day for us, and we're able to enjoy this together.

Um, so many different initiatives that align in our in the ecosystem that I am uh kind of creating for myself or the ecosystem I want to be aligned with.

We were talking in a room earlier about not only focusing on a youth, but our adults, right?

So many of us is focusing on the youth and what we're gonna do for the youth, but we have people that are end of life that we also need to take care of.

So just because I have my own mission and my own initiative, uh it aligns with it aligns with yours.

And I think we're all we're pretty much all on the same team.

Um, a couple other things that we're gonna start focusing on is um, doc, uh, identity, um, identity foreclosure, sorry.

I got a lot of initiatives.

Identity foreclosure is gonna be something that we also try to create curriculum and content and intervention with our athletes and um some of the homeless initiatives here in Los Angeles.

Uh financial therapy is also gonna be one of my big initiatives.

Sometimes athletes and even non-athletes and not entertainers, when you make it, you have a big exit event, or you get into your first contract.

Sometimes the finances could distract us, and maybe you put a band-aid over one addiction, but the other addiction comes to light, sex addiction, spending addiction, and drug addiction as we see it.

So that's gonna be something else that we're gonna start to market financial therapy along with all the other existing um kind of initiatives.

We want to work more with the city.

We definitely need more resources, more at uh more resources and and different things like that, more collaboration, more partnership.

That's why this is a special day.

I'm already working on a lot of different things.

Um, the university that we're trying to build is very important, so if anybody understands how to build a university, you know, call us.

We're gonna go for it.

I told them we don't have plan A's.

I've never had a plan B.

Sorry, we don't have plan B's.

Only a plan A.

You know, and I told my team, this is what we're doing, that's it.

Come back to me when it's done.

I'll try to provide you with as many resources as possible.

Um, you know, and I'll finish with, um, in this life, we have to be collaborative.

Um, I've been through up and downs in my career publicly, but I never uh made it a reason to not like someone.

You know, I gave I made it a reason to get to know someone, someone that puts me down, or someone that doesn't understand, someone that's not accepting.

Because we all grow up, we all grow up different.

But I think acceptance is should be our new word.

It should be a mission of all of ours to really accept each other.

Everybody's different, whether you're Democrat, whether you're Republican, you know, whether you're rich or poor.

You know, a rich kid growing up with no parents is no different than a poor kid growing up with no parents, so we're very, very similar in many different um instances.

So acceptance is something that I think um can really bring us together.

Um definitely want to be supportive with things that's happening here in the city of Los Angeles and the state of California, even though I'm from New York, but I love the weather.

Um I got here in 2009 and never left.

Sorry, New York.

I love you, but this weather is incredible, and um, so we want to continue to do good things in this community.

Thanks for giving me so much time to chat.

Um, thanks for everybody here who joined us, uh, Ranye, who I coach at Cal State LA.

We won the CCAA championship this year for the first time in school history.

I'm a women's coach.

All right, so thanks for coming.

Elaine Riottica, we do a lot of work in the philanthropy space.

Thanks for coming.

Sarata Mahani, thanks for coming.

Um, she's done doing a lot of great positive work.

Carolina Viatta coming all the way from Miami to be with us today.

Um, we're doing a lot of stuff and getting ready to get into politics myself.

So uh my campaign manager right there.

And um, all my friends, Mr.

Zucan, um, thank you for sharing the poetry.

Not only are you a very successful businessman, but um you also majored in poetry, and that was beautiful.

So thank you, Victor.

We're doing a lot of great stuff at the YMCA.

We have the Inglewood YMCA that we're raising capital for.

So if you're interested in helping us bring that to light and make the facilities better, um, please uh connect with us.

Uh Steve, thank you also for supporting our foundation and letting us know we didn't understand all the perks and the things that you know we we've given a lot of money back to the youth scholarships, cash out of pocket, no 501c3 when you're young.

You just do it out the goodness of your heart, because like I said, you don't know, but thank you for uh letting us understand how we can partner with the state and partner with the city and create a more sustainable um projects and programs.

And with that being said, I'll pass it back to you.

Before we go to no, thank you so much, sir.

Before we go to uh councilman uh Hugo Saltamartinez to close, uh folks know in this room that I'm sitting in very poorly for our council president Marquis Harris Dawson, who is easily the biggest fan of the association, and so I'm gonna channel him for a moment and say, sir, thank you so much for your exceptional basketball prowess.

Uh but you will have to accept though reluctantly your celebrity.

Uh you have done, I remember that moment when you looked into the camera and you thanked a professional for helping you with your mental health.

And I do remember because of the how long ago it was, where my dad and my brothers and I looked at each other and said, What did he just say?

And I will tell you that you you have done so much for the game of basketball, but you have done more for bringing forward the issue of mental health and putting, especially men, especially men who are athletes and grown and in a position to say my mental health is important and I'm stronger.

I'm stronger if I say that I need to work on that and work with another professional and make myself healthier for the people around me.

So thank you so much, sir.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Ugo Salka Martinez to close.

Thank you so much, Meta.

Thanks so much, uh Mr.

Chair.

Now it is my honor to declare today, May 15th, meta world peace in the city of Los Angeles.

There's our commissioner.

Oh, Russian.

Oh, and we do have we do have now have speakers who would like to also honor our guest.

Councilmember.

We could do a duet.

I just want to say thank you for you know your leadership in basketball and mental health and also for contributing to Cal State LA Go Golden Eagles, proudly represent them.

And so thank you for all your contributions and you know, and look forward to seeing what things come, things to come from you.

So thank you so much.

Councilmember Hutt.

I want to say congratulations on Metal World Peace Day, and also want to say that you know it was incredible that you felt confident enough to talk about mental health, but it has made a change in our culture, and I appreciate that.

We're hoping to all work with you to do even more.

Thank you and congratulations.

Thank you.

Councilmember Price.

Thank you, Ms.

President.

Uh this is a really a special special treat.

Thank you, uh Councilman, uh, for bringing rural world peace with us today.

You know, this is you're you're a pioneer and a leader, not just on the court, but in the community.

That's what really makes a difference, and you're you're committed to mental health uh is so very important, especially at this time.

And as a black man stepping up and standing up for that, it's even more powerful.

And so we just appreciate you, appreciate the leadership.

We appreciate uh Hugo Soto Martinez for bringing you in today.

Uh, and for anyone who can change their name, it also change the world.

So thank you.

Thanks a lot.

Much appreciated, thank you.

Thank you so much, and happy meta world peace day to everyone.

Thank you.

Our next presentation is from Councilmember Heather Hutt, honoring AAPI female leaders.

I'm not going to be good at the house.

Okay, so I want you to go to the community.

Okay, Councilwoman Hutt, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Good afternoon, colleagues.

In Council District 10.

We pride ourselves on being one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city.

At the heart of that diversity is Koreatown, home to one of the largest Korean American populations in the country.

A community that has helped shape the identity of Los Angeles.

In honor of Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Month, today we recognize four extraordinary Korean American women whose leadership and service are shaping everything from policy, people to sports and financial institutions in the city.

Today we proudly honor Alexandra.

Well, there you are.

Okay, Alexandra is the executive director of Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, also known as Kiwa.

Named by the Los Angeles Times as one of Los Angeles' most influential leaders.

Alexandra has dedicated her career to advocating for immigrant workers and working families.

Under her leadership, Kiowa has recovered unpaid wages, supported labor protections, and amplified the voices of working people through Council District 10 and beyond.

Alexander.

Next, I have Ray Jim.

I barely recognize her because she works at our as the director of the Anderson Munger YMCA serving Korea Town.

And she's always working with the children or the families.

During the devastating fires, Ray transformed the YMCA into a community response center, mobilizing thousands of volunteers and collecting critical supplies for impacted families.

Following increased hate and violence against the ANHPI communities, Ray became a trusted advocate with voice for safety and support throughout the community.

Vivian Kim serves as a general counsel and chief people officer for Homney Bank and is the former president of the Korean American Bar Association.

As a leader at one of the nation's largest Korean American banks, overseeing more than $7 billion in assets.

Vivian has guided the bank's legal strategy while cultivating a workplace centered on growth and opportunity.

During her time leading the Korean American Bar Association, she launched a pro bono legal clinic in Korea that remains one of the organization's most impactful community programs.

Vivian.

And then my last but not least is Yuan Hu, the president of Los Angeles Korean Sports Association.

We talked about a lot of sports today, didn't we?

A trailblazer in Korean American athletics and community leadership.

Young has expanded opportunities for youth engagement and wellness through sports.

As the first woman to lead the organization, she continues to break barriers and inspire future generations in a traditionally male dominated field.

These four women are leaders, they're advocates and they're changemakers.

Through their work, they continue to empower our communities and inspire future generations of women across the city.

It's my honor to recognize and celebrate their extraordinary contributions today.

The city of Los Angeles thanks you all.

I'd now like to bring up Andrea, executive director of the Korean International Workers Alliance.

Andrea.

Oh, what okay, Andrea?

I'm sorry.

Totally fine.

Well, I'd like to express my deep appreciation to you, Councilmember Hutt, for this honor and also to the entire council for celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

I wanted to say something about CD 10 because this is such an honor for me.

My family has lived in CD 10 for over 16 and a half years.

And we raised our children here as proud Korean Angelinos with my youngest son now about to graduate from high school next month.

Oh congratulations.

And this past May Day also marked my 15th year working at Kiwa, which is also in CD 10.

And a majority of our members live in CD 10, but they work in restaurants, buildings, homes, gardens, all throughout Los Angeles, making it a more vibrant and beautiful place.

In fact, it is our city's glorious diversity, our deep resilience, and our mighty spirit that make all of us stronger, and I'm really honored to live and work here.

Thank you, Councilmember Hunt.

Thank you.

Now I'd like to bring up Ray Jin, executive director of the Anderson Munger YMCA serving Koreatown.

Look at you.

Oh, thank you.

Um it's an honor and a privilege.

Thank you so much, Councilwoman Heather Hutt for this incredible award.

I myself, as an immigrant, I am the first Korean American executive director at the Anderson Munger Family YMCA and the second Korean American executive director in the LAY of like 1433 years.

And so I'm very, very honored to be recognized in this way.

And we do have a lot of YMCA folks here, and I have my parents, right?

Who's here with us and my husband, who's been supportive along the way?

Um, he's actually right over there.

Uh, it will be like 20 years with the organization this year, and so it's been a lot of good work that we've been doing at Anderson Munger Y.

It's only 12 years old, and I've been there for six years, and I got a little treat for you.

I'm gonna bring a little vibe of a little piece of what we do at the Y in Korea Town, and it is gonna flourish in CD 10.

So are you ready?

I'm ready.

Okay.

At the Ener Summoner Fly, oh I'm sorry, I'm gonna start over.

Start from the lobby.

Now I'm heading leading from the front, YMCA of Metro LA, Mission Heavy.

Every day we stunt.

Korea Town Heartbeat, community in motion, turning hope into action with a whole lot of devotion.

At the enders amongger YMCs rooftop views, dreams rise, families find strength, teen starts to realize not just memberships, it's a movement we create.

Building futures every morning, stay in open late.

Board meetings, donors, campaign goals high, 220 grand.

We still aim high.

Connie on calls, Frank leading the way, whole teams locked in trying to elevate the Y every day.

Produce boxes packed with the seas filled stress, hundreds fed weekly when the world was a mess, fire relief centers opened overnight, volunteers rolled through, and the community united tight.

You think government kids putting blazers on proud.

From seven delegates to 80 in the crowd.

Devin hit the stage, youth governor shine.

Now get this.

Got staff development mixed with community care, one minute boardroom, next minute stacking chairs.

Talk culture accountability, build trust with the crew, because leadership at the Y means everybody grows too.

And lastly, be well, do good, lead change.

That's the slogan.

Corporate talk, that life gets spoken from Korea town streets to the rooftop, nice.

You don't just run a YMCA, you amplify lives.

Thank you.

And that is what I do.

Beautiful.

Thank you.

Next, I have Vivian Kim, General Council and Chief People Officer for Romney Bank.

Come on.

First of all, I'd like to thank the entire council and especially Councilmember Hutt for this great recognition.

And it is my great honor to be here among such wonderful female Korean American leaders to celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Month.

Hami Bank is a proud uh child of Koreatown.

So uh Hummy Bank was founded as the first Korean American bank in Los Angeles back in 1982.

And since then, it's grown from a single branch location to 32 branches and five loan production offices across nine states.

And if that isn't proof of how diversity can really blossom and grow, I don't know what is, and it's really my pleasure to be able to lead the legal function and the people function at the bank and really bring a lot of um kind of careful thought about diversity and inclusion and how to better not only the Korean American um economic situation, which is really where the bank started.

It was really founded to serve the underserved Korean American immigrants in Los Angeles, but now with our vast footprint, it is really a focus about making sure that all immigrants across the entire nation can really bank on their dreams, which is our logo.

And I really do appreciate all of the support that everybody sitting in this room gives to all of our communities in Los Angeles and as a proud resident of CD10.

Um it's really great to see all of our uh nonprofit organizations that are also represented here being recognized.

Uh I have the distinct honor of also serving on the board of the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, and it is amazing to see the diversity in a lot of the programs that we run through KYCC, and I hope to see a lot more of that in the future.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

And last but not least, Yunin Ho, president of the Korean Sports Association.

Thank you so much, Kamzamida.

Thank you.

Now I will bring up Yang's son Patrick and he'll give us a brief translation.

Hello everyone.

I am Yanni Ha, president of the Korean American Sports Association Association of Los Angeles.

First, I would like to express my deepest and sincerest gratitude to Councilwoman Heather Hutt, Deputy Diane Cho, all the staff members of District 10, and all the distinguished guests here today for presenting me with this meaningful award.

It is especially meaningful and humbling to receive this award directly from the Councilwoman who is devoted to serving the local community here in District 10, which includes the heart of the Korean American community.

I am merely standing here on behalf of all of them.

Through the powerful medium of sports, we have witnessed the breakdown of barriers between languages and generations and the power of becoming one together.

They instill the value of unity within our community and serve as a strong foundation that gives the next generation the confidence that together anything is possible.

Going forward, I will devote all of my effort to help strengthen the unity of District Ten and to create an environment where our next generation of leaders can freely pursue their dreams.

Together with all of you, we can move powerfully toward a brighter and more hopeful future.

Once again, I sincerely thank Councilwoman Heather Hutt, Deputy Diane Cho, and all the staff at District 10 for this meaningful honor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So I've I passed out the certificates because there are so many.

We have a member on the queue too.

Oh, okay.

If you're ready for that.

Ready?

Okay, so before you before you close, I'd like to call on Councilmember Lee.

Thank you, Councilmember Hutt for bringing in these amazing women.

You know, um, I was, you know, I was raised by a strong Korean American woman who not only ran her business, she was the chairperson of a TV station, um, and raised in a family all by herself, you know, and this was in the in the eighties, really part of the growth of Korea town.

So uh she didn't get a lot of recognition back then, uh, but it's great to see so many Korean American women, so many women rise up.

And you know, it was great for me as a young kid to get a first-hand seat uh to first row seat to see what not only strong Korean American woman was like, but a strong woman and the impact that she had on her community, but also more importantly, as a grandmother, the impact that she's having on my daughter to be a strong woman as well.

And so thank you so much for honoring these ladies, and just one last thing, Ray.

I'm looking at your profile photo up there.

I don't know if I've ever seen you make that face before.

You're always smiling when I see you.

So just thank you, and I appreciate over the years everything that we've you know been together with the YMCA.

You know how you know how important you know how important the YMCA is to me, and I appreciate your work with them as well.

So thank you.

Thank you.

I I just want to take a moment to really thank these women, uh, breaking barriers as you can see in their career, uh, bringing strength and power to our Korean community in Korea Town, and and really making sure that representation matters in so many different parts of life.

So thank you so much for your contributions, and thank you, colleagues, for giving us a moment to celebrate them today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, I believe that concludes our last presentation.

Uh just a quick announcement for folks.

If you're here for the budget, uh the budget is postponed until two o'clock today.

Two o'clock.

Um, so we're gonna finish up this council meeting.

I believe we have next, we're gonna move to public comment.

Is there anything else before us before public comment?

Thank you, Mr.

President.

There is a request to send items two and three forthwith.

Okay, without objection, they are sent forthwith.

And is there anything else or we can move to public comment?

Thank you.

The council may now move on to public comment.

Okay, if you could read in the instructions.

Yes, Mr.

President, I can do that now.

So for members of the public who are here to provide public comment, uh please keep in mind that there are no agenda items that are open for public comment as public comment for the items that's one through three on the agenda was satisfied at committee.

Uh so the only thing open today is for general public comment.

During general public comment, members of the public may have up to one minute to 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.

Uh while general public comment is quite broad.

If you are not on topic, meaning that if you're not speaking to something or connecting your comment to something within the subject matter jurisdiction of this city council, then you'll be ruled off topic.

At that point, you need to get immediately 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.

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

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

Don't worry, we will pause your time while the interpreters are interpreting, so you've made an accommodation request pursuant to the ADA with the clerk's office in order to make use of the wireless handheld microphone, or if you would like to make such a request, once you hear the name that you signed up under called aloud, please raise your hand so the sergeants know to provide you with that wireless handheld microphone.

Uh and with that, uh, we can begin calling names.

Okay.

Now we'll skip calling the names.

There's uh most of them are fake on this list anyway, and there's a short, there's a few number of people here, so anyone who wishes to make public comment today, if you're here for public comment, just line up on the left side of the chamber, and uh we'll take you in whatever order you show up.

And it's one minute for general public comment, and this way we can move faster.

That's tests right.

And just to piggyback off of what the council president is saying.

So, with regards to the fake names, when you sign up for public comment, you should only be signing up under one name.

Uh, Mr.

Herman, I will say that I saw you specifically sign up under multiple names.

So if you do it again, and I've warned you about this at previous meetings.

If you do it again and it constitutes a disruption of this meeting, then you will be either warned or removed pursuant to Council Rule 7 and Rule 12.

So with that, uh, we can begin with the first speaker.

Mr.

Herman, you have one minute, go.

Superior Court number BS 162858 for the record, ladies and gentlemen.

Carol Goodson would say, Brandenburg versus Ohio, 395 US 444 1969.

I'll read into the record.

How far is the nigger going to yeah?

This is what we're going to do to the niggers.

A dirty nigger.

Send the Jews back to Israel, Bob.

Let's give them back to the dark garden, Bob.

Save America, Donald J.

Trump and Bill O'Saley.

Let's go back to constitutional betterment America.

Okay, so you wanted this, so hold his time.

Uh please pause the speaker's time.

Speaker, you've used the N-word, which is a violation of Council Rule 7.

This is your only warning.

Use of that word or its variations as described in Council Rule 7 may not be used again in this council meeting and any further council meeting or any future council meeting.

If you violate Rule 7 again by using this word, you will forfeit your speaking time, and you could be subject to removal pursuant to Rule 7 and 12.

You've heard this before.

You obviously, this is your effort to say it.

So go ahead with your last 13 seconds.

So you're enforcing prior restraint to my constitutional right of free speech, Bob.

You are a dirty motherfucker.

God hates you, and you know why you're going to hell.

Thank you, America.

Okay.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon.

Uh go ahead.

You have one minute.

On the rules committee, they're working on charter reform, but there's something about their discussions that's not alright.

Because they're reviewing the powers of the mayor, but no recusing, has taken place by the committee member who is running for that seed.

Why hasn't it been recusing?

Or step down from rules committee.

Isn't it a conflict of interests since she is running to be mayor?

Uh again, I'll just point out whenever I write a song, just for the council member, she um is conveniently not around.

I do find it really disturbing, though, that in yesterday's rules committee, there was discussion about mayoral executive authority, and a mayoral candidate was in that room not recused.

Shout out smoke and scan.

Thank you for the creativity and song.

Mr.

Candida, before you begin, Mr.

Spindler, while you're welcome to dance on either side.

Please, and I've told you this before, do not dance immediately behind the public speaker, as it makes it difficult to focus on what the speaker is saying.

People do not do the same thing to you.

This is your first and only formal warning.

Do not disrupt this meeting.

Go ahead, you have one minute.

Thank you.

Uh Candy Domara's doing his uh James Almost impression from last week.

Uh, I want to thank those uh wage warriors who are fighting item 20.

I I sit there at home and I'm watching them, and I see some of them, and I I just think, yes, fight for your wage, but you some of you have the potential to even be better than that.

Some of those people have the ability to go to go on and own their businesses or go into whatever they want.

So dream bigger.

Uh I hope somebody from those groups are listening because I saw some really really good uh potential there, and to those of you, those of you on the circle here who supported the the workers, I thank you.

Uh and Mr.

Cosker, your Nicholas from your office is an amazing man that was kind enough to someone who has no representation in this round table.

Uh and then there was a young lady by Leslie Valenzuela, and I believe she's from the first district.

She was also very helpful.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Next speaker.

Thank you.

Go ahead, you have one minute.

Here we are for another week of ignoring the elephant in the room.

I know it's obvious that there's a serious dysfunction in the criminal justice process, including your employees, the LAPD.

So why haven't people taken the obvious step of asking for a National Guard level investigation?

I can think of three reasons.

They were they were persuaded from acting.

They were intimidated from acting, or as was my case until a couple years ago, they were physically prevented from acting.

Perhaps there was some legitimate reason in the past to intentionally allow this suffering to continue.

I don't know.

But there isn't now, and there hasn't been for a long time.

So please take the modest and no cost step to look into extreme misconduct.

And I'm impressed that uh smoking can suck through it.

Next speaker.

Go ahead, you have one minute.

Buenos días, los miembros al consejo de Los Angeles.

Great morning, council members of Los Angeles.

I think the Jewish community is a very resilient group of people that have persevered for many centuries.

I've had the privilege of living with and knowing many Jewish people and Israelis in my neighborhood.

I know that as a Muslim, I know that Muslims and Jews have lived uh peacefully, both in the South, in the Middle East and in Africa.

Sequelos Musulmano Musulmanes y los judeos tuvieron la mejor colaboración inspania.

Cuando los Arabes Moros gobernaron durante 800 años.

I know that Muslims and Jews had the best collaboration in Spain when both the Arabs and the Moors uh conquered and uh occupied Spain for over 800 years.

I hope these these last years don't diminish the deep profound relationship that Muslims and Jews have.

Ciao.

Next speaker.

Bye.

Good afternoon, you have one it.

Good afternoon.

Um I don't know if you've been seeing recently online, but Chubb the Builder has been going around uh harassing black folk.

White people should not be able to allow white people should not be saying nigger.

I'm quote them saying nigger, that's no problem, but there should be a bill in California under hate speech under white people saying nigger.

Um it's not cool.

I don't like it.

There has to be some account of accountability hail because there's a problem with uh the GA is cool, but when you get to the ER, it's it's a problem.

Sorry, sir.

To hold your time for a moment.

We have a rule.

Uh speaker, you've used the N-word.

Uh, I know the context you're using it, which is a violation of Rule 7.

This is your only warning and use of that word or its variations as described in Council Rule 7, may not be used again in this council meeting, any future council meeting or any future council uh committee meeting.

If you violate rule seven again by using the N-word, you forfeit your speaking time and could be subject to removal pursuant to Council Rule 7 and 12.

Uh, we can resume your time.

The same warning I gave the previous speaker who used that word.

But I'm a black man.

Hold on.

Speaker, no, no discrimination.

We have to apply the rule equally to everybody.

All right.

And before we begin with your time, your time is still paused.

Mr.

Herman, congratulations.

You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.

You've been warned already multiple times, and you are in violation of our sign rule.

You also stood directly behind the previous speaker and disrupted their opportunity to speak.

So, Mr.

President, I is eligible for removal at this time.

Okay, goodbye, Mr.

Herman.

You're removed.

You already were warned.

You were warned earlier in this meeting for disrupting the presentation of the two little girls singing over the rainbow.

Sergeants, please remove him expeditiously.

Okay.

Goodbye.

Let the record reflect that Mr.

Herman is still disrupting this meeting.

And hopefully he's gone now.

Sorry, sir.

Uh the floor is yours.

Awkward.

Go ahead, you have 30 seconds.

You know, we we need to do better as a community and protecting uh our colored people.

Me, myself, um, we need to do better.

So just want to make sure we'll put down the city clerk, voting clerk and city attorney's uh radar that nigger should be banned by all whites using that word.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon.

One minute.

Hello.

Uh white people should only be allowed to say nigga.

I'm trying to beat racism, and uh white people should only be allowed to say nega.

Nigga only no ER.

Nigga only no ER.

Nigga only no ER.

White people should be able to say nigga.

Okay.

I completely can make it.

So I would hold this time.

At this point, your comment is repetitive.

So I'm going to ask that you move on.

You can't be repetitive under the Brown Act.

Okay.

Okay, good.

Yeah, white people should only be allowed to say nigga.

It's not racist.

I know what you're saying.

Saying nigga isn't racist.

Even if you're white.

It's your only warning.

You're offensive that word or its variation.

That's described.

May not be used again in this council chamber, any future council meeting, or any future council committee meeting.

If you violate Rule 7 again by using the N-word, you will forfeit your speaking time and could be subject to the removal pursuant to Council Rule 7 and 12.

We don't just distinguish little variants of the word.

Just don't use it.

Go ahead.

My mommy and daddy are black, so I can say that.

So I'm not even racist.

Just because my skin color is white doesn't mean that I'm not black.

My mommy and daddy are black.

So don't say that about me.

You don't know who I am.

I'm really black on the inside.

So it's okay if I say that because I'm not racist.

Huh?

Your time was not withheld.

Go ahead.

So you're telling me I'm not black?

Why people can say negative?

It's not a mean word.

Okay.

Okay, so you have been asked to get on topic or to move on, and you have refused to do so.

So at this point, this is a forfeit.

This is a topic.

You cannot, as I explained earlier, you cannot be overly repenting.

Your time is forfeit.

We're going to move on to the next speaker.

And you've been warned for disrupting this meeting.

So please do not disrupt this meeting again.

Or else you'll be subtle removal pursuant to rule seven or rule twelve.

Good afternoon.

You have one minute for general public comment.

Go ahead.

My name is Eric.

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

Um 340 days after ICE invaded LA, the president of the police commission openly set on the record that she's afraid to limit collaboration with ICE in case doing so angers Trump.

I don't really understand what I can expect any of you to hear about from other parts of government.

So I want to tell you that on Tuesday, the LA Sanctuary Coalition presented on how dangerous and harmful it is for the community to see LAPD protecting ice.

Police Commission President Rosha Shields asked the LA Sanctuary Coalition.

How should we make sure that, quote, nothing that is done actually creates even more of an incentive for this administration to target Los Angeles?

Invoking last summer's deployment of the National Guard.

She went on to say, This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.

Many of you continue to say in interviews that you don't think the LAPD is collaborating, just that we're afraid of the appearance of collaboration.

President Shields said it.

She's afraid to limit collaboration in case Trump gets mad.

Do something about it.

Next speaker, go ahead, sir.

All right, thank you.

Uh my name is Chi Chi, Andy Pronounce.

I work with the Tenazatina Coalition.

And today I wanted to talk a little bit about uh or give thanks to Councilmember Hutt as well as Councilmember Hernandez for introducing a budget memo that would benefit CGI Angelinos in the city of Los Angeles.

Uh I also want to encourage the rest of the council members to go ahead and move forward with the recommendation.

Appreciate y'all.

I need to urge the council to take a uh stronger stance though.

Uh the mayor's proposed increase is sworn LAPD officers, does not reflect what the city of Los Angeles needs.

TGI people, immigrants, and house residents, and low-income angelinos need safety rooted in care, not more policing.

We need investment in harm reduction, community-based programs, education, and mental health care, like you saw today.

So I encourage all of you to please make investments where they're desperately needed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

You have one minute.

So thanks, Bob.

I'm gonna make $10,000 the quick way.

You are a no good cunt, Bob Rubinbrill.

Dirty cunt like you should not be president of the city council.

You just the dirty cut.

All this time, please.

Uh Madam Clerk, please pause the speaker's time.

Speaker, you have used the C-word, which is a violation of Rule 7.

This is your only warning that the word that the C word or its variations as described in Council Rule 7 may not be used again in this council meeting, any future council meeting or any future council committee meeting.

If you violate Rule 7 again by using the C word, you will forfeit your speaking time and could be subject to removal pursuant to Rule 7 and 12.

Please resume the timer.

So you don't know what's happening.

I've been working on this for six months.

You don't know.

But today you got a taste of it.

You guys just get that budget line.

When you get in that budget meeting, I'd say 7 to 10 million dollars for this litigation.

It's gonna be beautiful, man.

Big beautiful settlement.

Because you cannot ban either word, Hugo.

And as a union organizer, you should be able to go up to that Jew boy up there and tell him to stop enforcing illegal laws.

Because when that fucking assessment comes back in June, when we're gonna have public comment on that proposed rate hike on your fucking street lights, I'm gonna use the C and the N word and get thrown out, and I'm gonna get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Have a good weekend, Zionists.

Time has expired.

Sorry, this is one of the fucking books.

Okay.

All of the Mr.

Spindler, you have previously been warned.

If you continue to disrupt this meeting, you will be removed personal rule seven and rule twelve.

Okay.

I believe that uh concludes all public speakers.

No one else is lined up for speaking.

What's before us?

The council has motions for posting and referral.

Without objection, they are posted and referred.

The desk is clear.

Okay.

Uh colleagues, are there any announcements?

Looking to my left, looking to my right.

Uh I'll make one announcement.

Uh, folks, if you like to shred, and by shred, I mean take old documents that are out of uh date and get them all ripped up so you can protect all your privacy information.

This weekend is your opportunity to do so for free.

Come by my district uh to the Winnetka Park.

Uh all morning.

We'll be out there with uh several shredding machines, and we will shred all your documents that you want for free.

Just bring them by, put them in a box.

My team will pull them out of the out of the truck and we will uh throw them in.

It's very satisfying to watch those things get all shredded up.

Uh, any other announcements?

Councilman Rodriguez, you stand?

No.

Okay, no one other announcements.

Do we have adjourning motions?

Looking to my left for adjourning motions, looking to my right for adjourning motions.

Seeing no adjourning motions.

Uh let's get out there.

Make the city better.

This meeting is adjourned.

PI 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 eleven A.M.

Visit LA's Central Library for AAPI Joy on Saturday, May 16th, beginning at eleven AM and continuing through four PM.

Learn more at LAPL.org.

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

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.parts.gov.

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

Second hand smoke in children can cause asthma.

Ear infections, and increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome.com.

Learn how you can protect your home from second hand smoke.