Identity.

So my mission in life has been to educate Americans about Americans, both its glory and its failure.

And I can still be sending that same message long after I'm in the galaxies.

At Janem, we've always had the benefit of having our docents, many of whom were survivors of the incarceration themselves.

And it was an extraordinary ability for them to be able to talk to people to talk to audiences from the first hand perspective and be able to tell their own stories.

As that generation is passing, it was this incredible opportunity to be able to use this technology to preserve the opportunity to have conversations with them and for people to engage with them in a very real way.

So today was the unveiling of five story files, which is new technology, AI-based technology that conserves the ability to have engaging conversations with people.

We've previewed four of them today.

One with George Decay, which is an amazing opportunity for people to engage with him about his life, about his history while he was incarcerated as a child, what the impact of the incarceration was on him, his life as the civil rights icon and defender of democracy, and also to ask questions about what the impact of that is today.

Human storytelling is really, since we've been cavemen's the way that we tell, hey, don't go in the bushes over there, don't eat those berries, don't go in the trees, that's dangerous.

It's the way societally we can grow beyond an individual human lifespan.

So we're sort of hijacking that human innate storytelling and listening call and response and using it to preserve in Amber the real authentic original storytelling.

So it's hard to tell if this has been eight years in the making or if this has been three lifetimes.

Um my grandmother was the first volunteer here at the museum.

My mother then raised money for their very first tape recorder, and they used that tape recorder to capture all histories, and so this has sort of been three generations in the making and eight years of wanting to take the gift that my grandmother, her friends, and all the people we spoke to today have given back to American society, telling the stories of wrongs that have happened to them in American history so that they do not happen again.

One injustice after another.

When we were in prison, Roosevelt, my father said was a president that he respected back in the 30s when the nation was in a deep depression, high unemployment, people had given up, and he said to the people of America, there's nothing to fear but fear itself, and this galvanized the people and brought the country up.

And then when the bombing of Pearl Harbor happened, everybody went crazy, and we have to look like the people that bombed Pearl Harbor, and he saw us as the enemy, and as great a man as Roosevelt was, Roosevelt was a human being.

He got swept up in the hysteria.

There are people on the West Coast that look exactly like the people that bomb Bar.

Who knows what could be a spy?

They might be planning to bomb San Pedro.

After a year of that unjust imprisonment, the government realizes there's a wartime manpower shortage, and here are all these young people, men and women, that they've categorized just arbitrarily as enemy aliens.

We're Americans, born, raised, and imprisoned by America, born here.

They just made up this enemy alien thing, but now they need us.

So they come down with a loyalty questionnaire.

What's the matter with this government?

They should have asked that before they imprisoned us, before they took our homes, destroyed my father's business.

Young few people today, hearing this story.

I keep telling people the ideals of democracy are noble.

A government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

That's us, the people.

And my father said, we have to be involved, all of us.

At that time, the civil rights movement was going on.

He said, what the black people are doing is that they are out speaking up for themselves.

They have a history.

That's a part of American history.

And you said you when you get the vote, you are the part of the people that speak for this country.

We have to participate.

I am so grateful to be sitting here with Hina Knowles to have a chance to hear a little bit more about your work and the creation of the Waco Theater Center.

The creation of the Waco Theater Center has been a dream of mine since I was a teenager because I had a mentor actually gave me exposure to the arts.

And it made me feel seen and heard.

So I know the effect of the arts on the community and especially on kids who don't have great opportunities.

And that is what Waco is all about.

We started this charity very small in a little tiny 100 seat theater.

And the challenge was that our students that we mentor, we had to bust them, so we spent all our money on busing them to North Hollywood.

And so this is a dream come true because we're in that community.

We can do community programs.

How cool is that?

I came out here to go to one of the shops on the main street here, which I thought was amazing because it was all these black owned artistic businesses.

So that was exciting within itself.

And then my friend Mark Bradford brought me here.

And of course, it was before all the renovations, and I was like, oh my God, this is just sitting here.

Are you kidding me?

It looked completely different.

And so when I heard that it was being restored, it was music to my ears.

And when there was an opportunity for us to help manage this place, it was like a dream come true.

And for it to be a place where this community can easily access.

And so that's what we're hoping for this place.

We're praying that it is a cultural community center, which it was meant to be in the first place.

The history, the legacy that is in this building, if the walls could talk.

We are so lucky here in the city of Los Angeles to be able to celebrate and to be able to do that through our theater, through our art center, through our grantee program, through public art.

It's all about helping people feel comfortable and confident with where they are and who they are.

I just cannot wait.

I mean, we just gotta get started.

Founded in 1885, Little Tokyo became the center of Japanese American life before World War II, and remains one of only three surviving Japan towns in the United States.

It stands as a lasting testament to community resilience, heritage, and small business legacy.

Designated a national historic landmark, this two block stretch connects.

Good morning.

This park, MacArthur Park has been here for this community through a lot of history.

Good history.

And hard history.

This lake has seen it all.

It's also absorbed it all.

The runoff, the pollution, and the years when this neighborhood was not the first on anybody's list.

Today, that changes.

This is the MacArthur Lake Stormwater Capture Project.

We're so excited.

It's one of the first, it's going to be one of the iconic projects that we implement under the Safe Clean Water Program.

So the project is going to actually capture that stormwater, which is polluted from all of the area that it's running off from.

It's gonna treat the water, and we're gonna use that in MacArthur Park Lake.

So what that means is we don't have to turn on the faucet for potable water.

That means we conserve water and we're actually beneficially reusing stormwater that would otherwise go out into the Bayona Creek and be lost to the ocean.

In the very neat future, we're gonna have our pedal boat operations back here at this lake.

We I really believe that that's an amenity that's gonna really bring in community to use the space, not only to look at the space, but also be able to get on the water, um, even exercise because you know, pedal boat is a cardiovascular uh exercise, so super excited about that as well coming into uh into this parking into the space.

Projects like this are not only bringing a community benefit, they're also helping to improve the environment through saving that water, reusing water through building trees and creating shade and bringing an overall aesthetic beauty to the neighborhood.

There's always been so much misconception around the lake in MacArthur Park, and we're trying to fix that.

I think that folks want to see clean water, they want to see a beautiful project that accentuates the beauty of this area, and and that's why we're trying to bring an opportunity for folks to be proud of the community they live in, and this is just gonna help make an already beautiful park even more beautiful, the Cabrier Moon Aquarium is an extremely special place, serving this community.

It's all about connecting people with nature.

When visitors come here, they get to see animals that live right off our coast here in Southern California.

It's an enjoyable place, and I'm really thrilled.

The team that works here at Cabrierman Aquarium is excellent.

Whether we're teaching about whales or grungy, it's just a very, very special place, and I'm glad to be a part of it.

This is the entry to the exhibit hall, and behind me is the story of the Kabira Moon Aquarium, our 90-year history.

This wonderful exhibit has a map that explains what's happening inside the exhibit hall as you're walking around through the maze of the exhibit hall, there's different habitats.

This helps you guide along through the exhibits and see all the beautiful animals that are here in their habitats.

We've been here 90 years teaching about marine life of Southern California, and we teach about the conservation.

How everyone can help do their part to conserve the beautiful animals and the life of Southern California.

Here we are at the Jelly Lab.

This is a very special lab, brand new.

We just finished completing it.

We have a culture area where we're growing baby jellies.

We're growing about three different species right now.

We grow jellies here for our education and also for our research and to share with our other institutions that we partner with.

Welcome to our jelly tunnel, the entrance to the Drifters of the Deep exhibit.

This is a great space to come and learn about the natural history of jellies and get up and close and personal, really up close and see the beauty of these jellies.

We have moon jellies, we have pot of gold jellies, and we have purple striped jellies here on exhibit.

All of the animals that you see here on exhibit in the jelly lab are part of the work that we do here.

We are growing these jellies in the Jelly Lab, and we are sharing those jellies with our visitors every single day.

Welcome to the exhibit hall pump house.

In this room is the life support system that provides clean water to our exhibit hall and to our living collections.

We have an array of pumps, filters, chillers, UV sterilizers, and other components that provide the animals that are living here with the highest quality water.

It's all happening right here.

Because of everything you see around you right here.

Growing up in this area and now working, Cabrera Marine Aquarium is a reminder of how special it is to live here in Southern California.

We live in a very vibrant and diverse community, and I'm thrilled to hear different languages and different people and different experiences and cultures.

And it's all happening right here.

So please come be a part of it.

Communities like Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Koreatown, and historic Filipino town reflect over a century of migration, settlement, and cultural preservation in the city.

The 1970s marked a turning point for Little Tokyo as Japanese companies establish international headquarters in the heart of Los Angeles.

By the mid-1980s, the Little Tokyo Service Center helped guide that growth, balancing economic development with the preservation of the neighborhood's cultural legacy.

This era also aligned with the rise of nearby arts communities in repurposed downtown warehouses, now more connected than ever through expanded metro transit.

In Los Angeles, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is not just commemorative, it's visible in everyday life through museums, temples, festivals, small businesses, and public art across many neighborhoods.

Places like Barnesdall Art Park invite visitors to experience exhibitions from emerging artists and reflect on the evolving artistic identity that defines the city.

Heavy metal is comprised of 20 women artists.

One of the things about heavy metal is it's a play on words, it's a play on concept.

There are a lot of works that deal very literally with large-scale sculpture, heavy sculpture, however, heavy mist and heavy also references the psychological weight that comes with the female perspective.

Attending different galleries and exhibitions is relatively new to me.

So this one is really eye-popping because of the way that the different artists have conceptualized the idea of heavy metal.

It's not just rigid structures as you would normally think.

It's actually some of the ways that the artist interpreted are pretty amazing, right?

The heavy metal exhibition was beautiful.

So many unique artworks, lots of different forms, so many rays of colors and textures, very engaging.

It was beautiful.

Really enjoyed our time here.

In addition to heavy metal, we have two exhibitions in the project room, Ivan Bridges and Rachel Bridges.

Those are exhibitions focused on tainting and drawing, and are a nice compliment but also adjusted position to the artworks in heavy metal.

I would definitely recommend people to come and check out this exhibition.

There's lots of three-day artwork installations.

There's wool artwork, different colors, the sounds, it's really interactive and a beautiful place to walk around.

The municipal art gallery is located at Barnstall Park.

The exhibition is on view through June 20th, and the hours of operation are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 11 a.m.

to 4 p.m., with the exception of Juneteenth.

June 19th, we will be closed for the holiday.

This is my first time as a museum, and it has a diversity of thought, diversity of artists and expression of the art, which is amazing.

And I think it's important nowadays to be able to step away from digital and come and just be introspective.

And art galleries is one way to do that.

Today the Chinese American Museum El Pueblo is doing spring fast.

It celebrates the new season for all ages of equal, AAPI included.

And it starts with a festival of family, introduces good health and wealth.

One of the reasons why we hold this event is because you know we really want to celebrate the diversity of Los Angeles.

Really bringing and showing our visitors Chinese American culture and our community.

We have arts and crowds, we have live entertainment, and it really is a space where we want to have people learn about our community, people learn about our culture, but also create a space of appreciation.

It also brings a lot of awareness to the museum because the museum is very important to not just the uh Chinese American community, but also the community in general.

This understands where we've come from and where we're born in the future, and the people that kind of built the way for us.

It's so important that we share the culturals.

The LA City is the amateur cultural, you know, societies, and then their contribution to the society is not only economically, and most importantly, culturally.

Encourage people to celebrate together, and they're looking forward to a better society, and I think that's our mission here.

Hi, that's like a big cookie.

Metro partnered with the Wiley Center.

They have a wonderful program where they take students in their autism program and they teach them life skills, and one of the life skills they teach them is how to bake cookies.

So they wanted to do a station activation for autism awareness month, handout free cookies.

We think it's a great thing for our customers as well as the students of the Wiley Center.

I'm one of those students who are passing out cookies in honor of Autism Awareness Month.

Well, pretty good.

And a cookie to a bunch of people to brighten their day.

People think autism is like a negative thing, which is not true at all.

We're just trying to show that autism is not what they think it is.

We're human too.

It really came about when we were given an oven and a kitchen, a professional one, and we wanted our kids to figure out what they could do with this.

And what they decided was we want to make cookies, and they have just become cookiepreneurs, and that was the name that we kind of called them, cookiepreneurs.

You're able to learn real life skills, learn how to be independent, learn how to be productive.

Thank you for this.

I appreciate you giving it.

We've been here since 1979, serving families, changing lives, and we have training centers, we have a CVS, a UPS, and an outback steakhouse training center.

We're preparing our kids for the next phase of their lives.

Me and my friend Kyle designed the logo right here.

He drew like the concept art.

I used a digital artwork software to make the logo.

The response is very exciting.

Smiles for Miles.

The kids are having a great time handing out the cookies, so I think it's positive experience for both parties.

Established in 1903, the Rafu Shimpo remains a critical cultural anchor for Japanese Americans in LA.

Despite the forced closure during the incarceration era, the publication re-emerged to help reconstruct the neighborhood's legacy following World War II.

That same spirit of community continues across Los Angeles where programs supported by the city's civil rights department empower neighborhoods to directly shape how help and resources are delivered, placing decision making in local hands.

Today we are in Boyle Heights at Proyecto Pastor, a community center making a difference with our repair dollars.

We have the repair program, which is providing resources for residents who may be a little short on their rent.

We wanted to make sure that if you are at risk of being unhoused, that you have a place where you can get real dollars from real people to make a real difference.

I mean families were having to choose between paying rent, buying groceries, paying bills, and a lot of times getting food for their children was a priority, and they weren't able to afford to pay the rent.

So we wanted to highlight all of the hard work, everything that we did throughout this year, like success stories and all the people the community that we were able to help through L Repair Grant.

Thank you.

We're just trying to get the word out so we can promote water safety.

Today at Lincoln Park 4, we're hosting the World Autism Awareness Day event.

This event is really important for all communities.

Water safety is such an important topic that I believe everyone should learn about because anything can go wrong at any time.

So the more people that we can invite to our facility and teach them how to swim, the safer that we can be.

So I I love it.

I love it because now hopefully he'll learn not only the safety part but how to swim.

So you want to stick together, keep together.

To teach someone who has autism, I wouldn't say that it's more difficult, but it does take some extra training because sometimes we will need to accommodate and take a different approach to our lessons for this community.

So we offer adaptive swim classes so that we can really focus on the child depending on what special need they might have.

We try to make sure they're as comfortable as possible, and it's very important because at the end of the day, everyone should learn how to swim.

That's what we want.

And I love that.

So I think all we can point for that, honestly.

It's pretty cool.

And the city check out these fun things around LA.

Kick off America's 250th birthday in Los Angeles with LA Fleet Week 2026, the annual multi-day celebration of our nation's sea services held on the LA waterfront over the Memorial Day weekend.

From touring active Navy vessels to competitions and band performances to honoring those who gave all to preserve our freedoms, LA Fleet Week offers something for everyone with festivities from May 22nd to May 25th.

Join the port of Los Angeles to celebrate the nation's military with public ship tours, welcome parties, and the main fleet week expo alongside the Battleship Iowa.

For the full schedule, visit LA Fleetweek.com.

Head to the Eden Dale branch for the ongoing celebration marking 100 years of LA's Central Library.

On Saturday, May 23rd, historian Mary Mallory presents a look at the first women of Los Angeles.

Women have often been the movers and shakers behind community improvements, and this talk will feature the primary women who shaped our city's history, including organizers, activists, journalists, Hollywood stars, and even librarians.org.

On Sunday, May 24th, enjoy a concert in the park for Memorial Day, honoring those who died in service.lacity.gov.

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

Contemporary LA continues to be shaped by Asian American voices in media, sports, politics, and the arts, reflecting a living, evolving cultural story rather than a historical one alone.

In Little Tokyo, that cultural legacy comes alive within one of the city's most visited districts.

As a national historic landmark, it stands as a living connection to generations of Japanese American history, where food, art, and community reflect both heritage and evolution.

Thank you so much for watching.

Cash these stories and more on Channel 35 or at LACity.gov forward slash TV and fall at LA City on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

Until next time, get out there and experience everything Los Angeles has to offer.

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

Today is Wednesday, the 27th day of May in the year 2026.

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

Mr.

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

Blumenfield, Harris Dawson, Hernandez, Hutt, Herado, Lee, McOskar, Nazaren, Padilla, Park, Price, Raman, Rodriguez, Soda Martinez, Yaroslavsky, 10 members in a core, Mr.

President.

Alright, first order of business.

Approval of the minutes of May 26, 2026.

All right, Councilmember Blumenville moves.

Councilmember Horado seconds.

What's next?

Commendatory resolutions for approval.

Councilmember Padilla moves.

Councilmember Lee, second.

Can we run through our agenda?

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Item one is an item notice for public hearing.

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

For items five and six, the arts, parks, libraries, and community enrichment committee reports have been circulated and posted online to council file numbers twenty-six-0569 and 26-1200-s19.

Items 11 through 34, items for which public hearings have not been held.

Please note no action is necessary for item 34.

Action related to the annual budget resolution for fiscal year 2627 will be taken under item 38.

Items 35 and 36 are closed session items for which public hearings have not been held.

Items 37 and 38 on the continuation agenda are items for which public hearings have not been held.

Please note that the annual budget resolution for fiscal year 2627 has been submitted and is now online under Council File 26-0600.

Ten votes are required for consideration.

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

Seeing no other specials.

Right.

What items are available for votes at this time, Mr.

Clerk?

Mr.

President, there is a request to continue item seven to Friday, May 29th, 2026.

Alright, without objection.

That'll be the order.

And eight through ten.

All right, let's open the roll, close the roll.

Tabulate to vote.

Ten eyes.

Alright, what's next?

The council may now move on to public comment.

Alright, uh, before we move on to public uh comment, colleagues, I want to take a very special moment to recognize a few of our esteemed and special visitors today.

Uh the associated student body, the governing body for students at the Watts Learning Center.

We want to welcome to welcome them to their Los Angeles City Hall.

Uh these are our folks who've already raised their hands to be in service and and represent their fellow students and uh fellow community members in the leadership of their uh campus.

Uh and we're so proud of Watts Learning Center in all over South LA for its legacy of parents and community members who stepped up and said we need to do better by our children, and so we're gonna stand up this school and it's producing uh giants ever since.

So thank you all for being here.

Wave to the camera because you'll be on YouTube and on Channel 35 and enjoy uh your Los Angeles City Hall.

And with that, uh Mr.

City Attorney, if you can read the rules for public comment into the record.

Yes, Mr.

President.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The items open for public comment on the agenda today are items one and items eleven through thirty-eight.

So again, the items that are open for public comment on the agenda are items one and items eleven through thirty-eight.

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

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

We will tell you when your time is up.

I have a few more announcements.

If I could have the interpreters please make the first one allowed 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 hold your time while the interpreters are interpreting, so you will get the same amount of time as everyone else.

Thank you.

Additionally, if you've made an accommodation request pursuant to the ADA with the clerk's office, or if you would like to do so, in order to make use of the wireless handheld microphone, 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 additionally, in order to help us run in a or to help us run an efficient public comment period, we would ask that you please wait until you hear the name that you signed up under called out aloud over the speakers before lining up in any order to speak.

Uh, doing so allows us to accommodate as many people as possible and it allows us to run an efficient public comment period.

One final announcement that's unique to today.

Uh if you are here for item 37 and you are the designated representative for a bargaining unit, I would ask that you please let the sergeants at either side of the council chambers know that you are here and who you are, so that we know how many representatives we have for that hearing.

And again, that is for item thirty seven, and only if you are the designated representative for one of the bargaining units that is going to present.

Thank you.

Calling the first few names.

Akilah Salam, Brandon Atlano, John Raffling, Power, Steel Maiden, and Wu Poo.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Good morning, Mr.

City Attorney.

Um, just general comment today.

I'm not prepared to speak on agendas.

So you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

To the city of Los Angeles, to the state of California.

I just want to say thank you for coming in today.

My name is Brandon Teleano.

But yeah, guys, I went to the Transportation Committee meeting.

It's my first time going to one of those.

It was very quick and brief.

Thank God.

But uh yes, I pulled in all nighter last night on that behalf.

So yeah, I'm a little tired.

But um, yeah, thank you guys.

So you guys ready for the Olympics?

I know I am.

Uh have I done anything for the Olympics?

Not yet, but there's some stuff on paper.

And I do go to Los Angeles Film School, and we do have some celebrities coming in and out there every now and then.

But um, we're working on it.

We're working on it.

But yeah, guys, that's it.

I just I want to help you guys.

If you guys can help me help you guys, that'd be awesome.

Uh Mr.

Newsom.

Whether he's good or bad, he did do some stuff over the couple years, and maybe we can do it again.

Thank you guys.

Bye.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Um, hi, my name is Akilah Salam from LA Can.

I'm speaking of public comment.

Okay.

So you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Okay, great.

Why is Skid Row treated differently?

Um, Councilmember Howardo, about two weeks ago, we sent you a letter that followed up on our meeting in February regarding the um operational health street sweeps.

A couple of weeks ago, a sweep was scheduled on series between six and seven, Thursday, and the paper signs were put up ahead of time, like it's done across the rest of the district.

Um in Skid Row, we have metal signs that supposedly give people advanced notice, but these are insufficient, which we talked about in our meeting in February.

Um, putting up paper signs, putting up paper signs, the series shows that the metal signs are insufficient at the block of series is already marked for Thursday.

Why is Skid Row treated differently again?

Um, these streets should stop.

And at the very least, when the city is destroying people's lives, um a city employer, a city employer's mother's ashes were thrown away at one of the sweeps uh three weeks ago.

Um Skid Row residents should get the same same notice as constituents do.

Why do we not?

Um, and so that um letter that we sent to you.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

John Rafling with LA Can.

Speaking on general comments okay, so we have one minute.

So the entire council, first off, we object to the destructive sanitation sweeps the city uses to destroy homeless encounters.

We need spot cleaning and voluntary trash removal.

Councilmember Herado, specifically, the practice of the sweeps are especially cruel on Skid Row because LA Sanitation doesn't give people fair notice of when they're coming.

Instead, we have the metal signs that give a general area and a general time and a day of the week.

Sometimes they come, sometimes they don't.

What happens then is people either waste a bunch of time moving, and nothing happens, or they don't move, relying on the fact that that sanitation hasn't come for weeks, and all their stuff is destroyed.

Now, two weeks ago, there were paper signs put up for a sweep on series between six and seven, given the precise time, and so people knew what to do.

There's no reason that can't be done for every single sweep on Skid Row.

We've asked you about that, and we await your reply.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

I'd like to call up a few more names.

Adam, Erminia, Cruz, Jesse Lacon, Hunt, Amalda Cush, Tommy, and Lori Ann Farrell.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Soy Erminia, Travajadora de McDonald's.

Okay, yes, hello everybody.

I'm Arminia, a worker in McDonald's here in District 10.

Here to do public comment.

By approving the fast food fair work ordinance.

Because when workers know our rights, everybody thrives.

And in my case, I fell down at work and was unconscious for some times for for some time.

It was about 30 minutes.

And it took that long before management called an ambulance.

And then during that time I didn't know my rights, and I didn't know that I could receive workers' comm.

But now after joining the union, I know my rights.

And I was able to speak up and use my voice.

And go on strike after the air conditioning stopped working in the kitchen, and we were forced to keep cooking.

And these are the examples that show that our bosses don't want us to know our rights.com.

Again, that's lacouncilcomment.com.com.com.

And you can find that URL or that link by doing a quick uh Google search or by checking at the top of every council agenda.

Thank you.

Gracias.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

General comment.

Okay.

So you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Hi, I'm Jesse and I'm an L can proud LA can member.

Uh Councilman, uh Councilmember Gerardo, good morning.

Um, we are here for the public comment.

Uh woman from LA can came to us last week and told us that she didn't know that the sweeps were happening.

Um, including and she lost everything uh including her dead mother's uh pictures.

That's everything that she had.

Uh the city put out paper signs on series two weeks ago and shows that the city is very aware of the metal signs, and they don't do that they don't do that the metal signs don't do anything, and the paper signs are required so people know the sweeps are actually coming.

Every other part of CD 14 gets paper signs warning residents uh of an impending sweep.

LA CAN members are demanding the same treatment in Skid Row.

We sent you a letter about two weeks ago, and we have yet to hear from you.

Why are how uh why are house people in Skid Row treated differently than others in your district?

Thank you.

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

Tommy, Samson, Nora Jones the Third, and Dr.

Grizzly.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Uh, my name's Adam from LA Can on general comment.

Okay.

So you have one minute.

Go ahead.

All right.

Councilmember Herado.

Last week LA Can went to the CCEA board meeting and listened to your staff share how they work with the bid and LAPD to schedule sweeps in Skid Row.

He also said that your office does outreach before every sweep, which is a wild thing to hear.

We sent a letter to you two weeks ago about these sweeps following up from our meeting in February.

Particularly, we talked about the insufficient notice.

Skid Row residents are forced to contend with when sanitation and LAPD come daily to destroy people's property.

The city showed that they know we get unsufficient insufficient notice when y'all put out paper notices that echoed the permanent metal signs on series that also said the same day.

If the metal signs were sufficient, paper signs wouldn't be needed.

While we think sweeps should absolutely stop, at the very least, Skid Row residents should get the same warning constituents across the district and across the city get, and we are demanding paper signs ahead of every daily sweep in Skid Row.

Why are we treated differently?

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Oh, yes, sir.

I'll be doing general public comment.

Okay, you have one minute, but can you just tap just say something?

I want to make sure the microphone's working.

It was okay, we're good.

Go ahead.

You have one minute.

Uh yes, my name is Tommy.

I'm from Council District 14 and proud member of LA CAN here to speak on Operation Healthy Streets.

Why are houseless folks in Skid Row not offered the same warning about these violence sweeps as others across the district and city?

Councilmember Gerardo, we know that you understand these concerns.

Through your office, though your office never does outreach in Skid Row, we've never seen your staff as sweeps before, during, or after.

While we are 100% against sweeps happening at all, LA Can is demanding that our members and our community get at the very least the same treatment as other communities in your district.

Why do we not?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Hi, my name is Samson, and I'm a member of uh Los Angeles Community Action Network.

I'm here to speak on general comment.

Okay.

So you have one minute.

Go ahead.

Councilmember Herado.

At a recent uh Central City East Association meeting, your downtown deputy talked about working with the business improvement district and the LAPD on coordinating sweeps in Skid Row and that your office does outreach beforehand.

The first two parts of that sentence are really troubling, and the last part just isn't true.

At countless sweeps we go to weekly where people get no notice it's coming.

LA CAN's community watch team has never seen anyone from your office in Skid Row talking to people that live outside.

These sweeps are violent and traumatic.

And LA Cannes members are demanding that at the very least your office provides the same notice to Skid Row residents that a sweep is happening as you do in the rest of the district.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I'd like to call up the next few names.

Kodak CA, Dave, and Andrew Greatmere.

Thank you.

And while we're waiting for those speakers to come up, I've noticed we've had some people uh sort of trickle in throughout the meeting.

So just to repeat, if you are here for item 37 and you are the designated representative for your collective bargaining unit, and you are here to provide a presentation for that item.

Again, that's item 37.

Uh, please let the sergeants know at either side of the council chambers that you are here as the designated representative.

Thank you.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

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

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

Please begin with the items.

Okay, so item 26 is related to changing the name of 39th Street between Maine and Figueroa Street as Paralympic Street.

So obviously, this is I'm curious how the street is, how the sidewalk is there.

Is it accessible for people with disabilities?

That's very interesting.

Because the city has basically defunded any sidewalk or street repairs to give more money to the LAPD.

So I'm interested in knowing whether you name this Paralympics.

I guess it's Paralympic Way now.

Is with an amendment.

So is this sidewalk accessible?

Are people in wheelchairs able to navigate the sidewalk?

Is the sidewalk being repaired?

That's a lot of good questions as to the accessibility of Paralympic Way.

Is it accessible or is it just another virtue signaling motion?

So we have item 28, which is related to creating an ad hoc committee on film entertainment and creative industry.

So maybe people might be more interested in coming to film here if the city wasn't so corrupt.

Maybe you could work to get some more deals so people can come film here.

But people are seeing all the corruption and they're like, oh no, I don't even just want to, I just don't even want to deal with that shit.

So we have we have an update on the convention center, which is bankrupt expansion, which is bankrupting the city.

Further, beyond everything else, it's items 31 and 32.

So we have the special or I guess the continuation agenda.

We have item 37, which is a public hearing related to all the employees you're laying off.

So this budget proposal that the um I guess abdicating council president helped devise um that that budget does not reverse all the hiring vacancies, all the positions you laid off, all that stuff to give more money to the LAPD.

So that's more money that's just going to violence to assisting and aiding abetting ice kidnappings.

That's that's continues item 38.

Ulysses, that was so that speech you gave last Thursday was so disingenuous.

It's not even funny.

I don't know how you thought that was a good idea.

So giving like 500,000 here, 1 million here, does not alleviate the almost 3.6 billion dollars that the LAPD is getting next year that almost all of you voted for.

And you claim you oppose it, you oppose giving all this money to the LAPD, and what do you do?

You vote for it.

You're all just a bunch of cowards.

It's not even funny.

I mean, Nithya's not even here.

Hugo's not even here.

I mean, Hugo's probably getting his beauty sweep after his beauty sleep after the sweep out in front of his house yesterday.

But um, but again, so I don't know what's what's going on with Isabel.

Why are you even doing sweeps in general?

You should I thought you oppose that.

So now you're doing sweeps without proper warning.

What's going on there?

That sounds very concerning.

So, yeah, it's just no none of you are even paying attention.

You've all already decided how you're gonna vote.

It's it's not in favor of the public.

So what we'll probably see is the LAPD will get there, almost $3.6 billion voted for by all the progressives in support.

And we'll see the LAPD kill a bunch of people.

We'll see the LAPD continue to abate aid in a bet in ice kidnappings while lying about it.

And that's what every single so-called self-proclaimed progressive is voting for on this budget.

So congratulations.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Good morning.

My name is David, and I'm a member of LA Can here to speak.

Here to speak.

Yeah, on general comment.

Okay, so you have one.

Every day in Skid Row, our neighbors hood faces sweeps by sanitation and LAPD, among others, that operate to steal and destroy people's property with no warning.

Every single day, since a meeting, our human and civil rights committee members had with you, Councilmember.

In February, we raised the community's concern that the permanent metal signs that say when the sweep is happening are insufficient warning.

Despite the maps on these metal signs, no one knows where the sanitation department, flanked by eight LAPD officers, will pop up until immediately before the sweep.

Apologies, there is one more.

Thank you.

So can we pause?

Hold on.

Can we pause this time?

I'm gonna ask everybody who's shouting out and disrupting this meeting to please continue proceeding to the exit.

And to the extent you come back, this is your first and only formal warning.

Do not disrupt this meeting.

Go ahead, continue.

So that attorney looked and look at 96th Street for the right of way.

Mire, senora, digaton la pinche palabras or no habla bien.

Look, ladies, say all the words or don't speak right.

Because my words are very important.

So fuck your mother on number one, Dick.

I otro lugar.

There's one cosa in El Closed Session.

There's one thing in closed session.

The fucking water one.

Are you on Mr.

Oh?

Soy in numero 35.

I'm on number 35, fucking Uncle Tom.

Gracias.

Thank you.

So and for example, number three, the fucking shell, uh the Mexican asshole, Bacera says it's okay.

That he puts in his oil line.

Fucking asshole.

Gracias, senora.

Yes.

Now I don't know.

Which item are you speaking to?

Mire cabron.

Numero 33, pendejo.

Oh yeah, 33 asshole.

Right smoking scan.

I look asshole number 33.

You've already had a minute on 33.

Okay.

You'll go to numero 25.

Este habla de los regionari Consortium.

Okay, I'll go to number 25, and this speaks of region.

No, no, no.

You don't get it.

No, no, no, you don't care.

Never mind.

I don't want 25.

You're numero 26 con la pioja padilla.

I want to speak on number 26 with.

But also she can go to her mother.

This is your final warning, or I'm gonna move you to general.

Do not argue with the interpreters.

You can either speak to the items, I'm gonna move you to general public comment.

Again, no more warnings.

Oh, I'm still afraid.

Well, since I'm being threatened not to speak in Spanish anymore, for the record, uh, we have an understanding to a so-called creating an ad hoc committee, film entertainment, Bob.

Now, I don't think we need that industry in Los Angeles.

Well, we're the worst city for deployment with the film entertainment.

That's why they all left.

That's why they all left.

There's no money sticking around in Los Angeles, you have to get a permit.

Why is that?

Why do you have to be a business owner and fight for a fucking permit when Scientology gets permits all the time?

So that's one issue.

Now this morning with Miss Hutt on item 27 regarding the uh designating um transportation committee upstairs on the third floor.

No, I'm sorry, fourth floor, fourth floor.

I was at 845.

Well, you know what?

Miss Hernandez walked in late along with the other lady, but this has nothing to do with the items you've been warned.

You have one minute for general public comment.

He's trying to tell me how I can speak.

So fat ass watermelon head, why is this unintelligible word only with me?

Tell me why, fucker.

And the reason why is because I control the narrative.

I like the rest of you dumbfox with mental health, believe that the things I say are First Amendment protective free speech.

But apparently, as you heard and hear from dumb dumb fat attorney up there from Korea.

Right, smoking scan?

This bitch constantly is up my ass like the toilet paper that I wipe and put in the trash.

40 USC 1983 grow politely fuck you.

And your time has expired.

If we hear you again, it'll constitute disruption, and you will be subject to warning and removal pursuant to Council Rule 7 and Rule 12.

Uh, ladies and gentlemen, I just want to apologize for the offensive nature of the comments that we just heard.

I also want to apologize to the interpreters, and I hope that everybody understands that they do have to interpret what the speaker is saying.

Uh, it is as uncomfortable for them as it is, I'm sure for all of us to have to listen.

Uh, but we appreciate your patience.

I believe, Mr.

President, we have exhausted public comment.

Also, uh, for the record, Mr.

City Attorney, we cannot prevent him from wearing a swastika to the Los Angeles City Council and offending our entire body politic.

Alright.

Correct.

With that, uh Mr.

Clark, what's perforce?

The council may now vote on items 1, 11 through 25, 27, 29 through 33, and 37.

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

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

Yeah.

Alright, what's next?

We did public time.

All right, uh we need to reconsider uh item number 37 because we did not create special uh testimony time for the bargaining units.

Uh so let's uh open the roll and reconsideration, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

All right, Mr.

City Attorney.

Yes, so Mr.

President, if you would like, we can move on to and Mr.

Clerk, I believe item 37.

That's correct.

And so for item 37, this is the hearing uh on with the collective bargaining units.

Uh so the council has two options.

We can either start with the collective bargaining units, which I believe is what we did last year.

Um, if you are a the designated representative for the bargaining unit, please let check in with the sergeants.

And Mr.

President, would you like them at the podium or at the table here in front?

Um at the podium is fine.

Okay.

So for if you're the designated representative for the collective bargaining unit, uh you can give the presentation from the podium.

Uh you will get three minutes for that presentation.

Uh and afterwards we can hear, we will hear from the department as well on the vacancy report.

And then, Mr.

President, just for item no one item number one, the ordinance for item number one will be held over to Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026 for second consideration, unless we considered with 12 members present.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh, do we have folks from representing bargaining units?

Going once.

I know we have at least a one or two on the our right-hand side, sir.

All right.

Come on up.

And before you begin, if you could just introduce yourselves.

Uh, and is this all for one presentation?

Yes.

Okay.

Yes.

So uh good morning.

Uh Council President and members of the city council.

My name is Charles Leone.

I'm a regional coordinator with SCIU Local 721.

It is an honor and privilege to be in this building.

Last year, we were last year we were given hold on.

I just have a question.

Last year we were given more than three minutes, and we were actually able to sit at the table.

And I'm wondering what the change is this year with us just standing here for three minutes all together like this.

Because I kindly ask, if possible, with the discretion that the city council has to afford us the same opportunity that we had last year, where we were actually able to sit at the table and to give a presentation that did go.

All right, let's bargain.

So we can do we can do five minutes from there or three minutes at the table.

How about that?

It's a bargain.

So we have a presentation that we actually gave.

Let's just just you should just go with it.

We'll be it we'll be fine.

We're not gonna we're not gonna cut you off.

Just I appreciate that, Mr.

President.

And again, thank you for the time and the opportunity.

We do have a presentation that we've also shared, and I understand there may be a clicker around.

I'm not the most IT savvy.

Um, and I'm here with some of my friends that are also with the coalition of LA City Unions.

I've introduced myself.

Council members, my name is Steve Koffroth.

I am the director of collective bargaining and research at SEIU 721, and I serve as the chair of the LA City Coalition of Unions.

My name is Lisa Palombi, and I work for you as a librarian at the Silver Lake branch, and I serve my colleagues as the president of the librarians guild.

Ask me 2626.

And thank you for all being here.

So uh per the council president's direction, you'll have five minutes.

Uh, I don't know if it's gonna be the gentleman in the middle who's presenting, or if it's all three, but it'll be five minutes collectively.

Uh go ahead.

So collectively, we are presenting, and I again just kindly ask that we may go beyond five minutes within the reasonable time.

We won't exceed it just the same opportunity from last year, and we are grateful for this opportunity to be able to present.

So we are the coalition of LA City unions.

Alright.

And uh uh, for those of you who know, go ahead and advance the slide.

Oh, there's a clicker.

There is a clicker.

There it is.

All right.

We represent uh the substantial number of civilian employees in the city, uh, as you can see here, uh, represented by uh the building trades, operating engineers, 501, Layuna, uh, the Teamsters, AFSME, and SEIU are all represented.

Yes, you.

Oh, my turn.

We've seen this slide before.

Um, from before the um the big recession in 2008, until now, we have never quite recovered to the amount of workforce we had before, and yet we're still required to do the same work to keep the city up and running.

And as Lisa said, this slide three here, you had also seen it before the vacancy presentation and the data that we received.

I'm clicking.

Well, anyways, there it is.

Uh I went a little too far.

Proprietary departments haven't been immune with vacancies as well.

Their vacancy levels have not been the same, they've not been fully restored, especially with the data that we received in the proprietary departments, including the harbor and the airport.

The coalition valley city unions.

Yeah, go ahead.

And as you can see from the next table, uh that this is a breakdown of the vacancies by bargaining unit.

It's important for the council to understand that uh legislatively, when a uh individual bargaining unit exceeds the 20% threshold, it raises the bar with respect to what needs to be done.

There needs to be a discussion about what uh things can be done to resolve those discrepancies.

And I want to just align this uh chart with the report that personnel also provided, and you can see that in the breakdown of bargaining unit 14, which has the highest percentage here on the table, or near highest percentage.

You can see that the testing uh that's been happening for those positions, is in some cases non-existent, in other cases, well more than two years old when the list expires.

We during the budget process asked for the council to consider hiring additional personnel staff so that they could administer these tests without administration of the test.

You can see there are plenty of candidates that are available according to the city that can fill these vacancies.

So we want to make sure that that process is paid attention to and that we move that uh forward so that we can serve the city.

These are the departments that have the 15% or higher, give me a second, top 10 departments with the highest coalition job vacancies.

There you go.

You know, they bring me these to these presentations because I'm an actual city employee and I'm here to give you the man on the street.

I work for the library department, and the library department's on this list, but the library department relies on all the other departments on that list for services to keep libraries running.

So I just want to point out that though that percentage might seem workable, that a library who's missing 18% of its personnel, a little branch missing 18%, has significant public safety issues.

And when we turn to police and fire to help us out with those issues, we have trouble.

If something's broken in the building, we turn to GSD and they have vacancy issues, we're again in trouble.

So you probably already hear it from your constituents, but hear it from the people working for you.

This is a problem to have vacancy rates like this.

And so we've identified some of the top job classifications that have some of the highest vacancy rates, and also some of the top departments that have some of the highest vacancy rates.

And we know that the information we're sharing with this body today is nothing new.

You are keenly aware that there are a high number of vacancies within the city of Los Angeles.

The population that we have, which is almost $3.9 million dollars, the Olympics around the corner in 2028.

You have to truly ask yourself while I am confident we are ready.

Do we have the workforce that is needed to embrace the Olympics that's coming around the corner in 2028?

Some honorable mentions.

When you look at the Bureau of Sanitation and their high vacancy rate, you've got the important work with EMD, Environmental Monitoring Division.

That they are at 23%.

Lab techs in particular have a 40% vacancy rate.

Our brothers and sisters in MOU 4, the operating engineers, the wastewater treatment operators, 34% vacancy rate, also the Bureau of Sanitation.

The wastewater mechanics, 31% vacancy rate, Hyperion, also the Bureau of Sanitation.

There is a side letter that we are working with the CAO in our MOU right now.

We identify vacancies and find remedies to address.

And we want to keep you posted as a body that we want to work with the CO's office to find remedies to address the high levels of vacancies.

It is a perpetual problem.

As Steve mentioned, some of these high vacancies, there has not been a civil service exam since 2017.

That is appalling.

We can do better.

As the coalition of LA City Unions, we have been walking a path of broken promises.

For some of you that may not have been around here at City Hall in 2015, we were negotiated with the CEO's office for service restoration.

Because a number of positions were lost during the recession in 2008-2009.

The CEO made a promise to us that we're going to restore those positions.

And let me tell you, it never happened.

They played some voodoo math that, oh, you got your 5,000 positions and never materialized.

And we've been walking this broken path and broken of this path of broken promises since we implore you to please ask the questions of personnel.

What ideas do they have to fill these vacancies?

We want to be a partner because we have been meeting regularly with the CAO's office per the existing vacancy side letter that we have.

We can do better.

The Olympics are around the corner.

This city is ready for the Olympics, but we need a workforce that's also ready for it.

And with that, in closing, I want to see if Steve or Lisa have anything to add.

The only thing I'd like to add is that I'd like you to remember that we actually erased a whole bunch of empty vacant positions due to budgeting concerns when we are trying to balance the budget.

And these vacancy rates come after that erasure of jobs.

Thank you.

And I just want to echo, we'll be uh talking more about charter changes.

A lot of uh department managers are uh trying to say that the process doesn't work.

And as you can see, when you actually test, you utilize the process, you work with your labor partners, you can find solutions.

We encourage you to do that.

We do not need to make the substantial charter changes, and we'll talk about that at another meeting.

Thank you.

This opportunity for the vacancy herring is made possible because the assembly bill, and we are working with the CO's office on language in our MOU to try to have better preparation and more collaboration with us and the CO's office so that we can continue the collaboration to do the continued good work of service restoration in these opportunities.

And with that, Mr.

President and honorable members of this body, I do want to thank you for this time.

Thank you for this opportunity and keep up the good work.

We love the city of Los Angeles and we know you do too.

Thank you so much.

Yes, thank you.

So is there anyone else here who is a representative for a collective bargaining unit?

I didn't see anyone, and I've checked multiple times, but I just want to confirm.

Uh I don't see anyone, Mr.

President.

And for the record, I believe the uh letters were sent out notifying each of the collective bargaining units that today was the hearing.

Uh so with that, uh, council can move on to the personnel department's presentation, but before that takes place.

Uh I believe we have 12 members now if council wants to reconsider items one and seven.

Yes.

Uh let's open the roll of reconsideration of items 12 and 7.

One and seven, Mr.

President.

One and seven, I'm sorry.

Uh close roll.

Tabulate to vote.

Twelve eyes.

All right.

Uh, what's performance, Mr.

Clerk?

We have items one and seven.

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

Close the roll, tabulate to vote.

12 eyes.

All right.

What's next?

Uh next would be if the council would like, would be the presentation on the vacancy report.

This is still with regards to item 37.

Yes.

Good morning, Samantha Jew from the Office of City Administrative Officer joined by Steve Rivera of the Personnel Department.

Before the council are two vacancy status reports submitted by the Office of the CEO and the personnel department.

Can we get through the lower?

I could start over.

They're really finicky.

You have to get a lot closer than you think.

Okay, thank you.

All good.

Okay.

Before the council are two reports related to California government code section 3502.3, which requires that each public agency within the state present a status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts during a public hearing at least once during a fiscal year.

This must be done before the adoption of the final budget.

This also states that any bargaining unit with a vacancy rate over 20% may request additional information regarding position vacancies.

The following bargaining units have a vacancy rate that exceed 20%.

Just want to note an extraordinary circumstance with MYU 14.

There was a massive reallocation that occurred during the year.

So there are a number of MOU 14 members in substitute authorities that are not counted in this, so their vacancy rate is a little bit higher than reported in this report.

And now I have the personnel department to discuss the report on the city's efforts in recruitment, employee selection, and retention.

Thank you.

Good morning, everyone.

Steve Rivera with the personnel department.

Thank you, council members, for being and allowing me to speak on our report.

I'm here to present on recruitment and the civil service selection process.

Our recruitment efforts have a multiple level of strategies.

Our first one is governmentjobs.com, which is a highly visited and traffic website where all of our civil service positions are posted.

Our second uh website is our personnel department website where every uh potential applicant is able to view exams that are open for filing and also can view exams that will be upcoming over the next couple of months.

Uh, in addition to viewing those examinations that are open for filing, uh, we have a couple of platforms and features and resources that individuals can use.

We have a job match uh feature where individuals can indicate their interests, their education, their background, and it'll match them with a job that potentially will be uh of interest to them.

If that exam is not open for filing, they can submit an online interest card.

And when that exam opens up for filing, they are notified.

In addition, we have our career ladders feature where individuals can view promotional opportunities if they so choose and work with the city of Los Angeles, they can see their promotional opportunities throughout the city.

Uh in addition to posting our jobs on these uh websites, we also use social media platforms.

Uh, the five platforms that we focus on are Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

Uh recently, we just achieved uh one of our milestones and goals, which is to have over 200,000 followers on our platforms, with LinkedIn and Instagram being our biggest uh followers.

Uh, in addition to getting individuals to follow us on these platforms, we must keep them engaged.

Uh, our approach to social media uh recruitment is to post creative uh content and also respond to questions in a timely manner.

We get a lot of comments, a lot of questions, so it's an ability for us to educate our potential applicants and informative of the selection process if they so choose to apply with the city of Los Angeles.

In addition, we highlight the many many benefits of working with the city.

One thing that I would like to mention is the applicant pool uh is changing.

Um the applicants now uh not necessarily driven just by the salary.

Uh the city has benefits that are amazing, and we highlight those.

We also highlight the purpose and meaning of working with the city and for the city, and we find that that approach has kept us more engaged with our applicants and vice versa.

Uh, in addition to our social media uh approach to recruitment, we also attend various job fairs.

One of the ones that we are most excited about and proud of is our partnership with SoCal Trades.

This allows us to go to high schools and recruit and promote city jobs there.

We work with city departments and bring job experts that can speak on what it's like to work in the city of Los Angeles and the purpose and goal of those departments.

That has been very successful, and we've worked with schools and school districts across LA County and San Bernardino County as well.

And we look forward to pursuing those efforts as well.

In addition to SoCal Trades, we also attend various career fairs, and we also do campus recruitment.

Campus recruitment is something that we work with with city departments where the departments can go promote their jobs and do same, conduct same-day job interviews there.

What that means is they can work with the colleges or conferences and identify individuals that they can make job offers for.

That is something that we are very proud of and looking to expand as well and working with the departments on those.

In addition to that, we do use our NeoGov platform to attract hard to fill positions or to fill hard-to-fill positions.

We do that by accessing individuals that have applied with us before or with other agencies, and they may be looking for positions that are similar to ours.

Some of our hard-to-fill positions would be our nursing positions.

It is hard for us to recruit, to hire, and to retain our nurses.

So we do a full campaign to hire our nurses.

We develop video content, discuss the benefits of working with the city as a nurse, nurse practitioner, and our efforts, although slow, have been promising over the last year.

In addition to the recruitment events that we hold, we have in the past year implemented what we call recruiter connect.

Recruiter Connect is in-person or webinar style presentations to individuals about working in the city of Los Angeles.

And I think many of us have heard, you know, what difficulties they may have or challenges they may pose in terms of the selection process.

So this is a chance for us to really communicate with potential applicants regarding the selection process, what they can expect, and ultimately how it works.

And that has been very positive as well.

So our recruitment events, I'd say have been very engaging and fairly successful.

All of this leads to our selection process.

And as I mentioned, some of the labor reps there discussing some of the challenges and concerns that they have.

So I'd like to discuss the selection process and as I mentioned, some of the ideas that we may have to help with the vacancy rate.

Our selection process is fairly standard.

When the departments are ready to fill a vacancy, they submit an exam request.

I'll provide you with metrics shortly on the size and give you some context of the workload.

When the exam request comes in, when it uh when I have staff available to to have them work on the exam, we do a job analysis where we work with job experts and we identify the critical competencies needed for that job to perform that job.

That helps us develop the bulletin that many of you may see.

It helps us determine the selection process, and it ultimately helps us develop the test that we're going to use to assess these candidates.

That competency model is done in a fairly efficient manner, and we do a job analysis approach called competency model, which is something that we've been doing over the past 12 years.

It allows us to describe all of our jobs using the same language.

Once that is done, we develop our bulletins.

Bulletins are typically open for two weeks for filing.

We receive those applications, review those applications, and those individuals that meet the requirements are then tested.

Our selection process varies.

It could be a single test part or it can be a multi-test part.

It depends on the competencies that we're trying to assess.

The test can consist of a multiple choice test, an interview, an essay, performance test, or physical ability test, or any combination of those.

Once the selection process is completed, then we go ahead and establish the eligible list.

Through that process, one of the things I would like to mention is the assistance that we get from the departments.

If it is an interview, a performance test, physical ability tests, a lot of times we need raters to come in and help evaluate these candidates.

So it is definitely a partnership between the personnel department and the hiring departments, whether it's one department or multiple departments.

In terms of context, just to to demonstrate the workload, we receive roughly 210 exam requests a year.

And the personnel department puts out about 185 to 190 exams a year, meaning we open about 190 bulletins a year.

That doesn't include the continuous exams that we have.

Our continuous exams are those that were hard to fill positions, we continually receive applications.

We're at about 60 exams that are continuous.

And like I mentioned before, a lot of those are nursing positions, but also some of those classifications that are either identified as critical across the city, like our admin clerks, management assistants, various IT classifications as well.

In addition to that, like I mentioned before, we do our campus recruitment where we allow the departments to go out, recruit at campuses, and they can conduct their same day job offer interviews there.

So it's a multi-pronged approach to our selection process.

One thing of note is we have been doing online testing for quite a while.

We are probably one of, if not the first big city to move to online multiple choice tests.

Since 2018, 100% of our multiple choice tests are online, and about 90% of all candidates choose to take their tests remotely, meaning they take it from home.

And the 10% who choose to come in, they come into one of our facilities and take the test on the computer.

Our interviews are roughly 97% online and remote, where the raters are remote, the candidates are remote, and we find that the candidates the candidate experience has been extremely positive since moving to online.

One of the other reasons for to move online is part of a recruitment strategy.

We remove the barriers.

Prior to online testing, and if an individual was from out of state, they had to physically come in and take the test in person.

Now we can recruit individuals either here in SoCal but would otherwise be taxing for them to come in, or they can come from out of state and they just take the test remotely.

So they technically don't have to come into Los Angeles until potentially a job offer is made and they're appointed.

So that's been another beneficial benefit to online testing.

In addition to this, the other workload that I wanted to present is we receive roughly 85 to 90,000 applications a year.

These are COVID numbers or post-COVID numbers.

Pre-COVID, our numbers were a little bit higher.

I anticipate that these numbers will continue to go up.

We test roughly 45 to almost 50,000 candidates a year.

And we place anywhere between 18,000 or so candidates on eligible lists for employment consideration.

I think in terms of strategies, we've implemented a lot of technology applications to our selection process, and we've also done some process improvement.

Removes tests when necessary, provide further efficiencies.

To give you an example, from the time a bulletin opens to a list being established, used to take roughly 185 days.

We got that down to about 125, 130 days.

So about 55 days less over the last three years.

So the process improvement is working.

Our technology applications are working.

And I have no doubt that future technology will assist, whether it be AI or virtual reality as well.

So a focus not just on the quantity of the candidates but also the quality of the candidates.

We also assess that and we survey our departments to assess the quality of the candidates and if those individuals had the skill sets that the departments are looking for.

So we're continually looking to improve our process.

In terms of what I see in terms of challenges of what we can assist is expanding our intermittent continuous and continuous exams.

Like I mentioned, we roughly have 60 exams right now that are administered on a continuous basis.

I would love to be able to expand that.

I don't know what that magic number is, but I would say if we can get it to 80 to 85, that would be great.

What we need to get there, technology can get us so far, process improvements can get us so far.

As they did mention, staffing would be great.

Personnel department, just like a lot of other departments did get hit this fiscal year.

I lost roughly 28 positions in the selection process, roughly 25% of my entire staff was cut.

We've been able to maintain the work that we're doing, but it is taxing.

And the additional staff not just helps maintain the current workload, but one of the things that we pride ourselves on is research and development.

To get to online testing is not a simple six-month, one-month, one-year project.

We need staff to be able to focus on the research in addition to maintaining our exams.

And you know, we're able to do that, and we have some great staff, but but additional staff would be ideal, and I'm sure that request comes fairly frequent.

But I would say the expansion of our intermittent continuous and continuous exams, expanding our campus uh recruitment to different job classifications would really help in terms of the giving the departments the flexibility and the ability to fill vacant positions and critical positions across the city.

And with that, yeah, thank you so much.

I've got a member on the queue.

Council Member.

Hi there.

Um thank you for this presentation.

You know, even as a when I was applying for not my current job, but previously, looking at why certain tests required, you know, kind of an SAT math component in which you couldn't use a calculator for something as simple as being a clerk.

And so I think I just want to talk about as we move forward, how we can make it easier for people everyday Angelinos to apply.

And as much as you've made advancements in the last three years to reduce it from by 40 days, I guess, um, you know, we lose applicants in the delay of them not hearing.

They apply, they don't hear for six months and they're waiting or something, and that's something that I've heard from multiple people.

And once you get in here, it's kind of like it's easier to move around.

And so just wondering how we can get to 14 days instead of 120.

Uh sure.

I I think there's a couple questions in there, and I think one thing you mentioned was your your personal experience and part of the experience of others, like with the calculator and things like that.

And we're always looking to improve our process.

Uh when, and hopefully that was a while ago.

Uh, we do allow calculators if it's part of the job, and we work with job experts on things like that.

So we always look to improve the process.

One of the things that we're looking at is developing uh practice tests uh both in terms of multiple choices, so individuals can see the types of questions that they can expect, and then also practice interview questions so they can see what types of questions they may be asked so that they can better be prepared.

A lot of our staff, I'm sorry, a lot of our applicants are really first-time applicants, they have no idea what it's like to apply, especially apply to a government agency.

So we're trying to take that surprise element out, and so that they come in a little more prepared because to identify someone's true score, it's really good to put them at ease, right?

To be as comfortable as possible.

In terms of reduction of the time frame, our average is 130 days.

And to give you an example, some of the numbers that inflate that.

Uh we've had an exam, uh I'll mention it, customer service rep is a very it's a specific DWP exam.

We receive 15,000 applications for that particular exam.

We test over a thousand of those individuals.

That takes a little while because we do interviews, multiple choice tests.

But a lot of our single test parts are right around 95 to 100 days.

So it's it's some of those very complex uh job classifications where it unfortunately it does take a little bit more time to get that in there.

I would love to see our reduction go down even further.

We've had it down to about 115, 118 days, but we had a little more staff to get to that number.

In terms of constant communication with our candidates, uh, we do uh email them, uh text message them.

That's something that we started doing over the last couple of years to keep them engaged.

Uh, and I would love to be able to do more video content to show them what the selection process is like and hopefully put them in touch with the hiring departments to get more information.

Yeah, I guess my interest, you know, having a civil service job in government is so it's a privilege, the benefits are great, your mission-oriented usually and to do the work that keeps your city.

I think you know, we all appreciate that.

I just worry about the testification of the application process, knowing that historically testing has racial disparate outcomes in terms of who is able to apply.

I mean, initially testing at Columbia Law School was instituted to prohibit Jewish applicants from applying to the law school.

Like that was the root of the testification of admissions.

And so, in a city where we want to maintain the diversity of our applicant pool and people that work here, just want to make sure we're we're making this process easier, and if it's the in the same way that we've been doing it in the last 12 years and it's not producing better results, then I think we have to think about better.

I mean, there have been advances, but to think about how we reduce it to a month lag time, given that there are 15,000 applicants for certain jobs.

And I know the answer is always more staff, but I think there are ways that we can improve, and maybe the job experts that we're using right now are not sufficient because we need to staff our city.

And to make it accessible to every Angelino, and even you know, I love that you're going to high schools.

People need to know that the city service job is available to them even when they're in third grade.

Like then knowing that there's more.

I mean, you know, we have the fire trucks, you have the police department, but there's also other parts of our city family that provide good paying jobs, and how can we make sure that they're aware of that even before, you know, they they get into the job market, I think is something that trying to make sure there's a consistent pipeline because right now people, if you know you know, and then you game it because you know what the tests have previously been.

I mean, what you explained to me about, I know I'm going over.

I'm a finish, I'm gonna land the plane right now.

But it's just like the way that the test the testing that you said about people having to do it, that's like SAT prep.

That's LASAT prep.

Like, why are we doing that for a job interview at a city?

Um, it just seems like we're making it harder, and when we should be making it easier for people to work for the city that they live in.

Yeah, all right.

I got Mr.

Blumenfield on the queue, and then we'll we'll let you close.

And if I may, based on that, hold on.

I'm gonna go to Mr.

Blumenfield and then I'll let you close.

Thank you.

Okay, it's and it's a similar line of questioning too.

Is and you've done some really impressive things.

Um, they're all sort of incremental improvements, which is what we need.

And I guess the question is, is there is there a quantum improvement that we could make?

Are there some restrictions that are out there that maybe that we as a council could help reduce or put on the charter to reduce to change fundamentally so that uh the equation changes, so you could hire people over the course of a weekend or you know, that kind of thing.

And and and also related to that, how do we compare to uh other cities in terms of our timing and our ability to do sort of on-demand hiring or uh you know number of days that it takes to hire.

I'll try to answer all those questions, but please let me know if I miss anything.

In terms of comparison with other um city uh agencies are comparable.

Yeah, we we tend to compare ourselves more with states because of the size that we are.

Uh, local cities like Glendale and Long Beach are significantly smaller, uh, but we compare right there with them.

Um, some of the issues that that we have compared to them is the flexibility.

Some of those departments uh or agencies are not governed by a charter so forth, so they have a little more flexibility to pick some of their some of their individuals.

Um but I think we're comparable in terms of uh the time frame and then also the workload compared to some of the states.

We work in conjunction with, I'll give you a sense of city and county of Denver, the county of Los Angeles, L USD, uh New York, we are in constant communication to see how they're doing things.

And I would say that we are comparable in workload and in time frame as well.

In terms of what we see, and I think similar to to the previous council members' question, um, there are some things that we're looking at to do.

Uh we have some examinations where the requirements is simply a I shouldn't say simply, but it requires a state license or state certificate.

One of the things that we're arguing is if they've already been tested by the state or went through certain licensing that if they meet those requirements, we just go ahead and put them on the list, right?

As opposed to having them go through another test that we're not gonna be able to develop one that's significantly better or better than what they've already gone through.

And that's something that we we have been discussing through charter reform as well, because there is a clause in the charter that technically prevents us from doing some of those things.

So I think there's uh some some hopefully flexibility and charter change that will allow us to do that for some of our job classifications.

Assessments are still critical, and we hear from city departments as well.

Yes, we want faster, you know, uh eligibleists, but we also want good candidates on there.

Um, and I'm sorry, council member.

I I know you had a few questions.

I'm not sure if the other one is.

It was just just trying to figure out how you can get to more of a quantum change, whether that's you know, weekend hirings or or doing more things simultaneously rather than sequentially, and and just you know what are those barriers that we as a council might be able to help you remove.

I think increasing campus exams and increasing our continuous exams would be significantly uh better for everyone in the city, uh, meaning that we can have constant testing, that departments can go to campuses, can go to uh uh uh conferences, can do department sponsored events, and have people come in with their resume in hand and potentially come out with a job.

Those are the events that we would love to increase.

And I think the departments are eager to do that.

We would be eager to do that.

If you ask me what we need for that, the process is in place.

We just need a few more, we just need the resources to get to that level.

Thank you.

Thank you so much uh for your presentations.

I got uh Councilmember Hernandez, and then we need to move uh to dispose of this item.

Councilmember Hernandez.

Thank you.

Thank you for all that info.

I agree with my colleagues uh around updating this.

What percentage of positions in the city have to do testing?

Have I'm sorry, how what percentage of LA City positions are required to do testing to get the job?

All examinations require a form of a test, council member.

All civil service.

So all city positions for the all civil service positions require uh except for militants, except for targeted local hire.

TLH goes through a separate process uh to get into civil service um positions.

And can you tell me what percentage of targeted local hire positions go through that process and make and pass the test to do the civil service side?

So the TLH and bridge to jobs is a little bit different.

They they technically don't take a test, their tests is they're on the job training.

So anyone that passes their on their job training will then move on to their civil service class.

And what percentage of that group of people are still employed with the city of LA?

Uh I'd have to come back to you on that number.

Councilmember, unfortunately, I don't have that, but I can I can easily get that for you.

Great.

It's in the high 90 percent, which I just want to I want to uplift that that those folks have gone, have been impacted by different things.

They're not testing, and they're staying on the job for a higher percentage.

So just a lifting an example of a model that we already execute that I would like to see expanded to other positions that don't require the level of testing um to do the job, right?

Um, and so I just I want to highlight that and bring that up because I thought that was important and would like to see some changes there.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Nandes, and thank you uh for your presentation this morning on uh vacancies.

Uh again, uh very important issue to flag.

It affects almost every piece of work that this council pursues and that the city pursues.

Uh so I appreciate you uh laying it out, and you've heard the concerns of the council, and uh we hope those are taken to into account and we come back with results.

Uh, Mr.

Clerk, uh what's before the council at this time?

Item number 37.

All right, let's open the roll on 37.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

All right, what's next?

Item number four called special by council member Hernandez for a separate vote.

All right, let's open the roll on item number four, call special by council member Hernandez for a separate vote.

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

All right, what's next?

The item may the council may now move on to item number five, called special by council member Blumenfield for comments.

Councilmember Blumenfield.

Great.

Uh call this one for comments, and so we could also hear from our nominee for general manager.

So I would ask for her to come forward.

Yes, please.

But uh today I'm I'm proud to support Gabrielle Amster's nomination to become the next general manager of animal services.

It's not a secret that animal services has been faced with serious issues for way too long.

And it's been years since this department has had permanent leadership.

I'm proud that in this year's budget, we were able to reverse potentially devastating cuts by fulfilling um fully funding the successful dogs playing for life program, increasing the spay neuter budget by almost 20%, and helping alleviate the impact to the animal welfare trust fund by allocating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the food and medicine budgets.

While this is positive, the department needs a full-time leader who brings fresh eyes and trusted leadership to the issues we face.

And I'm very happy that Ms.

Amster is stepping up to the plate, bringing her decades of service in the animal advocacy field to our city.

Most recently, she served as the director of the Wallace Annaberg Pet Space, where she regularly partnered with LA Animal Services, the county, ASPCA, and many other municipalities and nonprofits to increase access to spay neuter services and adoptions for local pets.

She gets it.

She also served as executive director of the Palm Springs Animal Shelter, where one of her signature efforts was helping mold city services together with a nonprofit creating an innovative structure to help bring the best care to local animals, which is exactly what we're trying to do here in the city of Los Angeles, moving in that direction.

So she's perfect to help make that happen.

These are just some of her accomplishments.

And I want to add that when Mayor Bass nominated her, my team and I spoke with many leaders of local and state and animal nonprofits.

We heard directly from many people on how appreciated Ms.

Amster is in this community and how her decades of experience have helped save the lives of countless animals.

So good choice, Mayor Bass.

And Gabrielle, thank you for taking the call to serve our city, especially at a time when the department really needs an innovative leader.

I look forward to working together as we strive to make our Department of Animal Services the best it can be.

Our residents deserve it, and the tens of thousands of animals we care for deserve it too.

Colleagues, I hope you'll join me in voting in support of the nomination of Miss Amster and would love to yield the floor to her to say a few words.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Bloomfield, for that warm welcome and for the introduction and for all the work that you have done on behalf of animals in this community.

President Harris Dawson, distinguished members of the City Council, thank you for the privilege of this moment.

It is a profound honor to come before you as Mayor Bass's appointee to serve as general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services.

I'm grateful for the faith she has shown by entrusting me with the humane care of the city's vulnerable animals and with serving the millions of Angelinos to whom pets are family.

I want to begin by thanking this council for its work during the current budget process and all the stakeholders who helped advocate for the resources that our shelters depend on every day.

It will be I will be a good steward of this investment.

I also want to take a moment to recognize Annette Ramirez, who has carried this department through an extended period of transition with steadiness, with dedication, and with grace.

I look forward to the privilege of working alongside her as she returns to her role as assistant general manager.

Over the nearly two decades I have spent working in both nonprofit and municipal animal agencies.

I have learned that the communities we serve are not looking for a perfect department.

They are looking for one they can trust.

My experience has given me a few things I intend to put to work immediately.

A track record of improving live outcomes through program redesign and community engagement, the discipline to implement standard operating procedures consistently across departments, and a deep commitment to building a kind of culture where people want to stay because stable, motivated teams deliver better outcomes for animals and people both.

I am bringing these priorities to a department that right now has reason for optimism.

I hope to have the brief window of momentum and goodwill that comes from new leadership.

The department has a strong professional staff, many of whom have served this city and this department for decades, a cadre of dedicated and skilled volunteers, and an impressive roster of new hope partners who play a pivotal role in our life-saving outcomes.

We also have a generous grant from the ASPCA and Best Friends, which will soon come before this body for approval.

Negotiated between the department, the mayor's office, and these grantors, the grants are designed to prioritize keeping owned pets with their families and moving shelter pets quickly and thoughtfully out of kennels and into homes in our community.

Together with the LA Animal Services team and department stakeholders, we will bring new ideas and creative thinking to the department's resource challenges.

We will explore every avenue available to us from modernizing how we approach pet licensing to investigating the potential for philanthropic partners that give Angelinos a transparent, meaningful way to directly support the animals in our care.

We will improve how we communicate with the public and our stakeholders, not just about our challenges, but about our triumphs.

This department does extraordinary work that goes largely untold, and changing that narrative is both the right thing to do and one of the most powerful tools we have.

The heart of LA Animal Services is the staff and the volunteers who show up every day, caring for animals, responding to emergencies, and supporting families in crisis, and the adopters who see the beauty and value of shelter pets.

I intend to invest in them, hold the department to a high standard, and be present and accountable in every corner of this work.

The animals and the people of Los Angeles are counting on all of us.

I'm ready to get to work, and I am grateful for your confidence.

Nothing else.

All right, thank you so much.

Thank you.

Let's uh open the roll on this item.

Close the roll, tabulate to vote.

Twelve eyes.

Alright, congratulations.

And good luck.

All right, what's next?

Item 26 for a technical amendment that has been circulated.

Alright, let's open the roll, close the roll, and tabulate the vote.

12 eyes.

Alright, what's next?

Item 28 for a technical amendment that has been circulated.

Alright, let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

12 eyes.

All right, what's next?

Item number 38, called special by council member park for a separate vote and price recusal.

All right, Mr.

Nizarian.

Comments?

It was going to be the comments on item 28.

So have at it.

I can keep it very brief and just say, colleagues, thank you for voting to support the ad hoc committee on entertainment and filming industry and creative industry as well.

First, I want to thank Council President uh Marquis Harris Dawson for conceptualizing this and for seeing the importance of this issue and highlighting it in a committee so that we can address the issues, not just issue by issue or motion by motion, but also have meaningful discussions and conversations with the participants of the industry.

So I'll keep it at that and say thank you.

Thank you all colleagues for supporting this belatedly and look forward to the wonderful work ahead.

Alright, thank you so much, Mrs.

Nazarian.

All right.

That takes us to our next item called special by Council Member Park for a separate vote.

Let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

All right, what's next?

The closed session items 35 and 36 called special by Councilmember Yarosovsky.

Council Member Yaroslovski.

All right, we can vote on these items.

All right.

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

Close the roll.

Mr.

President, one moment.

I just need to check with the uh city attorney about procedure for these two items.

So I understand that we're not going into close on this, but is there a motion then to approve the recommendations in the confidential report?

So moved.

Second.

Now we may vote, Mr.

President.

All right.

Uh let's take the vote and then we're gonna uh we'll go to you, Mr.

Price.

All right, let's open the roll.

Close the roll, tabulate to vote.

All right.

And uh for the good of the record, Mr.

Price uh regarding our previous item.

Yes, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

I had to accuse myself from item 38 because I provide housing and because my wife's employer was worked with an organization on those.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

And then Mr.

President, I just need to read the settlement amounts for the two uh approved city attorney reports.

Okay.

Uh for item 35 in the case entitled Dominique De Luca, Vers City of Los Angeles.

There is a recommendation to expend up to 160,000 dollars in settlement.

And for item 36 in the case entitled Nazelli, Carazzian et al.

Versity of Los Angeles, there's a recommendation to expand up to 185,000 in settlement, and those have been approved.

Thank you.

All right, what's next?

Council has motions for posting and referral.

All right, they are posted and referred announcements members, announcements, council member Padilla.

Alright, there's the graphic, very good.

Um, so colleagues watching us today online is the Polly Parrots uh high school soccer girls' soccer team.

I want to take this time of personal privilege to specifically congratulate them for taking home the win in the LA City Section Interscholastic Division 4 section.

Unfortunately, the team was unable to be here with us today due to finals timing and we all know bureaucracy, but it's okay.

We know that they are watching and they know that we are very proud of them.

So we want to say hello to them digitally and make sure they hear how proud we are of them.

On January 23rd, they earned a major victory over the undefeated North Hollywood High School Huskies.

Then later in the season, after a heartbreaking senior night loss against Verdugal, this team could have left that moment, allowed that moment to define them, but instead, even after playing down a player due to a red card, they showed the unity, passion, and fight that would carry them into the postseason.

Once they got to the postseason, that's where they made their statements.

After qualifying for the play-in round, Polly outscored their opponents 26-3 across five playoff games.

Their postseason run showcased the very best of our student athletes.

This was a team that experienced close matches, difficult moments, and setbacks throughout the season.

But instead of letting those moments define them, they kept their heads high, learned from every mistake, and stayed focused on to the next play in front of them.

This is what makes this championship so meaningful.

Whether it was a missed shot, a defensive mistake, or even a great play, they consistently refocused and gave everything they had to the next game.

By the time they reached the finals against Monroe, they had proven that this season was not about how they started, but how they finish.

So as a proud Polly Parrot alum, this victory is especially meaningful to me to see our young ladies bring tremendous pride to their school, their families, their coaches, the entire community.

They showed what it means to compete with heart, go get and get back up despite setbacks, and always finishing strong when it matters the most.

So once again, congratulations to the Polly Parrot High School Girls Soccer team and everyone that helped get them there.

Their championship is a reflection of what it means to work hard, stay united, and believe in each other.

We're so proud of you, proud parents.

Uh may we be able to bring this home again next year.

Thank you.

All right, thank you so much.

Uh yes, congratulations.

I will note that uh North Hollywood and uh Verdugo and Monroe experienced defeat in this, but we're proud of all our schools.

Uh any other announcements, members?

All right, with that, I'll ask everyone in the chamber to rise for adjourning motions.

And I'll look to my left uh for a journey motions.

I'll look to my right.

Councilmember Park.

Thank you.

Council President and colleagues, it is with deep sadness and profound respect that I ask we adjourn in memory of Scoutmaster Mike Lanning.

Mike Lanning was a longtime scout master of Troop 223 in Pacific Palisades.

He was a community leader and youth advocate.

He was born on May 1st, 1932, and he passed away on March 16th, 2026, at the age of 93.

He left behind a legacy that shaped generations of young leaders across Southern California and beyond.

Mike's journey in scouting began as a boy, where he experienced the impact of mentorship and outdoor discovery and adventure firsthand.

That early experience stayed with him through college at UCLA, where in the spring of 1953, he spotted scouts at a local market and started volunteering with the troop from then on.

Later that year, he became Scout Master of Two Troop 223, a role he would hold for more than seven decades.

Under his leadership, Troop 223 has produced over 1,000 Eagle Scouts and grown from seven youth members to around 200 youth and 150 registered adult volunteers.

From the beginning, Mike believed scouting was education through experience, combining fun activities, challenges, and service to teach leadership, sound decision making, and the joy of helping others.

He focused on developing young people into leaders and he built a culture where older scouts actively mentored and guided younger members.

And throughout his life, Mike mentored many hundreds of Eagle Scouts, with nearly a hundred of those going on to become scout masters themselves.

He also served on the board of the Western LA Council's Board of Directors and led development and fundraising efforts.

Among his many scouting recognitions are the Silver Buffalo, Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, Silver Antelope, Silver Beaver, Americanism Award, and Vigil Honor.

Although he worked as an attorney in real estate development, Mike's life and work and his passion were really scouting.

His legacy, I know, will live on in the thousands of young people he mentored, the leaders they became, and the enduring values that he stirred instilled in them of service, leadership, and integrity.

So on behalf of the very grateful council district and city of Los Angeles, our condolences under loss for the entire community.

Thank you, Council President and colleagues.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Park.

We are adjourned everyone.

Mr.

President, before we adjourn, there's a request for item 38 to go forth with.

Without objection.

Thank you, Ms.

President.

Especially those who might need some extra time in getting out, those with disabilities or access functional needs.

We need to make sure that those folks are ready to go.

They very specially need to make sure that they're tuning in, they are aware, because if it takes extra time for them to evacuate, we want to make sure they have that time and they're able to get out and into a safe area.

Yeah, yeah, appreciate that.

And certainly back about going.

We always remind people, too, you don't have to wait till we formally tell you to go.

If there's a wildfire threatening your neighborhood or community, we encourage people to get out well ahead of that wildfire.

And also excellent points about animal shelters.

And the actual locations will be determined, and they go out on those alerts.

So we really want people to get those alerts so you know ahead of time where the evacuation shelters are set up for large animals, small animals, as well as as people if they need to go to them.

So thank you for that, as well as the ADA compliance.

Excellent.

Thank you.

So now, Jennifer, we're gonna turn it back over to you.

You know, during a wildfire or really any significant natural disaster, how is the emergency operations center activated and what functions does that EOC perform?

So the fire department, the police department, and the mayor's office can all request the activation of the emergency operations center when an incident gets beyond the scope of any one department's normal emergency response functions.

And that has happened for everything from the COVID pandemic to even when we have a large special event like the Super Bowl or the LA Marathon, because this becomes the brain of the city, a place where all of the departments can come together, coordinate with each other, make sure they have the resources they need, and that they're communicating really freely about the current information.

So we most recently activated for the hurricane and earthquake, the earthquake part was a surprise.

But uh for Tropical Storm Hillary, we were able to activate the EOC to level two, that's our medium level, and bring together all of the departments that had an active response role to make sure that we were well coordinated and were communicating effectively.

We go to a lower level, a level three for something like a planted event.

And if we had a major destructive wildfire or a major earthquake in LA, we would love activate to level one, which could be more than 80 people in our emergency operations center all working together to make sure that the city is responding effectively.

Yeah, it's such a key coordination central hub where we might have a lot of spokes of other city agencies that come together.

Now, under one building, one roof, you have all these decision makers that can give us quick situational awareness, but also helps us to mitigate the problem because we have the people all in one room.

So thank you for being a part of that critical role.

Pleasure.

And I will tell everybody we actually want their information about what they think our biggest threats are here in the city of Los Angeles.

Right now, we're in the process of updating our local hazard mitigation plan.

Wildfire is a key element of that plan.

We've got a survey out there that we're really asking everyone, you live, work, or play in LA, please fill out the survey.

You can find it at emergency.lacity.org to tell us what hazards you're most worried about and what projects you want the city to work on to address those hazards.

Yeah, thank you for that.

Good points.

And David, we're gonna turn it back over to you for a minute.

Now, we know that LA has wildfires all year round now, and weather plays such a critical role in how we fight them and how people need to be prepared.

So, how are you teaching partn