Schools and ensuring every child in Los Angeles gets the best possible start in life.

I was born and raised here in LA and I began my career as an English teacher at Markham Middle School in Watts.

At Markham, I coached the baseball and soccer teams and helped my students launch a school newspaper.

It was as a teacher that I saw firsthand how poor leadership and structural inequities harm my students.

When budget cuts led to two-thirds of our teachers being laid off, including myself, I fought to rehire quality teachers and join the ACLU, former Mayor Dick Reardon, then Mayor Antonio Virgosa, and others to bring a groundbreaking civil rights lawsuit to protect my students.

Inspired to push for broader change, I went to law school and I went on to work with the ACLU, the U.S.

Attorney's Office, and the Obama White House before returning home to run for local office, believing I could do more for students in the boardroom than the courtroom.

I was elected to the LUSD school board in 2017 on a commitment to put students and families first.

And since then, I've represented more than 700,000 residents across the diverse communities of Board District 4.

I have worked to expand early education, championed historic investments in literacy, mental health, and bilingual education, and advanced equity through a $700 million allocation based on student need.

More recently, I spearheaded the nation's largest school cell phone ban, which has gotten LUSD students off their phones and focused on class, leading to the highest test scores in our district's history.

Then, when wildfires ravaged the District 4 community of the Pacific Palisades, I stepped up when many other elected officials failed at being prepared.

We relocated two entire elementary schools in eight days.

I'm also proud to have led our efforts to pass the largest school bond in American history, with nine billion dollars going to renovate and upgrade our schools throughout LA.

Now, as a new dad, the work of education has never been more personal.

My son is not even a year old, but he will soon be an LUSD student, and I'm fighting for his future as well.

We have done a lot during my time in office, but we're just getting started.

I'm proud to be endorsed by Senator Adam Schiff, by local elected officials and labor unions and business groups, and most importantly, by parents and community members.

I invite you to join us at Nickmelvoine.com.

I'm Nick Melvoin, and I hope to have your support on or before June 2nd.

Thank you.

I'm running for my third and final term because public education has the power to change lives and uplift our communities.

I'm committed to serving our students, staff, and families, and I want to build on the progress we've made over the past nine years.

In that time, together, we've reached record high graduation rates across LA, including the East Valley.

This past year, we saw the highest ever English and math scores.

We've expanded AP classes, dual enrollment and career pathways, meaning our students are not just graduating high school, but they are ready for college and good careers.

We've doubled the number of dual language programs in the East Valley and grew our magnet programs to provide high-quality options for our families in our neighborhoods.

We've made universal preschool available to all four-year-olds, positioning LUSD as a statewide leader.

We've opened more spaces for two and three-year-olds in our LUSD early education centers, setting our little ones up for a strong foundation in school and in life, and addressing a huge need for affordable child care for many families.

As a result of my advocacy, we've set a bold new standard of 30% green space on our school playgrounds, including desperately needed trees and shade, and dedicated 1.2 billion dollars in funding to make it happen.

We're taking steps to address extreme heat and the corresponding wildfire risks by making our campuses more resilient, ensuring our local schools all have working HVAC systems and the necessary staff to maintain them, and improving our preparedness plans.

We've established ethnic studies as a graduation requirements so our students see themselves reflected in the curriculum.

We've launched safe passages programs so our students can walk to and from school safely.

We've strengthened support for multilingual learners and newcomer students.

We launched into immediate action after the start of the ice race in June to reaffirm our status as a sanctuary district and provide more support for immigrant families so that every campus feels safe.

We've expanded the number of community schools, providing holistic support for students and families.

And we've invested in STEM, the arts, field trips, and enrichment opportunities to bring more joy to learning.

We have made so much progress over the past several years, but there is so much more our students deserve in their public education.

As an educator, school board member, and mother of three LAUSD students, I know firsthand what's at stake and how we can continue to invest in our schools and the hardworking people who care for our children every single day.

I will work tirelessly to ensure our public schools reflect the incredible potential of all of our students and center the needs of our communities in the East San Fernando Valley.

I look forward to working with you every step of the way to make the dreams of our children and families a reality.

Thank you.

This measure measure raises the hotel tax in Los Angeles, already one of the highest in California at 14%.

And when you raise taxes this much, visitors don't just pay more, they go elsewhere.

Cities like Santa Monica, Long Beach, and Beverly Hills become more attractive, taking tourism dollars, jobs and local businesses with them.

Tourism supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in Los Angeles, from hotels and restaurants to small businesses across the city.

But our tourism industry is still recovering and hasn't returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Now is not the time to make Los Angeles more expensive and less competitive.

And this doesn't just affect tourists.

Hotels are also used by Angelinos, families displaced by emergencies, seniors, workers between housing and people in assistance programs.

Higher hotel taxes mean higher cost for those who can least afford it.

And there's also no accountability.

Proposition TT sends money straight to the city's general fund with no guarantees on how it will be spent.

It's a permanent tax increase without a clear plan or oversight.

At a time when revenues are already declining, raising taxes could make the problem worse.

Los Angeles should focus on managing existing resources, not driving away jobs and economic activity.

Protect jobs, protect tourism.

Vote no on Proposition TT.

Thank you.

Los Angeles is a city famous for being constantly on the move, known for its wide streets, heavy traffic, and busy people.

But both above and beneath the surface, a major shift is underway.

The future of travel in LA is no longer just on the freeways or city streets.

It's happening on the railways.

Today, the expansion of metro transportation is working to bridge the gap between Angelinos and their city, offering a faster, greener, and more efficient way to get around.

Whether you're catching the metro for your daily commute or exploring the city for the first time, welcome to Los Angeles.

With this new line, getting around becomes faster and more efficient.

Riders can now skip traffic as they travel beneath Wilshire Boulevard.

This extension connects downtown Los Angeles to the west side, cutting through areas that used to take some of the longest and most congested car commutes in LA.

In some cases, metro rail travel across the system can be twice as fast as driving during peak traffic hours.

After years of planning and construction, community leaders, metro officials, and angelinos came together to celebrate what many are calling a major step toward a greener, more sustainable, and better connected Los Angeles.

And here's something to put it in perspective.

Each fully packed metro train can remove hundreds of cars from the road, helping reduce congestion and emissions across the city.

Welcome to the grand opening of Section One of Metro's D-Line Extension.

This is such an exciting moment in Los Angeles history.

The only heavy rail alignment to open this year anywhere in the United States of America.

Start using transportation.

This is really what it's all about.

It's true that starting today, it will only take 20 minutes to get from downtown to the west side.

And anyone who's ever sat in that traffic knows we have to get people moving around here faster and easier.

This is going to improve quality of life, and I couldn't be more excited to celebrate it.

Quickly move through Los Angeles.

Several words never spoken in combination like that before.

Working with the community groups and the neighborhood groups and the business groups.

We put together a broad-based coalition, and that's how projects like this get done.

Moving us in a faster way and a more reliable way.

We built an amazing transportation line here and I'm excited to be part of it.

What a way to kick off Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

My parents were immigrants from Taiwan and coming over here, they kind of vowed to give my older brother and I opportunities that they never had.

They always loved sports.

My dad loved basketball.

My mom loved track and field.

Never had the opportunity to do that.

And so when we when we were here, my brother and I really were given the opportunity, chance to pursue sports, which was an absolute passion of mine, and to be able to take it all the way to the Olympic stage.

It's just been a dream, dream life.

It's truly an honor to receive such a community leadership award.

I'm here also with a very accomplished group of athletes, some familiar some familiar faces in Xiao and Scout who also sit on the LA 28th Athlete Commission with myself.

It's really important.

I think that oftentimes we are a group of people that have been somewhat forgotten in terms of just our contributions and how important it is the representation that we uh exhibit, uh, what that means, and not only for the city, but just for the greater community.

Here in Los Angeles, we have an amazing, incredibly unique opportunity with the upcoming LA 28 Paralympic Games.

The first Paralympic Games that the city will host to lead by exam.

I was born in Nanjing, China, where as an infant I was involved in a burn and lost my right leg.

And shortly after that, I was placed in an orphanage where I lived for the next seven years, and I came to America through adoption.

Grew up in a really small town in northern Michigan, but it was uh what brought me to Los Angeles was I went to college at UCLA, the greatest university on earth, and it was at UCLA that I discovered the Paralympics and started competing in track and fuel, and uh started my journey of the Paralympic Games competing in the 100 and 200 meters.

And now I have the honor of recognizing this year's cover artist, Gian Lee, for the city's official 2026 AA and HPI Heritage Month calendar and cultural guide.

Based here in the creative landscape of Los Angeles, Jian Lee is a distinguished artist and educator.

Her artistic journey began as a teenager, discovering her passion for drawing comics to share amongst her peers.

For the painting that will uh that we'll unveil today, it's called Salton Sea, and it's inspired by my uh camping trip with my family to Salton Sea.

Now our next honoree is Yun Shao Gong, is one of the top Paralympic shooters in the world and a standout competitor for Team USA.

He is a world championship gold medalist, a paraphen American games medalist, and a paralympic silver medalist, earning that podium finish in Paris in the P3 mixed 25 meter pistol event.

Now let's give it up for Yun Shao Gong.

I thank you for this honor.

It's beyond my words for what this community can offer.

I carry both places with me in every World Cup and every Paralympics a medal.

I promise.

Big round of applause for our Dodger Legend, Chanho Park.

When I became the first Korean born player to reach Major League Baseball, I was the only Asian player at this time.

I often joked that I didn't just need a good basketball.

I also needed a good translator.

Maloil, it's such a joy and such an honor to be here with you guys.

My grandfather was a white man from Oklahoma.

My father is a Korean man born in Seoul, South Korea.

My grandmother is a Tongan woman from Holon Matanatafu in the South Pacific Islands, which is also where I grew up.

Meaning that I'm the perfect walking social experiment because I'm quite literally Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

I moved to LA five ish years ago, and when I got here, there weren't many Pacific Islanders around.

So just like to be recognized by the city is an amazing thing, but you know, it's not, it's not only a recommendation that recognizes me, it's also just, you know, the people that they got me here, my village and where I come from as well.

Los Angeles Metro is now operating one of the largest rail systems in the country.

LA Metro approximates about one million boardings per weekday.

Riders can already travel from Long Beach to Pasadena, Santa Monica to East LA, and soon directly to LAX using Metro Rail Connections.

Metro continues to expand across Los Angeles, but this time it's not just about transportation, it's also about housing.

Across the region, Metro is showing that where you live and how you get around are directly connected.

In fact, Metro is one of the few major transit agencies in the country developing affordable housing on its own land near rail stations by using existing property near transit stops.

Metro and the city of Los Angeles are building communities where affordable housing and affordable transportation exist side by side.

The goal is simple reduce long commutes, lower transportation costs, and keep people closer to jobs, schools, and neighborhoods.

Welcome to the grand opening of Santa Monica and Vermont Apartments.

Today is the uh opening ceremony for the Little Tokyo Service Center's housing project of Vermont and Santa Monica.

This is a collaboration between the Metro Transit Agency and a local nonprofit, the Little Tokyo Service Center, to bring 187 units of affordable housing, deeply affordable housing to residents of East Hollywood.

And it's on top of a train station.

Housing and transportation are the most important thing to families, to communities, the most expensive thing for people.

And bringing them closer together helps in so many ways.

It helps make housing and transportation more affordable because here we also have affordable housing units right above high-quality, reliable public transit.

To many people, I'm sure it's surprising that Metro is part of housing.

We are a transit agency, but what we do through our joint development program is we partner with developers and we maximize the use of the land that we own, or in this case, our partners on to make sure that as many people can live adjacent to transit as possible.

Metro is proven that it is a part of a larger fabric of building out a sustainable community and a wonderful community that people can realize their dreams and visions.

In here in East Hollywood and the city of Los Angeles, where people talk about affordability, this is the model of affordability.

It's a very important model for Southern California.

We want to get people out of their cars.

We have all this land around the transit stations.

Metro owns a lot of land.

Partners next to it own a lot of land, and it's an opportunity to put people in housing.

There are multiple bus lines up and down Vermont and on Santa Monica, and also the train station, and that'll get you to most of the city.

It's a celebration of 187 new homes of affordable and permanent supportive housing that we're actually adding to the Los Angeles affordable housing stock, and we're really excited about that.

Our partnership for Metro, the city of LA, the county, the state, federal level, is really critical to making this happen.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping my family and family across the city.

Dream again.

Thank you.

Working families get a chance to have a vision or dream, as we heard from the residents who spoke today.

They could actually think about the possibility of their kids going to college, saving for that, perhaps even buying a home.

So they can look at this as a station in life as many of us do with a future.

It brings in a lot of joy uh to see this happen.

What better place to celebrate Cinco de Mayo than the birthplace of our city?

El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument.

I'm born and raised Los Angeles, so this is my territory, this is my home.

But I wanted to bring the seniors from Illen Empire here for Cinco de Mayo and see all the festivities and what we do in Los Angeles.

To me, music is good for the soul.

So when you dance and you feel the music, you're just enjoying life.

No problems, no setbacks, just let it go.

Every single mayo we celebrate La Bataya de Puebla, the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

The Army of Mexico defeated the French army.

They celebrated 1863, one year after the battle here in this kiosco.

That's the importance of the kiosco and the pueblo.

That's why we are so proud of being here, bringing programs, bringing community, bringing tourism.

Makes me really happy to belong to this ecosystem of the Pueblo for so many years.

CoFEM is an important partner for the city, helping to support Mexican and Mexican-American populations throughout the city, providing events, providing services, providing scholarships for students, providing assistance in times of difficulty.

It's a really important partnership.

We have been here working in the office in Los Angeles on Olivera Street for almost 20 years.

One of the main programs is immigration, integration.

We try to help our community to become U.S.

citizens.

Feel the music.

Feel the music and come on down.

That's all you have to do.

Feel the music and come on down.

Metro is also investing heavily in convenience and writer experience.

New stations now feature upgraded lighting, digital arrival boards, larger platforms, elevators, public artwork and improved accessibility.

And across Los Angeles, Metro and other major city agencies are also seeing a growing push to bring more women into technology, engineering, and infrastructure roles, helping shape the future of how the city moves and operates.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has been keeping the city running for decades.

While it's traditionally been a male-dominated field, the department is actively working to change that culture.

Events like the LA DWQ Women's Expo are helping lead that change, giving young women hands-on exposure to careers in energy and water services and showing them the range of opportunities available in shaping the city's future.

Come work for us.

It's all about family here at DWP.

Thank you.

Today is the fourth annual women's wellness expo.

We're very excited to have members from the community and our own employees out here to our Truesdale Rodeo grounds.

This is an excellent opportunity to connect with a lot of the vendors that help us get the uh all the work done at the department as well as our recruiting and outreach department, if you're interested in getting a job here with us at LADWP.

I have a really really good resource for you right now.

The LADWP Career and Wellness Expo is very important for uh the community because it gives an opportunity for women to come see that uh other women are actually doing these jobs.

And I started as electric station operator.

Prior to that, I was a stay-at-home mom.

And I was able to, you know, learn this job and be able to do it well.

And I want other women to see that and know that they can do that as well.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, people ignore the things that are so important to women in the workplace, and LEWP has been a real leader in what happens with women's work, with women's health, and progression for women into higher levels.

I was able to come into this with the minimum qualification.

I think that recruitment and outreach is a very important part of any human resources department.

We've got to let people know what's available.

Yeah, I'm freshman right now.

I will apply my sophomore year to the LADWP internship, and I'm so excited for that.

I'm so excited to learn like industrial and how like Los Angeles works its water, and I hope it opens new opportunities for me and my career in the future.

We have many opportunities, many programs where we'll hire you directly in with very little experience.

We'll give you all the tools and skills that you need to be able to graduate and perform one of our very well-paid jobs in the Los Angeles area.

The amount of change that I've seen, the amount of women that has increased.

Um, we've built a community of women.

It is so great to have these types of events because then I get to see all of the women that I've met throughout my career, and we we bond.

And so then we start building, and how are we gonna add more women?

How are we going to make it more available to everybody to come see these events and be a part of it?

Today, the Los Angeles City Council voted to address racial profiling by banning pretextual traffic stops by the LAPD.

I hope that what this will accomplish is that in the city of Los Angeles, people who are black or people who are brown can drive with as much safety and as much freedom as people who are white.

That's not the city we live in now.

When you see red and blue lights, your heart skips a beat.

My father is in leadership for the Los Angeles Police Department.

He's in uniform still.

I've been stopped over 40 times.

I've had to call my dad and Lynn Rogan pulled over again, and you can hear it in his voice.

Uh, son, I don't want this for you, but I don't know what I can do.

You want to feel safe, which means you need police working on things that actually make us safe, and to stop using their things on times that don't make us safe.

Traffic stops are an example of something that don't make us safer.

The LA Times broke a story about LAPD's metro division and how they were stopping or pulling over black drivers at a rate more than five times their share of the city's population.

That sounds like racial profiling to me.

First of all, what has to happen is the police commission needs to now approve this, and it would really narrow the scope of when a police officer can make a traffic stop.

Uh, there's no reason in the world somebody with the power to use deadly force needs to be enforcing a broken tail.

Uh somebody who has like an air freshener hanging from their mirror, that should not be a reason to pull somebody over.

Next up, police commissioners and god willing, uh it's a victory there as well.

You know, I I actually think the police commission has to be absolutely clear about the level of injustice that's involved in these police stops.

And this is that moment for us to keep pushing to make sure that there's real change and real accountability.

Can never stop fighting when it comes to issues of racial justice.

So this is a significant step in the right direction, but we still have a little bit more to go.

We can bend the arc in the favor of everyday people in the favor of our people and towards justice.

Thank you.

Today, we move the needle and we move the battle across the street.

For decades, Los Angeles was built around the automobile.

But with billions being invested into rail and public transit, city leaders are betting that the future of transportation in LA could look very different.

And LA is a city shaped not only by its transit lines and skylines, but by the stories told on screen.

And few filmmakers have captured the spirit of its communities more powerfully than legendary director Charles Burnett.

At the Los Angeles Public Libraries Historic Central Library, the 2026 Origin Awards ceremony honored Burnett for his groundbreaking career and lasting impact on film and culture.

Presented by the Authors Study Club as part of its century-long black history tradition, the event celebrated Burnett's legacy of breaking barriers, reclaiming untold stories, and inspiring a new generation of storytellers across Los Angeles.

It was the poet Alexander Pope who once said, let those teach others who themselves exhale and censure freely that have written well.

Well, today we come to honor such a man who has both written well and taught us a lot by holding up the mirror to ourselves.

We're here today celebrating the Origin Award.

And our honoree this year is Charles Burnett, the iconic and legendary filmmaker.

He has really established movies that talk about African American and black life globally and in America, but in particular in Los Angeles.

You know, the ups and downs, the beauty of black families, the tragedies of black families, black love.

His work is just really incredible.

I'm very happy to get these kinds of celebratory things.

You get so much rejection in this business.

Because our job to make these things correct.

What's wrong with history and who controls our narrative.

There's so much celebration in these awards ceremonies, but there's also the remembrance of how much hard work goes into a lot of these careers.

And his career, especially, just had so much that went into overcoming all sorts of obstacles.

And so to have him here and celebrating his legacy of work, I think it's just really inspirational to a lot of the other artists that come to the library and they see this happening and they see all the resources that we provide them to make films and to tell stories here in the city.

And that's what the library is all about reading stories, sharing stories, and telling stories.

If we don't see ourselves, we can't be ourselves.

Representation reinvests the joy and reinvests the ability to find our purpose.

Because when you see somebody doing and rising, then it becomes a roadmap to finding your own purpose and finding the thing that will make you different, and finding the thing that you can do.

Because you can see yourself in those other people.

Then you say, you know, they can do that.

What can I do?

This is our project called In My Neighborhood I See, a series of community curated events.

We thought it was really important to be able to find ways where we can invite our neighbors and our community to really show us what they see in this neighborhood.

And then to have access to the theater and the gallery to be able to show their point of view.

I struggled a lot emotionally with expressing my feelings, expressing how I felt.

And through poetry, I learned that it's okay to be vulnerable and show how you feel and say what you feel without having to feel judged or pressured by anybody.

Within the spoken word, it's from young ladies that have been able to just share about the beauty and the challenges from the experience that they've had from growing up within the community.

As you are here as a visitor, you'll see an explosion of art, an explosion of Chicagoar in particular, but not only the things that we see, but also all the senses, what we touch, what we feel, what we smell.

That is the uh objective is to show uh this through art.

So there's so much to share tonight on that will give an insight of exactly what we see in our neighborhood.

I think it's great for the neighborhood.

I think it's great for the community.

Gives kids an outsource instead of being on the streets.

So I think it's really great overall.

Being here today and speaking about what we see in our neighborhood means a lot because I grew up in this community, and I feel like a lot of people don't see what Cornova Park has.

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

Today is Tuesday, the second day of June, election day in the year 2026.

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

Madam Clerk, can you begin our proceedings by calling the roll?

Blumenfield, Harris Dawson, Hernandez Hutt, Herado, Lee, McCosker, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Raman, Rodriguez, Sota Martinez, Yaroslavski, 11 members present, and a quorum, Mr.

President.

Alright, first order of business.

Approval of the minutes of May 29, 2026.

Councilmember Hutt moves, Councilmember Padilla, seconds.

What's next?

Commendatory resolutions for approval.

Councilmember Hudado moves, Councilmember Raman seconds.

What's next?

Mr.

President, today is Tuesday, and it's time for the flag salute.

Alright, we'll ask everyone in the chamber to rise, face the flag, and follow along with Council Member McCosker.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right.

Before we run through our agenda, I want to uh yield the floor to Councilmember McCosker for a special announcement.

Oh, thank you very much, Mr.

President.

We have some guests here today on our last day of this election process.

Uh we want to welcome this long time tradition, actually.

I think we're in our 11th or 11th year.

Howard?

11th year of this.

Welcoming to this city council chambers a group of students from Cale University in Southwest Germany.

Additionally, a special welcome to my friend Howard Gluck, a retired prosecutor with the City Attorney's Office, who served our city for over 38 years.

And I served with him for four of those years.

Four of the best ones, right?

This is the again, this is the 11th visit from Cale University to LA.

They're here today in council chambers, and we'll be visiting our uh civil and human rights and equity department uh just a little later this morning.

Cale University empowers its students and its alums to become confident decision makers in the public sector at the local, national, and international level.

During this year's trip to the United States, the delegation will visit Arizona State University, San Diego County Administration Center, UC Santa Barbara, the LA Superior Courts, and of course Los Angeles City Hall.

The students will be learning about the structures of public administrations, specifically municipalities in the U.S.

and compare them with the processes in German administrations in order to find the best possible solutions for our shared future.

The trip is also intended to promote an understanding and experience of U.S.

culture, as well as seeing how our governments are handling new developments such as cyber security in this increasingly uh digital world and the rise of artificial intelligence.

Cale University offers bachelor's and master's degree programs specializing in specific areas of public administration.

Howard, why don't you come on up here?

Such as international affairs or local government, graduates become civil servants in state agencies or municipalities, elected officials, and more.

Actually, one of our guests, Jonas, uh came on this visit years ago, and now he is here with us again as an alum, and he is in a runoff for mayor of his hometown, just in two weeks, and he set aside time two weeks out from the election to come visit the United States.

I want to give my friend assistant city attorney, retired Howard Gluck, an opportunity to just say a few words.

Thank you very much.

It's not a job, it's a calling.

So for me to be here with all you council members, we're here involved in public service, and I salute the students who are dedicating their lives to public administration.

Um, it's an honor and a pleasure to be uh with this group, and uh they're gonna be with us for for two days and very much appreciate council greeting them so warmly, particularly CD 15, and uh councilmember McCosker and his staff.

Thank you very much.

We look forward to the next uh 48 hours together.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Howard.

Um, thank you, colleagues.

Uh thank you, Howard, for living out your vocation, your calling, and thank you to the administrators at Cale.

Thank you to students.

Uh, we've had an opportunity on behalf of the city of Los Angeles and the one five to give certificates to all of our visitors.

So you're very welcome here, and we'll see another delegation next year.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr.

McCosker, and welcome, welcome back to everybody.

And it's good to see you, Mr.

Gluck back here in the chambers.

Uh all right, uh Madam Clerk, can we run through our agenda?

Thank you.

Items one through three are items notice for public hearing.

Items four through seventeen are items for which public hearings have not been held.

Please note there is a technical correction for item number four.

It should be council file number 26-0763.

Another technical correction for item number eleven, it should read CD five, not CD six.

The item should also read dedicated street lighting crew and repair work in council district five.

Ten votes are required for consideration.

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

Uh now is the time for specialist members.

Any specials to my left.

Specials to my right.

Councilmember Nazarian.

Thank you, Council President.

I could have done this also after the vote, but I was just gonna ask uh request for items 15 and 17th to be sent uh urgent forthwith once they're voted upon.

After they pass, we will send those forthwiths.

We'll ask the clerk to make a note.

Uh what's next, Madam Clerk?

If no items are called, thank you.

Uh Mr.

Lee, sorry.

Apologize, Mr.

President.

If I like to call item number three for an amendment.

All right, item three will hold for an amendment.

All right, any other specialist members?

Once, twice, three times.

All right, madam clerk, what's next?

Thank you.

The council may move on to public comment.

Mr.

City Attorney.

Yes, Mr.

President.

And before we move on, or before I read the instructions for public comment into the record, um, I do recommend that with regards to the uh statutory required hearing for item number one, that we hold public comment separate for that.

Um, but otherwise I will read the instructions in at this point.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The items open for public comment on the agenda at this time are items two through seventeen.

So again, the items open for public comment at this time are items two through seventeen.

Uh, I'm gonna ask that uh people pay particularly close attention to this next announcement.

If you are here for item number one, that is a the establishment of a street lighting district.

We will take public comment for that separately, but it is not going to be open at this time.

So if you're here for item one, please make sure to save one of your minutes for the agenda items for that hearing, which will take place later during this meeting.

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.

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

A couple more announcements.

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

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

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

Thank you.

Additionally, if you've made an accommodation request with the clerk's office pursuant to the ADA, or if you would like to do so now, in order to make use of the wireless handheld microphone, once your name is called and it is your turn to speak, please raise your hand so that the sergeants know to provide you with that wireless handheld microphone.

Finally, in order to help us run an efficient public comment period, we would ask that you please wait until you hear the name that you signed up under, called aloud before lining up in any order on your left-hand side of the council chambers to speak.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

City Attorney.

I will begin by calling names.

David Klaus, Gloria Muscarella, Stacy Segara Bolinger, Marybelle Sosa Ruiz.

So uh the first speaker can proceed to the podium.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Uh I thought the first one was being held for later comment.

Yes, it is.

So just to clarify, if you are here just for item number one, uh please wait because we will have a separate hearing for item number one.

So uh if you're already lined up and you're here for item number one, uh please let the sergeants know, and then we'll wait for you can yes, you can give general public comment now if you would like though.

Okay, so I assume one minute for general then?

Yeah.

Okay, go ahead.

Go ahead.

Yeah, so basic basically we're here to address the issue of fairness and accountability with respect to the street lighting ordinance.

Um as apartment owners and residents, uh we believe it's unreasonable to be burdened with the cost of insur infrastructure maintenance when our tax dollars are meant to cover these services, and the current system fails to recognize who is actually used using them, which is primarily the apartment dwellers themselves, which received no assessment.

Beginning with our highest priorities, we first object to the unfair street lighting assessments imposed on properties that don't front the street or have physical barriers, which has been done, and we suggest exploring how renters could also participate in these assessments.

And finally, we propose the city explore viable alternatives like switching to aluminum wiring and integrating solar powered street lights to improve resilience and lower ongoing costs.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Yes, I I think that they like I got a bill in the mail to voy vote on this, and it's for uh the property next door to me, which doesn't even have access to the street.

And so there's a street light, and then there's a 12 foot fence, no driveway, no one that uses this area, and they sent a bill to that address.

And they need to be more careful who they're sending bills to and know that if you're really affected by the street light or not.

I have another property, two acres, uh, of uh three apartment buildings, and then the street one street light on the corner that maybe covers two thousand square feet compared to two acres that do not have any access and to street light, and then they want to charge me eleven hundred dollars, which seems very unreasonable.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

And again, if you're here specifically for item one, please stick around for the hearing that will take place later during this meeting.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Uh hi, I'd like to speak to the uh community uh criminal activity in Los Angeles.

Um, so you have one minute for general.

I think that the street lighting ties to the criminal activity in the city overall, you know, with all the thefts of the copper wiring.

Uh there's really uh uncontrolled security for citizens.

Uh that ties to like the theft of the catalytic converters, um, homelessness, and overall um destruction of communities because it's not safe to be around the neighborhood.

And um, I think the city needs to focus their um budget on keeping the communities clean and safe instead of wasting money.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Before the next speaker begins, I will call a few more names.

Harriet Elliott, Blanca Romero, Daniel Sosa, Kaylee Hell.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Um, a general comment about the streetlight assessment fee.

Okay.

The people such as Nithya Raman and other people who purport themselves as do-gooders, do not realize they're actually sabotaging the renters.

Because if you un, you need to understand that the people you're trying to force to pay the streetlight assessment fee are mostly mom and pop.

We are lower middle class now, like a beauty shop or a liquor store.

If you put us out of business, big developers are gonna buy our properties.

They charge a $2,000 for a single.

We charge two thousand two thousand five hundred for two to three bedrooms.

You're actually you're actually sabotaging, you're getting people to vote for you or renters out of the backhand.

You're handing over our properties to developers.

It's very ignorant.

What's more, street lights are out, everyone suffers.

Street lights are on, everyone benefits.

There are more renters, as the gentleman said, than property owners.

So, in a democracy, everyone should pay, but you keep shaking us down.

You're literally squeezing mom and pop, and we're being forced to sell, and it's not just wake up.

Wake up.

Thank you.

And before we get to the next speaker, I just want to clarify because I think there's been a little bit of confusion.

So again, to repeat, item number one, the actual hearing for that will be held during during this meeting at a later time.

However, if you would still like to provide general public comment, as you've seen other speakers done uh do before, uh, you can give general public comment, which can also include this item now if you would like.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

I'm sorry, I assume all items in general.

Yes, thank you, Gro.

Three minutes for the items and one minute for general.

Appreciate you.

Uh I'll start with item 12.

This is $300,000 to support um peer, peer-to-peer um training.

What's the wording y'all use here?

It's um, oh yes, peer-to-peer training and certification pilot program and CD3.

This is relating to um a workforce development um entity, which is one of those things that like in theory, it sounds great, sounds like something we should be doing.

Um, but it it feels kind of um not enough in this economy to be kind of throwing money at peer-to-peer workforce training when people with college degrees with advanced degrees, master's degrees, PhDs, um, aren't finding work in this economy.

I think we need to be building more foundational systems to just ensure people have what they need food, housing, clothes, education, instead of these band-aid solutions that are probably not going to have um a long-term benefit.

Uh item 13 is relative to funding for lighting up city hall for recognition of Croatia Statehood Day.

Um, every time we throw lights on City Hall, it costs us 438 dollars.

I'm not sure why.

I asked Bob why once, and he didn't know the answer either.

But I think one, when we're under such tight budget constraints, lighting up city hall, while it's a nice fun thing to do.

Um, maybe we should be asking um entities that are involved in the uh the communities that we're honoring.

Maybe they could foot the bill for it.

It just seems fiscally irresponsible.

Um, not to mention that, you know, this is Los Angeles.

It's it's great to honor other cultures and heritage.

Um, but our city is in a crisis, and we should really be focused on the city and on Angelinos.

No hate to Croatia, no hate to Tim.

It just um it feels like that's not what we need to be doing right now.

Uh number 14 is issuing appropriate right of entry permit for a skateboarding event.

Um maybe not everyone knows, but I actually love to skate.

My husband and I love to go skating together.

We spent a lot of time skating up and down between Venice and Santa Monica, and I think we need to be promoting skateboarding, so I am completely in favor of item 14.

Thanks, um Tracy and Monica for putting it on the agenda.

Um I think skateboarding should be legalized everywhere.

Anywhere that people walk or cycle, we should be seeing skateboards.

Um I want to sort of revive the heyday that skating had in the mid to late 90s.

I was a little young then.

Um but it's it's great exercise, it's healthy, it's an efficient mode of transportation, and we need to let people with skateboards bring them inside buildings.

Because if I skated here, I don't think I'd be allowed to bring my skateboard in the building.

So we should have safe storage for skateboards as well or allow people to have their board with them.

When Nithia decided to run for mayor, even though she had endorsed mayor best, people were surprised her endorsement was a lie, like all her campaign promises.

She eventually got a recommendation from the controversial DSA.

But none of her colleagues on council endorsed.

Now it's election day.

And we're voting for the one who'll bring real change and reform to the city, not the same old thing.

Let's use our voice and make our choice.

The people say that we won't pray.

It's election day.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Good morning, my name is Blanca Romero, and I'm here to give a public comment.

And before you, so you have one minute, and before you begin, if you could please uh just lower the microphone just a little bit, please.

Okay, thank you.

I'm here to ask you guys to please approve the fast food fair ordinance.

And we need this ordinance to pass because we need there to be rules in terms of scheduling.

In this moment, if you can program a loss semanalmente or diariamente.

Right now it's up to the bosses whether they want to schedule us uh on a weekly basis, monthly basis, daily basis.

And this has obligated us uh with more with more working experience to have to look for other jobs uh for second jobs while at the same time the bosses go out and hire new people to cover the hours that we want to cover.

This doesn't make any sense, and it's also uh it's also endangering the uh economic uh well-being of lots of fast food workers.

Please support the fast food ordinance investing in fast food workers means investing in our community and in our families thank you.

Good morning what would you like to speak to?

Good morning my name is Gloria Vicentio and I work for Subway.

Here to get public comments I am asking with urgency for you guys to approve the fast uh the fair fast food ordinance.

And do it without further delay.

And we need this ordinance to pass this would give us the same rights as other businesses because we need the hours.

Included as a buscaron segundo trabajo mis turnos cambian constant or se cancelan uh and this has affected many people including me my hours they change on a dime some or are cancelled sometimes without even uh prior knowledge and many of us had have had to go and find uh second jobs a tempo cada mesito in my trabajo pero sin reglas ni orarios in reglas the orario los trabajadores como yo and this affects my ability to pay my bills I need uh I need more complete um and predictable hours uh in order to be able to pay my bills but uh right now without any sort of regulations we are at the mercy of our bosses and I want to thank you uh next speaker before the next speaker begins I will call more names Anam Said Avelina Lopez apologies speaker so your time has expired we do have to move on to the next speaker senora terminado tenemos que seguir con el proximo comentarista however uh can I have the interpreters also make this announcement too if anyone would like to leave additional public comment in writing you can do so at LA Councilcomment.comment.com and you can find that URL at the top of every council agenda or by doing a quick internet searched superior de qualquer agenda in el Consejo or Tamina Buscaron Google Thank you.

I will begin calling yeah I'll keep calling names Anon Said Avelina Lopez Gloria Villa Vesesino Harlan Julie Macarian Good morning what would you like to speak to a commentary public okay so you have one minute go ahead.

Hi, my name is Matildo Peregrino, and I have worked at the Poyo Loco here in Los Angeles for three decades.

And I'm here to talk about the uh fair fast food work ordinance.

This ordinance would finally allow us fast food workers to spend time with our families out here in the city that we love.

So you know, lose taking una semana de vacaciones pagadas.

I am one of the few that has that uh that is able to take vacations.

Um every once in a while I will take a vacation.

A paid vacation.

Um Mexico.

And I use this time to visit my family down in Mexico.

And then when I get back, I am able to relax, knowing that uh since I have paid time off, I will be able to pay my rent as well as my bills.

Thank you, speaker.

Your time has expired.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

So I'm a little confused about the procedure because I'm allowed to speak on the general as of general comment, right?

You're just on item number one.

So you can do your general public comment now, you have one minute, and then we'll have the separate hearing for item one later during the meeting.

Okay, and then what about these papers?

I have 35 copies.

For anybody who has documents that they'd like to provide to this body, uh you can always provide it to the sergeants after you leave the podium, or they can come get it from you now.

But for now, uh go ahead and begin your public comment.

You have one minute.

Okay, all right.

So my name is Rose Cotto.

I'm a community advocate and homeowner.

Also, I am a constituent of Tracy Park, CD-11.

Uh how can ordinance one eight eight eight nine two state the people of the city of Los Angeles do so ordain as follows.

When less than six hundred thousand ballots were mailed with an Angelino population of three point eight million, the city wasted one million dollars on this special ballot with 500,000 spent on administrative costs.

The ordinance states the boundaries of District 5500 include all city made streets with existing permanent street lights.

The ordinance affirms that all parcels within the district will receive special benefits.

The ordinance directed the Department of Public Works to mail a ballot to all property owners affected by the assessment.

So why were special ballots set to less than 600,000 property owners?

The ordinance this ordinance is just a quick fix by Mayor Bass and City Council to quadruple the current 40 million dollar assessment to 160 million dollars, nearly half of which is administrative costs.

City Council needs to go back to the city budget and reallocate funds for various part projects.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Um I just have some general comments.

Okay.

I want to say that I have reached out to every single city council member, and most of you have failed to respond.

We have asked for meetings because our members represent the areas where you represent, and we would like to have a sit-down meeting with every single member, and I will say that, Rodriguez, Hat, Park, Hugo, Martinez, Jurado, and Harris Stassen.

I don't know if it's your staff who is failing you, but we need to have a meeting.

Thank you.

Thank you, next speaker.

Thank you, sir.

Just trust.

Okay.

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

Please begin with the item.

Hello, damn voters of the goddamn lights.

For example, you no pued mucho de los pinche loses porque I hente key que pensa que la pinche los correporatis.

For example, I couldn't uh speak much about the damn lights because there are people here who think that the damn lights uh run on freedom.

Vote no por este pinche cagada de puto madres.

So when you vote, do not vote for this piece of shit.

You understand those languages.

Look, when I'm walking on the boardwalk or the damn streets.

So you know look at this damn problem.

You see, smoking scam.

Thank you.

Numero three.

Number three, Chubby.

Here it's awkward in my lengua English, please.

We don't need no fucking public necessity for more alcohol.

Yes, you can't even deal with your fucking cannabis issue, let alone you can't even deal with alcohol sales, Bob, while you stuff your fat face, Bob, and that drink in your mouth with poly as alcohol, gobble, global, gobble, gobble.

But anyways, for the record, vote no on item three.

No more alcohol after all.

Caesar Chavez used alcohol as an excuse to fuck minors, right?

Right.

And Javier Basera took money from the oil refineries, which you dumb wetbacks don't understand, but you're gonna vote for them anyways, right?

Right.

So thank you, smoking scan.

Now, with so much criteria here for me to express myself and symbolically as I were my thunderbird symbol, which again the juju say it's anti-Semitism, Bob, but it's not.

It's my on-site consumption sign, 42 C 1983, Bob, which says fuck alcohol.

You see it, Bob?

Fuck alcohol.

It's not good for you.

But how many times like me, a big dick, right?

Smoking scam.

I control the narrative.

Now into my general public comment.

One minute.

Compared to the black piece of shit, mayor, who for years told you lies, and burn palisades in Malibu.

What a fucking white lie!

Did you have to run in flight?

You must have not understood growth.

You're still on asshole.

Defending their public right.

No, not understanding that.

I will vote for Mr.

Frat.

I will vote for Mr.

Hilton.

And I've always voted for Donald J.

Trump because he's got balls to deal with the fucking Koreans and the fucking Chinese that are gonna destroy America.

42 C 1983.

Fuck Korea.

And your time has expired.

Next speaker.

Before the next speaker begins, I will call more names.

Debbie Irvin, Harlan, Lorna Paisley, Luciano Sosa Garcia, Maribel Sosa Ruiz.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Only public comment.

Okay, so you have one minute for general.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Um nearly every modern this is uh Ron Johnson.

This is a senator from Wisconsin.

He wrote a book called Transhuman Genocide.

Nearly every modern device that now rolls out of a factory has been weaponized.

Every device is programmed to wireless connect to the deep state sky net system, and it's automatically fed attack profiles for red listed individuals, like a most wanted list that causes a device to attack as soon as the victim comes in range.

At first, the targeting is mostly covert, but gradually the system wants you to know it's there.

The last sentence strikes home to me because in the beginning I also didn't see what was obvious.

By the way, my friends at General Motors, uh, two of them, Ori Robinson and uh another one is uh gone.

He's dead.

Uh the Laura St.

Cook told me she's dead.

He's dead.

Ori Robinson, they're not telling me at uh uh Norwalk.

Thank you, next speaker.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

General comment, please.

So we have one minute, go ahead.

Uh, greetings, council.

My name is Daniel Sosa.

Uh, best of luck to those of you who have an election today.

Um, I want to emphasize the importance of cannabis tax reduction in conjunction with the tax amnesty program.

Currently, we pay 100 times the rate of other businesses, and we have to compete against a thriving illicit market.

Tax reduction to a rate of 0.1%, what every other business pays in the city, is necessary at least for the duration of the cannabis tax amnesty program.

It will bring consumers back to the legal market, and it will give good faith tax compliant operators a chance to get on their feet.

Council, you have the authority under Measure M to adjust the cannabis taxes as you see fit.

Lowering cannabis taxes is the single most important action city council can take to support the social equity program and the cannabis industry as a whole.

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I will call more names.

Red Chief, Spencer Pratt, Patricia McAllister, Mathilde, Peg Greena, Harlan, Green Stan, and Crazy Horse.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Good morning, counselors.

Uh I would like to speak to landlords.

My name is Debbie.

And we are, as of landlord, we are vital to our communities, and we are vital to LA County.

And when there are so many things hitting landlords, many of us are leaving or dropping out.

And if we really want to help the homeless situation, it's not gonna work by putting all fees, all taxes, and so many restrictions on landlords, because what happens is they leave.

No landlords, less housing, and we need the landlords, and we need fair landlords, and we need landlords that are willing to work with people, but when we have so many crazy rules and um restrictions, we have to be careful or we will lose our shirts.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

Good morning.

What would you like to speak to?

Uh general comment.

Okay, so you have one minute.

Okay.

Uh hey Tim.

How are you doing?

Uh how are y'all doing?

My name's Devin Bale.

I'm a young innovator from the city of Los Angeles by way of Watts and Compton.

I'm here to speak on behalf of this project that I have in mind.

It's a civic monument for Florence Griffith joiner, Flojo.

If you guys know, if you don't, now you do.

She's a three-time Olympic medalist.

Uh and I think she needs to be home in Watts in District 15 with the Olympics approaching.

Uh look, y'all got me nervous.

I'll do this for a living.

It's a lot of other places.

But anyway, yeah, I just want to bring a monument to District 15 for her with the Olympics approaching.

I think it's the perfect place.

It's like having Kobe, and she's he's not at the Lakers, you know what I'm saying?

So we need that here.

And I just want to schedule a meeting with you, Tim and your team if possible, as soon as availability.

That's all.

Thank y'all for listening.

Thank you, Speaker.

Thank you.

You came on the right day.

Any other speakers?

No, okay.

All the names have been called.

All right.

Uh thank everybody who came for public comment uh this morning.

Uh Madam Clerk, what's before us?

Thank you, Mr.

President.

The city attorney will announce uh special public comment for item number one.

The office of the city clerk is available at the back of the council chambers today to receive or collect Prop 218 ballots related to item number one.

Collections will stop at the end of the hearing.

Yes, and actually, before we do that, Mr.

President, I do recommend that we vote on at a minimum item 15, that is the 245 waiver.

Uh, but if council would like, uh, we can also uh vote on the other items that are available if we want to do the hearing for number one last.

Yeah, let's exhaust all the items, then do the hearing, then vote on number one.

How about that?

Okay, in that case, the council may take a vote on items two and four through 17.

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

13 ayes, all right.

What's next?

And if the council may take an extra vote for urgent forthwith on items 15 and 17.

All right, Mr.

Blumenfield, do you need before urgent forthwith?

Just to also uh urgent forthwith on item 12.

All right, and then let's open the roll on urgent forthwith on both those items.

All three 12, 15, and 17.

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

13 ayes.

Alright, what's next?

Thank you.

Now the council may I'll turn it over to the city attorney for item number one.

Yes, so uh the only item that we still need to take public comment on, and again, this is uh pursuant to state law, uh, is item number one, which we are doing separate.

So if you have signed up for item number one, and if you you have not already spoke on the other items or exhausted your time, uh please line up on your left-hand side of the council chambers.

Again, this is only going to be item number one.

Mr.

Herman, you have exhausted your public speaking time.

We made the announcement earlier, so please sit down.

Good morning, speaker.

Go ahead.

And and if you're here for item number one, again, you can line up in any order on your left-hand side of the council chambers.

Uh, once you get to the podium, you can begin.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Hi, I'm Lorna Paisley, and I'm here about item one.

I'm upset about this whole charging money for street lights.

I have some issues.

The doctor told me that there are 25 hospice locations on Van Eyes Boulevard laundering money.

We have an incomplete bullet train that's just sitting there.

There are reservoirs unfinished and empty.

A hundred million was dollars were raised for homeowners in the palisades, and no home or got any as far as I heard.

And then taxpayers gave billions for homeless, and that much has been done.

Too much too much money is siphoned off.

Concerning the lights.

Take it out of the general budget.

Do not say you cannot.

You make up rules.

It's like this voting rules you made up on the on the lights.

Our garbage pickup prices were raised, and that money was coming from the general budget.

So now you can take that general budget money and use it for lights.

Corruption is out of control, not only in this state, but in this city, as far as I'm concerned.

And I think there's enough of it already.

Thank you very much.

Okay, and before we move on to the next speaker, uh, Mr.

Herman, I did not want to interrupt the last speaker, but this is your first and only formal warning.

Whatever arguments you're having with LEBD or staff, please do so at the back of the council chambers or to the sides so that it does not disrupt my ability to hear and moderate public comment.

This is your first and only formal warning.

If you do it again, you'll be subject to removal pursuant to Rule 7 and Rule 12.

And again, if you are here for item number one, uh you can line up in any order on your left hand side of the council chambers.

I know we had some people who spoke uh during the general public comment, but again, this is separate.

This is item number one.

Good morning.

Go ahead.

I have 30 the further five documents I'd like to enter into the record.

Okay, can uh item number one?

Yes, we'll have the LEPD sergeants come and collect those.

Okay, so again, my name is Rose Cotto.

I am a consumer advocate and homeowner, and also a constituent of Tracy Park and CD 11.

How can ordinance 188892 state the people of the city of Los Angeles do so ordain as follows?

When less than 600,000 ballots were mailed with an Angelino population of 3.8 million.

The ordinance states the boundaries of district 5500 include all city streets with existing permanent street lights.

The ordinance affirms that all parcels within the district will receive special benefits.

The ordinance directed the Department of Public Works to mail a ballot to all property owners affected by the assessment.

So why were special ballots sent to less than 600,000 property owners?

Also, my question is how was city council able to lie and change today's ballot tabulation and certification procedure from what was originally stated in ordinance one eight eight eight nine two without a council's a council meeting vote.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hi, I'm Julie Marcarion with the Apartment Owners Association of California, and I stand before you today representing housing providers across Los Angeles, and most importantly, the thousands of small mom and pop landlords who are the backbone of the city's rental housing stock.

This proposed street light assessment is yet another financial burden being placed on the backs of housing providers, people who are already stretched to their breaking point.

We are talking about retired teachers, nurses, working families, ordinary Angelinos who sacrificed and saved to own a small property, and provide homes for their neighbors.

These are not faceless corporations, these are people, and this city keeps asking them to pay more.

Street lights are not a special benefit for property owners.

They illuminate streets for every renter, homeowner, pedestrian driver, business, and visitor to the city.

This is something that we reject.

Thank you.

Thank you, next speaker.

Go ahead.

Yeah, I'm just commenting further on the street lights.

Our family since the 1950s.

The city continues to get worse and worse as far as what it pays for and does.

Trash is all over the streets.

You got uh, you know, limbs falling down from trees, hitting the power lines, landing on cars.

We asked for them to trim them.

They never do, so we have to trim them ourselves.

And it's a complete mess.

You know, I mean, there are potholes everywhere.

My car almost stopped working after I hit this humongous bottle.

When do you guys start paying for the stuff that you should be paying for instead of looking for more money in everybody else's pockets?

It's outrageous.

So what so I recommend that you do street lights that are solar, put aluminum wires in them instead of copper so that people are ripping them off.

Next speaker.

Hello.

Good morning.

My name is Yolanda Johnson.

Um I am too a property owner of over five properties in Los Angeles.

But I do live in the PV area.

So I'm seeing these assessments come in.

And I just want to tell you, people in the PV, my neighbors are primarily senior citizens.

They live on a budget.

And uh as I do, even though I own properties, I have tenants that don't move.

They've been in my properties 20 and 30 years.

Some have passed in the last uh uh couple of years.

But um I'm just telling, I'm just here to say that with all of the increases of our water bill, our uh sewer bills, uh, light bills, all of those, and just maintenance on these old properties in California, they're just stretching us to no end.

We want to help the people of uh Los Angeles and provide housing.

Thank you, next speaker.

Good morning, Mr.

Spinner.

You have one minute for item number one, is that is the only item that is open for public comment this time.

Look at what you've done here with this goddamn tax.

A bunch of cunts wrote this.

It's Los Angeles Cunt Street Light Maintenance Assessment District.

You dirty bunch of N-words.

Come on, give me a what are you gonna do now, bitch?

So I'm gonna ask you to stick to the item.

Come on, bitch.

Otherwise, you're gonna forfeit your speech.

Please, you're off topic.

Okay, cunt, am I on topic now?

I'm gonna hear the project.

Isn't that one of the words?

Yeah, is that what you're doing?

Yes, it is, Mr.

President.

So he is eligible for a warning if you'd like.

Um, but Mr.

Spender, you have been you you you were asked to get on topic, you refuse to do so.

So you've now forfeited your speaking time.

That's it.

Next speaker.

Yes.

You gotta give me a warning.

I warned you to get back on topic.

No, no, no, you gotta give me a warning.

But at this point, you're now disrupting it.

This is your second warning.

For disrupting the meeting.

I need you to vacate the podium.

That's relative to consensus.

So Mr.

President, he has been warned to vacate the podium.

He's already forfeited his speaking time, and he is eligible for removal pursuant to rule seven or twelve, if you would like.

Pursuant to rule seven and twelve, Mr.

Spindler's removed from this meeting.

I want to talk.

Mr.

Spindler, you've been ordered removed.

Mr.

Spindler, you've been removed from this meeting.

No, no, I'm on topic.

I'm talking about that.

It's too late.

You were asked multiple times to get on topic.

You refused to do so, so you forfeited your speaking time.

I then ask you to vacate the podium because you were now disrupting the meeting.

You refused to do so.

You were warned.

And now you've been removed.

And Mr.

Mr.

Herman, you're disrupted already.

You are now disrupting the meeting, and Mr.

President, he is eligible for removal if you would like.

They're both out.

Mr.

Herman, you have now been ordered removed from this meeting.

No, I'm gonna hold on to the members of the public.

I am sorry.

I wish I could say that this has never happened before, but this is a relatively common occurrence.

So we appreciate your patience.

Oh, you're talking to all of the fucking time.

And Mr.

Herman, if not for us or not for yourself, please calm down for the sake of your dog and exit the room.

Mr.

Spindler, exit the room.

We have now delayed the meeting nearly four minutes.

Mr.

Spindler, at this point, if you do not exit the room expeditiously, you may be subject to penal code section 602.1 subdivision B.

So please exit the room.

All right.

Apologies to everyone who had to experience that ordeal.

I think that concludes public comment on the um assessment district.

I believe sorry, I was just collecting myself after that, Mr.

President.

Yes.

Apologies.

I believe we've exhausted public comment on item one, but just let me confirm.

Is there anyone else here who is here for item number one who has not yet spoken on that item?

Come on up, come on up if you want to speak on item number one.

And you haven't spoken.

I actually have a question.

This is it says reassessment.

Does that mean you guys are trying to get around Prop 13 and make it so all things are?

So public comment is not an opportunity for a back and forth.

Um, but right now we're doing the protest hearing for the assessment.

So if you'd like to, you have up to one minute to speak to the item.

Go ahead.

Okay.

I am afraid that this is all about getting around Prop 13.

So you're gonna reassess all our properties, even though we've had it for 50 years, it doesn't seem right.

And it feels like it's a scam again, and it's not right.

And I really want to know too.

It didn't say in there that the people who didn't vote count as a yes vote, which you guys have done before.

So I feel like you guys are being smormy.

Anyway, thank you very much.

Hi, my name's Maribel Sosa Ruiz.

I live in El Sereno.

I'm a property owner.

Okay, you have one minute.

I'm against uh item number one, assessment of lighting in the streets, because I feel like as a county or city, you should be able to manage repairs and maintenance of the streets and communities.

It should not fall on the property owners to pick up the tab when we every year get property taxes raised and limitations on rent control.

We have bills to pay, property uh taxes go up every year, water bill goes up every year, sewer charges go up every year, so many surcharges for property owners when the city is mismanaging funds that should be taking care of the basic needs of a community, lighting, security, having a nice neighborhood to walk.

I have reached out to uh several uh city representatives that don't respond.

We are unheard.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, and uh apologies.

I believe have you already spoken on item one?

Not on item one, about just general rights.

Okay, okay, so you have one minute for the item.

Go ahead.

Right.

Hi, again, my name is Debbie.

I'm also a part of the AOA association, and like I said earlier, landlords are vital to not just our cities and states and counties, but to our nation.

Without good landlords, people don't all have a good place to live.

And so, like she was saying, what's going on with the budget?

Why don't you have the money that you need to do these things?

So, speaker, I'm gonna ask this is for item one only.

Yes, it is to protest here.

Okay, well, I'm just saying we need to, we really need to um look at other avenues.

Number one, if we absolutely have to have the money, share the cost.

For example, if we have medical insurance, you have to share the cost with the medical insurance.

Landlords and homeowners should not be the only one paying city light taxes.

That should be part of the renters as well.

They should pay these taxes also.

Speaker, your time has expired.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

Uh I have a comment on the street lighting.

Uh, are you guys once it, if it passes, are you going to focus on certain areas that are more high income or on low income areas too?

And then uh, second, uh, if I'm paying for it, then I'm gonna maintain it the way I want to maintain it.

Thank you.

And we've already announced if you have not given public comment on this item and you would like to to please come forward, Mr.

President.

I do not see anyone else, so I believe we've exhausted public comment on this item.

Before we close the hearing, I believe the clerk's office has an announcement.

Thank you.

This item was scheduled pursuant to council adoption of ordinance of intention number one eight eight eight nine two on March 24, 2026.

The tabulation of ballots shall take place in space 375 of 555 Ramirez Street, Los Angeles, California, 90012, beginning June 3rd, 2026 at 10 a.m.

And will be publicly live streamed.

Ballot tabulation will continue daily until all ballots are tabulated.

For more information on how to observe the tabulation in person or via live stream.

Please visit clerk.allicity.org/slash elections.

Public announcement of the tabulation of ballots and consideration of the final ordinance will take place at council on June 26, 2026.

And before we close the hearing, is anyone here with a ballot for this item?

If not, and I don't see anyone going once, going twice.

Uh Mr.

President, we can close the hearing if you would like.

All right, that hearing is closed.

What's next?

Uh Madam Clerk.

Thank you.

Before the council is item three as amended by motion three A, Lee Blumenfield.

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

Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

13 ayes.

Alright, what's next?

The council has motions for posting and referral.

They are posted in referred announcements members.

Mr.

Soto Martinez.

Yes, uh, my apologies, uh, Mr.

President.

Can we send item nine uh forthwith, please?

Uh without objection, that'll be the order.

Uh any other announcements members.

Councilmember Rodriguez.

Yes, thank you, colleagues.

Um, before we adjourn today, I wanted to take a moment to recognize and remind us all that June is immigrant heritage month here in the state of California.

Los Angeles is a city that we all know is built by immigrants.

The courage, sacrifice, and determination have shaped every corner of our communities and have helped to make Los Angeles the extraordinary city that it is.

As the daughter of Mexican immigrants, I know firsthand the experience is rooted in hope and an entrepreneurial spirit to succeed.

It takes tremendous courage to leave behind everything that you're familiar with in order to create and pursue an opportunity for yourself and for the future generations.

Immigrants are the dreamers, the risk takers, the entrepreneurs, the workers, and the community builders.

Every day they turn sacrifice into opportunity.

They open businesses, create jobs, care for families, enrich our culture, and strengthen our economy.

Yet, even as we celebrate our city's immigrant heritage, we must acknowledge that Governor Newsom created this month-long honor in the wake of ice raids that continue to devastate our communities and tear us apart.

I want to make clear that today, especially on election day.

What is a critical reminder is for everyone to be intentional about the decisions that they're making, and to ensure that the people that are representing all of us are doing so with the utmost integrity and responsibility and attention and care to the diverse needs of all of our communities.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rodriguez.

Any other announcements, members?

All right.

Uh with that, I'll ask everyone in the chamber to rise for a journey motions and ask if there are any adjourning motions to my left.

All right.

Uh any to my right.

All right.

Seeing no adjourning motions, we're adjourned.

Thank you so much, everybody.

More than forty-forty-five minutes.

Last night I probably got about three hours of sleep.

The lack of sleep uh affects my ability to think coherently sometimes.

Um I'm bouncing around mentally between things.

I'm not sure if I'll make it tonight.

This is one of the problems.

It is nearly impossible to find bathrooms.

I brushed my teeth on uh yesterday in the taco bell.

Oh gosh.

Look how much toothpaste you can.

I'm not playing around.

This is where the journey, the one hundred hours began right here.

Uh two nights ago.

One of the benefits of Southern California, a lot of fruit trees.

Pretty pretty taught.

Yeah.

Oh crap.

We use that gift card.

Now I think we can get sleeping back.

That's it.

That's the one we got to get.

Twenty dollars.

Doesn't feel that good.

Well, I'm a little nervous about the tent, like laying inside something and not being able to see someone coming at you.

That kind of makes me have a bit of a.

I like when I open my eyes, I can immediately look around and see what's there.

This is something we wanted to do for a bit.

Just relax.

Oh man, that sun feels really cool.

You want to get your trail mix out?

Hey, hey, hey.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh no, I see this.

There's been some things that happened today that really upset me.

Um the way people treated me.

And I wanted to fight back and you know, and say, you know, you don't know that.

I'm not even homeless.

I don't shop at this bar.

No, no, no.

I spend my money.

I have I I shop at 85.

I have to see my right to meet that.

I mean, that's kind of.

At that point, I I've kind of lost it.

You know, and I said, you don't even know who I am.

You thought I was homeless.

No, sir.

Yes, sir.

I said, I'm the CEO of Hope of the Valley.

Oh, well, I give to Hope of the Valley.

I said, well then don't treat people this way.

I said the reason you treated me this way is because you thought I was homeless.

You're exactly the reason why I do what I do.

No, as a people like you.

You think that you're better than I'm not no, no, sir.

It's one of the reasons that I wanted to come out here.

And you know, to have that empathy and and to um it just kind of caught me off guard because I I didn't expect it at that moment.

So I think the biggest thing we've got to do is get ready for tonight.

This thing is stupid as it looks.

I'm wearing this again.

Yeah, you looked really cute in that last night.

I did look cute.

My wife would kill me if she saw me folding sheets like this.

I'm ready to go.

Let's go.

We can uh dollar stores over here.

Oh, look at that cardboard.

You gonna carry it?

No, no, no.

Well, I'm just looking at it.

I'm just very excited about it.

Just to know that it's here.

I don't like the nights.

I'm not sure I like the days either.

You okay?

Okay.

We're gonna go in, we're gonna grab a sandwich from Dollar Tree.

You want one?

No.

Why did you stay dry in the rain?

I think I left.

I got to hold it over like taco and it's laid down.

Oh my god, I was still damp last night and I dried out.

Oh you know it's coming.

Next week.

Yeah.

Please stay safe, okay?

Okay.

This is private property, so anywhere on this property would be considered trespassing or loitering.

Okay, so if I did lay, if I did bed down, then you'd be.

I would have to ask you.

I asked him how hard would it be to camp here at night, and he said, don't do it.

Somewhere between going to the dollar store and coming back and getting the knife for the peanut butter and jelly, I lost my phone.

I mean, that's my lifeline to the outside world.

I just figured it's gone.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yes.

Awesome.

Hey, thank you so much.

Trying to keep track of everything is like a nightmare.

I have just my cell phone.

I'm usually worrying about, not everything else.

You know, and now you look at this, this looks totally like uh like we're homeless, you know, with a loaf of bread and peanut butter and jelly.

First time ever having a P B and J.

Want to teach you how to do this?

It's not a bad way to do it.

Bread costs two dollars.

Sir a peanut for a dollar.

Jelly for a dollar twenty five.

Yeah, this thing doesn't have that much in it.

Nothing good?

No bueno.

You want a P B and J?

You want a sandwich?

Alright.

You're right.

We got this, but one thing I think we'll learn is you can't rely to be in the same place again.

I'm being morphed.

You give me another two weeks out here.

The old identity is gone.

How long have we got?

Two minutes.

Okay, we're we're moving.

Right.

Some kids.

Thought they'd have some fun last night and threw oranges at us.

Last night was it was really rough.

I don't like sleeping in the park.

We had some things thrown at us.

Oranges and bottles.

Plastic.

This person said, Hey, and I looked up and I see this person still