Los Angeles City Council Meeting: Water Safety, El Corazón Art Park, and Boyle Heights Plan - June 24, 2026
Los Angeles City Council Meeting - June 24, 2026
The Los Angeles City Council convened on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, for a regular meeting that included a presentation on water safety, extensive public testimony on the El Corazón Art Park CEQA appeal, approval of the Boyle Heights Community Plan, votes on numerous agenda items, and a special meeting to take jurisdiction over a Port Commission decision. The meeting was adjourned in memory of civil rights attorney David Codell.
Consent Calendar
- The council approved items 2 through 11 and 13 through 15 by roll call votes. Item 13, an ordinance, was reconsidered with 12 ayes and approved.
- Items 19 through 42 were approved with 13 ayes.
- Items 45 through 55 (closed session settlements) were approved with 12 ayes. Settlement amounts included: $250,000 (Tammy Pareto), $140,000 (Jose Gerardo Saverda), $200,000 (Lena Yun), $250,000 (Maria Pizano), $300,000 (another case), $397,000 (Carmen Molina et al.), $275,000 (Consuelo Lopez), rejection of settlement for Eric Gonzalez, $1,025,000 (City vs. Pacifica of the Valley), and approval of confidential report for SR West Pico.
- Item 44 (smokeshop ICO) was continued to July 1, 2026.
Presentations
- Councilmember Hutt led a presentation on water safety, honoring Dolphin U swim school. Founder Calvin Thomas II reported that since 2020, Dolphin U has taught over 10,000 swim lessons, reached over 950 families, and brought water safety education to more than 25 communities. He stated that 13 school buses full of children drown every year and announced a goal to train 2028 safer swimmers by summer 2028. Councilmembers shared personal stories and emphasized the importance of swim lessons and water safety, especially for underserved communities.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Numerous speakers addressed the El Corazón Art Park project (Item 1). Supporters included Dr. Wilma Franco (SELA Collaborative), Lisa Escovedo, Lee Absofer (Urban Voices Project), Jessica Hitchcock (SOMIS), Alfredo Camacho, Pedro Trujillo (CHIRLA), Francisco Portillo, Gabriela Lopez, Yesenia Lopez, Andy Ham, Paola Fernandez, Angel Velasco, Sandra Nunez (SELA Collaborative), Juan José Gutierrez (One-Stop Immigration & Educational Center), Cristina Sanchez (Altamed Health Services), and Brian LaRoy (Nixon Peabody, representing Altamed). They argued the project qualifies for a Class 32 CEQA exemption, would provide much-needed open space, arts, and culture, and urged the council to reject the appeal.
- Opponents included Cassie Horton (DTLA Residents Association), Teresa Y. Hillary (DTLA Neighborhood Council), Jens Methune (President, Downtown LA Neighborhood Council), and others. They contended the process was rushed, lacked transparency, and that a 20-foot LED screen was added without community input. They called for a full environmental review and a competitive RFP. The Downtown LA Neighborhood Council submitted an official Community Impact Statement urging support for the appeal.
- Other public comments addressed the Boyle Heights warehouse fire (air quality concerns), police accountability, the Fair Work Fast Food Ordinance, and miscellaneous topics. One speaker was given a warning for disruptive behavior and later removed.
Discussion Items
- Item 1: El Corazón Art Park CEQA Appeal – The city attorney and Recreation and Parks staff confirmed the project satisfies all five requirements for the infill exemption (Class 32) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15332, and none of the exceptions apply. They noted the license agreement ends in February 2027 and any future use would require a new process. Councilmember Herado moved to deny the appeal; the motion passed 11 ayes.
- Item 12: Boyle Heights Community Plan – Councilmember Herado spoke at length, acknowledging the community's 20-year effort to create a plan rooted in environmental justice, housing justice, and community self-determination. She thanked planning staff and community advocates. The council approved the plan with 11 ayes.
- Item 43: Outside Counsel – Councilmember Lee recused himself due to involvement in the matter. The item passed with 10 ayes (after recusal).
- Special Meeting: Port Commission Action – The council convened a special meeting to consider a 245 motion regarding the Port Commission's decision to modify their master plan to allow 18 acres of truck and chassis parking near the 110 freeway. Councilmember McOscar requested the council take jurisdiction, citing support from San Pedro and opposition from Wilmington. The motion passed unanimously with 11 ayes, allowing further conversations.
Key Outcomes
- The council denied the CEQA appeal for the El Corazón Art Park, allowing the project to proceed.
- The Boyle Heights Community Plan was approved after two decades of community advocacy.
- Jurisdiction was taken over the Port Commission's truck parking decision, with further discussion scheduled for the next week.
- Numerous routine items and settlements were approved.
- The meeting was adjourned in memory of David Codell, a civil rights attorney and advocate for LGBT equality.
Note: The meeting included a brief moment where a speaker disrupted proceedings and was warned. The council president noted that staff had gone above and beyond to remind the speaker of the rules.
Meeting Transcript
For friends and family to do. Guests should definitely register on event right so that they can solidify their position. However, on the day of the event, folks can also come to Union Station, scan a QR code and register there. The event is free for the public, so anybody can come to the event as long as they register on event right. There's a total of 18 parks that will be hosting these events. So we have Kimmelora Harbor Regional in the Harbor and South LA, we have Alden Seton. On the west side, we have Chevy Hills. In the Valley, we have Witset. Come kick it with recreation and parks. Well, it's the only app built by Metro for Metro Riders. So you have a lot of options, a lot of great apps out there, but this is the only one where we're working with our customers, with our riders to make the experience customized for Metro and for Los Angeles. If you want to kind of plan your trip from point A to point B. If you're in a location and you want to figure out how to get to another location, you can see all the bus and rail lines and bike options near you. You could customize your favorite stop. Many of our riders take the same trip every single day to work to school. So if you want to customize the experience just around those lines, the app begins to learn who you are and the experience kind of molds around your trips that you take every day. We also have put a bunch of metro amenities and features into the app. So if you want to find a bathroom, want to find a tap retailer, if you're looking for a bike locker, you can do that as well. We are going to start listening to our riders and beginning to improve the app over time. So it becomes something unique to Metro, unique to Metro riders and unique to LA. My role here today is to demonstrate how customers are going to pay using their credit and debit card fares on Metro and across our 26 participating agencies. You can use the same card that's already in your pocket or in your digital wallet to pay for the transit fee. So all you do is take a plastic cart, you tap at the readers once, wait for the confirmation on the reader's screen, and then you just continue to write. This is not only for about one event. This was always a Metro's long-term fair modernization plan, and it just aligns well with the World Cup. This ability to pay using credit and debit car is just another convenient way for our riders who are daily riders, occasional or visitors who we will see a significant amount coming for the FIFA World Cup as well as for the Olympics and Paralympics in 2028. The electrifying roar of the crowd during a pivotal match is an unrivaled experience. Every second on the pitch counts and the action is entrancing from discovering the starting 11 to analyzing team performance and finding star players to send to total prominence on the World Cup stage. I mean, the city of Los Angeles with recreation and parks is supporting a network of over a hundred free watch parties, which span out across the entire city and sharing the tournament excitement is accessible to all. During the World Cup city programs are providing the next generation with engaging soccer clinics to develop new athletic skills. Bring it on. Local and international World Cup supporters are flocking to the FIFA fan festival, taking place at the LA Memorial Coliseum, filling the stadium with noise and joy, creating an unforgettable fan experience in a legendary sporting arena. Welcome to FIFA World Cup here in Los Angeles. We are kickstarting things here at the official FIFA Fan Festival. Our start was finding a venue and then deciding what we were going to do in this venue to make it a very exciting fan festival for all the people that are attending. If you've been here before and you came for football games, and now you're coming for this, you're going to be shocked. The World Cup is a 39-day event this summer. The FIFA fan festival is going to be really meant to be this large-scale opening weekend celebration. As you can see behind me, massive screens, interactive food displays all over the place. We have great entertainment, all these immersive experiences. People are going to have a really amazing time. We've got characters walking around, we've got the booboo, we've got Paw Patrol, we've got the FIFA mascots for the kids to enjoy. But most importantly, if you're here to watch the matches, you grab something to eat and drink, you grab a seat, and you're watching it on five different screens here with everybody else. And you it's like you're at the match live. It's all meant to be family friendly. Tickets for this event are only ten dollars. People will be able to take Metro to this fan festival. Fast, easy, and affordable. Only $1.75. We have two rail stations right next door.
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