OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Los Angeles City Council Meeting - August 4, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, August 4, 2026
BodyLos Angeles, California
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, August 4, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:41:29
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

People do pack some sort of go kit, which includes their medications, identifying information of their pets if they have them in case they're separated.

0:09

If you live in an apartment building, please make yourself aware of where the fire extinguishers are in your building.

0:14

Please make sure you keep your fire alarms functioning, which also monitor for gas.

0:18

And you know, reach out to your landlord to ask them to engage in safety measures for the entire building, which also might lower their insurance costs if they engage safely on how to protect themselves.

0:28

All these things are what we're here to teach today in a way that hopefully people can deal with in an affordable and viable way so that they don't feel overwhelmed like there's so much to do, I just won't do anything.

0:39

We want them to do something, do one thing, do three things.

0:43

Over time, and over time they're gonna get in a better position to withstand a wildfire, and we know they're coming, unfortunately.

1:00

Henson M Aquatics Center is very different.

1:03

It means the largest municipal pool in the United States.

1:06

It's 1.5 acres, just one way, it's 153 yards.

1:12

Capacity is over 3,000, zero depth entry, so that means I it's safe for old family, the middle kids.

1:18

It's 1.5 million gallons of water with two beautiful water slides and the obstacle course in the middle of the pool.

1:28

So in the city of LA, we have over 50 swimming pools.

1:32

So there's a pool near your house from San Pedro to Sill Mark, Is LA, West LA, we have a pool.

1:39

Not only we have a pool with well trained life course, but we have amazing programs.

1:44

We do over 25,000 lessons, swim lessons in the city of LA every year.

1:50

We have over 800 kids in our Junior Life Co program, and over 6,000 kids are part of our swim team, water polo, artistic swimming, springboat diving.

2:00

So we have an aquatics program for all of Angelino.

2:06

So anytime you're on water, if you're at the lake, you're at the beach, you're at the pool, anywhere, always swim near a lifeguard.

2:15

It's critical that you kids are supervised at all times, anytime they're close to the water, you know, kids can drown in like a few inches of water, so never never leave your kids unattended.

2:26

During the summertime, you know, there's a lot of friends, family, they they have pool parties.

2:31

It's a lot of drownings that happen in dark care pools.

2:34

So as a parent, there's a lot of things that you can do at home to make sure you pools are safe.

2:39

First, you gotta have a fence.

2:41

Make sure you have a fence with a gate that you can lock.

2:44

You gotta have an alarm.

2:46

It's good to have equipment in case you know somebody goes in the water and whoever's watching them doesn't know how to swim.

2:53

Make sure you have a ring buoy.

2:55

A ring buoy can make a big difference on saving somebody's life where anybody can see it, grab it, and throw it to whoever's in the water struggling, whoever needs help.

3:06

Knowing how to use it, how to throw it to make a big difference.

3:09

Also a body hook.

3:11

You put on the wall next to the ring buoy so you can reach and hook the body and bring them in.

3:17

Or have somebody hold on to it by struggle in the water and bring them in.

3:21

By having those two pieces of equipment can make a big, big difference.

3:27

So each facility, you know, we have a safety plan.

3:31

By having well-trained life course at all of our 50 plus facilities in the city of LA.

3:36

Uh, our job is to educate the public in water safety.

3:39

So when you come in, you have a good safe experience.

3:43

So this summer, make it a point to visit our pools and take a swim lesson.

3:48

Give us a shot.

3:49

Try us out.

3:57

Four, three, two, one!

4:13

We are in the community of Panorama City, the 91402, celebrating the re-grand opening of the splash pad at Panorama City Park, a park whose flash pad was closed for over seven summers.

4:26

We're excited to see all of the kids here who live in a very high-dense community.

4:31

Sometimes don't have a front yard, sometimes don't have a backyard.

4:34

So the park is really their only place to play.

4:37

It's been amazing.

4:38

I mean, look at the smiles, they're priceless, the sound.

4:40

It brings me back to my childhood.

4:43

My sister was even teary-eyed because growing up in a community where you know you need a little bit more resources.

4:50

This is priceless.

4:52

I am already ecstatic that we have close to 200 families here today, and we are excited to talk to the families about how we were finally able to find the resources to get it back in functioning.

5:04

And I'm still overwhelmed by the amount of families that came that were waiting for this, because seven years is a long time.

5:11

So I'm a community member here, and this actually uh started in my family when I brought my son to the park, and he noticed a desolate water park, and he asked me, Mom, when is this gonna be open and why is it closed?

5:23

And I told him, you know what?

5:24

I honestly don't know, but these are great questions.

5:26

We have a neighborhood watch meeting in the next few days.

5:29

Why don't you ask those questions there?

5:31

My son and my daughter, they collaborated.

5:33

So at the meeting, she asked the questions.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural████████████████████████24%
Public Safety██████████████14%
Public Comment██████████████14%
Energy And Environment█████████9%
Public Engagement██████6%
Energy Management████4%
Community Engagement███3%
Public Events███3%
Port Management███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Los Angeles City Council Meeting - August 4, 2026

The Los Angeles City Council convened on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 10:00 AM (approximate start time) with 14 members present and a quorum. The meeting addressed a broad agenda including the establishment of multiple Business Improvement Districts, a major appeal regarding the Scattergood Modernization Project, and various other items. Public comment was heated, with significant discussion on police accountability, the Scattergood project, and homelessness policies.

Consent Calendar

  • Items 1-12 (Business Improvement Districts): The council authorized the establishment of six Business Improvement Districts (Venice Beach, Century City, Westwood, West Adams, Granada Village, and Larchmont Village) after determining that majority protests did not exist. Supporting ballots ranged from 52.877% to 90.024% of the tabulated value.
  • Items 14-18, 21-23, 27-28, 31, 33-43, 46-51: These items, including routine approvals and items for which public hearings had been held or not held, were approved unanimously (14-0) in omnibus votes.
  • Item 8: A Public Convenience or Necessity (PCN) for a beer and wine establishment (California Wine Exchange) was approved 14-0.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Scattergood Modernization Project (Item 13): A large number of speakers addressed this item. Supporters included union representatives (UA Local 250, IBEW Local 18, Opera Engineers Local 12), business leaders (Green Hydrogen Coalition, Element Resources, Yosemite Clean Energy), academics (UC Irvine professors), and LADWP employees. They argued that the project is essential for grid reliability, supports the hydrogen economy, and will reduce emissions. Opponents included environmental groups (Food and Water Watch, Sierra Club, LA Waterkeeper, Communities for a Better Environment, Physicians for Social Responsibility) who argued that the project is a billion-dollar methane gas plant, that hydrogen is not viable at scale, that the environmental review (CEQA) was inadequate, and that it undermines the LA 100 clean energy goals. Several speakers requested a continuance to allow further negotiations.
  • General Public Comment: Multiple speakers raised issues including police accountability, allegations of corruption at LAPD and animal services, the city's response to homelessness, and the Lineage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights. Some speakers used profanity and racial slurs, leading to warnings from the council president.
  • Item 44 (Police Accountability): A speaker criticized the council for not sending a police accountability measure to the ballot and accused the council of bending to the police union.

Discussion Items

  • Item 13 - Scattergood Modernization Project Appeal: Councilmember Nazarian, chair of the Energy Committee, provided extensive background. He noted that the LA 100 study showed a need for firm dispatchable power, that the project had undergone 159 days of public comment, and that no alternative could provide the same reliability. He urged denial of the appeal. Councilmember Park supported the project but added an amendment requiring continued negotiations with appellants and a report back. Councilmember Yaroslavsky opposed, citing the lack of a negotiated settlement, concerns about hydrogen viability, and the need for stronger commitments to local renewable energy. The council voted 10-3 to deny the appeal and approve the project as amended.
  • Item 30 - Abandoned Buildings Demolition: Councilmember Padilla introduced an amendment to require a 14-day review by the Office of Historic Resources where feasible and consistent with public safety before demolition of potentially historic structures. The item passed 14-0.
  • Item 44 - Police Accountability Report: Councilmember Hernandez explained her no vote, stating that the council had killed a real police accountability measure and that the current item was performative. The item passed 13-1.
  • Item 45 - Homelessness Structure: A verbal amendment to strike "a transition plan away from Lhasa" and replace with "a new homelessness structure with an implementation plan" was adopted. Passed 14-0.
  • Other Items: Items 19, 20, 24, 25, 32, and 45 were each amended or called special and passed with votes ranging from 10-4 to 14-0.

Key Outcomes

  • Item 13 (Scattergood): Appeal denied (10-3). The project will proceed with an additional instruction for LADWP to continue negotiations with appellants and report back. Councilmember Soto Martinez recused.
  • Item 44: Approved (13-1). Councilmember Hernandez voted no.
  • Item 30: Approved (14-0) with amendment for historic resource review.
  • Item 45: Approved (14-0) with verbal amendment.
  • Business Improvement Districts (Items 1-6): All authorized with no majority protest.
  • Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned in memory of Eric Washington Jr., a community relations manager at HACLA who was fatally shot while attempting to de-escalate a confrontation on July 4, 2026. Councilmember McCosker led the motion, and the council expressed condolences.

Meeting Transcript

People do pack some sort of go kit, which includes their medications, identifying information of their pets if they have them in case they're separated. If you live in an apartment building, please make yourself aware of where the fire extinguishers are in your building. Please make sure you keep your fire alarms functioning, which also monitor for gas. And you know, reach out to your landlord to ask them to engage in safety measures for the entire building, which also might lower their insurance costs if they engage safely on how to protect themselves. All these things are what we're here to teach today in a way that hopefully people can deal with in an affordable and viable way so that they don't feel overwhelmed like there's so much to do, I just won't do anything. We want them to do something, do one thing, do three things. Over time, and over time they're gonna get in a better position to withstand a wildfire, and we know they're coming, unfortunately. Henson M Aquatics Center is very different. It means the largest municipal pool in the United States. It's 1.5 acres, just one way, it's 153 yards. Capacity is over 3,000, zero depth entry, so that means I it's safe for old family, the middle kids. It's 1.5 million gallons of water with two beautiful water slides and the obstacle course in the middle of the pool. So in the city of LA, we have over 50 swimming pools. So there's a pool near your house from San Pedro to Sill Mark, Is LA, West LA, we have a pool. Not only we have a pool with well trained life course, but we have amazing programs. We do over 25,000 lessons, swim lessons in the city of LA every year. We have over 800 kids in our Junior Life Co program, and over 6,000 kids are part of our swim team, water polo, artistic swimming, springboat diving. So we have an aquatics program for all of Angelino. So anytime you're on water, if you're at the lake, you're at the beach, you're at the pool, anywhere, always swim near a lifeguard. It's critical that you kids are supervised at all times, anytime they're close to the water, you know, kids can drown in like a few inches of water, so never never leave your kids unattended. During the summertime, you know, there's a lot of friends, family, they they have pool parties. It's a lot of drownings that happen in dark care pools. So as a parent, there's a lot of things that you can do at home to make sure you pools are safe. First, you gotta have a fence. Make sure you have a fence with a gate that you can lock. You gotta have an alarm. It's good to have equipment in case you know somebody goes in the water and whoever's watching them doesn't know how to swim. Make sure you have a ring buoy. A ring buoy can make a big difference on saving somebody's life where anybody can see it, grab it, and throw it to whoever's in the water struggling, whoever needs help. Knowing how to use it, how to throw it to make a big difference. Also a body hook. You put on the wall next to the ring buoy so you can reach and hook the body and bring them in. Or have somebody hold on to it by struggle in the water and bring them in. By having those two pieces of equipment can make a big, big difference. So each facility, you know, we have a safety plan. By having well-trained life course at all of our 50 plus facilities in the city of LA. Uh, our job is to educate the public in water safety. So when you come in, you have a good safe experience. So this summer, make it a point to visit our pools and take a swim lesson. Give us a shot. Try us out. Four, three, two, one! We are in the community of Panorama City, the 91402, celebrating the re-grand opening of the splash pad at Panorama City Park, a park whose flash pad was closed for over seven summers. We're excited to see all of the kids here who live in a very high-dense community. Sometimes don't have a front yard, sometimes don't have a backyard. So the park is really their only place to play. It's been amazing. I mean, look at the smiles, they're priceless, the sound. It brings me back to my childhood. My sister was even teary-eyed because growing up in a community where you know you need a little bit more resources.

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