Los Angeles City Council Regular Meeting - August 19, 2026
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Los Angeles City Council Regular Meeting - August 19, 2026
The Los Angeles City Council held its regular meeting on August 19, 2026, addressing a range of legislative items including emergency declarations for recent fires, parking relief, funding for transgender, gender expansive, and intersex (TGI) community initiatives, and amendments to neighborhood council training requirements. The meeting included public comments from community members and votes on multiple agenda items.
Consent Calendar
- Items 1 through 7 and 10 were approved unanimously with 12 ayes.
- Item 8 was called separately by Councilmember Hutt and passed with 11 ayes and 1 no (Councilmember Hutt recorded as no).
- Items 13, 16 through 20, 22 through 28, and 30 through 38 were later voted on and passed with 13 ayes.
- Item 20 was allowed to go forth without objection.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Members of the Translatina Coalition, including Bambi Salcedo and others, publicly thanked Councilmembers Eunices Hernandez and Heather Hutt for their support of the TGI Wellness and Equity Initiative, noting the $500,000 allocation (original ask was $4 million) and urging full funding.
- Jesus Rojas from the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles expressed concerns that the city's emergency rent restrictions were being needlessly extended, harming rental housing providers, and urged the council to direct the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) to report on affected homeowners or exclude multifamily properties from extensions.
- Several speakers criticized the city's response to the Lineage Fire and Palisades Fire, alleging delays in relief for Boyle Heights compared to Pacific Palisades, and calling for accountability and faster action on parking penalties and emergency declarations.
- Other speakers addressed item 32 (Trans Day of Remembrance funding), item 34 (long-term contract with CBS/Paramount), and neighborhood council training requirements (item 15), with some expressing opposition to mandatory Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training for neighborhood councils.
- Some public comments contained offensive language and were subject to warnings from council members; speakers were occasionally expelled for disruptions.
Discussion Items
- Councilmember Hernandez moved to continue items 21 and 29 for one month (to September 11, 2026).
- Councilmember Bloomfield announced a technical amendment for item 9 and a friendly amendment for item 15.
- Councilmember Yaroslavsky circulated an amendment for item 11.
- Councilmember Herado spoke on item 14 (Lineage Fire emergency declaration), emphasizing the need for a 60-day extension, reporting that 469 out of 1,300 patients seen through St. John's Community Health Mobile Clinic met criteria for toxic exposure, with nearly two-thirds aged 50 or older. He also outlined five motions to fund smoke remediation, prepare community leaders, improve alert systems, prevent parking penalties for emergency vehicle moves, and improve DASH service.
- Councilmember Padilla announced a street naming event for Los Angeles Azules at Van Nuys and Chase Intersection, part of Latino Heritage Month celebrations.
Key Outcomes
- Lineage Fire Emergency Declaration (Item 14): Extended for 60 days with 13 ayes.
- Item 9 (as amended by 9A): Passed with 13 ayes after a revised ordinance was circulated.
- Item 11 (as amended by 11A): Passed with 13 ayes.
- Item 12: Motion by Councilmember Hernandez to receive and file passed with 13 ayes.
- Item 15 (as amended by 15A): Passed with 13 ayes, including amendments related to neighborhood council training.
- Item 32 (Trans Day of Remembrance Funding): Approved as part of the consent calendar (13 ayes).
- Item 34 (CBS/Paramount Contract): Approved as part of the consent calendar (13 ayes).
- All referrals and motions for posting were approved.
Meeting Transcript
Now we're being noticed. We want to see ourselves. We're not reflected in a lot of things. And there's over 40,000 Afro Latinos in the LA area alone. As a child, right? Whenever I took a test in school, it would always say black, not of Hispanic descent, whites, not of Hispanic descent or Hispanic. And I felt like the culture never gave space for who I am. I am a black man. I come from the Hispanic culture. I was raised in a Panamanian household. Moments like this give other kids like me an opportunity to know that there are people out there like them who cross cultures. And it's not even cross cultures. We're one culture. And we get to just be in that for a day. It's just a vibe, man. We're all excited to be here. We just wanted to come from City Hall to tell you keep the faith and keep the fight because we got your back. We are here at El Nido Family Center in Pocoima to present a check of over 315,000 for the participatory budgeting program. The residents of this community voted for these resources to serve and create a safe space where we can have a farmers market. And we are going to be continuing with cooking classes, gardening classes, and nutrition classes, yoga and zumba. Originally cast in South Korea before its Trans-Pacific journey, the Korean Vella Friendship is housed within a striking stone pavilion. This pagoda style structure was meticulously crafted over 10 months by 30 artisans brought from Korea to the site. From this shared history to a preview of the future of another corner of Los Angeles, innovative plans are unfolding to link two distinct green spaces as part of a bold vision, bringing communities together. Metro has a program to find open street events all over LA County. And this is one of our open street projects. This is a great opportunity to invite the community to come out and enjoy being in the open space. Typically, Wilshire is full of cars, and today it's full of happy people enjoying the day and just having family time. This is one of the goals that Metro has as an agency to be able to continue to provide funding for these type of events. This is just a great example of a hugely successful program that the community has really come to enjoy over the last few years. I am supporting it because it allows from park to park to be able to do things, okay? And I think that for a car to go around for half a mile, it's not that big of a deal. But for the pedestrians for the community, I think the closure of Wilshire Boulevard reunites the parts to bring the families together in a clean, safe environment where we can really enjoy our families and our culture as well. This is a really fun opportunity to come out and see our city and socialize. Right now, helping the little kids play like a scrimmage. It was really fun. Anyone can walk and not have to worry about cars passing by. And for us, we can play soccer and it's just safe. And I think this whole event is really cool because everybody gets to get together and socialize. Yeah, I would definitely look forward to more events, and um I would definitely come out if there were events like this. Metro is more than trains and buses. Metro provides grants for open streets events such as this one today. We also provide other types of funding for construction for shadow service, and it's a really great agency that is looking out for the community and making sure that there are transportation options for everyone. It's a great event, and we're always looking to create partnerships with the city of LA. It's a great opportunity for the community to continue to come out and enjoy these events. Um together, and we can talk about books. It's a great family event. I'm here with my sisters and my nieces, and it's just so great that we all love reading. The library has always moved with the times. When the internet became the super highway, the library modernized and made sure that those people that couldn't have access, then they could come to the library and have access. Now we have people that are teaching them how to use AI.
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