City Council - Regular Meeting

really excited.

I'd like to celebrate with my friends. So we wanted to come out, make a sign, because we're so proud that here we found ourselves in this time in our lives to be together.

I've always imagined that it will actually look like this, and I'm really excited that I'm finally here and I get to immersively experience it, and I hope that I can continue to do it in the years to come.

This is the way we're telling the world it's never too late, right? I'm 84, she's 80. We just want it to be together.

We're always trying to find ways to connect with each other. And Pride is a day of happiness. It's a day of celebration. It's celebrating authenticity and representation. You know, the community of Los Angeles is such a melting pot of people from not just all over the country, but all over the world. People from different groups, different levels of income, different representations of art and creativity. And it's just a special day to celebrate. I love to be able to see everyone in the community come together.

It's very important for the city and our department, the civil rights department, to be here and show love and support and appreciation for what the queer community really brings to the city. They're doctors and teachers and nurses, and we need to be out here supporting them and making sure they are accepted and that we stand with them.

We see you. We hear you. We're here to fight alongside with you. Pride is not just this month and this day, but we're here to fight for the rights of every single person and the dignity of all people. L.A. is for all.

I'm extraordinarily proud and grateful that this is going on and that I can be a part of it.

We all have each other's backs and we are in fact a community and we're not going to let them divide and conquer us. We're a united front.

It takes things like pride to remind everyone of how far we've come but how much farther we still have to go. We've had people for decades fighting for equality and equity and it's just become abundantly clear that that fight has to continue on.

We were pleased to give $500,000 to the Downtown Women's Center.

This grant supports the most basic of important needs and the most long-term of needs that help end homelessness. And on the basic level, that means a safe place to have a meal and a shower, things that most Angelenos take for granted.

The LA Repair Program is participatory budgeting at its best. Repair stands for reforms for equity and public acknowledgement of institutional racism. Participatory budgeting is when real people get real power over real money. It is a program where $8.5 million is going to nine of the most impacted neighborhoods in our city. The city is providing the check, but the people provided the votes for these dollars to be spent with the Downtown Women's Center. We want as a city to support the people who support the people.

I'm a case manager on the outreach and engagement team, and I've been employed for four years working for the Downtown Women's Center. We give showers. We feed ladies. We offer therapy. We get, at my particular department, we actually look for ladies on the street. And for me, it's like a very personal effort to house ladies. I have actually been unhoused. I have pushed a shopping cart. I have lived on the street. So I'm really grateful for this money that's coming to us. It'll help me reach the ladies I need to reach. I mean, sometimes these ladies, all they need is like a pair of pants. We help them with hygiene. We link them to various other resources. I have ladies getting jobs now, and I'm working with ladies through permanent housing goals. So this money is very helpful to help us continue our efforts.

I've been doing this work for 25 years and I constantly hear a tone that implies that homelessness is the fault of the individual. But I think that's unacceptable when you see 75,000 across Los Angeles experiencing homelessness. How can 75,000 people just like it be their fault? To us, it's a systems problem. There's not enough affordable housing. Folks cannot obtain employment that pays for housing anymore. It's out of reach. The level of disability that people experience, compounded by homelessness in and of itself, making people more sicker, makes it even harder to access housing and employment and just the basic of needs. We have a systems problem, and with Downtown Women's Center's advocacy and with our partners for years, we've been addressing systems issues while we're also meeting women one-on-one with their needs as they come today.

One thing the Downtown Women's Center does offer is a sense of community, a place to go. And that's one thing me, with my own lived experience, I actually was in the day center one day. And I've been to a RISE program. This whole environment is so encouraging for women who have lost a little hope. And we're a beacon of hope.

Los Angeles recognizes the history, resilience, achievements, and ongoing contributions of LGBTQIA plus Angelenos, and reaffirms its commitment to keeping Los Angeles a city where everyone can live openly with pride. The city of Los Angeles has designated significant historic and cultural sites, and during June, it honors and uplifts LGBTQIA plus community members, talents, and leaders who continue to inspire.

For generations LGBTQ people were told that spaces like this were built for us and yet here we are we're not only in the

In the LGBTQIA plus community, it's not uncommon to show up and show out in your most fabulous look. So here I am, City Hall. And if all these rhinestones don't give it away, I am part of the LGBTQIA plus community.

Today we are unveiling our Bridge Gallery exhibit for LGBT Heritage Month. This year our Bridge Gallery exhibit is called Portraits of Olympic Pride. It's an opportunity for us to showcase 19 different athletes that are part of the LGBTQIA plus community who are all eligible for the Olympics in LA 28.

It is completely free. It is available to anybody here in the city of Los Angeles and beyond. Come visit City Hall. You'll learn a lot. You'll be inspired and you'll be ready to go out and create the kind of good that we all deserve.

And every year it gets more and more important because our communities are continuing to be under attack. We have a federal government that continues to attack our LGBTQ youth and so making sure that we find joy through all of this is so important because you can't let fear be the winner.

Being LGBTQ plus is about your authenticity. It's about having the courage to stand in your truth even when others try to dim your light.

Here in the City of Angels, you are welcomed. You are a part of the fiber of the City of Los Angeles. And if anybody messes with you, they gonna have to come through a whole bunch of us. We got your back. Thank you.

Find your community wherever they may be.

our partnership with Los Angeles Department of Aging. This is year two, so we're super excited about it. Last year was kind of like a trial and error. We visited four NPCs, multipurpose centers. It was just amazing. So we wanted to capitalize on the momentum. We wanted to continue the growth. We wanted to touch more seniors. So this year we've expanded to 10 NPC locations.

The goal behind this partnership with the LA Sparks and their social impact team is to really just continue to get our seniors up, be on the move. Because physical health really encaptures the whole body. So if physically we're well, then mentally we're well, emotionally. And so we want to make sure our seniors are heard and seen and that they have opportunities to move, literally. Sparky is a celebrity at this point. There are seniors who love Sparky. He truly brings a spark when he visits the senior centers. They're looking for the photo ops, they're looking for the engagement, the high fives. So Sparky is a hit and we're so grateful to have the mascot of our WNBA LA Sparks team along for this fun ride.

So last year we had 250 seniors come out to the game, but this year we're trying to expand that, hopefully bringing out more seniors and their families to the game. So not just seniors, but everybody, making it all inclusive, a whole family outing.

Really excited about taking a senior to the game coming up in September. We just love that the Sparks value our older adult population just as much as we do. September 24th, 7 p.m., more information to come, and we're really looking forward to that.

We will be having our maiden voyage on the motor vessel El Escudo. It's a 108-foot, 350-passenger tour, whale watch, dining boat, ferry boat, here based in the Los Angeles Long Beach Harbors.

This is the cleanest harbor craft in the world, exceeding national standards for tier four emissions. It's able to run hybrid version zero emission for hours at a time so people can see the industrial theater here at the Port of Los Angeles and the majesty of the Pacific Ocean.

It's super quiet, it's super green. I think it's the future of the ports for LA and Long Beach. You know, they're talking about moving to green fuels. It's just amazing that they can do this running on battery electric.

It was an amazing maiden voyage that we had the opportunity to go on. It's great to be able to say that we are definitely looking into the future and people are having fun.

What makes this boat so significant is it's the first in the world to utilize a parallel hybrid system, which means we can actually get this 108-foot boat to zero emissions.

So we'll have tourists and local people alike joining to see exactly what's happening at the port, whale watching, seeing all the great sea lions and dolphins jumping in and out of the water, and at the same time knowing that this is the cleanest harbor craft for visitor serving anywhere in the world.

This is California, right? And California is the place that changes things in America when it comes to fuels. It's always been far ahead and now it's starting to happen here at the ports. And what happens in California happens at the rest of America. So I'm really proud to see this happening right here because I'm sure the rest of the ports are going to follow suit.

Beyond modern festivities, Los Angeles holds a deep legacy in the fight for equality. In Silver Lake, Harry Hay founded the country's pioneering gay organization, hosting the Mattachine Society in his private residence. Recognized as the movement's true origin, the history is now honored at the Mattachine steps. the city also witnessed the nation's initial gay protests. Following the 1967 New Year's arrests at the Black Cat Tavern, local activists organized a historic rally for social justice. These Los Angeles demonstrations preceded the Stonewall uprising, and the seeds of protest were firmly planted in the City of Angels. Beyond the struggle for progress, the spirit of resilience defines the Angeleno fight for change. After a devastating traffic accident in Griffith Park, local community members rallied to secure a safer future. Driven by unwavering advocacy, residents have finally realized the completion of the most significant safety enhancement project in the park's history.

There was a terrible tragedy here where Andrew Gelmert, who was training for the AIDS lifecycle ride, was killed by a reckless driver about almost a mile up the road.

He was coming down, and a reckless driver drove through at an ungodly speed, lost control of his vehicle, slammed into the curbside, and hit Andrew.

after Andrew lost his life, something unusual happened.

Immediately after the fatality in June of 2022, we did a temporary closure up on Griffith Park Drive from Travel Town to the Compost Center. And that was meant to cut on cut-through traffic. And it also galvanized the department to get a procurement out there right away to hire an engineering firm to design and plan for what we should do. And then it also galvanized the then assembly member, Laura Friedman for the area, who went and got a state earmark of $4 million to help us actually do something. And then it helped push us through. So when we hit snags in the process, which you inevitably do, all this stuff adds up and it can be super frustrating to the community, but they were excellent. They were like very steadfast in what they wanted to see and just kept our nose to the grindstone.

We had the, I guess, ribbon cutting, the official acknowledgement of the new Crystal Springs and Zoo Drive bike lanes and safety improvements in Griffith Park, which is, honestly, it's the single largest investment in the safety of Griffith Park that it has ever had in its history. And well needed, well needed. In February of 2013, I was bicycling in Griffith Park, right near the Autry Museum when I was hit, pinned underneath a car, dragged nearly a quarter of a mile from the streets of Griffith Park onto and down the 5 Freeway at Freeway Speaks. My right leg was ripped off, about 20 pounds of flesh in two minutes, 20 broken bones, 10 ribs. I shattered both my shoulders, my hips, my wrists, you name it. It was a hit and run. The driver never stopped and was never caught. And from that, I learned about how deadly our roads of Los Angeles are and started working on advocacy, which became the organization Streets Are Forever One.

So I think our primary focus in Griffith Park has to be for the recreational uses. That's part of the donation of the land from Griffith Jay and Tina Griffith. I was excited about this project when I heard about it in the planning stage. And then today was my first day to actually get out on the street on my bike. And it's so much better than I ever thought it was going to be. The places where the road had previously been a little scratchy, it's all been repaved. It's smooth. There's so much space for the bikers. When someone is also running or walking, there's space for everybody. and were never worried about a car coming into my lane or having to sort of jump out of the way or be in a subpar space on the road. It's really, it was just a pleasure today.

Andrew would have been very happy to see these changes and I believe these changes would absolutely have saved his life.

The importance is having a space, having our roads be safer and more accessible for all road users. And at the end of the day, it's better for people driving too, because it's calmer. You're not speeding with someone trying to change lanes and I'm gonna turn here, I'm gonna do all this crazy stuff. Like it's just a more calm experience. And like I said, you're gonna get there at the same time going through the park.

We're going to go ride the park right now. A bunch of us are going to go ride the new lanes and check them out. So we're excited to do that. Putting on the glasses right here. Getting ready to go.

The valley wasn't that long ago that this was a horse area. This had orange groves.

This is a good representation of the communities of what they used to look like here in Council District 12.

Today we're at the wonderful Oak Ridge Estate here in Northridge. We had a really awesome community event here. We brought the community the Los Angeles City Park Rangers Mounted Unit. So what you see behind me is our horses. Today we brought both Archie and Bert.

That was an excellent experience. My daughter definitely loved it. We got to pet the horses, feed the horses, and archery. And this is a really nice event, really put together really well. And it was great.

Our horses actually came all the way from the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, and so they came over here in our horse trailer, and our horses get a lot of love. So we make sure they get plenty of water, they get exercise, and I gotta tell you, they love coming out here to these community events, and they love taking selfies with our community members.

The horses, they're not just animals. They are part of the force. They are part of our park ranger system. This is an important piece, as the officers are. Our park rangers cover all the different parks in the city of Los Angeles. They go through the same training as LAPD officers, but they've chosen to go a different path.

It's just a great reminder of how beautiful our parks here in LA City are, and for all of us to just understand the importance of public safety inside our parks, taking care of our parks, and bringing our mounted unit out to folks, revitalizing that traditional history, just getting people out here to enjoy our parks and enjoy our city of Los Angeles. It's good to get away from the city and just know that we have some beautiful parks out here to go out and explore.

The mission to transform the city begins with each individual, and one man is stepping up and rallying others throughout the city. His unwavering commitment creates a lasting impact in Los Angeles communities. Using social media, Juan Naula extends an open invitation for every Angeleno to take part in his ongoing initiative to Clean LA With Me.

I think people are really tired to see trash everywhere. And when I moved here, I didn't want to see this. I moved expecting something else. And then I moved here, I see all this, and then I want to make a change. So every day I get up, Monday to Friday, I see a spot and come and clean it. Wow, this is a mess. I start between 9 until 2, 3 p.m., depends, you know, if I do one spot, if I do two spots. But every day I start around 9 a.m. I post on my social media. People in my first video, actually, about a year and something ago, they said, let's support you, let's help you. And then as we go, I was keeping posting, posting. And then when I said I need fundings for goat dumping, people send me right away. So what I do, I do cleanups, put it in the small truck, and dump in the big one. And then when it's full, I go dump it. This is how LA streets looks like. We can see all this trash right here on Hollywood and 18th Street. It should not be like this. Let me show you how much trash and all the type of the trash we have here on this spot, okay? Social media is one of the best tools for cleaning life with me. This is how I can educate people. It's one of my sources to get to the people, to the community, to the government. That's how everybody finds me out. I just opened this trash bag. It's from my followers. Thank you so much. This is how I get all my trash bags from my wish list. So I said everywhere I go, Starbucks follow me. We have McDonald's, McDonald's. What is this? A slooper? A slooper? A slooper? I'm not really sure what this is. A slooper. A slooper. So you went just by, and you see trash here, and you just throw it there. Please do better. Let's stop littering in LA. I need a new pants. What do you have in your pants? Spread it right in my . It's too tight, I think. I'm telling my wife, don't give me too much tackles. No. Yeah, I'm going to put a request on 311. That's too heavy. Now let's go to 311 up. Right there, 311, Maya Lee 311 up. Illegal dumping, just make sure. It's the right address. Items, counter, top. It's on the side street, so side street right there. Summit. Okay, so the request is done. That's it. Wow, you see the fresh, the difference? Follow me on my social media. OK. It's clean and light with me. All right. OK. And you just see it. Many people just say hello to me, and that keeps me going and going and going, because more people are going to come, you know? I think it's worth it to keep doing it. I'm going to go and dump the trash. Let's go. Let's make a change. I know we can do it. I know we can change our habits. I know we can change our culture. Let's do better. I think everything can start with us, and then we can push everybody else.

When we first started this Safe Summer Initiative, the purpose was to talk about peace and safety once school let out so that we could have a safe summer for all.

This is our third year where we bring over 40 different vendors. They provide opportunities for our youth during the summer, everyone from the LA Rams, the UCLA, USC, LA Parks and Recreation. There's internships, sports. So many opportunities to support families and give youth opportunities during the summer.

A todos los vecinos los invito a que vengan aquí al evento. De verdad, muchas veces tenemos muchos tipos de eventos y lamentablemente la comunidad no viene a participar. Pero en esta ocasión estoy mirando que los vecinos y la gente de alrededor están viniendo aquí al evento.

They're coming here and we're providing the resources which will help them to hopefully have a better future, especially for our youth.

We want them to know that there's more that they can achieve than just what they're limited to in the community and that we're here to help them get there.

We specifically are here for the GRID program, which is the Gang Reduction and Youth Development program. I've been with this program since 2009, and I can say that we have students that were in our program back then that are still connected with this agency till this day.

It's really important that our parks are a safe space and it's important that our families have a place to come to to receive resources.

I think it's incredibly important that the Los Angeles Police Department, in conjunction with our city partners, put on these events because, again, it's an educational piece to let our communities know what's out there for them.

From neighborhood cleanup efforts and festive local celebrations to the collective push for greater public safety, the unwavering power of partnership is bringing residents together to evolve our city. The City of Angels continues its dedication to empowering and honoring the rich cultural tapestry found within every unique neighborhood across the region. Thanks for watching. Catch these stories and more on Channel 35 for LACity.gov slash TV and follow at LACity on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube. Until next time, show up in your community, celebrate the wins, and enjoy everything Los Angeles has to offer.

you 🎵 🎵 So, so so Thank you for watching. Thank you. Thank you. you you you I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

so so

you Thank you.

All right, good morning, everyone. Good morning, everyone. I want to welcome you to the regularly scheduled meeting of the Los Angeles City Council. Today is Tuesday, the 30th day of June in the year 2026. Mr. Clerk, let's begin our proceedings by calling the roll.

Blumenfield, Harris, Dawson, Hernandez, Hutt, Harado, Lee, McOsker, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Rahman, Rodriguez, Sotomartinez, Jaroslavsky, 13 members in accord, Mr. President.

All right, first order of business. Approval of the minutes of June 26, 2026. All right. Councilmember Roscoe moves. Councilmember Soto-Martinez seconds. What's next? Commendatory resolutions for approval. Councilmember Yaroslavsky moves.

Councilmember Jurado seconds. What's next? Mr. President, today is Tuesday, and it's time for the flag salute.

I'll ask everybody in the chamber to rise, face the flag, and follow along with Mr. Bob Blumenfield.

Thank you. Please place your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. 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. Mr. Clerk, can you walk us through our agenda for this morning?

Thank you, Mr. President. Items 1 through 32 are items noticed for public hearing. Please note, there is a general correction for item 32. The property is located in CD2 only. Items 33 through 62 are items for which public hearings have been held. For item 36, the yearly recommended salary for June Kim Lopez as the director of the Bureau of Sanitation is $506,757.60. Please note, there is a general correction for item 44. The correct time limit is June 30, 2026. items 63 63 through 99 are items for which public hearings have not been held item 100 is a closed session item for which public hearings have not been held 10 votes are required for consideration sorry council member jurado good morning council president i'd like to receive and file item 18.

I'd also like to call item 33 and 86 special for a separate vote. I have an amendment for item 42 that should be circulating shortly. And lastly, I'd like to continue item 81 to August 5th, 2026.

And is there a second to that motion to receive and file? Thank you. Council Member McOsker.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. Actually, on item 33, I would like to note and file that item, which was just called for a separate vote. So that'll be noted and filed.

And is there a second to that motion?

Thank you very much. And then I'd like to call special items 93 and 96 for amendments, which will be circulated by the clerk. Thank you.

All right. I've got Councilmember Hernandez on this side.

Thank you, Council President. I would like to call items 36 and 37 special for comments.

All right. We've got Council Member Rodriguez.

Item 2, receive and file, please. And 95, but I think we're going to hold all those. Yeah, we'll have a whole discussion. 95 for comments.

And is there a second to that receive and file motion? Second. All right.

I've got Council Member Yaroslavsky.

Thank you, Council President. I have technical amendments on 91 and 93.

Okay. Councilmember Park?

On item 61, I'd like to move to continue that to August 4th.

Okay. That's been seconded. I think that was already done, but okay. Cool. Councilmember Padilla? Oh, you got one more, sorry.

Also, while I'm here, 54 for comments, please.

Okay. 5-4 for comments. Councilmember Padilla?

Yes. Item 29 for continuation for a total of two months, please.

Okay, 60 days. And that would be August 28th, 2026. That works.

All right. Thank you.

Council Member Lee.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to ask that we call 7 and 17. I believe I have to make a motion to confirm both of these liens.

All right. Just to confirm, Council Member Lee, to confirm the liens, you do not need to make motions. We could just vote on them. Council Member Blumenfield.

Yeah, on 95, I'll have an amendment that will circulate.

Okay. All right. Any other specials members? Going once. All right. Council Member Hutt.

Am I on? Oh, there you go. Thank you, Council President. I'd like to call 92 for a separate vote.

All right. Any more specials?

right uh mr kirk what items are available for votes at this time council may vote on items 34 35 39 through 41 43 through 53 55 through 60 and 62.

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

13 ayes.

All right, Mr. Clerk, can we take up item number 37?

37 was called special for comments.

Can we take that up now? Yes, we can.

All right. Call special by? Councilmember Hernandez, I believe.

Councilmember Hernandez on item number 37.

Thank you. Thank you, Council President. Thank you, colleagues. I'm excited today to say that before us is someone that has been recommended to be the city's next engineer. This is the first time that the city of Los Angeles has the opportunity to have a woman leading the Bureau of Engineering Department, which I am very excited about. We are the majority now on the council, and I just love to see us take up more space in positions of leadership. Before us, we have Crystal, who's being uplifted by the mayor to be our new engineer leading the Bureau of Engineering. And I'm grateful that we have her. I met with her, and she gave me a presentation that just blew me out of the water. She has a very clear vision for where she wants to take the city, where she wants to take the department, but not without doing the legwork. of finding out how our department can move better, what the staff and teams at the Bureau of Engineering need to succeed. You have a plan on how you're going to assess those issues. And like I said, right now it takes us 10 years to fix a sidewalk. And you have committed to doing the work to help streamline that work. And one thing that I'm really excited about is the collaboration that you're going to bring because sometimes the left hand is not talking to the right hand and that delays whether we can get curb ramps done or bike lanes. And so your vision of extra communication and collaboration IS SO DESPERATELY NEEDED AT THIS TIME SO I'M VERY EXCITED THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE LEADING THIS DEPARTMENT. I VOTED FOR YOU IN COMMITTEE. I'LL BE VOTING YES FOR YOU AGAIN AND I HOPE MY COLLEAGUES ALSO VOTE YES FOR YOU BECAUSE THE VISION THAT YOU HAVE FOR THIS BUREAU, FOR THE PEOPLE THAT WORK AT THIS BUREAU AND FOR THE CITY IS GOING TO ACTUALLY MAKE THIS CITY A WORLD CLASS CITY THAT FOLKS TALK A LOT ABOUT. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STEPPING UP AND I'M REALLY EXCITED FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT. THANK YOU.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER HERNANDEZ. COUNCIL MEMBER LEE.

I apologize, Mr. President. I also like to call item number 94 for comments.

Okay. And we'll call number 97 special as well for comments. And just on the charter items, we will be discussing all of them, so we don't have to worry about calling them special. We're not gonna batch vote any of the charter items. We'll discuss each of them. Ms. Lee, I would love it if you would just come and introduce yourself, talk a little bit about your history. The mayor along with this council and you is making history. This position is no small deal in the world of infrastructure and public works broadly. I think there were a couple of movies made about

uh where the star of the movie was the position that you're up for today so uh please uh take a few minutes good morning council president council members and elected officials and our community i'm really honored to be appointed for the position of city engineer for public works of bureau of engineering this is an amazing place to be i have cultivated 20 years of relationships in the city in multiple departments and I intend to make sure that I use those relationships and Collaborate more to align the challenges that councilmember Hernandez has brought forth and others I do have a robust plan already but I do want to make sure that I take the time and really listen to what both the community the council members are my team and and others have to say to make sure that we're all going in the right direction there has been an amazing amount of talent in public works and in the city that have built a foundation that i'm really proud to build on in my over two decades with the city i have faced many challenges some are in the face of uh they more are opportunities to me one being the first Harbor District engineer that was female, also being the youngest deputy city engineer, and now the first female city engineer. These are all opportunities that I couldn't do alone, and I really lean on a strong team that I know I have today, and I am going to focus on mastering that collaboration, looking for efficiencies in the city, as well as utilizing technology and innovation to make more informed decisions and report data. All of those to say that I wanna make sure we're delivering quality projects and infrastructure to benefit our community and our city in its entirety across all communities. So I just wanna thank you all for listening and for being a positive light in the city, thank you.

Thank you so much. And with that, members will request an aye vote on this. Let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

14 ayes.

All right, congratulations. What's next, Mr. Clerk?

Council may vote on item 33. It's just a note in the file.

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

14 ayes.

All right, what's next? Council may now move on to presentations.

All right, we have an exciting presentation this morning that'll be led by Councilmember Bob Blumenfield of the 3rd District.

Thank you. More of an announcement than a presentation, but it is, please come with me, Dr. Michelson. It is rare that you get to share the podium with a legend in the animal welfare community. Dr. Gary Michelson has spent the past two decades, he's committed hundreds of millions of dollars creating a more fair and compassionate world. He has tirelessly fought to expand access to affordable veterinarian care, directing more than $15 million towards spay and neuter services in Los Angeles, and investing over $31 million in the search for a safe non-surgical sterilant for cats and dogs. Today, earlier today, we got to announce together an innovative public-private partnership that will make a real difference for pets, families, and our entire community. With funding from my discretionary office account and philanthropic money from the Michelson Found Animals, we have now 1.3 million investment that demonstrates what can happen when government, philanthropy, and nonprofit organizations work together to solve complex problems. As all of you know, because we've talked about this in these chambers, animal shelters are facing unprecedented challenges with overcrowding and too many adoptable animals entering the system. Expanding access to affordable veterinarian care and spay-neuter services is one of the most effective, humane, and fiscally responsible ways to reduce shelter intake. I'm especially proud that this partnership will bring a dedicated mobile veterinary clinic to Council District 3. This investment is something that will provide immediate relief through expanded mobile clinics while also building out lasting infrastructure with this dedicated mobile unit. And this would not have been possible without the work of Dr. Gary Michelson, who is the founder and co-chair of Michelson Philanthropies, a Los Angeles-based foundation dedicated to advancing innovative solutions in animal welfare, education, and medical research. And I really want to thank Dr. Michelson, the Michelson Foundation found animals for their leadership and generosity. I'm also grateful to camp, animal balance, cats at the studios, and all of the organizations providing boots on the ground expertise and compassionate care. None of this happens without strong partnerships, a shared commitment to serving our communities. A lot of those folks are here, we had a press conference earlier today to announce this historic public-private partnership. And it is something that, yes, we're doing in the third district, but we're doing it as a pilot so that all of you can replicate it and we can really make a difference and save lives and save money for the city. So thank you very much for letting us take this moment.

Do you want to say a word?

And if you could have Dr. Michelson say a quick word.

OK. Good morning. I'd like to recognize Bob because what he's doing is visionary. He's bringing the services directly to the people who need the services. That's the beauty of a mobile unit. And I would like to take just one minute and have city council members consider something. Ten years ago, the city paid out $60 million for bad acts, and last year it was $300 million. If you gave us a couple of moments to look at it, most of those were preventable. And here we are struggling for a few million dollars to take care of the animals. There are more than a few million dollars if you want to go look for them. Thank you.

Thank you so much. We got a couple, hold on, hold on before you head off. You got a couple members on the queue beginning with Councilmember Rodriguez.

Thank you, Council Member Blumenfield, for bringing in Dr. Michelson. And thank you so much for your exemplary leadership on this issue. As we were discussing earlier, Mr. Blumenfield and I are collaborating on some opportunities to really reform how we're approaching our work with respect to animal services. But what we know with great certainty is the need to ensure accessible spay and neuter programs citywide. And that is fundamental because so much of the animal population that we are experiencing is sourced from the fact that we don't have responsible animal care and making sure that they are they have all the support that they need and the families have access to it. We have to have much better insight even to the distribution of the voucher system and what that looks like and how it was intended to be made more accessible for working families and yet somehow There's a disconnect. So I know there's a great deal of reform that we have to do, but I'm thankful for partners like yourself and like so many others that are doing great work in this space that we can lean on one another to help reform and create a better practice than what we currently have to ensure that we have a much better management and handle of our animal population. So thank you so much for your work. And thank you, Bob, for bringing him in and for this important recognition. And as we continue to engage in this conversation, I know we will continue to engage with you as well. So thank you so much for your work.

Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Rodriguez. Councilmember McOsker.

Not so fast, doctor. Such a humble giant. I really appreciate that very, very much. I just wanted to say this is Councilman McOsker. We had a chance to speak briefly before. I want to thank you, the foundation, but particularly your fantastic staff at the foundation. We had just a small idea of taking our office space, which is not used on the weekends, in the one five our district goes from Watts all the way down to San Pedro and in Watts and in Wilmington and in San Pedro we've been able to partner with you so that on weekends we turn our offices into a spay and neuter clinic and we're looking forward to continuing that over the next four years very very grateful for the families and the lives of these pets that you touch and provide a humane way for us to be, you know, good partners with these with these animals. So thank you so much. Thank you for your generosity and for your wonderful staff.

Councilmember Hernandez.

Mr. Michaelson, I'm so honored that you're here with us today. Council Member Blumenfield, thank you for uplifting him. Your organization, your team has been phenomenal to work with and has provided Council District One residents and their pets and critters with the resources they need to thrive, to be comfortable in knowing that they can access food, toys, all the holistic things that they need to keep their pets. And so that it doesn't become an issue that they can no longer afford and so I'm grateful for everything You all do every single day obviously throughout the entire city But specifically what you and your team and the organization have done for my constituents I look forward to continuing to partner with you all Supporting you all and just thank you for stepping up When the city has been so in stepping up for our critters and our animals and our pets and our families. Thank you

All right, that concludes speakers from the council, but you're a truly honored treasurer of our city, so we thank you for all that you have done on behalf of Angelenos and our pets. Thank you all so much. All right.

Mr. Clerk, what's next? Council now may move on to public comment. Mr. City Attorney.

Yes, Mr. President. To people providing public comment, when it's your turn to speak, please state which of the agenda items you'd like to speak to. You 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 are on topic, you will get one brief warning from me or the council president. At that point, you need to get immediately and clearly on topic. If you do not do so, or if you again stray off topic, you will forfeit the rest of your speaking time and we will move on to the next speaker. The items open for public comment on the agenda today are items one through 32, item 36, items 63 through 80, and items 82 through 100. So again, the items that are open for public comment on the agenda, and this is for the regular agenda, are items one through 32, item 36, items 63 through 80, and items 82 through 100. 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 subject matter jurisdiction. We will tell you when your time is up. I have a few more announcements if I could please have the interpreters make this first one aloud to the room. If you require a Spanish language interpreter, please make sure to pause every few sentences so the interpreters can interpret.

Para los miembros del público, proporcionando su comentario público, por favor, aseguren pausar entre cada oración para asegurar que los intérpretes puedan traducir.

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.

No se preocupen, vamos a pausar el tiempo mientras los intérpretes están traduciendo van a recibir la misma cantidad de tiempo que todos los demás.

Additionally, if you've made an accommodation request pursuant to the ADA with the clerk's office in order to make use of the wireless handheld microphone, or if you would like to do so, once you hear the name that you signed up under called aloud, please raise your hand so the sergeants know to provide you with that wireless handheld microphone. Finally, as you can see, we have a lot of people here today. It's not guaranteed that we will be able to get through all the speakers, but in order to help us get through as many speakers as possible and to 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. The order in which the names is at random, that is to say it is randomly generated. It is not necessarily in the order in which you signed up. Thank you.

I'd like to begin public comment by calling up a few names. Jed Liano, Isabel Vasquez, Johnny Hale, Kristen Fukushima, Dr. Lisa Cantanzarite, and Susan Collins.

All right, as those people are coming up, I want to yield the floor to Council Member Nazarian.

Thank you, Council President. I didn't want to interrupt the previous presentations, but I'd like to continue item 32 to August 4th.

All right, I'll second that without objection.

Thank you.

And as we're waiting for the first speaker to come up, based on the continuation of item 32, let me read out the revised list of items that is open for public comment today. The items that are open for public comment on the agenda are items one through 31, item 36, item 63 through 80, and items 82 through 100. We can begin with the first speaker. And actually, before you begin, once you get to the podium, if you could all be so kind as to let us know what you would like to speak to, which items, and whether or not you would like general public comment. Thank you, good morning.

Good morning, I guess I'll just do general. I was gonna comment on 44, but. Okay, so you have one minute for general public comment. Go ahead. Yeah, sounds good. Hi, my name's Jonathan Hale. I'm speaking on behalf of Inner City Law Center. We defend tenants, sue slumlords, and fight for more housing in Los Angeles. Our office is located at the corner of 7th and Central. We are Skid Row's law firm, and we stand firmly in support of the project at 4th and Central, alongside our partners at the building trades and the Downtown Women's Center. This project is designed by the same team that built the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. It'll turn a cold storage facility into over 1,500 units of housing, retail, and public green space. This is exactly what we need to build the future of our city, and we stand firmly in support. Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names. Sakai Koyama, Zafiri, James M., Leonardo Gomez, and Estuario Mazurigos.

Good morning. What would you like to speak to?

Speaking on items 42 and 43.

You said 42, 43? Yes. So those are not currently open for public comment, but you can speak to them during general. So you have one minute for general public comment. Okay. Go ahead.

Great. Hi, my name is Kristen Fukushima. I'm the executive director at Bolido Tokyo Community Council. We submitted the appeal on the fourth and central cold storage project. LTCC just, I guess our update is LTCC has negotiated a community benefits agreement with the property owner and we are no longer pursuing this appeal. We appreciate Council Member Jurado's support throughout this process and look forward to continuing collaboration with our office to ensure that development projects like this are informed by and meet the surrounding community's needs. And lastly, we just want to thank our community partners, both in Little Tokyo and Skid Row, for our campaign over the last three years. That's all. Thank you.

Good morning. What would you like to speak to?

Hi, my name is Isabel. I am from South Central United. Thank you. I'm here to give my thanks for the leadership. Okay. Okay. Good morning, my name is Isabel and I'm here from South Central, the ninth district.

I want to thank you for your leadership and for your assistance with support for the parks.

Los parques para mí son importantes y para mi comunidad.

The parks are very important for me and for my community.

Y agradezco su compromiso de impulsar la nueva iniciativa.

And I appreciate your efforts to go forward with the new initiatives.

Y aún necesitamos su apoyo en este noviembre y estamos listos para trabajar con ustedes. Muchas gracias.

We need your support this November, and we're ready to work alongside you, with you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next speaker. Good morning. What would you like to speak to?

Good morning. Good morning, council members. I'm speaking to item number 19. My name is Dr. Lisa Catanzariche and I'm asking you on behalf of my husband and myself to deny the proposed lien on our property at 2150 North Beverly Glen Boulevard. The case is fundamentally about due process. The LA Department of Building and Safety never resolved our appeal or provided the hearing that we requested and paid for 988 days ago. City should not impose a lien while our appeal remains unresolved. For background, we've laid out everything in a packet, which we'll submit for the record. But in brief, when LADBS issued the first order to comply, we responded timely in writing. They issued a second order to comply, we again responded timely in writing. And then we filed an appeal October 16th, 2023. They were supposed to provide us a written determination and a hearing within 60 days. They did not. I'm sorry, I'm speaking both in opposition to the proposed lien and as comment and as general public comment. I'm sorry, which item are you talking about? Item 19.

Yes, so you used your one minute on item 19. So you want general now? So you have one minute for general public comment. Yes. Go ahead.

Yes, thank you, also on item 19. So again, we requested over a year later that they address the matter and resolve the appeal. They did not. We responded to every LADBS notice, filed every required document, paid the required fee, and repeatedly sought resolution. LADBS deprived us of the administrative review process for which we timely applied and paid. We respectfully request that the council deny the proposed lien because LADBS has not completed the pending appeal process. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. Next speaker. Good morning, what would you like to speak to?

Am I able to do 95? I'm sorry, which items? 95. 95?

Okay, so you have one minute for item 95, go ahead.

Oh yeah, and also general comment too.

Okay, so you have one minute for each and there's a lot of new people here today so the way it works is if you request the items, you'll have your chunk of time and then you'll hear a buzzer go off and you'll get an additional minute for general if you request general public comment. So go ahead, please begin with the item. You have one minute and then you have one minute for general.

Okay, hello, good morning. My name is Leonardo Gomez. I'm a youth advocate who comes from South LA area. And first, I wanna thank you for your leadership and supporting the parks allocation. It means a lot to me. Us, the parks, it's very important that we have our parks and how they are. It really helps in many ways. It can benefit in many ways. As a youth advocate, I could see that some of my colleagues They need parks. You could do so many ways with parks. Let's say a kid wants to go to a park and walk. It will benefit them because with their mental health, they could connect to nature and they can really see that parks are a way to escape and really just see how you could connect as a community. And that's pretty much it. Thank you.

Thank you. And you have general public comment if you'd like or are you finished?

Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. I get the general comments. So that's that one minute. So yeah.

Just one minute for general?

Yeah. So this means a lot to me. So growing up in South Central community, I've always been an advocate. I've always been volunteering. And especially for parks, like I said, very important we get the funding. So it's very important that we could get your leadership. And I'm always everywhere helping its parks, the community, because I believe as a youth advocate, we all have an opportunity. And if we have the opportunity to have great parks, it will really lead us in many ways. Because with parks, you could connect. You could play sports. And people could go many places, right? They could go to an NBA team. They could always have a dream they always have. And with parks, I feel like they will have access to many dreams that they always want to accomplish. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker. Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names. Veronica Gonzalez, Teresa Yawaka, Penny C. Zafiri, Edgar Kalachin, Johanna Valenzuela, and Hugo Garces. Good morning. What would you like to speak to?

Hi, my name is Susan Collins, and I would like to speak on agenda items 94, 97, 98, and general public comment please.

Okay, so you have three minutes for those items. Please begin with the items, then you'll have one minute for general. Go ahead.

Okay, thank you. I'm going to start with general public comment.

Sorry, so before, we have to apply the rules that include everyone, so I'm going to ask that you please start with the items first, and then you can go to general public comment afterwards. Thank you.

OK, thank you. On agenda items 94 and 98, I'm asking that you please oppose these items. The city is already incredibly discouraged and divided and have absolutely zero trust in our election integrity. We absolutely do not want the voter pool to be expanded to include undocumented immigrants or for 16-year-olds to vote, regardless of whether that is in local elections or for LAUSD. As a child of immigrants, I can tell you that one of my parents' proudest moments was obtaining their citizenship and being able to vote for the first time. It is an honor to be able to participate in the election process. Poll after poll indicate that 80% of voters, regardless of whether they are in the Democrat or Republican Party, want voter ID, and they oppose this. regarding item number 97, excuse me, which, regarding item number 97, which gives the city council greater authority over LAPD. We already have the Civilian Oversight Committee, which holds officers accountable. We do not need to give members of this city council who publicly state they want to abolish the police, quote, fuck the police and call them racist and compare traffic stops to slavery. LAPD is already at under 8,000 sworn officers and passing a motion like this would only serve to demoralize them and reduce law enforcement staffing, recruiting, and retainment. Please oppose items number 94, 97, and 98. And on general public comment, I just wanted to state that this is the first time out of the last four that I have been able to gain entry to participate in this process. That is supposed to provide the public with access to you so that you can hear our voices and you can understand what the public wants, what we need, and we can hear from you. Each time I have waited in line for close to two hours while people outside, while hordes of people outside in purple shirts, homeless nonprofit workers, and a multitude of other union workers walk right past all of us and pack this room to capacity. This eliminates public inputs and presents a small but unified viewpoint that is not representative of the community at large. I ask that you make amendments so that everyday people can come here and have our voices heard as well. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. Before our next speaker, I want to yield the floor to Councilmember McOsker for a special announcement from the 15th District.

Thank you so much, Mr. President and colleagues, and thank you to the public for allowing me to make a quick announcement. Today we are honored to welcome 11th and 12th grade students from Watts, South Los Angeles, and the surrounding communities, and they are right there. If the camera can put it right on that group right in the back, right next to John Ferraro's bust. This great group, there they are. This great group of students is participating in the Public Health Professional Pathways Program, the PHPP, at Charles Drew University. The program introduces high school students who are interested in careers in public service and in the well-being of their communities to the many, many opportunities that are available in public health and medicine. Charles Drew, as many of you know, has a unique and important mission of advancing health and equity and educating the next generation of healthcare professionals. As one of the nation's few historically black medical schools and the only HBCU in California, Charles Drew exemplifies the importance of connecting medicine, leadership, and community advocacy. A key component of the Public Health Professional Pathways Program is public advocacy and civic engagement. As we know, policy plays a critical role in the medical and health needs fields, influencing everything from access to healthcare to the decisions that shape the health and well-being of entire communities. Today, these students are here to observe this Los Angeles City Council and to learn firsthand how local governments can make decisions that impact people's lives. Later, they're going to be attending the LA County Board of Supervisors to observe that body. So let's be in our best behavior today. It'll be a full day of civic engagement, learning, and meaningful interaction. We are delighted to have them with us today. Please, let's again welcome these 11th and 12th grade students from around our South Central and surrounding communities. Let's hear it for them, please. Way to go. Thank you so much, Mr. President and members.

Thank you so much, Mr. McCosker. As you can see, there's a lot of excitement for you and the future that you represent for our city. So thank you to the young folks from Charles Drew. All right, Mr. Clerk, before we go back to public comment, I want to move that we continue item 23 for 90 days.

And that will be Wednesday, September 30th, 2026. All right, without objection. All right, we'll return to public comment. Yes, Mr. President.

And before we do that, item 23.

So a couple of things before we resume public comment. Mr. Herman, this is your first and only formal warning. To be clear, it was not because of what you did right after Mr. McCosker's presentation. It was because you interrupted the previous public speaker during her public comment, and I legitimately couldn't hear what she was trying to say at the end. So if you disrupt this meeting again, you'll be eligible for removal pursuant to rule seven and rule 12. Do not disrupt this meeting. Also, I want to update everybody with that newest continuance on item 23. The items that are currently open for public comment are items one through 22, 24 through 31, 36, 63 through 80, and 82 through 100. Can we have the next speaker please?

Good morning, what would you like to speak to? Hello, I'm speaking to 94-97 in general. Okay, so you have two minutes for the items and one minute for general. Please begin with the items, go ahead. Thank you so much, honored council members. James Charternerd, I'm here to speak to 94-97 in general, specifically to support police reform. In this, I am not alone. I attended nearly every meeting of the Charter Commission since November, and I am now celebrating my 124th hour of charter reform meetings. In all my time, by percentage of subject, public comment in favor of police reform was the overwhelming majority, at 24.93%. The question before you is simple. Should this body of elected officials have the authority over the LAPD, or is the current system enough? The evidence that the current system does not work is overwhelming. In simple numbers, as the honored Dr. Michelson noted, we spent nearly $300 million in lawsuits last year, the vast majority of which was PD related. a number that is only set to increase based on last year and this year's protests alone. When the police do something wrong, the members of this body are blamed. Just think of the outcry over the shooting of Jameson, the St. Bernardoodle. How many offices here have received comments about that? You are asked to change these things and you cannot because you do not have literal power over them. You are entering into a contract negotiation in November for five years and you have no power over the future behavior post-signing. You're entered into an Olympics with no power over how to discuss police policy. You have the opportunity now to change this. Meanwhile, the June 18th letter from the LAPPL is an extraordinary monument to truculence and misinformation. It also assumes a damaging and oppositional relationship to this body. You have the power also to restore faith in the LAPD, something that is affecting every part of this city, from its recruitment to the way that people report to it. I know it is the nature of administrators to be cautious, to believe that the status quo does less harm than an uncertain future. I am here to tell you that the status quo is doing enormous harm. General? First and simply, the reason why all of these good people have shown up is plain. The status quo harms us. We are asking you to change it. And second, and maybe more seriously, there's a widespread belief that city council does not care about the lives of ordinary Angelenos. That this body, small and large, endlessly deliberates and does nothing. Having spoken to you and your staff, I believe this to be wrong. I believe you care enormously. I'm asking you to demonstrate that care today. I am asking you to demonstrate to trust that the culmination of a nearly two year long process should not be delayed. The headline tomorrow should not read city council tosses the work of two years. The headline should read city council does the work that the public has been asking for. I wanna be able to tell the young people in the back of this audience to believe in this body. And I trust and believe that you will do that. Thank you so much. Thank you, next speaker.

Okay, before we begin, and your time has not started, Mr. Herman, we have a lot of new people here, so I just want to warn everyone. I suspect, but I hope that I'm wrong on this, but I suspect that what you are about to hear may be very offensive for a whole multitude of reasons. We do apologize. We have to allow him to provide public comment, provided that he is on topic, and that is an emphasis for you, Mr. Herman, to be on topic. And the best way to get through it and the fastest way to get through it is to not interrupt him and just ignore it. We appreciate your patience and we do apologize. And with that, you have three minutes for the items and one minute for General Mr. Herman. Go ahead.

Buenos dias, gente de Los Angeles.

Good morning, people of Los Angeles.

This moment what I want to see, I don't have the words for it because this morning they're taking your houses. Abatement.

This asshole lawyer said it's good for them to take away your houses because those fucking dirty abatements.

So, ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for listening to item number two and three of these unconstitutional abatements regarding why the city continues to put liens on your property at a time when we the public, you the American people, you the dreamers, African American minority Angelenos are displaced. But I have foresight to that. For the record, 42 SC 1983 politely. Fuck you, Los Angeles, on behalf of all those liens. Now, into another item, big head attorney on night 63, because you like numbers, asshole. I'll give you one, 63. Regarding the 60-foot wide easement for storm drain. Well, the honest truth everybody in America, we have the worst infrastructure in America. We are the downgrade of what America is not.

Mr. Herman, this is not how it works. This is your first only formal warning. You need to speak to the actual item 63, not the infrastructure in America as a whole,

So the fucking lying on 1455 South fucking Kalisha Street for the record, fuck item 63. Let's keep it simple, stupid. Fuck item 64. And the goddamn number 65, fuck 65 for the record, everybody on your behalf. And item 6666, fuck yeah, I support 666! Because they're just numbers. Also, I support the reason behind the motion on 67. A great year. A year that I, of God, was born into this world to talk before the infamous criminal corruption of whom other than, is it Diana LA, encouraging participation bullshit? That's item 67, fool. Then I have last 14 seconds before I go into the non-agenda public comment. Look at here, Smokin' Scan. up to 85 motherfucking problems and I only get one second. So the world should understand That it's not a dream to be a wetback, but it's a crime according to the Bible, the book of Romans chapter one. As you heard the Supreme Court ruling, we are no longer supporting faggots, homosexuality, because God hates you.

Mr. Herman, address this body or address no one. You will forfeit your time. Address the body.

This is about mental health, motherfucker! Do you understand what mental health is? Have you ever observed someone with mental health? While Batman has mental health, that's why he sees a psychiatrist. For that reason, I dress like an asshole, or you, pumpkin head, or smoking can, can understand that you suck a dick, you dog-eating motherfucker. 42 SC 1983 politely, fuck you, Groh.

All right, next speaker.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names. Julia Meltzer, Luke Walton, and Rosa Villavor. Good morning, what would you like to speak to?

Yeah, hi, item 95, 97 in public comment. Okay, go ahead. General public comment.

Three minute, you said 95, 97 in general, sorry.

Correct, yes.

Two minutes for the items and one minute for general. Go ahead and please begin with the items, thank you.

Okay, hi everybody, good morning. Council, my name is . My name is and I am a resident of- Sorry, give us a minute.

We're trying to get the timer going. Apologies.

I think those were the beeps for the gentlemen that just passed by.

Sometimes it throws our equipment off.

Go ahead, you have two minutes for the items and one minute for general. It's okay. Again, my name is and I am a resident of City District 9, South Central Los Angeles, and I'm here in support of item 95 and 97. First of all, in the 9th City District, there's about 250, 280,000 people that live in the district. We have the most kids in our district, and yet we also have the least amount of park space in the district. There's 0.5 acres of park space for every 1,000 people, which is the lowest in the county. It's important to pass this new funding formula. It's been about 94 years since we visited this conversation, and we're not asking for anything major. We're asking for common sense policy to ensure that the parks in the Lyme City District, the South Central Los Angeles, that my five-year-old daughter has a park that they can go to, they can swing, they can use the slides, that it's fully staffed. Just last week on Friday, I was part of a town hall meeting in South Park where there was one full staff member and two part staff members for a 19 acre park where the residents of the community cannot utilize the entire park for itself. So what we found out was that it was awfully understaffed. Having more funding would make sure that we would be able to get more staffing. We need that funding passed today. No more time for studies, no more time for anything. Another study has been done by my daughter that can't utilize the swings at her park. They can't use the slides at her park. additionally i want to make sure that we do this in an equitable way that that money comes to south central los angeles because every one of our parks in our community under the parks and rec study has been deemed uh not usable it has been deemed bad parks so i also want to be here in support of item 97 uh i want to make sure that the General comment is the LAPPL is moving against the LAPD oversight and resident voting charter reforms. I ask that you stand with the people and to reject the pressure from the LAPD and ensure that our elected representatives have a stronger say over our local police policy by voting yes on the LAPD oversight amendment to the charter. It's our money. We elect you. We want to make sure that you have a say over this. And I also want to be here in support and in solidarity with the undocumented community throughout Los Angeles. The vast majority of folks in the ninth city district are family members of undocumented people. Being able to increase the democracy in the city of Los Angeles is one of the ways that we're able to be back the fascist attack on our city and our community. So increase direct democracy to our people. Please vote and pass all of these amendments. Thank you, bye.

Good morning, what would you like to speak to?

Good morning. Number 95 and general comment.

OK, so you have one minute for each. Please begin with 95. Go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, City Council. My name is Sakai Koyama, president of the Echo Park Park Advisory Board, co-president of the Friends of Elysian Park, and serve on the annual Lotus Festival Committee. I want to thank you, council members, for your steadfast commitment to adequately fund our parks for generations of Angelenos to come. I want to remind everyone this issue is not just about recreation or even parks. As we recently saw with the Lineage Logistics warehouse fire in Boyle Heights, the RAP department are the city's first responders next to LAPD, LAFD, and paramedics. When the call goes out, RAP answers. During disasters, extreme weather, COVID, FIFA watch parties, RAP is asked time and time again to step up. Olympics is around the corner. The world will have eyes on Los Angeles. We cannot continue to ask more from this critical department without the financial support they need. Decades of deferred maintenance, staff cuts, General, Decades of deferred maintenance, staff cuts, cuts in programs to help kids stay out of gangs. Park closures do not make a healthy city. The recent drop ranking of Los Angeles to 93rd out of 100 in the national ranking by the Trust for Public Land is an embarrassment. For any city council members who may not still be fully on board yet with this increase, remember, your district may be the next disaster needing the help and support of this department. We have studied this topic to death. We had a year-long park needs assessment last year. Special shout out to CD7 Monica Rodriguez, Imelda Padilla in six, Hutt in 10, and 14, Jurado, for your unwavering and enthusiastic support of our open green spaces. Thank you.

Good morning. What would you like to speak to?

Comentario publico.

Okay, so you have one minute, go ahead.

Hello, my name is Johanna Valenzuela. I have been working in Wienerschnitzel and I represent more than 50,000 fast food workers here in the city of Los Angeles.

Where I worked, the bosses put up a little sign that said that all the workers are to leave by 12 o'clock midnight and that we would not be paid extra hours after that.

Like many others, I did not know my rights and I continued to work without pay.

Now that I know that there is laws in places to protect workers and unions, I do not remain silent anymore.

I went to a pilot work training program where I learned about overtime, hours and breaks and many more things.

Many other workers have not been cognizant of this information and now they work in fear.

This is why we need trainings that are taken into effect by experts and that are done by experts and not our bosses.

support the fast food workers because we want to be able to work with Dignity and fairly.

Gracias.

Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names, Victoria Gomez, Batman, Jed Liano, Jason Greenwald, MFLA, and Rob Kwan.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

Yeah. One moment, please. Sorry.

My name is Teresa Yaguaca. I've been working for 20 years in Carlos Junior. My boss would always tell me that if I would complain about my wage that they would fire me and they would prevent me from working at other fast food places.

During that time I was a single mom and I had very young children and I was unaware of my rights.

But now, during these pilot work training programs for knowing your rights, I learned that I had to review my timestamps.

In my last check stamp, I realized that I went 15 hours working without receiving any pay, and I made a claim. When I received my check, I went up to them and I asked them to pay me what you owe me, and a little bit after, I was able to get the money that I was owed. That is the power of the Know Your Rights training programs for workers. It gives them the power to be able to fight for the amount of money that they deserve to be paid. Support the training programs for people that are done less than once a year. Thank you. Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

I'm here to give public comments.

Okay, you'll have one minute.

My name is Rosa. I work at Yum Yum Donuts and I'm here to ask for your support in the fast food workers industry. Como muchos otros desconocían mis derechos laborales, pensaba que solo eran para ciertos trabajadores, no para los de comida rápida.

Like many others, I wasn't aware of my labor rights. I thought that they didn't apply to fast food workers.

Así que cuando mi jefe dijo que no podía pagarme 20 dólares la hora, acepté 17, pensando en que al menos todavía tenía mi trabajo.

So when my boss said that he couldn't pay me $20 an hour, I accepted 16, knowing that I would at least have a job.

But after years of not receiving a fair pay and receiving overtime, Encontré ayuda con la unión y descubrí que eso es ilegal, así que mi compañera de trabajo y yo presentamos una reclamación de más de 300,000 dólares.

Then when I find out with the help of the unions, a colleague of mine with the help of the unions made a claim for more than $3 million.

But that is just some money for those companies, but for my family, it's everything. It's allowing us to put food in the fridge. Please support us and help ensure that all workers receive a fair wage. Gracias. Thank you.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

Just giving public comment.

OK, you'll have one minute.

OK. So hi, good morning. My name is Veronica Gonzalez. I'm a CD1 resident. I worked for eight years as a Starbucks barista, and I'm an organizer with Starbucks Workers United. I'm here to urge you to agendize a fast food fair work ordinance and ensure it's passed without further delay, Being a barista here in Los Angeles requires far more training than just food safety and customer service training. The fast food fair work ordinance would ensure workers have the knowledge to call out and put a stop to workplace abuses. Starbucks claims to offer a luxury $9 coffee experience and great benefits, but luxury is far from the reality. I've met Starbucks baristas from all across Los Angeles, and they are experiencing food insecurity, housing insecurity, and as long as this ordinance sits in the queue, they are facing job insecurity. Employers shouldn't have to rely on workers not knowing their rights in order to do business. I urge you to stand with the 50,000 fast food workers fueling the city's economy. Join us in improving lives in our community. Ensure that this is agendized and passed without further delay. Thank you.

SPEAKER, WHICH ITEMS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK TO?

90 THROUGH 100 IN GENERAL.

OKAY. I'LL HAVE THREE MINUTES FOR THE ITEMS AND ONE MINUTE FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT.

SO IN THIS LOVELY CHARTER REFORM CONVERSATION, WE'VE CONSTANTLY HEARD THE COUNCIL PRESIDENT SAY IT'S BETTER TO DO IT RIGHT THAN FAST. AND EVERY SINGLE STEP OF THIS PROCESS AFTER BEING TOO DAMN SLOW HAS GONE TOO DAMN FAST. WE HAD THREE DAYS TO REVIEW CHARTER LANGUAGE, NO COMMITTEE HEARING. And some really sneaky stuff slipped in here. And I do wonder for Council Member Jaroslawski, you just watched the street lighting assessment crash and burn because y'all were way too ambitious and way too greedy. So I think it's really important to think about that. This ultimately does have to go through the voters. And what you are proposing on balance is a gigantic power grab for this city council. even with something like expanding the right to vote to non-citizens, which I support, you're allowing yourselves to choose who that class of people is. You're giving yourselves that discretion and the power to do it when you want, how you want, and we know that's gonna be a political decision. You have this controversial package of reforms to reduce your meetings, and what do you do? You move over an LAPD inspector general reform that LAPD admits has never been necessary, And that is now the headlining item, what you're using to sell it as reform to people. This is all fake reform. Even the stuff on limiting ethics commissioners from being able to run for office for five years instead of two years, nobody needs that. That was just an ask from labor. The idea that you're increasing ethics fines, you're not. Those are the civil fines. Ethics commission never goes to civil court. We never see those fines actually come out into reality. Now we have this misleading ballot question, and you can't even present the shameless stuff you're doing accurately. You're saying you just want to have the ability to change the schedule. You have the ability to change your schedule. What you don't have the ability to do is reduce your meeting frequency. I mean, one of the things we asked for was, hey, we should have our council members in the council chambers. How many times have I caught you guys outside having lunch while you're casting votes inside? How many times have we had big votes where the council president huddles up in the back room and one by one people come in to talk and hash out deals? I really do hope that you realize this is going to go to Mayor Bass's desk. And the pressure will turn to her. She's going to have to answer for this. And I do appreciate Councilmember McCosker introducing an amendment. I very much appreciate it. However, we don't have 15 Tim McCosker's on this council and I don't trust you all for implementation. This whole process has shown that the whole time I've been around here has shown that everything can and always will get worse. And you guys can't be trusted. This is a poison pill. And I think it's important to remember this whole referendum thing that you threw in here. That is shameless, absolutely shameless. You are basically neutering the public's ability to overturn any law. You are functionally getting rid of it without admitting it. And why are we seeing that? Because business came out and said we want to overturn the Olympic wage. Why shouldn't they cherry pick this meeting reduction and attacking this measure? Why wouldn't a billionaire mall owner decide he wants to go after this? It's important to remember that the California Clean Money Campaign a few years passed the Ballot Disclosed Act, and that means that when we have a ballot measure in front of voters, on the actual ballot itself, it says the primary supporters and opponents. Think about who your opponents are gonna be. I can't speak for the League of Women Voters, the Common Cause, and how they feel about this whole package, this item, but get around that, good luck. Good luck. The whole fact, us being here after you punted on every single reform and you can't step up, absolutely shameless.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

I want to speak to item number 95.

OK, you'll have one minute.

Good morning, members of the City Council. My name is Julia Meltzer. I'm the founding director of Clock Shop. Clock Shop brings arts and culture programming to parks and public land in Los Angeles. For the past 22 years, we've offered public programs for thousands of Angelenos in public space and on public land. We've seen our communities come together and connect because of our programs. One of our most well-attended events is the annual kite festival in LA State Historic Park. This past May, we welcomed over 10,000 people to the park to connect with each other, fly kites, celebrate, and protect public land. People love this event and our park. Our parks are spaces which need to be maintained and protected for everyone, especially our kids and for future generations. Thank you all for supporting parks. Please move this forward today. Thank you.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to? 95.

Okay, you'll have one minute. Good morning council members, Jason Greenwald, friends at Griffith Park. I wanna thank you once again for the work that you've done on the parks funding measure. You've heard from many of us park activists. You know how important this is to Angelenos. You've thoughtfully considered the issues and you've come up with a plan that makes sense for our city, makes sense for our people, for our parks. It's smart, it's thoughtful. Thank you very much.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to? 42 in general. Okay, 42 is not available for public comment, but you can speak to it in general public comment. I'll give general now.

Thank you. Good morning. Jed Liano, Senior Policy Advisor, Inner City Law Center. We are Skid Row's law firm representing the poorest of the poor in Los Angeles in their housing instability. We express our strong support for the fourth and central project here today. And thank you, Council Member Jurado, for your leadership. That said, this project took six years. Our clients do not have 72 months to wait for each project in this city to deliver affordable housing units. Please direct your staff to evaluate and propose ways to speed up this process and others. Our clients are homeless and or facing housing instability now. And so moving forward, please act with the urgency that this crisis immediately demands. That is all. Thank you.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

I have a few, 42, 49, 62, 66.

Okay, those are not available for a public comment, but you can speak to all of them in general public comment, so you'll have one minute.

I'll start with the most important agenda item 66, led by Jurado. I just want to thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry, 66 is available. Can you repeat the numbers again?

42, 49, 62, and 66.

Okay 66 you'll get one minute and then one minute for general public comment.

Okay so for 66 I just want to thank Jurado for leading the investment in air purifiers and N95 masks for the communities east of downtown. I think that this is a really important issue and that there's not enough money being invested into this. I also want to raise the issue that Although the communities of Boyle Heights and in the actual city of Los Angeles will benefit from this the communities in East LA and the unincorporated parts of LA County will not and so I encourage there to be Cross-agency collaboration to make sure all communities impacted by harmful air quality are supported I'll move on to the next general public comment. So I in favor of agenda item 42 and the fourth and central project. I am a political organizer with the Housing Action Coalition. We represent housing industry leaders, including affordable housing developments. This project would bring over 1,000 affordable housing units to the area that is deeply needed. And if the example of a cold storage facility fire isn't enough to readapt this location, I'm not sure what else will be. In addition, Agenda Item 49 offers a low-rise bonus that we highly support. The more that we can support developers in creating affordable homes will help us reach our housing goals in the city. So as much as we can do to increase feasibility and affordability to create projects and make them actually happen, we highly support. And last but not least, I just want to speak in favor of agenda item 62, which is leading efforts of youth hiring. We need more of that.

Yes, which items would you like to speak to?

In respect to our rights for fast food workers. Okay, you'll have one minute.

My name is Dina Alvarado and I'd like to make a public comment. I've been working at Carl's Jr. for the past three years.

Les pedimos apoyo en la ordenanza de trabajo justo en comida rápida con el entrenamiento sobre nuestros derechos como empleados ya que se nos violan nuestros derechos en los trabajos donde nos exigen mucho We're here to ask for your support for the Fast Food Affairs Workers Ordinance and to ask for your support in programs such as Know Your Rights Training. My hands are injured due to the repetitive work I'm having to do at work. I cannot sometimes brush my daughter's hair. All employees, all workers deserve to know their rights. We need your support, please, as workers, we deserve basic human rights. Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

I'm Batman today and if it's okay with smoke and scan I'd like to speak on at least one, two and a few others and public comment please.

Okay you'll have three minutes for the items and one minute for general public comment.

Thank you. okay number one about the fashion district business improvement district i am right now i mean i am for the bids to a certain extent but in a way i'm not because it's so quasi and there's no oversight okay and this is my concern if you keep allowing these to continue like the east hollywood bid they haven't had a meeting since november they're so scared because we come and talk about you know because they they're that around the area of Scientology and they have a Scientologist on the bid and so they just would rather hide and not have meetings. There's no oversight. Who's the oversight? So if you do this one with the fashion district, who's gonna have oversight if they stop having meetings or they stop doing what they're supposed to do? You guys don't make it clear enough with these bids and what their jobs are and what they're supposed to do. Like they're not supposed to be harassing people like they do. They're not supposed to be like they act like they are their own police force at times. And we're saying no to that. And I think smoke and scam would agree with me on that. We'll find out. The next one is for the the lean abatements. OK, I keep saying I don't want no more nuisance abatements until you deal with Scientology's nuisance and abate it. Okay, because they had taken over an entire street over and over and over again and blocked sidewalks illegally, mind you. And Hugo, you know this is true, but you don't do anything about it and we wish you would. So it's a nuisance and you know it because I know you have all the letters from the different neighbors that live on the street and all around there. Talking about what a nuisance it is, both with music, with sound, with them acting like they own the street, with being surveilled. They surveil everybody with their guards following everybody, intimidating everybody. I can't think of a bigger nuisance. And why aren't you doing anything about it, Hugo? Why are you ignoring it? Why are you ignoring me? Everyone wants to know. Smoking scam wants to know too, I bet. We'll find out. when it comes to the engineer that you're gonna put on. Okay, yeah, we need an engineer, that's great. But I want them to be, I hope we can advise them now not to accept any kind of street vacation application from Scientology because they don't deserve it. They don't own that street. Even though they try to, they don't. It would cause more abuse for the community. And I'm also asking public works and for engineering to revoke Scientology's R permit. They use it to abuse the community and it needs to stop. How much more time do I have? Oh, when it comes to you guys, like being so scared about, you know, if people disrupt the call-in, what about, why aren't you doing call-ins for the committees? Why don't you worry about that rather than like, oh, what are we gonna do if somebody calls in? I guess you can hang up, right? One minute. Public comment. OK, I am here because I'm sick and tired of this. A month ago, Scientology was denied a permit to have an event. They still had their three day event. They shut down a public street for three days without the city having any indemnification or anything because they were not granted a permit. So I thought that would get the city to say, OK, we need to enforce this. No. Scientology goes and applies for a permit for July 4th. And guess what? They gave it to them. Hugo, how can you have an entity take over a city street for three days illegally without a permit and then grant them a permit a month later. It's ridiculous. You guys are, where's the CAO? Where's the CAO? Isn't he the risk management guy? Do you know how much risk you're putting on the city by allowing these permits to go through? Even, I bet Smokin' Skin would agree with me. I'll find out that we don't want this to continue. It's fraud.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names. Natasha Villa, Naomi Martinez, Mario Barragan, Ellen Compton. I'd like to call up a few more names. Veronica Gonzalez, Lionel Mares, John Christensen, Yun Bu, Hillary Norton, and Lorena Zepeda.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

95 please.

Okay, you'll have one minute Thank you.

Good morning council members. My name is Alan Compton. I'm the founder of salt landscape architects We've been designing public space in Southern California for 15 years Our office believes the city's commitment to funding parks is a reflection of the city's commitment to jobs public health access to nature and protection of democratic public spaces Restoring funding through the Charter Amendment demonstrates the city's commitment towards bringing the quality of our parks up to the quality we would expect of a world-class city. We deeply appreciate the council members who are behind the Charter Amendment that will help restore funding to our parks. And if there are any other members who are hesitant, I really strongly encourage you to join your colleagues in committing to the city's open spaces. Voting to fund the parks is a vote for jobs, public health, and community resiliency. Thank you.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

Item 96.

Okay, you'll have one minute.

Good morning, President and members of the City Council. My name is Natasha Villa, and I'm here on behalf of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. We represent the maritime industry on the US West Coast. On behalf of a larger stakeholder coalition, we have some serious concerns about the proposed workforce impact disclosure included in the charter reform package. Our concerns are that the requirement in the charter creates uncertainty without clear definition, such as what standards apply, who determines whether the disclosure is adequate, and whether it becomes another basis for delaying or challenging projects. Port businesses already undergo extensive environmental review and permitting. Adding another undefined approval requirement will increase costs, delay projects, and discourage investments. We hope that this will not be included in the final language. Thank you for your time today.

Good morning, city council, city family, speaking as an individual on charter reform and general public comment, please.

Okay, so which items on charter reform would you like to speak to?

General.

Okay, you'll have one minute.

Okay, I am here today to speak in strong support of the charter reform recommendations by Fair Rep LA. For the past nine months, I, alongside many dedicated advocates, have invested our time, our energy, and our hope into advancing meaningful charter reforms that will make Los Angeles more responsive, that to um to the people of los angeles it serves we hope we have listened to communities we have organized and we have pushed for changes that reflect the urgency of this moment i urge the city council to act with courage and clarity our city is not as at an um infliction point and our residents are looking for you for leadership that meets the scale of their needs. As our nation marks its 250th anniversary, we have the opportunity to show what local democracy can look like. Please do the right thing, thank you.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

94 for read comments.

Okay, you have one minute for 94 and one minute for general public comment.

Good morning. My name is Lorena Cepeda. I am from El Salvador, a TPS holder and a community organizer with Carescen LA. The city of Los Angeles is home to 1.35 million immigrants. We have enrich los angeles with our culture and how contribute the growth of this city i am grateful for all the opportunity this country has given to me today i'm here asking for the support of the la city council uh or so that's that we as residents of los angeles uh with the right to vote and right to elect to our L.A. city and the school district representatives regardless of our immigration status. Thank you.

Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to call up a few more names. NIGV Max, Veronica Gonzalez, Wolf Pack, Leonel Mares, John Christensen, Yun Bu, and Hillary Norton.

Okay, speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

95 and general, please.

Okay, you'll have one minute for each. Please start with the item.

I'm John Christensen. I teach and do research in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA, where my work focuses on environmental equity and access. Increasing the charter allocation for parks is fully within the intent and history of the charter. which protected parks and library funding because they are essential to the life and culture of a great city. Study after study confirms that parks are where we are most likely to encounter people different from ourselves to listen, learn, and build trust. We need those spaces more than ever in LA. I deeply appreciate the careful, thoughtful consideration the city council demonstrated in developing this fiscally sound compromise measure. And I urge you to come together to move it out of council today. Thank you.

afternoon speaker which items would you like to speak to 42 and public comment okay 42 is not available for agenda item public comment but you can speak to it is okay it's up on your board sorry but you can speak to it in general public comment okay that's fine so you have one minute sure my name is mario berrigan i'm with ibw local 11 representing over 12 000 members in los angeles county and we're here in strong support of the fourth And central project, we'd like to urge council to accept all amended, I'm sorry, all the reports coming back from the EIR and move this project forward so we can get our members out to work. I appreciate your time. Thank you.

I'd like to call up a few more names for public comment. Lorenza Peta, Audit Ale, Luis Medel, and Fernanda Ramirez. and Melina Abdullah.

Speaker, which item would you like to speak to? I'm speaking to general public comment and item 42.

Okay. You can speak to item number 42 and general public comment. So you'll have one minute.

Okay. Thank you very much. My name is Hillary Norton and I'm the executive director of FastLink DTLA and working on the Arts District Transportation Management Organization. I'm here to speak in favor of 4th and Central. I want to thank you for negotiating with the developers for a better project that is going to exceed the affordable housing required under the DTLA 2040 plan is going to have funds for businesses for the Little Tokyo area and Skid Row and is going to make it better for people to live and have their future in downtown Los Angeles. I want to thank the developers of 4th and Central and Isabel Jurado's office who helped negotiate on behalf of the community something that we all have as a better way of living here in downtown Los Angeles. Thank you all for caring so much about developing more places for people to live. As a parent who has kids who would love to actually live here in Los Angeles, I would like to see more opportunities for people to live and thrive and own businesses and travel in downtown Los Angeles. Thank you very much.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to? Item number 95 and general comment. OK, you'll have one minute for the item and one minute for general public comment.

Hello. Good morning. My name is Fernanda. I'm from South Central LA in District 9. And I would like to thank you all, first of all, for doubling the park allocations. Parks are very important for everyone. And thank you so much for the commitment in the moving allocation. However, we still need your support. To pass this November, we are looking forward to working together. Let's move this, let's get this done today. Please don't make us come back in July. Please. Thank you.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

94, 97, and general comment.

Okay, you'll have two minutes for the items and one minute for general public comment.

Hi, my name is Luis Mendel. I'm a DACA recipient. I just wanted to express that I'm a part of the community. I would really love to vote, but I can't. But also the people who are just primarily Spanish speakers, that they experience the city, and the city experiences them, and I think they should be able to give some insight with regards to what path the city goes forward because as of now, they're being ignored within the school and the city. With regards to item 97, with regards to the police department, I think we're all aware of how The police department ignores basic rights, has taken advantage of the fact that they could get away with murder. And I think right now we have this opportunity for the future that we don't have to deal with this in the long term. I think that we should have a vision of what the city looks like. I see a city that doesn't have to deal with getting brutalized. I would ask all of you who are the current council members to envision what the future looks like without having to deal with your rights being ignored. Thank you so much.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

97 in general public comment.

OK, you'll have one minute for each.

My name is Eddie. As a protester that's been arrested twice in the past year, starting on June 8, I just found out that I was charged. Next month, I'm going to be charged, and I have to go through the whole hassle for expressing my First Amendment rights, and the police is What I've learned last year was that protesting is not allowed in this country. And the police are following their job, but they don't allow us to express ourselves. And if you guys do not, Allow yourselves to, oh my god, I haven't done this in a long time. Okay, don't be intimidated by, I know Marquis, I just like, I've tried to check out from coming on here because like you guys don't listen to us anyway and like I've been disappointed. What, you're listening now? Thank you Marquis. Okay, well we have one more minute. Well Marquis, that was just my first, okay. One minute. So yeah, the police sucks, guys. You guys need to be able to reprimand them and change the language in the charter, vote for it. 10 of you guys already did. If you changed it, your mind. It's going to show that you don't have a spine against the police league union. And people do care. And people are watching your votes. Marquis, your vote matters. I know you care about this. So come on. You know what to do. Yeah. Bye.

Thank you.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

Ninety-seven in all items.

Okay. You will get three minutes for the items and one minute for general public comment.

Thank you so much. My name is . I'm with Black Lives Matters Grassroots. I just returned from Mississippi where a one-year-old child, Colin Wiley, was killed by police and there was no accountability. The people there are fighting for accountability. We just left the police commission across the street and they still have not acted on your proposal to end qualified immunity, to end the stops. We need real accountability. The police in this city have done everything possible to resist transparency and accountability. The steps that you are taking will begin at least one step closer to some degree of accountability. We expect for it to be on the ballot so the people can decide. We expect for it to be on the ballot so we can discuss and debate this issue. We expect for it to be on the ballot so that we can get one step closer. And then finally, we expect you to do your jobs. We are disappointed that you did not choose to expand, to move, to expand the city council. We are disappointed that you chose not to discuss and put on the ballot ranked choice voting. We are disappointed at that, but you can now make a simple decision to move forward with more accountability, more transparency for an institution that has desperately, desperately needed it from its inception to today. Support Resolution 97 and make sure you put it before the people so that we can make the decision, thank you.

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to? All items.

You'll have three minutes for the items. It's absurd that we're even here at this point. So we have to remember that this is years in the making, decades in the making, that the charter has not been opened for reform in decades. Let's think about all of the things that have happened around the country and around the world since then. Let's also think about the fact that 1,200 people a year are killed by the police. and think about how many people are killed by the police right here in Los Angeles by LAPD and the fact that every year it keeps increasing. It has increased by almost 68% under McDonald's tenure. The reason why we are here is because of the blatant, racism and anti-blackness embedded within the city and embedded with not only within lapd but also within policing in general and so we are here because we need change in this city and there was work that has been done for decades to get us to this point. And now all of you, many of you, are sitting here scared, not wanting to do what is right, what is just, and what is necessary, simply because you're scared of the LAPPL, because you are scared of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, because you took money from the Los Angeles Police Protective League, and you are voting in their interests as opposed to voting for the interests of the people. And I can say that there are a few of you around this right now that you don't fall into that camp. So I hope that not only do you do what is right and just and necessary and vote to move forward to these charter amendments, but also that everybody else here takes a strong stance and that they actually vote in the side of the people. Because this is something that we have all been working for for months. You didn't even want to talk about police reform or police any accountability or anything from the beginning. We had to force that upon you. And now here we are and you want to take that away from us because many of you are thinking about politics as opposed to people. You're thinking about the profits and your next move and your next job as opposed to people. We have to remember that Keith Porter was killed just this year. We have to remember that there are countless people who have been, we were literally just at police commission where they're talking about two murders that they want to determine whether they are in or out of policy. We want you all to be able to make those decisions because we vote for you. We don't vote for commissioners. We had to go in there and talk about the fact that we want the pretextual stop motion to be moved forward because currently city council can't do that by themselves. This is what we are talking about. This is what is important. This is what is necessary. And we need every single one of you to do that, to vote, to move this forward, or else you will need to remember that you are complicit too. that the blood of the murder of those who were killed by LAPD also rests on your hands and the hands of your staff and the city, the fate of the city is on your shoulders.

She's sharing my time. Can she share my time?

Speaker, which items would you like to speak to?

I'd like to speak to all items, but my child was going to share my time.

Your child can have their own time. We don't share time.

Oh, so they'll get their own time? Yes.

Okay. So you'll have three minutes.

Okay, thank you. So I want to underscore what Baba Akili just offered, and I want us to sit in it. that on June 14th, a one-year-old baby was murdered by police in Senatobia, Mississippi. A one-year-old baby named Cohen Wiley And Los Angeles has a history and the city council has a history of pointing across the country and saying that's horrible what happened in Senatobia. Just like in 2020, you pointed across the country and said that's horrible what happened to George Floyd. And it is horrible. But just like is happening in Senatobia, where they are trying to make excuses for the murder of a baby, blaming his mother, saying, well, maybe she stole diapers from Walmart, and so that excuses that theft of life. We here in Los Angeles, you here in Los Angeles, make excuses for the LAPD that kills other babies. Valentina at 14 years old with someone's baby. We have to remember that Keith Porter has two babies. So you have an opportunity right now to not just say it's terrible what happened in Senatobia or even say, no, it's terrible that there's a 70% spike in LAPD killings of our people. but to actually do something you have the opportunity to actually do something you have the opportunity to say we will hold killer cops accountable you have the opportunity to say we will have direct oversight because the people have direct oversight over us so i'm asking you to be courageous Don't sit on the fence. This is a moment where history will judge you, but there will also be political consequences if you sidestep your responsibility. You have a responsibility. You have a responsibility to stand up for the people and not just Think about what your next political move is and how you don't want to piss off the LAPPL or other special interests. It's your responsibility to do what's right. It's your responsibility to do what's right. So please pass these charter amendments that are modest. They're not even radical. They're modest. They offer some modicum. of accountability please do that please be courageous if you're off on the fence get off of it and do what's right thank y'all thank you next speaker

Good after, sorry, actually yes, good afternoon. What would you like to speak to?

All items please.

Okay, so you have three minutes for the items. Go ahead.

Good morning council members. I think my colleagues have said things very eloquently, so I'm not going to try and even attempt to speak as well as they have. But the point remains. Item 97, this charter amendment, and when we talk about police accountability in general, this is something that I fought for my entire life. It's 22 years, 22 years of my life I've been aware that the LAPD is one of, if not the most murderous police force in America. That is really disheartening because I've always dreamed of growing old in the city as a black person. And the older I get, the harder it seems to make that dream a reality. I see black folks leaving all the time. I just came from the police commission meeting where a black father was saying that he was racially profiled in a traffic stop and his sons had to sit on the curb with him and watch that situation happen to him and he wasn't cited, he wasn't fined, nothing. These kinds of interactions, it's not just about the physical, injustice like oh there was no justification there was no probable cause it's the mental and emotional drain of being a black person in this city of having to deal with the knowledge that there is a police department who controls everything who controls y'all i know that many of y'all may have taken money from the los angeles police protective league but i have to remind y'all that y'all are the big dogs, okay? Y'all are the ones who were elected by the people to represent us, not the LAPPO. They are almost like a mafia. They're like an AIPAC. You can reject that. You are the ones who have your name on this dais. So you are the ones who get to decide if you're going to represent the people or if you're going to be beholden to murder money. Blood money, the money of people who support institutions that make people like me feel that I don't deserve to grow old and have children and lay down roots in the city. If we want to grow, if we want to build a future for ourselves, then let's show young people that democracy actually works. Let's show people like me who are 22 in their early 20s who are thinking of leaving Los Angeles that their elected officials will actually stand up for them and do the jobs that they were elected to do. I'm thankful to the council members who posted about this item today, who mentioned to the community, who collaborate with the community, and who want democracy to be an actual people-fueled process. So thank you, members Soto-Martinez and Councilwoman Hernandez for your work with the people and for your representative for your representation of our wants and needs, but I call on all of y'all to do the same and to vote for this charter amendment, to vote for police reform. Thank you.

Good afternoon, council. Alder Richard here. What would you like to speak to? I'll be speaking on all items. Okay, so you have three minutes for the items and one minute for general. Please begin with the items.

I'm actually gonna do general. Good morning, members of the council. I'm here today on behalf of the thousands of Los Angeles residents who refuse to be silenced. We are demanding that this council fulfill its duty to the taxpayers and do not certify the results of this mayoral election. right now our city streets economy and local governance are being driven into the ground by radical destructive policies when an election yields results that continue to push this damaging agenda we have a moral obligation to stand up and demand absolute transparency because our local election institutions are failing us we are escalating this fight we are officially calling on the president of the united states to step in and invoke federal law, specifically the Communist Control Act of 1954, to address the radical subversive elements undermining our constitutional governance from within. This is no longer a fair democratic process. It is a direct threat to our local sovereignty. A simple recount will not fix this. We want a clean slate. We are demanding that the register recorder halt this certification process immediately and that this election be rerun entirely under full transparent scrutiny. To this council, to the board, to the registrar, hold the line. Do not certify these results. We will not back down until the people of Los Angeles get the lawful, honest election they deserve. Thank you. God bless America.

All right. That concludes public comment for today's meeting. I want to thank everybody who came to speak. Mr. Clerk. Before we begin, there is a motion to continue item number 1414 until August 11th.

Is there a second to that motion? Thank you, Council Member McOsker.

All right. What's next? No, no, I'm going to do. All right. We're going to go to Council Member Yarosofsky.

Thank you, Council President. I'd like to call 19 special to continue the item for two months to August 28th. This has to do with a lien in my district on a property. All right, I'll second that. And then the second, on item 30, I'd like to call item 30 special for a technical amendment. And I can read that, if that's OK. We talked to the clerk's office about this.

Do we need to, does it need to be read or can it be distributed? It does if it hasn't been distributed. It hasn't been.

Okay. So amend recommendation number two to read, grant the application for determination of public convenience or necessity for the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-site and off-site consumption at Whole Foods Market located at 355 South Ogden Drive, Unit 100. And colleagues, this is to be consistent with what the conditional use, the CUB that was approved by the department Reflects and is there a second to that motion second?

Thank you All right councilmember McCosker.

Thank you. Mr. President. I'd like to also continue two items item 9 and item 10 both liens Continue to Friday, August 28th. All right.

Thank you without objection. That'll be the order councilmember Padilla.

Yes, I'd like to Continue item 12 for a total of two months, please. I

All right, 12 for 60 days. And that would be Friday, August 28th as well.

That works.

All right, without objection, that'll be the order. Mr. Nazarian.

I'll add my voice to the chorus of continuing item number 16 to August 4th, please.

All right, item 1-6 to the 4th of August. Are we back on the 4th of August? Mr. Lee, I see you standing, but no button pushed.

No, I pushed twice. Okay, Mr. Lee. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to ask item number 17 to be continued for two months, please.

And that's also August 28th, Friday. All right, without objection. Any others, members? All right. Can we move to item number 36?

Yes, Mr. President. That was called special by Councilmember Hernandez for comments.

All right, another very exciting item for us today that we'll ask Councilmember Hernandez to lead us into.

Thank you, Council President. We have before us an appointment for the general manager, well, the executive director of the Bureau of Sanitation. The appointment before us is June Kim Lopez, who's here with us today, who I've had the pleasure of meeting with, but also having in committee. I'm very excited for the expertise that she's bringing. One of the biggest lawsuits that we experienced last year, actually the last several years, was about around the Hyperion water plant and our wastewater treatment. And she brings heavy experience in that area that's going to hopefully help our city move forward into the 2026 with a better wastewater management system and supporting the teams that handle that. She's also been very clear around wanting to build up the L.A. Sanitation Bureau and team and leaning on the expertise and experience that is there to make sure that we continue to deliver our bulky item pickup and all the services that uplift our quality of life. So I'm very excited for that collaboration and that partnership and that vision coming to the department. And like I've mentioned to her, she has a phenomenal team that she can lean on. And, you know, she gave us some great some great and inspirational visions for what this department could be to serve our community. So thank you so much. I'm very excited. And thank you to the mayor for this appointment.

Thank you so much, Councilwoman Hernandez. And thank you to Mayor Bass for bringing this candidate before us. Ms. Kim Lopez, I'm just going to ask you to come to the desk. If you could just introduce yourself to the public and talk about what you hope to accomplish in your service to our great city.

Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you to all the council members for this incredible privilege to serve the very diverse communities of Los Angeles. I bring 30 years, 30 plus years of public service and 17 of those leading a utility agency, two of them in California. My current agency, we provide water, wastewater, and recycled water service to six cities in South Orange County. And we're really recognized for our top workplace culture. We've always believed that people first, the people that we serve, the people of our organization. And even though utility is a very technical industry, we can't lose sight of our purpose, which is really to provide the most essential service to all. And also for the work that we've done in innovation. About 10 years ago through our agency, I founded California Data Collaborative to bring big data solutions and technology advancements to solve some of the very occurring and longstanding problems in the utility industry. And today we represent 21 million Californians that are served by 37 utilities and has received numerous recognition for helping communities throughout California and beyond, especially those that are under-resourced to share the goodness and to share the many talents that we can cultivate for present and future leadership. And last but not least is our integrated approach to infrastructure. Big things and hard things takes a lot of partnerships. And I have been appointed to the California Seismic Safety Commission by the governor. This is my second term. And in that capacity, I represent all the utilities. And we develop partnerships, both public and private, but a very integrated network getting all aspects of community, from labor, public safety, water, energy, transportation, telecommunication, to create a very integrated approach to being better at planning and responding and recovering after any kind of natural disaster. And during my public service, I had also privilege of serving as a police officer, the city of Pasadena. And in that capacity, I realized that Things that affect quality of life and safety of our communities really takes compassion, commitment, and collaboration. And as the first female Asian officer for the department, I learned very early that pressure is a privilege. And it's a great opportunity to bring a lot of different perspectives that sometimes compete, but really find that common ground to do good and to serve the people that we have committed ourselves to. And it's such a moment for me. This feels like a dream because in 1979, when I was eight years old, my parents and I immigrated from South Korea to Los Angeles, not having anything, and always remembering when we received help. and also remembering what it's like when you don't receive help. And that created a very early resolve in me to dedicate my life and career to providing service to others and being able to come back to the city that was my first home that has helped me become who I am today, both personally and professionally, and be able to share this with my mom, who's in the front row. She couldn't sleep at all last night. She's very excited, as am I. And it is just really an honor, and I look forward to being part of the LA family, serving all the diverse communities, working with the wonderful staff at LA Sanitation, and with all the council districts under your leadership and your team. I'm very honored. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. And members will ask for a unanimous vote on this item. Let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

14 ayes.

All right, congratulations. We look forward to working with you.

Mr. City Attorney. Yes, and Mr. President, with regards to item number one, it is the creation or establishment of a new bid item. So I do recommend that consistent with the state requirements that we do exhaust public comment for that item. So if there's anyone here who has not yet had the opportunity to speak on item number one, so again, this is only item number one, and you would like to speak on that, please line up on your left-hand side of the council chambers. If you have already provided public comment, then you are not eligible to speak at this time. So this is only if you were not called because we ran out of time. Going once, going twice. I see one hand. Oh, someone's coming up, okay.

All right. So Mr. City Attorney, we've satisfied. Is that hearing been satisfied?

We thought we saw somebody coming up for item one, but it looks like they sat down. So I believe at this point there, we have exhausted public comment for item number one and it can be closed, Mr. President.

All right. So what's next, Mr. Clerk? now that the public hearing is closed for item one pursuant to council adoption of ordinance number 188938 on may 5th 2026 the tabulation of ballots shall take place immediately in room 223 of city hall and will be publicly live streamed for directions to access the live stream visit clerk.lacity.org public announcement of the tabulation of ballots is on wednesday july 1st 2026. all right what's next council may now vote on the block vote which is items two through eight, 11, 13, 15, 18 through 22, 24 through 28, 31, 38, 63 through 80, 82 through 85, and 87 through 89.

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

And we'll just need one moment to finish selecting all the items. Oh, I'm sorry. And we are ready, Mr. President, thank you.

All right, let's open the roll on those block of votes, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

14 ayes.

All right, what's next? Council may now move on to item 100, which was the closed session item.

Madam Budget Chair, are we prepared to vote on this item?

So my recommendation is that we approve the settlement.

Okay.

And I don't know that we need to go into closed session unless folks want to have a full debrief on it.

All right. I don't see any takers for closed session on this item. So I'm just curious if you can read the settlement amount and we'll open the roll.

Thank you, Mr. President. And we'll just need a motion to approve the city attorney recommendations in the confidential report. If Council Member Jaroslawski. Second.

Sure.

Thank you. And I will go ahead and read the settlement amount. Thank you. For item 100 in the case entitled J.M. by and through his guardian ad litem Maria Guadalupe Serrano versus Erwin Alexander Mahano, et al., there's a recommendation to expend up to $20 million in settlement.

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

14 ayes.

All right. What's next? Council may now move on to item 42, called special by Councilmember Jurado for an amendment.

All right, this item is before us as amendment. Do you have comments, council member? No, all right, let's open the roll on this item. Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

14 ayes.

All right, what's next? Item 54 called special by council member Park for comments. Ah, this one for comments. Council member Park.

Thank you, Council President. I want to speak briefly to this item because the Venice Auxiliary Pumping Plant is critical infrastructure and a project for Venice and the protection of the Venice canals, Bayona Lagoon, and the Pacific Ocean. The existing pumping plant is aging, and this project is going to provide the needed redundancy, resiliency, and reliability that we need to reduce the risk of sewer overflows and emergency discharges, all of which have really catastrophic environmental impacts. But at the same time, I want to be very clear that the concerns raised by nearby residents are very real. This project is located immediately adjacent to homes, and excavation, street closures, and heavy equipment operations are going to have a direct impact in the neighborhood. um so specifically i would like um sanitation boe and any other relevant city departments to ensure that there are clear and enforceable protocols for resident notification construction scheduling methane monitoring emergency response and procedures for addressing any advertent damage caused to private property. I think it's really important that our residents know who they can reach out to if there are issues and what protections for them are in place and what's going to happen if something goes wrong. So we will continue to expect them to work directly with the residents to mitigate those impacts and I will appreciate everyone's support because this is a really critical project for us to see through. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilwoman Park. Let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

14 ayes.

All right. What's next? Item 86, called special by Councilmember Harado for a separate vote.

All right. Let's open the roll on this item, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

12 ayes, 2 noes. All right.

What's next? Council may vote on item 30 for a technical amendment, a verbal technical amendment by Yaroslavsky, seconded by Council President.

All right, let's open the roll on item 30 as amended. Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

14 ayes.

All right, what's next? Item number 32 called special by Council Member Hutt for a separate vote, 92.

All right, all right. Pardon me, Mr. Clerk. So we're moving now members into the charter items. And so we'll take them one by one. We'll discuss and then we will vote on them as a package. Understand, I think every office knows today is the first reading. which items that are voted in a unanimous fashion do not require a second reading if they are not unanimous they require a second reading which will require us to meet over the recess right now we have the seventh as the date to do so and that applies to every one of our uh charter items that is before us now so uh with that i saw councilwoman hernandez's hand

Yes, Council President. Can I be recorded as a no vote on item number 86?

Yes, I was looking for you on that one. All right. So we'll record Councilwoman Hernandez as a no vote. And that does not change the outcome. All right. Do we have the CLA and CAO here? and city attorney. Yes, Mr. Wickham, just have a seat, get comfortable. It's gonna be a minute. Yes, come on, Mr. Dundas. Just be there. All right, 92 call special by Councilmember Hutt, who is gone. Any discussion on item number 92? All right, seeing none, let's open the roll on 92, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

13 ayes.

All right.

BEFORE COUNCIL IS ITEM 93.

ALL RIGHT. BEFORE COUNCIL IS ITEM NUMBER 93.

AND THIS ITEM HAS TWO TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS, 93A AND 93B.

ALL RIGHT. COUNCIL MEMBER IRISOVSKY.

Thank you, Council President. So for 93, this amendment is technical in nature. We discussed this in committee. Any changes to Section 242 need to also require adjustment to Section 245 because we're not looking to hold up business. So this changes the number of council meetings that a member has to assert jurisdiction on 245. to a number of calendar days while council's in session. And this keeps it proportionate to how much overall time we have now for 245 motions. So it's a technical amendment.

Technical in nature. All right. Mr. Blumenfield.

I was just checking with the author on 93B. I just had a technical question. It says the council shall hold regular weekly meetings. And I don't know if it should say at least weekly. I just want to, maybe the city attorney can tell. I want to make sure that we're not limiting ourselves to one day a week, that we are giving ourselves the option to have council on multiple days, but it's at, should we just say at least weekly instead of saying weekly, or does it matter? I guess it's a technical question.

Yeah. Well, I think, look, there's your...

if i could if i could respond i would take as a friendly and i think it's well a point well made a would read the city council shall hold regular meetings at least weekly again replacing the prior language period i think that i think that is a technical change and for greater clarification and does express the fact that There can be more meetings. We want to be very clear. There will be as many meetings as business requires.

That's right. All right, I think that's the intention. Councilmember? Seconded by Councilmember Jaroslawski. All right, any other discussion on this item? All right. Mr. Dundas.

Just for the record, I think for the members, the process here is voting on the amendment to request our office. Our staff will then immediately begin processing it and return the corrected measure back to council right now or later in the meeting, and then you can have a second vote on the full item as amended.

All right. So we'll do a vote now on the amendment, and then we'll come back to the full item later in the meeting. All right, let's open the roll on the amendment, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

12 ayes.

And B, there's two amendments.

So that was for 93B, and then we would vote on the next amendment, 93A.

All right, and then let's open the roll on 93A, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

12 ayes.

All right.

What's next? Mr. President, there's actually an updated ordinance and resolution that was attached to this file, 93. Would somebody like to make a motion to adopt the updated ordinance and resolution?

I move that we adopt the updated ordinance as amended.

Second.

Seconded by Council Member Yaroslavsky.

You know what? I'm sorry. I believe that was an error because we're gonna be updating it right now, correct? Yeah, it's not updated yet.

Yeah, got it. Please disregard All right, so we retract that What's next item 96? All right We we have an amendment 96 B 96 B that has been distributed any discussion on item 96 All right, seeing no discussion, let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate to vote.

13 ayes.

All right, what's next? On 96A. All right, let's open the roll on 96A, close the roll, tabulate to vote.

13 ayes.

And confirming this should be held on the desk as well, correct? That's correct. Yes. All right. Next is item 9 number 94 called special by councilmember Lee for comments.

All right, councilmember Lee We get sound for mr. Lee

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, I wanted to talk about items 94 and 98. I have difficulty understanding why we would model our elections after a city that warns non-citizens that their personal information may be obtained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as other agencies, organizations, and individuals. San Francisco, the only California city that allows non-citizen voting, provides the following warning on its official voter registration form and on its election website. So this is our actual registration form for non-citizens. In bold, colored in blue, it says, important notice for United States citizens. Any information you provide to the Department of Elections, including your name and address, may be obtained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, and other agencies, organizations and individuals. In addition, if you apply for naturalization, you will be asked whether you have ever registered or voted in a federal, state or local election in the United States. You may wish to consult with an immigration attorney, an organization that protects immigrant rights or other knowledgeable source before providing any personal information to the Department of Elections. This is not my language, colleagues. This is the city and county of San Francisco. Given the experience of the only California city that currently allows non-citizen voting, it is not fear-mongering to raise these concerns. They are real issues that must be addressed before Los Angeles asks voters to approve a similar system. This item also was only introduced eight weeks ago and was never presented to the Charter Reform Committee. We have not meaningfully examined the legal, fiscal, administrative, or privacy implications of this proposal, including whether it could discourage participation due to concerns about the collection and disclosure of personal information. The need for additional vetting is obviously, to me at least, has become clear. The city attorney has now advised that this proposal raises serious legal questions about whether the charter can lawfully restrict future councils from amending and implementing ordinance except during the two year period following the adoption of a final redistricting plan. If that restriction cannot be legally enforced, the only remedy is to empower politicians with broad authority to amend major election laws by ordinance. Empowering unknown future council members to alter major election law ordinances, including voting eligibility, the use of separate ballots, and vote counting processes, will inevitably be viewed by some as benefiting allies or harming opponents. Regardless of the actual intent, that perception alone will undermine public confidence in our elections. Colleagues, I respectfully ask that this item be sent back to committee so we can conduct the due diligence this proposal deserves. Before asking voters to amend the charter, we should determine what safeguards are necessary to protect personal information and which implementation rules should be written directly into the charter itself, not left for future councils to decide by ordinance. Only after those questions are answered should voters be asked to decide whether and under what specific rules voting eligibility should be expanded in the City of Los Angeles. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. Lee. Council Member Park.

Thank you, Council President. And I second Council Member Lee's motion to send this back to committee. Like several of the charter proposals, when this issue was presented to us last week, I was actually really surprised that we took up a proposal that had really not been subject to any real review or scrutiny, especially when our own CLA had advised that further study is required to determine if this was feasible, and our own rules committee moved the item without recommendation. That alone probably warranted a no vote the first time. But knowing that there were already enough votes to move this, I listened to the discussion. I did that with an open mind, knowing that this conversation has already occurred and is occurring in other places around the country. The things mentioned during that discussion and Councilmember Soto-Martinez, I listened to you very carefully. parents who have been residents for decades with kids enrolled in public schools, people with DACA status, legal permanent residents, and people who are registered and pay taxes. Councilmember, you also acknowledge that this needs to be thoughtful and careful. I heard your arguments in good faith and I said yes because I wanted to see what the proposed language would include. I've now had time to see it and the additional time to study it. My concern here is that if this goes to the ballot, the voters won't really know what they're voting for because we don't really know either. If this passed, how are we going to protect people from the feds using it to target them? We don't know, and we don't have any control over what could happen. Will they send ICE to polling places and ballot drop boxes? We don't know, but this sure seems like a red flag to wave in their face. Is the county even capable of running a second separate election for non-citizens? We don't know. And neither do they, because we haven't even asked them. None of the parameters discussed last week are contemplated or memorialized. There are no definitions about the eligibility requirements or processes. The language in front of us doesn't even include the phrase legal resident. These are things that should be figured out well in advance before we put anything in the charter at all. I should have said that the first time, but I'm saying it now. Because the process does actually matter. And what happened with non-citizen voting in other places is instructive, and it should have informed this proposal. Bear with me. First, San Francisco school board elections. That conversation was not new when voters approved it. A first effort all the way back in 1996 ran into legal issues. Then Prop F in 2004 was rejected by voters. Then another effort to do the same in 2010 with Prop D was rejected. And finally, only after a fourth effort Was it approved by voters in 2016 in Prop N with 54% of the vote? Literally two decades of public debate. And the charter amendment itself was expressly limited to school board elections for parents, legal guardians, or caregivers of students residing within the San Francisco Unified School District. So how much policy work occurred before the vote? a whole bunch. Before Prop N ever reached voters, we already knew specifically who would qualify, which elections were covered, what the implementation costs would be, and how many additional voters would become eligible. That really takes us to the next couple of them that are important as well. And just to toggle back to what you said, Councilmember Lee, in San Francisco, the only place that has in fact implemented this in California, we actually see warnings. about how dangerous this is for certain populations to participate in. So next, Santa Ana, Prop DD in 2024, that was a charter change referred by the council that was actually deliberated for two years before the referral was made. That would have allowed non-citizens to vote in all local elections and ballot measures, but it failed to spell out the eligibility criteria or any voting processes in the charter itself. It failed miserably with voters, and then it devolved into litigation anyway over procedural concerns. And I personally pulled up all of the Prop DD ballot materials and read them myself. They actually included a warning from the city attorney that the Orange County Registrar's election system could not administer a secondary election system. As I noted, here we haven't even talked to LA County about whether they can do this, nor do we have any legal advice from our own attorneys about how a system would be administered. So that takes us to Oakland and Measure S. Like San Francisco, it was limited to parents, guardians, and caregivers in school board elections for students residing in Oakland Unified School District. Nearly four years later, and they haven't been able to figure out how to implement it or even complete an administrative framework again because of issues with the Alameda Board of Supervisors and county elections, including legal issues around what documentation is required to register, voter confidentiality, and other issues. And then in Washington DC, finally, where non-citizen voting has been implemented in local elections, that was done by the council after extensive committee hearings, testimony from election officials, amendments, legal assessments, financial analyses, and public debate over implementation. And even so, now today, it is tied up in litigation. This is information that we should have in front of all of us before we make a decision as significant as this, and it really just reinforces that this isn't ready to be enshrined in our city's constitution and our charter. So for this reason, Councilmember Lee, thank you for the motion to refer this back to committee. Let's do that. Let's send this back where it belongs, and let's have that thoughtful and careful discussion and consideration. Let's take the time that we need to hear from the public, get the legal advice, and put in the time warranted for something of this magnitude. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Park. Councilmember Soto-Martinez.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. You know, I... Let me grab my words. You know, first of all, I want to thank you, Councilmember Park, for your vote on this item last time. It meant a lot for me to vote in that way, and a lot of your comments, I want to say I'm very appreciative of them as well. This conversation, I think, is heading in the incorrect direction. I think folks bring up a lot of things that need to be worked out with this item. And of course, I certainly agree, which is why the item in front of us is not prescriptive. It just tells us that we have the ability to do it. A lot of these concerns can be worked out, bringing in different community groups, legal experts, anyone who needs to do it. This is only simply saying that we should counsel have the ability to do this in the future. And many of the comments that were made today are fear-mongering. To cite the website from San Francisco to say there's a reason why we shouldn't do something, I am personally insulted by it. Because let me tell you something. When we organize and we uplift people's voices, we follow their lead. Somehow, as to say, because of this fear with the immigrants' rights community, that we, because of the fear that we feel for them, we're not going to do something for them, that's baloney. Let me tell you something. There's over a million people in this region that are undocumented. And every single day they get up, they take their kids to school, they go to work and cross this city under the risk that they won't come back home. And you know why they do it? They do it because they want a better future for themselves and their family. I don't need to talk about the history of this country. We all know the civil rights movement. People walked down to vote at the risk of being killed. This country is, was created by people taking courage and pushing so that everyone can have the right to vote. So I'm not moved by the fear mongering because when I spoke to the immigrants rights groups, they said, we want to do this. Let's go. This is the right thing to do. However, At the core of who I am is I am an organizer. An organizer is a rule in organizing. It says you never move ahead of your people. The folks from the immigrants' rights group, they're there. They're with me. They want to fight this. But there are constituencies and groups that I have to admit I have not done the work. We've seen letters from the black community come in saying there's concerns and they have. And you know what? I grew up in South Central Los Angeles. The black and brown solidarity is deep to me and means something to me. And I don't want this to be something that gets pushed through that is seen as a negative, something negative for the city of Los Angeles. I want this to pass. I want us to give the ability for folks that live, work, pay their taxes to be able to vote in local elections, whether that's school board, city council, or whatever we decide. But when that happens, I want that to be a celebration that brings black TPS recipients, Afro-Latinos and Latinos together in a joyous moment that we can celebrate the diversity of Los Angeles. And unfortunately, I feel like there's still much more work to do on that front. And having said that, with sadness and with a little bit of how I could have done things differently, I'm also going to be asking for this to go to committee. Because I want, when we do get to this point and we pass it, that people are brought in together and we can have a big celebration about what Los Angeles means. I appreciate the motion, Mr. Lee, but I will also be, I will accept that as a friendly, and hopefully we can have this more thoughtful discussion in the future, and then we can have something we can press in front of the voters. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr. Sotomartinez, and thank you to all the members who spoke. You know, I think Mr. Sotomartinez expressed, you know, and Councilmember Park as well, a bit of bittersweetness, like, This is clearly the right thing to do. As someone who grew up in South LA, this city probably more than any other city, the reason why we don't have the trouble that Detroit or Baltimore or other cities have where after the war on drugs and deindustrialization, major parts of their city just went vacant is because people moved here, immigrants moved here moved into those houses, did jobs, sent their kids to school, kept our economy and our neighborhood going. And the idea that they are prohibited from voting is just wrong. It just is. They pay taxes. They do all of the things that they are asked to do, including pursue citizenship. And I would just note, one of the things that's particularly frustrating about this issue is, Sometimes we talk about citizenship as if it's an objective category. It is not. Who gets to be a citizen outside of the people who were born here? And even that was, the president tried to take that away and got rejected this morning. Who's a citizen is not objective. It doesn't go by what you do or how you interact or what you contribute, how you treat your neighbors. It doesn't go by any of that. It is purely an accident of birth. And then we have a federal government right now who puts their hand on the scale about who can be a citizen and who can't. We say we don't, you know, we have one part of the administration that says the United States is full. There's no more room for immigration, except they admitted 500 white South Africans and gave them history books on the history of the United States that didn't include slavery. Our citizenship system in this country is broken. And what happens is our neighbors are subject to that. And so the question is, can we intervene on their behalf? I think if we intervene on their behalf, we have to do it the right way. And I think Mr. Soto-Martinez is right, Mr. Lee and Councilmember Park is right. We've got to do it the right way, which means we've got to take a little more time to do it. And so I thank Mr. Soto-Martinez for his acceptance of the friendly amendment, and we'll move. I think we can do 94 and 98. Mr. Soto-Martinez, that's what you're going to say? I was just going to say that. Yeah. So if Mr. Lee, if I can amend your motion and say can we move 94 and 98? which is just the school district version of this, to committee. I believe we had a second from Councilmember McOsker. If there are no other speakers on this, let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

14 ayes.

This item is referred back to committee. And which committee is that?

It is the ad hoc committee. On charter review? Thank you, Mr. President. There's a letter, Mr. Dundas. The committee exists. You just haven't seen it yet. All right. What's next?

If the council would like to vote on item 90, that was inadvertently left off the block vote.

All right. Any comments on 90? 9-0? All right, let's open the roll, close the roll, tabulate the vote.

14 ayes.

All right, what's next? All right, Councilmember Rodriguez. 98 with school district voting. School district, non-citizen voting. Oh, got it. Yeah. And so we just took a vote to send both of those back to committee.

OK. And then we voted on item 90, which was the city clerk ballot certification, election results certification. And that was item 90.

All right. All the council members are saying is that it's still up on the board.

Oh, it's still up on the board? Yeah, it's still up on the board. I don't know who's in charge of that, but we need to get it off the board.

Just trying to make sure.

Thank you. Yeah, let's take the time to get it right because I don't want us to have to come back for. All right, Mr. Clerk, I believe we have a reconsideration of item 92 for a correction. That's correct, Mr. Chair. So we'll just need to take a vote on reconsideration. All right, let's open the vote on reconsideration. Close the roll, tabulate the vote.

13 ayes.

All right. And then there is an updated ballot resolution on that item. So if somebody would like to make a motion to adopt the updated ballot resolution dated June 29th, 2026.

So I move that we adopt the corrected ballot resolution date of June 29th along with the ordinance dated June 26th. I'm sorry, the ordinance is 6-26. So I move that we adopt the corrected ballot resolution for the date of June 26th along with the ordinance dated June 26th.

Just to confirm, Mr. President, so the ballot resolution is dated June 29th, and then the ordinance would be dated June 26th. So what I said the first time? That is correct. Got it. All right. And we'll just need a second for that, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. Blumenfield, for a second. Thank you. All right. Let's open the roll, close the roll. Tabulate to vote.

13 ayes.

All right. Mr. Clerk, what's next? Would council like to recess the regular meeting and convene the special meeting one? Yes. Please call the roll. Blumenfield, Harris-Dawson, Hernandez, Harada, Lee, McOsker, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, Rahman, Rodriguez, Soto-Martinez, Yaroslavsky, 13 members and a quorum, Mr. President.

All right, Mr. City Attorney. Yes, so members of the public, we are now going to take public comment for the only item that is on special agenda number one. So there's only one item. If you'd like to speak to that item, please line up on your left-hand side of the council chambers. You will have one minute for that item. right which seems like we don't have anybody lining up um hey right here we hold on okay and for the record for everybody the item is related to a closed session uh and it is to confer with its legal counsel regarding a significant exposure related to a written threat of litigation against the city uh and related to leppl you have one minute go

in regards to the fucking impact report for fucking end mitigation and the end severity and the end intensity of harmful fucking legal counsel regarding the fucking stupid dickhead attorney up there and his colleagues is the exposure related to significant written threat. The only threat you get, you fucking Korean dog, is learn the law, apply the law, and apply the rules.

This is not on the agenda, so stick to the item.

I am on the fucking agenda. I'm talking about the city council's May recess. Then speak to the item. Stupid motherfucker. I'm not Black Lives Matter. I'm on the fucking subject. So don't fucking interrupt me when I'm on the goddamn subject, asshole.

All right, you are off again. I have warned you multiple times. You know the rules. You are here literally almost every day. So your time is now forfeit. Next speaker.

You dick.

Good afternoon. You have one minute.

Good afternoon. Okay, I would like to say that, you know, I come here often, right? I come here a lot trying to tell the city how they are putting themselves at litigation risk, right? And I'm sure I'm not the only one, right? There's a lot of people that come and tell you guys of the litigation risk. Yes, I'm the one And Smoke and Scan has heard me over and over again how many times I talk about Scientology and you guys are putting yourself at risk by doing the things you do. So then guess what? Maybe I'll sue you guys because I've had my rights violated many times with these permits where they don't allow the pedestrians to go through. I can sue you guys, you know? And so, you know, when are you guys going to stop allowing yourself, like stop leaving yourself open to litigation and listening to people? So yes, I know you have to hire an attorney here. Because okay, what are you gonna do not defend the city? I mean you're defending yourself against I mean Scientology suing you seven times, right? I guess you're gonna have to spend money on that too. But When are you guys going to listen to people and prevent it?

Thank you. Your time has expired Next speaker Go ahead you have one minute

Council members, my name is Min Yang. 2024 made a second. My son got killed by LAPD in my living room while he is having a mental health crisis. I stood before you in this very chamber a few months after. Today I return to thank you for advancing the charter reform. especially Ms. Hutt, District 10, where my son used to live until he died, and Mr. Soto Martinez, my district, where my son got killed. I love Los Angeles. I wanted LAPD to be the absolute best department in the country, so accountable and trusted that it needs no political shielding. This reform is not against the police. It's for the police and for the citizens they serve. That's the way for the LAPD and the city to take a huge step.

Thank you, Speaker. Your time has expired. Next speaker. Good afternoon. You have one minute.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the City Council. I'd like to speak on the item regarding city litigation. It seems like I have had a lot of encounters with the LAPD that were very negative. I'm talking about a detective who falsified a police report, committed perjury during my trial. I was sexually harassed by one of the police officers and he was not held accountable. So I feel like it's gotten to the point where I have to take a stand and file my own lawsuit against the LAPD and the city. From my understanding, this city is already at a budget deficit, and it seems like I might have to escalate it to the courts or to the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. So if the police is not reformed, if they are not held accountable, and the city is not doing anything, then I think it is time that I escalate it to somebody that's actually going to investigate. and hold these individuals accountable. LAPD has also been targeting peaceful protesters out in the streets, and with this, I yield my time.

Thank you. Next speaker. Okay. Mr. President, it looks like we have exhausted all those public speakers for this item.

All right. What's next, Mr. Clerk?

Item number one and the special. Pardon me? Item number one and the special.

All right. So this is a closed session item. So members of the public, you will leave the room for this discussion and discussion will be limited to council members, two members from each council staff, staff from the appropriate department. and members of the Los Angeles Police Department. So if you're not in those categories, we ask you to vacate the chambers at this time.

Visitors take away the interconnectedness of all ecosystems and how changing one part of an ecosystem can affect another part of an ecosystem. We also hope that they take away the beauty and the inspiration behind these ecosystems, what it's like to experience them, what it's like to visit them, and what it's like to want to protect them and want to learn more about them.

A lot of people think of mummies primarily as Egyptian, but this is mummies of the world. In mummies of the world, we have on display intentionally mummified and naturally mummified animals and people from South America, from Europe and from ancient Egypt, including we have a selection of mummies that have never before been seen in Los Angeles. And we have CT scans of the full body mummies that let you look beneath the surface. Mummies of the world is being shown in a science center, not in a cultural history center. So we tend to look at this through the lens of science. And through the lens of science, we're able to study more about the history of human health. We're able to study the process of mummification and learn that mummification preserves biological and cultural evidence that let us know much more about our human history.

So we balance fun and learning by using hands-on inquiry-based science. So that is really the inspiration behind the whole Science Center. And here at the Game On exhibit, our visitors are actually able to participate in sports and experience the sport. So the visitors are encouraged to play, to kick, to throw, to bat. And this is really an opportunity to not just be reading about science or reading about physics, but to be doing science and doing physics. So we'll be here through the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics. So I think it's an incredible opportunity as we prepare for the Olympics to visit Los Angeles for children and visitors of all ages to come down and get an experience of science behind sport. So the general admission to the Science Center is always free. So we're very proud of that. And we invite all of our Angelenos and all of our visitors across California and the US to come down, not just to Game On, but to the Science Center. We have hands-on exhibits throughout where you can participate in your own learning, have active investigations, opportunities to see live animals, opportunities to see space. And I just would encourage all Angelenos to come down and check us out and spend some time here.

Every day, over 100 Americans die from secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke in children can cause asthma, ear infections, and increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Go to smokefreehomesla.com. Learn how you can protect your home from secondhand smoke.

There is a big network of communications that most of us don't realize. We usually ignore a radio tower. Radio towers provide radio communications. If you've ever seen a police officer or firefighter, they're carrying a radio on their body and they have radios in their vehicles. The radio communications is how police and fire do their job. We have 33 different radio sites with 31 radio towers and these are critical. 911 dispatch utilizes radio communications to ensure that vehicles, officers, firefighters, other agencies can all interact with each other during an emergency.

Pressure is really high, always, 24-7. The radio that they use is their lifeline. It's a matter of life and death. So it's very critical that we maintain it, and it's working all the time.

All right, good morning. Good morning, morning. All right, so today, we're going to go ahead and change the bulbs on top of the beacon.

that will fall to mike and roberto while we're going up we're also going to be hiding some cables that might need weatherproofing so if you look at these bulbs they're special type of walls because they're a little extra large

One of the things I'm most proud of, we have not had an incident since I've been here. Everybody goes home at night, communications keep working and goals are met.

So right here it's okay because it's a ladder. With the ladder you have your safety guide wire. This piece attaches to that so you're safe going straight up the ladder. Once you get to the very top where we're going to be it's a monopole. So after you get off the ladder you won't be able to use this no more. So you're going to be using a positioning lanyard. Let's go. Safety would be the primary thing on my mind. One foot in front of the other, one hand in front of the other, ensuring that I make it home safe.

Wow.

I would say four to six hours if it's just the bulb that needs to be replaced. This one probably takes a little longer just because it's the biggest tower that we have here at the city.

Oh, it's bad. The connector? Yeah.

Hey, Steve.

Yeah, go ahead. The connector on the LAPD TX completely exposed.

Weatherproofing first?

Yeah, weatherproofing first.

We are weatherproofing some of these antennas over here.

So what causes the equipment on the towers to malfunction can be weather, moisture, high winds, simply the age of the antennas or the connectors. So the ongoing maintenance of radio towers, it is an ongoing job. Yeah.

And our last stop will be the boot and bolts up at the very top. Your crucial fly-bys from LAPD need to know that there's a tower right underneath them. Awesome views to view that only tower climbers would see. Mount Lee's pretty awesome, right, because it's kind of like dead center of city communications and operations. Every city entity comes through Mount Lee. Let's coordinate our efforts.

What we do is important. It keeps fire and PV moving all the time.

Alright, that's it.

This location is one of a kind. What else can we say?

It's iconic because you've got the Hollywood sign down below. You see it in movies all the time. They span out, and you see the tower, and people never really question what goes on on that tower.

All right, Roger that. Great job, guys.

Thank you for watching.

If you live or are visiting Southern California, this is probably one of the best places you could choose because it's accessible. If you do run into any kind of trouble, there's going to be people around. If you're new to hiking, it's a very safe place to start.

I would say if you want to choose Griffith Park, the reason you would do it is because you're getting history. You can see the Hollywood sign. You can see the Griffith Park Observatory. And if it's a clear day, you can see downtown L.A., Century City, out to the ocean at times. They've even got down below, there's a cave that they filmed the Batman car and, you know, when it drove out for the Batman movie. So you can just, if you want something short, you can park there and just walk up and be like, hey, this is where a movie was made, so super fun.

One of the basic do's is you definitely want to stay on trail. These trails are maintained so there's a less likelihood of you getting hurt on the trails as opposed to off the trails. So you can see the path right here. There's a sign posted caution rattlesnakes and the little no footpath sign. This is actually an animal path. So the animals form this path and over time people start walking over to that. Those paths, we do not maintain them. They're very uneven and you're also stepping into basically the homes of the animal wildlife in here. So we're trying to keep people on the trails and off of the animal paths because you're starting to basically invade the animal's territory, disturbing their homes, and there's a higher likelihood of you getting lost or getting injured off the designated trails.

You do sometimes see a snake, and I'm never afraid of them. They're always at the side of the road. They don't like me. They hear me stomping along. So they just head off into the bushes.

If you encounter wildlife in the park, you have to be mindful that you're in their home. This is their habitat. We're the ones that are visiting. So if you see any wildlife, just let them be, let them do their thing. Bring your dogs, just make sure that they're on leash. The last thing we want for them to do is to see a squirrel running across or a coyote and try to chase after them and then they're lost. And also be mindful of the weather conditions. If it's really hot and you're going to take them hiking on a trail, the floor is a lot hotter on the trails than it is on grass or anything else. And so there is the possibility that you're going to end up burning your poor animal's paws. Then they overheat, get dehydrated. So just be mindful of the weather conditions and just make sure that your animals are hydrated and they're on a leash.