Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

you do do Thank you. Bye. you Thank you. . . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you Thank you for watching. ¦ ¦ do do do . . .

Buenos dias. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. We want to welcome everyone to our regularly scheduled meeting of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Today is Tuesday, June the 9th, 2026. And please note that Supervisor Horvath will be absent from our meeting today. And we'll take note that a quorum is currently present. The Chief Executive Officer, County Council Executive Officer, and the Sergeant at Arms are all here to assist. At this time, we will hear the land acknowledgement. The County of Los Angeles recognizes that we occupy land originally and still inhabited and cared for by the Tongva, Tataviam, Serrano, Quiche, and Chumash peoples. We honor and pay respect to their elders and descendants, past, present, and emerging, as they continue their stewardship of these lands and waters. We acknowledge that settler colonization resulted in land seizure, disease, subjugation, slavery, relocation, broken promises, genocide, and multi-generational trauma. This acknowledgement demonstrates our responsibility and commitment to truth, healing, and reconciliation, and to elevating the stories, culture, and community of the original inhabitants of Los Angeles County. We are grateful to have the opportunity to live and work on these ancestral lands. We are dedicated to growing and sustaining relationships with native peoples and local tribal governments, including in no particular order. Fernandeño Tataviam, Band of Mission Indians. Gabrielino Tongva, Indians of California Tribal Council. Gabrieleno Tongva, San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians. Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians, Quiche Nation. Yahaviatam of San Manuel Nation, San Fernando Band of Mission Indians, Coastal Band of Chumash Nation, Gabrielino Tongva Nation, Gabrielino Tongva Tribe. To learn more about the First Peoples of Los Angeles County, please visit the Los Angeles City County Native American Indian Commission website at lanaisc.lacounty.gov. Thank you. And with that, the invocation will be led by Terrell Bruce, Assistant Director and Social Worker, The Way Out Ministries, Hawaiian Gardens from the 4th District, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by Maria Gomez-McKinney, Post Commander, Veterans of Foreign Wars La Verne from the 5th District. If you are able, please stand.

I want to thank you all for inviting us today, and I especially want to thank you for your help in the City of Hawaiian Gardens. We're very blessed that you're there. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you today with thankful hearts for the blessings you have poured out on our community and nation. We thank you for those who have accepted the responsibility of public service and for the opportunity to gather together for the common good. We ask that you grant wisdom and integrity to these members of the Board of Supervisors as they consider the decisions before them today. Give them clarity, fairness, and a genuine concern for the people they serve. Help them to do what is right with humility and courage. Your word tells us if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all. We ask for your wisdom here today. We pray for the residents of this county, for families, businesses, schools, churches, first responders, and all who call our community home. Bless them with safety, justice, provision, and hope for the future. May all that is done here today be marked with respect for you, Lord, understanding for each other, and a sincere desire to serve others well. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Good morning. Will all veterans, first responders, and active duty render a hand salute as we read the Pledge of Allegiance? All others, 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.

Supervisor Hahn.

Terrell. Come stand with me. I'm so honored. Where are you? OK. I'm so honored. And let us again please welcome Terrell Bruce, Assistant Director of the Way Out Ministries and Hawaiian Gardens for being with us today. Thank you so much. In 1984, Terrell and her husband Barry founded the Way Out Ministries, a non-profit Christian urban ministry serving the Hawaiian Gardens community. For more than four decades, Terrell and Barry have devoted their lives to uplifting and supporting the residents of Hawaiian Gardens. As a newly married couple beginning their journey in ministry, they witnessed the community facing a difficult period. marked by drugs, addiction, alcohol, and gang activity. Rather than turning away, they chose to stay, raise their family, and be a part of the solution. Their commitment led to the creation of a community center, a secondary school for low-income students, and a church all within Hawaiian Gardens. On any given day, you'll find Terrell accompanying a client to an appointment, coordinating donations for individuals experiencing homelessness, or overseeing operations at the Turner Resource Center. Terrell holds a master's degree in education, a bachelor's degree in social work, and she's the proud grandmother of six. Thank you, Tyrell, for being with us today. We appreciate your ministry. We appreciate how much help you give our residents in Hawaiian Gardens and your Christlike heart for the community and your unwavering commitment to all the residents of LA County. So on behalf of my colleagues here, we wanted to present you this token of our appreciation for being here today.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Barger.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Please join me in thanking Staff Sergeant Maria Gomez-McKinney for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance this morning. There you are. She's, yeah. She served in the United States Air Force from 2002 to 2007 as a vehicle and special equipment mechanic. During her service, Staff Sergeant McKinney received the Air Force Achievement Medal. For her deployment to Iraq, she earned the Army Accommodation Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, and Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Staff Sergeant Gomez McKinney is a proud, lifelong resident of the 5th District and has a daughter, Aurora. She attended the University of La Verne, where she earned her bachelor degree in business administration. Currently, she works as a payroll specialist for the Haynes Family of Programs, an organization that provides specialized treatment and educational services to children with special needs. Thank you for that. In an effort to give back to her fellow veterans, she joined the Veterans of Foreign War Post in La Verne, hosting events where veterans can connect with one another and access services. She's especially committed to advocating for veterans who were deployed during the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq, giving them the support that they need and deserve. As a result of her volunteer efforts, she was honored as a 2026 Post Commander of the Year. Maria, thank you for your service to our nation and to our communities, and thank you for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance today. Let's give her a round of applause. Thank you. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure.

Thank you. Supervisor Barger. Thank you.

How many of you remember Legally Brawn and Bruiser? Oh, yeah. Okay. Well, we've got, we've got a twin here. I'd like you to meet Yoda, a 16 week old Chihuahua mix. Yes. He's been staying with a foster family where he's been growing, thriving and potty training. He is sweet and he honestly is sweet, affectionate, and full of lots of puppy energy. Yoda is a big fan of toys, cuddles, and zooming around the house. Who isn't? Though he's tiny, he has a huge heart and a big personality to match. Please call the Agoura Care Center at 818-991-0071 to turn Yoda from a Star Wars character into the star of your home. This is Yoda. Doesn't it look like Legally Blonde Bruiser? And now, if you would turn your attention to the screen for our pet from Palmdale, Meet Sage, a lovely one-year-old cat. People always ask us, why not featuring more cats? Brought in as a stray, she quickly became a favorite of our volunteers. She's friendly, easy to handle, and loves being a pet. You can call the Palmdale Care Center at 661-575-2888 to make her yours. And I also want to share a special promotion happening at all seven of our care centers. There's been a 50% increase in senior pets in recent months. Seniors make amazing pets. They're house trained, calm and really just content to be by your side. To help all the amazing senior pets find their loving homes that they deserve, cats and dogs, who are six years old and older have all the adoption fees waived during the month of June. Visit animalcare.lacounty.gov to help these seniors graduate into a new home. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Thank you. Very good. Okay, with that, Executive Officer, please play the code of conduct for us. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I please have your attention. The meeting of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is about to commence. A code of conduct will now be read, and we request that you comply with it to ensure the efficient administration of the meeting. Members of the public, it is your right to participate in today's Board hearing, and the Board encourages such participation. However, the right of the public to address the Board must be balanced with the need to ensure that public comment does not interfere with the orderly course of the Board's business. All are reminded to abide by the following rules. Speakers must cease speaking immediately when their time has ended. Public comment on agenda items must relate to the subject matter of that item. General public comment is limited to subjects within the jurisdiction of the Board. Public comment does not include the right to engage in a dialogue with Board members or staff. Please remain respectful of the forum and refrain from uttering, writing, or displaying profane, personal, threatening, derogatory, demeaning, or other abusive statements toward the Board, any member thereof, staff, or any other person. Members of the audience should be respectful of the views expressed by speakers, staff, and board members, and may not clap, cheer, whistle, or otherwise disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting. Any person engaging in conduct that disrupts the meeting is subject to being removed from the board meeting. And finally, if you witness conduct or behavior by other members of the public that disrupts your ability to remain engaged or participate in this meeting, please notify the sergeant at arms or other county staff. Thank you for your cooperation.

Thank you. Before we begin, Executive Officer, please read the call-in information and explain the speaking rules.

Good morning members of the public. If you wish to participate in public comment, you may do so in person or remotely. To participate remotely, please visit our website at www.bos.lacounty.gov. to register and join the meeting or you may call 213-306-3065 and use access code 25377337682 and the meeting password 2672026. You will have the opportunity to address the board throughout the meeting. For items not held by the board, you will receive one minute for one item and up to two minutes for two or more items. FOR ITEMS HELD BY SUPERVISORS, YOU WILL HAVE ONE MINUTE TO ADDRESS THE BOARD AND ONE MINUTE TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT, FOR A TOTAL OF UP TO SIX MINUTES. WHEN IT IS YOUR TURN TO SPEAK, IF REGISTERED ON A COMPUTER OR DEVICE, YOU WILL HEAR A BEEP AND YOUR NAME WILL BE CALLED. OR IF JOINING BY TELEPHONE, YOU WILL HEAR YOUR LINE IS UNMUTED, YOUR AREA CODE AND THE FIRST THREE DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER WILL BE CALLED. TO ENSURE WE HEAR FROM BOTH IN-PERSON AND REMOTE SPEAKERS, WE WILL ALTERNATE BETWEEN THE TWO SPEAKING CUES. Members of the public who are in attendance, when you hear or see your name displayed on the screen, please come down to the front of the boardroom and staff will assist you. Please do not approach the podium until directed to do so. Also, for members of the public in attendance, please note that we have a constituent assistance team that includes representatives from the Departments of Mental Health, Public Social Services, Children and Family Services, LA Homeless Services Authority, and Parks and Recreation in the audience should you need assistance from them. We will now move on to item 100B, motion to recognize June 3rd through 8th, 2026 as Zoot Suit Riots Remembrance Days and commemorate the 83rd anniversary of the riots throughout Los Angeles County, which was held by Supervisor Solis. For members of the public joining us remotely to comment on this item, please use the raise hand feature if you're online or press star three if on a telephone.

Thank you. Colleagues and friends, today we commemorate the 83rd anniversary of the Zoot Suit riots, one of the most shameful episodes in our history in Los Angeles County. The violence that unfolded many years ago in June of 1943 was not spontaneous. It was a result of racism, discrimination, and the deliberate targeting of Mexican-American African American and Filipino American communities. Many of those targeted were known as pachucos, pachucas, young Mexican Americans who challenged social norms and asserted their place in Los Angeles through style, confidence, and cultural pride. The zoot suit, known for its long draped coat, wide-legged trousers, and bold silhouette, was more than just a fashion statement. For many young people of color, it became a symbol of identity, belonging, and self-expression during a time of segregation and exclusion. Pachuca, in particular, faced scrutiny not only because of their ethnicity, but because they challenged traditional expectations of how women should look and behave. At a time when independence and nonconformity were often viewed with suspicion, many young women, including those who defied gender norms and were perceived as queer, faced heightened discrimination and violence. During Pride Month, we also recognize that this history is part of a longer struggle for visibility, dignity, and the freedom to live authentically. The attacks against zoot suiters were ultimately attacks on culture itself. As Los Angeles prepares to welcome the world for the FIFA World Cup, this history serves as a powerful reminder of who we are and what we stand for. Visitors from every corner of the globe will experience a county shaped by the contributions of immigrants, workers, artists, activists, and families from many, many different backgrounds. The diversity that was once targeted for exclusion is now one of Los Angeles County's greatest strengths. Yet, remembrance requires more than just reflection. It requires vigilance. Across this country, we continue to witness efforts to erase histories, silence voices, and diminish the contributions of communities of color. The lesson of the zoot suit riots is that when prejudice is normalized and communities are scapegoated, exclusion and injustice follow. Los Angeles County rejects that vision. We will continue to tell the full story of our communities whose struggles and sacrifices help build this county and defend the principle that our diversity is not our weakness to be feared, but a strength to be celebrated. By recognizing June the 3rd through June 8th as Zoot Suit Riot's Remembrance Days, we honor those who endured violence and discrimination. acknowledge the generations who transform pain into progress, and reaffirm our commitment to Los Angeles County, where a community is seen, respected, and valued. And with that, I'll turn it over to my colleague, Supervisor Mitchell.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I appreciate you for bringing today's motion forward. You know, from the neighborhoods of East Los Angeles to the corner of Broadway and Main Street downtown, from Watts to Chavez Ravine, mobs of sailors and soldiers, and at times joined by off-duty police officers, dragged Mexican American youth out of movie theaters and diners and stripped them of their clothes and beat them in the streets. Unfortunately, this wasn't the only time Los Angeles has, the streets of our city have become a battleground, you know, not between enemies from abroad, but between servicemen and young men and women who called LA home. And for six long nights, Los Angeles youth were violently targeted, allegedly because of their clothes. But this was never about the clothes they were wearing. It was about a community targeted not for what they had done or what they wear, but for who they were. And so, Madam Chair, I'm proud to honor and recognize the more than 500 mostly Mexican American young people who were viciously attacked those six days. Governor Earl Warren established a citizens committee to investigate the cause of the riots, and they found that the cause was racism, and that it was the central cause. Unfortunately, this would not be the only time young Angelenos would be targeted by law enforcement simply for existing. 83 years later, the work and our collective responsibility to protect young Angelenos from being criminalized for what they wear, how they wear their hair, how they show up, where they live, or for existing in their own skin is far from finished. This board has committed to fighting racial discrimination in every form. So let this anniversary remind us of that commitment. And it's not just this ceremony. It's a policy. It's a budget action. And it's a choice we make every single day with every single action we take. We remember, and in their honor and for the future of young people today, I hope that we all will make the commitment to do better. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much for your strong words. No other members of the board wish to be recognized. Let us go to public comment.

Madam Chair, there are no in-person speakers who have signed up to speak on this item. We will go to remote callers. Roy Humphreys, your line is open. Please begin.

Thank you. As far as the point of racism, racism has existed since from caveman to today and will continue for eternity. Just get over it and deal with it the best you can. How far do you let it go? We have these comments of individuals, and you look back in the history in California and so forth, and as sad as it is, it is what it is, and we must applaud those who stepped up and do what we can. And I won't go into any great detail here in Los Angeles on that particular situation, but it continues to go on in this conversation. aspect of racism, and we just do what we can on that, but not to get any false expectations on the situation. Thank you.

Thank you. Hector Ramirez, your line is open. Please begin.

I want to thank all the Board of Supervisors for uplifting this motion. As we opened this meeting with the land acknowledgement, again, we talk about truth healing, and reconciliation. Talking about what has happened and continues to happen is important, not only to not forget where we've been, but where we're heading, and also how we take care of each other. By putting this motion and other ones that address historical disparities, we begin to have those conversations that are truth, no matter how uncomfortable they are, so that we can move forward and hopefully be in a better space. Thank you so much for this work.

Thank you. Madam Chair, there are no other speakers to address the board. That concludes public comment on this item.

Seeing no further comments, I will move, seconded by Supervisor Mitchell, to approve this item. Executive Officer, please call the roll.

Supervisor Mitchell?

Aye.

Supervisor Mitchell, aye. Supervisor Hahn?

Aye.

Supervisor Hahn, aye. Supervisor Barger? Aye. Supervisor Barger, aye. Supervisor Solis?

Aye.

Supervisor Solis, aye. Motion carries four to zero.

We'll now have a presentation by Chairwoman Solis.

Okay.

okay uh thank you uh colleagues and public for lifting your voices i'm proud today to recognize hello stranger this is the organization that is here today with us that has joined us to recognize and celebrate this occasion angela romero is the head of this team through their work They're doing more than just programming. They're preserving cultural memory, elevating underrepresented voices, and creating space for stories that have too often been pushed to the margins. Their efforts ensure that culture is not only remembered, but actively lived and passed forward through art, storytelling, and community connection. With that, I'd like to invite Angela Romero, the founder and CEO of Hello Stranger, to share a few remarks with us.

Please. Thank you.

Thank you so much to the supervisors along with Ms. Solis. We are so grateful to be here. As you know, the Zoot Suit riots that took place over 83 years ago really helped shape not only the lives of Angelenos, but the lives of the city itself that we live in and reside. We've been so gracious to be able to keep up the culture, not only within the realm of the Zoot Suits, but also too within the realms of being true Angelenos and loving our city with the grace and love that we bring forth as the melting pot of the city that we are. As you can tell from our cars to our style of dress, everybody here represents that beautiful melting pot of the city, and we are one for all, and we're so gracious to be able to bring that forth within LA. The last time that we were here and actually stepped foot on these steps was about three years ago, literally to the date, and... to the date three years ago, we were here and were able to come before the Board of Supervisors and the ban of wearing a zoot suit within the city of Los Angeles was actually lifted and we are so grateful that we were able to have that little bit of history. And so to be invited back is really truly an honor. On that day, we should have, as everybody else in our world, been celebrating. But the group of us that was here actually took a ride over to the cemetery to clean the gravestone along with lay some flowers on the grave of Jose Diaz, whose death as a 17-year-old boy before the realms of the Zoot Suit actually ignited the scenario of which the Zoot Suit riots started to, you know, take over our city. So I am doing this in honor of him, in honor of my family, my father as well, who was a Pachuco Zoot Suiter, who is no longer with us, but I'm sure his name, Angel Romero, is shining down on us today. So I'm so grateful. And I want to give an honor to everybody who's here because this is the crew from the older generations to the younger. We're really excited to be here and just thank you for your time.

At this time, members, the executive officer will call the agenda.

Good morning Madam Chair, members of the board. Today's agenda will begin on page two, set matters. On set matters one and two, Supervisor Solis requests that these items be continued to June 30th, 2026. On page three, consent calendar, Board of Supervisors, items three through 23. Item three, the Director of Consumer and Business Affairs requests that the appointment for Rental Housing Oversight Commission be referred back to the department as indicated on the supplemental agenda. ON ITEM SEVEN, SUPERVISOR HAN REQUESTS THAT THIS ITEM BE HELD. ON ITEM NINE, SUPERVISOR HAN REQUESTS THAT THIS ITEM BE REFERRED BACK TO HER OFFICE AS INDICATED ON THE SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA. ON ITEM 18, SUPERVISOR SOLIS REQUESTS THAT THIS ITEM BE HELD. THIS ITEM WILL BE HELD WITH ITEM 2D. ALSO, THIS INCLUDES A REVISION AS INDICATED ON THE SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA. ON ITEM 20, SUPERVISOR SOLIS REQUESTS THAT THIS ITEM BE HELD. ON PAGE 18 IN ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS, ITEMS 24 THROUGH 102. On item 50, Supervisor Horvath requests that this item be continued to June 16, 2026, as indicated on the supplemental agenda. On page 63, this includes miscellaneous additions to the agenda, which were posted more than 72 hours in advance of the meeting, as indicated on the supplemental agenda. Items 100A through 100E. On item 100B, Supervisor Solis requests that this item be held. On page 64, ordinance for introduction, item 103. On page 65, special district agendas. This is the agenda for the meeting of the Board of Directors of Sanitation District number 27 and the Newhall Ranch Sanitation District of the County of Los Angeles, item SD1. On page 66, this is the agenda for the meeting of the Los Angeles County Development Authority, item 1D through 6D. On item 2D, Supervisor Solis requests that this item be held with item 18. On page 73, notices of closed session items, CS1 through CS3. On CS2, county council requests that this item be continued one week to June 16, 2026, as indicated on the posted agenda. On CS3, the chief executive officer requests that this item be continued one week to June 16, 2026. On page 76, items continued from previous meetings for further discussion and action by the board. Item A6, supervisor Sue Elise requests that this item be held. The request for refer backs and continuances through CS3 are before you. That completes the reading of the chair, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Moved by Supervisor Mitchell, seconded by Supervisor Han to approve the items. That will be the order. Today's meeting order will be the following. Public comment on items not held for discussion by the board, including the closed session matters, followed by item 20, A6 and 7, then items 18, and 2D, which will be taken up together, followed by general public comment and finishing off with closed session matters.

At this time, we will hear from members of the public wishing to address the board on all items not held for discussion by supervisors, including closed session matters. The consent items will be acted upon with one motion. For members of the public joining us remotely, to comment on these items, please use the raise hand feature if you are online or press star three if on a telephone. Please indicate the agenda item numbers that you wish to address in the beginning of your comment for us to allocate the appropriate amount of time.

We will now call in in-person speakers and while they're coming forward, we will take remote speakers. This will be for all items not held by the board for discussion and closed session items. Will the following individual please come forward and staff will assist you. Juniper Choi. Madam Chair, there are no remote speakers to address the board. Okay, we do have one more caller. Paloma Bustos, your line is open. Please begin. Paloma.

Paloma Bustos, are you on? Looks like she's muted. All right, we'll go back.

Okay, move on to the next. Jess Esguerra, your line is open. Please begin. Jess Esguerra.

Hi, good morning.

Please begin.

Hi.

Please state your name.

My name is Jess Esguerra and I am gonna speak on public comment number 18.

It's being held. Item 18 is being held. You can call back when that item is called.

We'll try Paloma. Paloma Bustos, your line is open.

Thank you. It kept turning off. My name is Paloma Bustos, and I'm with the Sunita Jane Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School, and I'm speaking on item 42. We appreciate the county's effort to support youth who are missing from foster care and vulnerable to exploitation. At the same time, we encourage continued investment in public health approaches that move beyond law enforcement responses, including housing, mental health services, prevention, economic stability, and survivor center support. Many young people may be reluctant to engage with law enforcement due to past experiences, including fear or mistrust, and community organizations are often better positioned to build trust and connect youth with services. We also encourage DCFS, probation, and LAPD to recognize that youth who go missing from foster care may experience multiple forms of trafficking and exploitation. While this agreement focuses on commercial sexual exploitation, some youth may be also experiencing labor trafficking or forced criminality. If approved, we encourage screening, training, data collection, and response efforts to reflect the full range of trafficking experiences affecting youth so that all youth people receive the support they need.

Thank you. Anthony Arenas, your line is open. Please begin.

Anthony?

Oh, can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

Hi, my name is Anthony out in us. I'm born and raised in supervisory district three. I'm with dignity and power now and the justice outlay coalition. And I wanted to give just general public comment.

General public comment is not at this time. You can get back in queue when we call general public comment.

Thank you. Roy Humphries. Your line is open. Please begin.

Yes. So this is on a item 22 as an example, this County, And this board has so many issues of importance to be dealt with. It is hideous that you continue to inflate these agendas with this superfluous garbage. You are in huge financial and ethical problems that are beyond, beyond. And just Men's Central Jail is just an example of them. And, you know, Democrats are, oh, hey, ICE is so bad, inhumane conditions. What the hell do you call men's central jail? And in my humble opinion, every county board of supervisors should be living there until such time that that is remedied. You should be ashamed of yourself, but we know that you're all beyond that. Thank you.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 323-804, your line is open. Please state your name and the agenda items you're addressing and begin.

I'm sorry, I wanted to speak on agenda item 20. Is that allowed now, or should I wait for agenda item 20?

You should wait. It's being held.

Thank you. We can get back in the queue. Thanks. Madam Chair, there are no other speakers to address the board. Remote participation for these items is now concluded.

Madam Chair, members of the board, the following items are before you. Three as amended, four through six, eight, 10 through 17, 19, 21 through 49, 51 through 99, 100A, 100C through 100E, 103, SD1, 1D, 3D through 6D. These items are before you.

Thank you. Moved by Supervisor Barger, seconded by Supervisor Han to approve the items with the exceptions noted by the executive officer. Executive officer, please call the roll.

Supervisor Mitchell. Supervisor Mitchell, aye. Supervisor Hahn?

Aye.

Supervisor Hahn, aye. Supervisor Barker? Aye. Supervisor Barker, aye. Supervisor Solis?

Aye.

Supervisor Solis, aye. Motion carries four to zero. We will now move on to item 20, addressing the East LA oil spill, which was held by Supervisor Solis. For members of the public joining us remotely to comment on this item, please use the raise hand feature if you're online, or press star three if on the telephone. Mark Pastrella, Director of Public Works, Kelly LoBianco, Director of Economic Opportunity, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health, Rafael Carbajal, Director of Consumer and Business Affairs, Albert Yanagisawa, Deputy Fire Chief, and Mario Treceras, Chief Health Hazardous Materials Fire Department are available for questions. For the departmental speakers, please state your name and title for the record when you address the board.

Thank you. Thank you, panelists, for all being here this morning, too. I appreciate your hard work. But I want to draw your attention, colleagues, why I introduced this motion. And it is a motion in response to the crude oil spill that occurred in the unincorporated area of East Los Angeles and impacting the Los Angeles River. And that occurred on the morning of Friday, May 22nd. And early that day, I was informed that a crude oil pipeline at the busy intersection of Eastern Avenue and Cesar Chavez had been ruptured by a private company working to install fiber optic internet cables. I went out to see the damage myself and witnessed the harmful health and environmental impacts firsthand. The oil seeping through the ground required immediate road closures, and the noxious smell of gas permeated the neighborhood and forced our residents living nearby and students attending schools in the area to shut down their windows, and more importantly, to stay away. Just as the weather was heating up, if you recall, that was Memorial Day weekend approaching. Several small businesses around the spill were impacted by the stoppage of the foot traffic and road closures. Some reported up to $10,000 losses per day, and others shared that the drop in foot traffic would make it difficult for them to even meet their monthly rent. And the impacts were not contained in the immediate vicinity. The oil spilling into the LA River, traveling downstream through the southeast Los Angeles communities in the fourth district of Vernon, Maywood, Bell, Cudahy, and Southgate and Linwood, all the way down to Long Beach. that was impacting birds, fish, and other wildlife. An incident of this magnitude, I believe, requires a comprehensive response with subject matter experts across multiple levels of government. Ultimately, the unified, not united, well, united, but unified command comprised of federal, state, and county departments shares responsibility for overseeing the response to this crisis. This includes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who oversee the Office of Spill Prevention and Response. The state agency is primarily responsible for the oversight of oil spill, spills such as these and the associated ongoing remediation efforts. However, I want to ensure that as we as a county are in place that we are coordinating as much as we can. To that end, I want to express my gratitude to the county departments who responded quickly and urgently. Our county fire department was first on the scene sharing the impacts with my office in real time. And their Health Hazardous Materials Division played the leading role in the cross-governmental unified command coordinating the county's response with federal and state officials. Our Department of Public Works was on the ground helping to coordinate the road closure and diverting traffic while also working with subject matter experts to determine how and when to safely open up the road. The Department of Economic Opportunity also reached out to impacted businesses after we found out that there were many that had closed their doors for the day and throughout the weekend. to help provide resources and assistance. In our Department of Public Health, also issued advisories for residents. We had numerous, numerous calls coming in from across the impacted area concerned with any associated health and environmental impacts. And this was especially critical for me as we know that East Los Angeles and the Southeast areas have long suffered from a history of environmental injustices. These are residents that are continuing to live with the impacts of Exide, While cleanup of that disaster is still underway, it's not lost on them how long it took to get this help and how private and public partners allowed that situation to occur for decades, despite communities' voices and concerns. That's why I knew it was important that we respond quickly and that I was glad to see our departments there. We learned from those lessons. From the moment this incident was reported to my office and the five days after, my staff was on site directly coordinating with state, local departments involved in the response along with you. My staff partnered with community members and county department workers to go door to door, distributing information on the latest response efforts, as well as resources on who to reach out to with their various concerns. But I also recognize that many of our residents continue to harbor deep distrust with the involved parties, unfortunately, especially the private company that started this mess. and whether they will ultimately do right by them. Those are the questions that I'm being asked by our community. That's why this motion is so important for us today. And it requires our county departments to remain engaged in the recovery and remediation. It also ensures that we continue to provide appropriate support services where needed, especially to our small business community. The motion also ensures that those involved are accountable not just to the county, but to the impacted residents. That includes private entities responsible for handling claims, The motion also calls for an investigation and recovery of county taxpayer funds spent on the cleanup, the staff response, and the harm caused to our communities and businesses. I have questions for the departments, and I thank you again for being here. And I'd like to begin by asking our fire department I might. I understand that the street closure will need to be closed for some time to go through the cleanup, but also whatever remediation. Is there anything that you can share with us today about this and how the community will be impacted? And can you talk about any ongoing repairs and what outreach will be done as well?

Good morning, Chair. Albert Yanagisawa, Deputy Fire Chief. for LA County. Thank you for the opportunity to provide an update. I want to begin by addressing the concern about street closures directly because I think it is a question on most of the community's minds. So the intersection at East Cesar Chavez Avenue and Northeastern Avenue reopened on May 28th, and the pipeline itself has been repaired, recharged, and returned to service. The cleaning of the affected storm drains is 100% complete as of today. The remaining work is a long-term remediation, the removal of petroleum contaminated soil at the intersection. I want to be clear that this work will not require full closure of the streets at that intersection. The work will be done in segments, one lane at a time, with only one single lane closed in each direction. Traffic will continue to move through the intersection in both directions for the duration of the remediation. This work is being overseen by the Los Angeles County Regional Water Quality Board. A mitigation work plan will be submitted to the Water Board for approval. And necessary excavation dig permits will be obtained from Public Works and South Coast Air Quality Management District. The contaminated soil will be removed and disposed of as hazardous waste, and the excavations will be backfilled with clean soil. Finally, current air monitoring confirms there is no threat to public health, and we will continue to closely monitor along with Public Works, Public Health, and our state and federal partners. We are 100% committed to keeping the community informed as the work proceeds.

Thank you. For Public Works, thank you, Mark Pestrella, for being here. And I want to thank your staff for being there immediately once we knew what was taking place at that intersection. It is one of the most heavily trafficked areas that not only includes the unincorporated area of East Los Angeles, but the city of Los Angeles. And one of those areas that is very close adjacent to our major freeways. So I know that the impact is far beyond just the residents and the local businesses there. And to hear that we're going to have to close down or keep one lane open on each side is going to have an impact. What are we going to do to let people know how long this will go on if we know? and what kind of information will be provided to the public and neighboring areas. And do we have a reliance on Caltrans and others, CHP, I know our sheriffs, to all help us in getting that message out so people are safe as they, you know, run through that heavily congested area that now will be even more impacted.

Thank you, Supervisor. Mark Pestrella, Director of Public Works. Let me just start by saying, given a little bit of context, I appreciate your description of the incident and our response. And I'm thankful to the partners who are sitting here with us at the table along with OEM who acted immediately in terms of the response to the incident. The incident itself can be considered one of the largest oil spills into the Los Angeles River in recent history. And the only reason it didn't make the media is because it was overshadowed by the tank incident in Orange County. And the Pacific Pipeline System, the company that owns the pipeline, will be held fully accountable for every dollar of damage they have caused to the community in this river. The impacts, as you described, on the street system and specifically the community of East LA are significant, as you described them. But I also, I know you mentioned it, but I also want to mention the impacts to the LA River and the community that resides and operates along the LA River. The LA River has been largely impacted, as you said, all the way to Long Beach. There are significant wildlife impacts. Yes. There are significant environmental impacts. And then, as you mentioned earlier, there is an aesthetic impact as well on the river system itself because the oil has reached into areas, creeped into areas where we've had to clean it. We've actually had to remove some vegetation from the river system itself as well that's been impacted. And some of the images you're showing on the screen give a better idea of the total impacts. So again, Public Works is treating this as, and deservedly, as one of the largest cleanups that we'll have to do within our community, East LA, as well as the LA River. You're describing the response, but I would say what we call remediation is actually the recovery phase. We've moved to recovery phase. Public Works is coordinating the recovery along with the partners that are at the table here. They're advising us as to when things can be restarted due to public health issues, when we can reopen the river system. The regulators that are involved that we mentioned, the US EPA as well as Fish and Wildlife are, while they're regulators, they are not setting the outcomes recovery. The outcome for recovery and what you're asking us how we'll get it back there is being set by the county and we're implementing those outcomes as you described today. So we are looking to restore the area, not just the pipeline itself. That was not our first priority. Our first priority is to restore Health conditions for community and then the business conditions, which you'll hear about in a second. And health to community is the priority. Safety is a part of that. The street system was shut down out of concerns for safety. Those safety concerns were addressed fairly rapidly, not as quick as we'd like them to be. I think that was due to some of the lack of information we had from mainly the provider. the pipeline owner about what the extent of the spill was. For instance, the original estimate was 2,400 gallons, and we now know it's something like 25,000 gallons that were spilled. And so because of the significance of that spill, we've been cautious about the reopening of the roadway supervisor, and we've been advising travelers that they need to be careful, and we do have detours in place for one lane as investigations are ongoing to determine the extent of the damage to the roadway system itself. So that is going, while we've got the road open now to traffic, and I know the residents are thankful for that, the roadway will continue to experience on-again and off-again closures until we get to the full extent of the scope of repair that we need to make to the road system, and we will be communicating that through our regular systems, our community channels, as well as our road system closure website that is available 24-7 so people know coming and going, giving people certainty about whether they can travel in there. The flood control system, on the other hand, has significant work to do. Although the storm drain system has been cleaned, we are inspecting that ourselves to see if we are satisfied with the cleaning of that, that my crews are in doing that now. We also responded immediately, supervisor, during the event in the morning hours to try to contain the flows as they left the outlet. So I had crews there at 4 a.m. in the morning already trying to slow those flows when it became very apparent very quickly that we're going to need a bigger crew. And so we have expanded the crews that are working in the river system itself and in the storm ring system. And you saw some images of what we're doing. Booms in there, cleaning, absorbance. And again, I don't have an estimate for when all of that's going to be out of the river system, but we are working rapidly in full force in coordination with, as I said, fire department, health department, to make sure that we draw an outcome that we want and that we charge the companies who are responsible for this damage properly to be those mitigations. So while I don't have a deadline for the river system, we do think the health impacts have been mitigated at this point. We are looking at the wildlife impacts very closely as well. And then again, as I said, we're looking at the impact in terms of the aesthetic of the river system to be restored. There will be some time to do that. Again, good for the board to know LA County is in the lead on recovery, not the regulatory agencies. LA County is in the lead of that, and LA County is focusing on the outcome we'd like to see in this. The regulators are working with us, and they're helping us set health standards and minimum standards for community.

So thank you for that clarification, but I am concerned about when we can see the road repair. How long is that going to take? Because that's gonna be disruptive for students, and thank goodness, maybe some of them are on break right now, summer, but that also means that they're gonna be out. They're gonna be out in the community, so what precautions or what measures are we taking to make sure that everybody's fully aware, including if there's need for signage, even on the freeway. We have those big Caltrans signs, you know, and they say, oh, there's something that's closed here or there. Is there a way to also transmit that information? When we start to see more excavation or whatever repairs, it's really gonna impact the roadways there on Eastern and Cesar Chavez.

Okay, Supervisor, very good. That is Public Works responsibility and we will be coordinating with all those and we will implement all communication tools as you suggested and beyond. We are already implementing the standard, but we can do more, always can do more. We will work with Caltrans about that. That was a good idea. We will keep the community updated with what we know when we know it. That's the best I can promise them now because we don't really have the full extent of the damage to the roadway, its subsurface. And so what we're trying to do now is test that subsurface materials, and at times we're going to have to go into the roadway and actually punch open roadway to pull samples from it. What we're proposing to do is keep the road open and do street closures so that there's continuous, they can traverse it, but I know that does affect traffic as we do that.

And I know that it is an inconvenience for the businesses because while you're closing one lane or the other, it can be front facing for their business in addition to trash pickup. Because I've already heard that. That also has been impacted. And the foot traffic there, I'm not sure that people fully are back in their swing. And that's what has me very concerned as well. And what are we doing? I know you have staff that go out to and talk to the local folks that are impacted. Are you going to keep that in place? And how many people can you assign to help with that?

So Supervisor, we're in recovery and we're open for business on that. That means implementing not only the physical solution but also the communication until the incident, until we're fully recovered. So we will continue that, continue the liaisons and continue the community outreach And throughout the incident, until we determine that recovery is complete. And that, as I said, could go quite a ways into summer, most likely, dependent upon the level of damage that we find in the system.

Right. And I am concerned, I share your concern with the... The fact that the road has been damaged and compromised, and it can still further be eroded depending on how much soil has been contaminated because it's a sponge, right? It's taking in the oil. And we've already seen ruptures in the road, and I think we're still identifying those is what I understand. Is that correct?

That's the possibility, Supervisor, that, you know, we could have openings in the road on itself because the oil itself is like soaking in, as you said, into the soil below. And seeping out in some, seeping out as well. It's sometimes pressurized, correct. Right. So it's a monitoring and a testing to determine what the extent of that spill was into the soil system. On the surface we can see it, in the river system we can see it, but it's not that easy when it's subterranean like it is in this situation. So Like I said, what our responsibility and commitment is is tell the public what we know, when we know it, and we'll do the same with your board office to make sure that we're coordinating and not creating further impacts on community as we recover.

And I would hope that your efforts aren't impeded by the regulators. So I really want to make sure that you have, you know best as to what the topography and how things function here is. So I would hope whatever you need to do to invest, that we do that and that we have a plan for recovery. We've done this before, unfortunately, in the Carson incident when they had also a gigantic problem there with oil. And I remain concerned because of the climate, the weather. And the fact that the odor itself, when I was last there, was pretty miserable. And there are many people there that don't have adequate air conditioning or filtration. And I know for seniors and for children or people that have asthma, and many of them do have higher rates in that area, that we work with our public health officers here to help us with that and to really maximize filters And I'm not sure where we are with that. I don't know if that's under your purview or Dr. Ferrer's.

Supervisor, we rely on Dr. Ferrer's staff and also fire department staff to advise us and AQMD on the smell, odor, and its impact on communities. So I am reliant on them to give us that information. And then we would be looking at mitigation and the recovery if that persists, if that is an issue.

And can any of you, Dr. Ferrer or the fire department, talk to us a little bit about that, what you have found with the air quality of air and also obviously any other health impacts? Yes.

So I'll go first. We have been monitoring the air quality in and around the area, including around. the schools, Torres High School, East LA Renaissance, and also the Torres STEM Academy. And as of today, the air quality is healthy.

Dr. Ferrer.

Yeah, thank you. And I want to really thank the folks at Fire Hazmat and at AQMD. They've been monitoring every day. There are no exceedances. That being said, whenever we're doing repairs, there will be odors. And we call them nuisance odors, but for some people, they can be debilitating. So I don't want to minimize the impact. The air quality measures look fine, but the odors could, for some people, be very aggravating. We do advise people to stay inside as much as possible when the odors are present. not to be using their HVAC systems to draw in air from the outside. It usually dissipates, the nuisance odors are dissipating when the cleanup has finished for the day. So at this point, it's very limited and it's limited in the places where the cleanup is actually happening. at the moment that the cleanup is happening.

So you don't think air filters are needed at this time?

I don't know that air filters will work for this level of nuisance odors that's very sporadic.

Okay, but I do know the time that I was there, it was away from where the digging was being done, and it was... very present, so I just wonder how much monitoring goes on, on who is doing that, because I know fire isn't there every day, and I know public health isn't there.

AQMD is there monitoring every day, and Fire Hazmat is looking at those results as well every day. We sent a team, I think it was earlier last week, To the area, you know hearing that there might be concerns and there were no noticeable odors that day But again, I think it's very dependent on the cleanup

Right. And I would just hope that also the information, I know you had stated what people need to do, but I think this is ongoing. So I don't just take it as a one-off today and tomorrow and then that's it. This is going to be a major cleanup in that community. And so I would hope notices are going out from your department or our communications and public works that So that there is a coordinated response and people are well aware. Summer is upon us. This week is going to be getting up to 90 degrees and people are going to want to be outside. And that's the first thing that comes to mind. What's safe? What's not safe? And because we have communities that speak perhaps one dominant language, I want to make sure that the information is provided to them in a culturally competent manner. They're not gonna read something that's small print, but they need to also have boots on the ground. And I would hope that we could activate if necessary, or folks that could help us get that information out. And I know we have a lot of people that can that we can call on. And I wanna say that, Dr. Ferrer, because we were able to get, I think, almost 30 people to go out in the street with our teams, with us, my staff, and they were out talking to businesses and people to ask them about their impact. And many were not aware. of what took place fully and didn't understand what the impacts are or would be and were expressing difficulty also with other things about where they could file a claim if their business was shut off or cut off because nobody was coming through the thoroughfare. And those are things that keep me up at night thinking about why and what can we do better.

I mean, I think there are three numbers that are places where people can go for help still. One is if they want to report odor complaints, that's to AQMD, and that number is 800-288-7664. The second number is if they have if they've been impacted, like you said, with their businesses and they want to file a claim, those folks can call 877-817-5465. And then folks who have concerns and questions can call our community health line, which is monitored by nurses, and that number is 626-430-7000. 9821. So I do want to encourage people to always use AQMD for odor complaints because they're the ones that can actually go out and measure. They have the equipment and that's their job. But folks are welcome to always call our complaint line and we'll be responsive and try to make sure we're connecting people where they need to.

And I just want to underscore, all three lines of communication have adequate bilingual staff available. That's the bottom line right now for me. I met some small business owners that were not fully literate, even in Spanish. And they don't know how to work through the quagmire of whatever, even to formulate a question of what do we do? Who do we go to? Who do we trust? And those are issues that are first and foremost in a lot of people's minds that are being impacted. So I just want to, that's why this motion is important that we're all working together on that.

Thank you for really leading this effort as well.

Thank you. Now, DEO, I wanted to ask, I know you all have been involved also with us on the ground, and you had some of your teams out there, and I appreciate that. And I think, could you tell me a little bit about what you found from your staff, what they were reporting?

Yes, thank you, Supervisor. So our team, our Office of Small Business, went out with yours in the first week after the oil spill to survey, to canvas and survey businesses about the impacts of the spill, the closure of the intersection. Nearly 50 businesses shared in that first week, 70 to 75%. revenue loss and their need for legal and capital support. Excuse me. And we also were able to start gathering information from those businesses to work with the Small Business Administration on an economic injury declaration that would unlock low interest capital for those businesses. So that was the start. Obviously, we know in any moment like this, there's an immediate economic disruption and lingering economic disruption over time, as we described some of the cleanup and recovery efforts over the course of the summer. We also are, as we speak, um setting up a claims process within our office of small business at central marvia so we'll have staff there also manning a hotline and also canvassing in the community to support folks with their claims as well as access to ongoing capital and legal support we should have that launched this week and noted to your point that all of these services will be provided in multiple languages to support the community. But we're activating sort of all of the levers that we have right now in this moment, making sure folks successfully submit a claim that we monitor the number of claims that small businesses are submitting in the community and also make sure they have regular access to the range of supports that the county offers. We'll also make sure that the numbers that Dr. Frayer mentioned for health access are included in our outreach.

Great. Rafael, you're here representing the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. What can you tell me that you're capable or able to do to some of these, especially mom and pop businesses that may not feel comfortable applying for an SBA loan because they wouldn't qualify?

Absolutely. Good morning, Madam Chair and Board of Supervisors. Rafael Carvajal, Director, Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. DCBA stands at the ready to support your office, our partners here, County Council, and the residents through this process, understanding the communities that were impacted and their history. Trust is a big issue. So we're here to support in any way, ensuring folks understand their rights. And given the complexity of the liability here, I also want to make sure that folks retain their rights and don't negotiate them away or give them away without the proper support and adequate knowledge. To your point, it's been raised already, given the diverse communities, we want to make sure the language access is front and center with this, and we stand at the ready in supporting our folks.

Are your support efforts going to mirror what DEO is doing at Maravilla?

Absolutely. We stand at the ready to support and complement any of the efforts as needed. So we'll coordinate with our partners on that.

Because I'm really concerned about legal representation as well. And if that isn't coupled with what's happening, then we're going to lose a lot of, how could I say, influence to positively help these families and local business owners.

We'll make sure that we're connected in our canvassing with DCBA on that point. So this is going to be ongoing.

Yeah, absolutely, and again, I think the most important thing for folks is to make sure that they preserve their rights as they navigate this process, because I'm sure it's going to be a drawn-out process.

Right, and I'm sure the contractor's going to want to say, well, here's your check and move on, and we need to fully vet what that might mean, and that's where I think county council, too, I want to ask, thank you, I want to ask county council what you are doing in terms of investigating and identifying how this process

event occurred are we doing any investigation on that already with our attorneys thank you supervisor my affirmative litigation and consumer protection division will be leading the investigative effort from my office also we've learned that three state agencies and one federal agency are also submitting uh requests for information document documentation to the pipeline owners the plains all-american pipeline And then there are other agencies, including the DA's office and the Attorney General's office, that may be conducting confidential investigations that we are just not aware of. But we will be coordinating with my fellow colleagues here, as well as those agencies that we know of who are requesting information as a part of our investigation.

Right, and I want to say thank you to the departments and, you know, County Council for working with us because this is, you know, to hear it from you, Mark, saying that this is one of the largest spills is mind-boggling because you're absolutely right. It was kind of hidden because it was also Memorial weekend and then you had a Garden Grove incident there. but that doesn't take away the impact that it has on the residents, and not just in the sphere of East LA, but going down the river, which impacts CELA. And I am concerned with whatever cities may be requesting assistance as well, wanting to know what those cleanup efforts are, because those are impacted similarly to East Los Angeles, families and households that need to be made aware, and have we done any of that work now? to inform folks that live along the river, because that to me was really surprising to see how far the seepage had accumulated in Sela, in Karahe. And to know that with this extreme weather coming upon us, if that isn't remedied soon, it can have other health impacts.

Supervisor, if I may, residents and interested city leaders can look up the event on our county website at recoverylacounty.gov where the timeline.

Interested or impacted?

Impacted and interested.

So are we reaching out? Are we being proactive? We are. And have you heard from the city of Cudahy or any of the southeast cities?

We're talking to the city staff along the LA river. And as we normally do, we have our normal communications with the residents that live along the LA river. And so we can make a special effort. If you aren't seeing that kind of outcome, make sure that our city service folks are actually.

I would, I would request that. I think supervisor would agree with that. I think the more that we know that people can't speculate and that we're concise and we're giving them the best information is is really of paramount concern for many of us, so.

We'll sign our city service staff to reach out to them today.

Thank you, thank you again, but again, I just wanna say that this is about helping East LA and the area impacted get back to some normal life, and it probably won't happen right away, but I want folks to know that the county departments are engaged, and you have been, but I think we can also, if necessary, need to push this along at a faster pace because summer's upon us, we have kids out, it's a big thoroughfare, and we do have a large regional area that's impacted. So thank you. Supervisor Janice Hahn, yes.

Yeah, you had to look twice, like supervisor Janice. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for bringing this forward, a huge impact to our region. And it's important that we get this report back and see what happened, what we did, what our response was, lessons learned, extremely important. But these kinds of things just remind us of how vulnerable our infrastructure is. to these kinds of accidents that have these far-reaching implications, both on our environment and on, you know, the human race, actually. And if people ever saw that map of the pipelines underneath Los Angeles County, they would be shocked. And it's almost a miracle that more stuff doesn't happen. My community of Wilmington has so many underground pipelines that when the LAUSD tried to build a new school there, there's some code that you can't build a school within, I don't know, let's say 25, 50 feet of a pipeline. Well, there was no place in that community that even existed that wasn't that close to sitting atop these very volatile pipelines that carry gas, diesel, jet fuel. A lot of these coming from the port are carrying jet fuel. So it is a miracle that more accidents like this don't happen. And we became aware of it, and we were monitoring it, of course, because it was heading down the LA River, impacting our cellar. We kept getting different messages about had it reached Long Beach? Was it headed to the ocean? We kept getting a few conflicting messages while it was happening. But thanks to our LA County Public Works, that photo of the your booms in the LA River actually prevented it from heading into the ocean, which of course would have been even more devastating to our environment. So thank you, Public Works, for getting in there, responding, installing those multiple containment booms that prevented what could have been even worse. I think just listening today, Supervisor Solis, I think for me, communication seems to be the one area where we were not the best at first responding. We kind of are good at some of the other areas, but I still feel like there was a lot of residents that didn't know what was happening. There was businesses that didn't know what was happening. Seems like even now, there's a little bit of confusion. And I think there's a lot of people, and maybe Dr. Farrar, you could speak to this. I think a lot of we're wondering, at any time, was there health risk? Was there public health risk for people in the impacted area? How did we communicate? Would there have been an opportunity for a shelter in place? If not, why not? Just listening to you, Supervisor Solis, and your staff being out there and smelling those noxious odors, you can actually, you know, you can get sick. So maybe just either confirm or deny that, you know, at any time there was a public health risk, should we have had people shelter in place? And how are we even today? And I appreciate everybody saying here's the number to call, but you know, that's really putting the owners on people to check the website. How are we doing a better job of communicating both when it was happening, how did we communicate it when it was happening, and how are we now communicating what happened, what we're doing, what they can expect, and how they can get help? That was a lot of questions.

And I don't think I can answer all of them, but I can tell you uh... what we were trying to do and and what we what we actually did uh... we were notified of the event from fire health hazmat on may twenty second and by that afternoon we had issued a press release that really tried to include information about the spill and give guidance to the community. At that point, all the air monitoring that was being done indicated that there were no risks. We talked a lot in that press release about the nuisance odors, which while they're not showing up as an official risk, They are creating hardship for folks, and we advise people on what to do. We also opened up our complaint line and put that information in the press release. We didn't get a lot of calls. I want to say we got less than a dozen calls.

That's because not everybody reads press releases.

Yeah, so I appreciate the concern that residents don't even know enough, don't even have enough information to know to call us with their concerns. On May 23rd, I know that a community air monitoring plan was put in place by South Coast AQMD. There were nuisance odors that were reported by the storm drains, but by May 24th, Public Health was notified by AQMD that there were no nuisance odors in the area with the exception of the source of where the pipeline break was happening. And again, AQMD continued that entire time. to do the air quality monitoring. We put out another press release on the 26th, just giving updates about what progress had been made, what to do about the nuisance odors, who to communicate with, and as Supervisor Solis mentioned, we had some teams out in the community trying to make sure that information is also getting to the community.

Would this be, and I don't know if I see Kevin over there, or Master of Disaster, You know, would this have been an event that could have risen to the level of a text? Not necessarily, it wasn't an evacuation, but could it have been an alert that people could have gotten either on their phones that relayed some of that, please call if you see this or smelling this, we will be updating you. It just seems to me like this was one of those that maybe should have been elevated besides a press release. And being out there physically is great, but you can't reach everybody by being out there. And I was taken, Supervisor Lease, by your comment that you and your staff were away from where the actual break was and were smelling the odors.

So I don't know. Everywhere where the storm drains were, they were smelling odors for that first day. I don't know.

Kevin, do you think this could have been in the future one that we send alerts to people in a so many mile radius?

Thanks for the question, Supervisor. Use of wireless emergency alerts is restricted to imminent threats to life safety. Our team at the watch center was prepared to send out a wireless emergency alert along with an Alert LA campaign if the determination by unified command was made that there was a protective action that was related to an imminent threat. And those protective actions would have been an evacuation order, an evacuation warning, or a shelter in place. That's really determined by the exposure threat. But then also, you know, hazardous materials incidents can require evacuations if there's some sort of explosive issue. A good example would be a few weeks ago, we sent out a wireless alert for a shelter in place in South El Monte due to a hazardous materials incident. So this particular incident happened That would not have been the appropriate tool based on the guidance from FEMA and the use of the tool. However, we actively monitor it. We coordinate with Unified Command. And if there was an imminent threat to life, with that protective measure, we would have issued it.

And that's governed by who governs that?

You mean the issuing of the wireless alert? It's really driven by Unified Command's determination of a protective action.

Is there a level down that we could control? I mean, I can't tell you how many texts I get, emergencies of people like, if you don't donate by midnight, we're not going to take back the house. So is there another level? that we control, that we could make up a criteria of just really alerting people to what is maybe not imminent danger, but certainly notifying of what's happening and then being able to communicate this call, this number, here's the three lines, you know, something. Can we do that?

We can look into subscription-based services that would be appropriate for that. Mark?

Yeah. Fire it.

So, I believe the system is in place, and for this particular incident, the emergency response to determine the emergency, the hazard, isolate the spill, and then work with our subject matter experts to keep it from becoming a eminent threat to life and health.

I mean, I hear you. I just feel like there's another level that people just did not get notified about. And they're not going to read a press release. They're not going to watch this board meeting and hear the numbers that they recall.

I do think, I agree with you. I do think there is something. I yield my time. Another metric to look at. Because while you're saying harm, physical harm, what about economic harm? What about people who had their businesses closed for goddamn five days? And one owner or manager of an auto store, a store, a franchise, told me, no customers coming in. They lost $10,000 a day times five. And there were stories that I heard from other people who said they didn't want to cook in their restaurants because of their vents. The air, the oil, the smell of that was coming in, and people were not going to their shops. So how do you quantify that? I mean, to me, there has to be more than what we're doing. And maybe that's something that this study or this report will help us draw upon. Because I do agree that if this was the largest spill that we've seen, it did have impacts. And just because it's East LA doesn't mean that we're going to minimize it.

We need to really be focused on this. And you know, maybe Madam Chair, in the report back, I think we should explore our own alert system that maybe doesn't rise to the level of imminent danger, but certainly rises to the level of, this is a good way to notify people about what's happening. And again, where they can call when they smell something. You're right, people had a lot of questions. They didn't know who to call. People don't know how to necessarily call AQMD or our complaint lines. I just feel like that would be, you could get all that out in, you could get that all out in a text.

Thanks, Supervisor, and we'll add to the report back that we do have a subscription-based alert system, the Alert LA system, and we can, in the report, look at the utilization of it. The challenge that I'll amplify right now, but we'll look into it in the report, is it's a subscription-based. And every year, year over year, we see lower subscribers into those systems.

So again, I'll- So when you say that, that means people have to sign up for it? Correct. Yeah.

And so we, as a collective group, especially coming out of the 2025 fires and the AARs, is actively looking towards increasing subscription. So this is a good opportunity for us to continue.

Let's look into it in this report back.

I ALSO WANT TO SAY THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF ACTIVE COMMUNICATION FROM COUNTY WICOM'S TEAM THAT WAS ALSO SUPPORTING THIS THROUGH THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS AND VARIOUS ASPECTS.

OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. SUPERVISOR MITCHELL.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And this issue of getting information to people when they need it is a vexing problem. It just really is. I think the real crime, from my perspective, separate from the company who's responsible for the spill, is that we didn't have support and coverage from the press. And I appreciate that there was one tragedy going on in a neighboring county. This is the largest media market in the world. Really, they can't cover more than one tragedy at a time. So I think that really is an issue. As I sit and listened, and I heard Dr. Ferrer talk about the issue of press releases, it was powerful when during COVID and during the fires, there were press events convened daily. I think that forces cameras to come, or at least encourages cameras to come. So I guess my question is, at what point do we make the decision about do I mail a press advisory, a press release, or do I convene a press conference? With the goal of, and I hear you in terms of using the emergency response to contain, I hear you and I get that. I think what I'm hearing from my colleagues is that there are people who don't have access to information when they need it. And I understand that there's a difference. You are maintaining the communications when we need to take action, like to move out of the area. I think what you're hearing come from the board is something else, where people needed information. And yes, No one knows what AQMD is, when to call it, why to call it. I know because we work hard. And in fact, Madam Chair, I just double-checked to make sure that when people call in for odors, that there is multiple languages available. Spanish is available. Other language is available on request. I wanted to verify that. I just did that in real time. And so the question is, what is this true public information tool that we have before. So I guess I would ask, since press events are something that we have done in emergencies, why was that not triggered?

I think I have an answer to that because I was very interested in doing that, but I was told that this was something that was going to be handled by state and feds. And so kind of keep it at this level. But we did put out our own press and we're able to share some of the photos. But I don't feel like we really had the total support that we needed, to be honest. And you know, I agree with everything you're saying, my colleagues, because I feel like here was an opportunity to make something better. for our community. Now we're going to have to go back and do a lot more work. And we learned from this, unfortunately. But I agree with you. Sometimes I don't take to heart when staff is saying, The feds are in charge, the state's in charge. But guess what? The state isn't the implementer. DPW's the implementer. DEO, firefighters, hazards, public health are the people on the ground, not the folks from DC or whoever, the regional office that come in here and tell you, oh, check the box, check the box. That's not good enough.

Supervisor, we've had this conversation, you and I, and all of you are touching on something that's interesting on twofold. One, the communication, the use of a press event. The authority lies at the beginning with the first responders. In this case, we had fire as the lead on the incident. They were working with us. So there's an issue there about when we pull that trigger. The other one you touched on, and I'm glad you brought it up, is that when we have a local incident that becomes a federally involved regulators, that we don't allow those regulators to become the driver of that. And this is what did. I can tell you that to some extent, this is what happened in this event. And when we discovered it, as you know, We took command of the situation from them. But it is something in our AAR which is going to come up. It's already been listed on my AAR that we have to watch for this in the future because, as I said in my statement previously, they don't set the outcome for community. They're worried about the regulation and compliance with law, but they're not necessarily worried about... It's focused on community.

You know, I would just... argue or suggest that you know crisis communication is a nuanced kind of skill and capacity making sure we as a county have crisis communication capacity because communicating with the public is vexing people you know you can't rely they're not reading print media you know la times you know laid off 200 reporters a couple years ago. So we have to figure out what we can do to up our game to make sure that the media is our partners. I think, based on our experience in both COVID and the fires, that an event Our DA is very good at that. He makes the news consistently because there are events versus us sending press advisories or press releases. I think this would have warranted that, particularly recognizing we were competing against another crisis. And so as we figure out the best way to communicate with our constituents, I think we have to use what we know works. And in our experience, I think The in the board meeting on site event will draw cameras and perhaps that as we figure out the texting option that should be considered. Thank you to Public Works. You mentioned that the oil company will be held accountable financially. I think that is so important when I consider all of the effort and public resources that have been put into the LA River to just improve it. It's tragic that in an instant, some of that work could be reversed. So two things. I'm hoping the economic impact that Chairwoman Solis just mentioned, can that or will that be included where small businesses can also be held harmless and reimbursed financially from the oil company?

Yeah. I would love to work with you all to make sure that we're aggregating that information with the hotline and our Office of Small Business activated to support claims. We're gonna have a better understanding of the totality of impacts with individual businesses and the total number of claims submitted. So that will be helpful for helping to understand that as well as working with the SBA on those loans and to the chair's point with other CDFIs and capital institutions for folks that don't qualify for SBA. But we will include that in the report back as well as we understand it.

And making sure that we benefit from our past experience in terms of how we do outreach to small businesses like that. And so that it is a door to door, it is a assisted application process. not expecting that they simply magically know now who to call and to access those things. I want to make sure we do that. Yes. To public works, any idea that may be premature in terms of what full reimbursement would look like in terms of real dollars?

Supervisor, if the model that we're using for Dominguez Channel has anything, it's in the millions of dollars, tens of millions, if not more of dollars. So, you know, my guess is like it's a 50 million to 100 million dollar event ultimately, probably more in the scale of 50. And again, that model we're using for Dominguez Challenge, you know we're in the middle of litigation right now. We are. And I'm really happy to report how much work we've done with county council to bring about good results in that case. And we're going to apply that case here. and be comprehensive about the claim in terms of economic impact as well.

And I thank you for that. And I just wanted to know the number because I think that captures the attention of the press and the public too, that this was not small, that this is significant dollars, that small businesses, communities, residents, government for the cleanup have been impacted, and that the polluter in this case must be held accountable. Thank you, Madam Chair, for bringing this.

Can I just ask, is it the polluter? You mentioned the pipeline owner versus the communications that actually dug in there. Is that a legal thing?

Well, we're going to make claims, Supervisor, and we'll link that to, ultimately, it's the oil companies and refineries that have a system in Los Angeles County to bring the crude to the port and offshore. So we want to look at all potential parties that we could claim against in this. So we would start with the beneficiary of the oil system, the pipeline operator. They'll probably sue the telecom. I don't think we go after the telecom. We go after the beneficiary of the system.

That'll all be a part of our investigation, Supervisor.

Yeah, what concerns me as we move forward, especially in East Los Angeles, we're going to have some major construction projects. And we've already started some of it, laying our cables underground. And we also have a major metro project, the East Side Gold Line, where there's going to be tunneling. And all of that is another risk. And I know people are having concerns about that because of the tunnel boring that has to take place, which is not insignificant. So I think there's a lot of things that we should be thinking about. Hopefully we'll be looking at new tools, technological tools that can help us also figure out where those hot spots or infrastructure that's old is there before we start to poke in there. I mean, I think it's strategic surgery, I guess. I couldn't use a better word, but figuring out what tools we have at hand and how fast and quickly the county is up to speed to acquire that kind of technology.

Supervisors, you have an excellent track record in terms of these kinds of accidents in our construction projects and that those tools are in place. What this looks like is, speculating a little bit, that an entity broke the law in some way or made a construction mistake that had significant impacts. We'll have to see about that. More than not, the pipeline itself was in disrepair. We'd be looking at that. But rest assured, not only Metro, but LA County and the system that we have in place, the knowledge we have these days, which is much better about, as Supervisor said, where these lines are, You created an office of oil and gas. We've mapped all those lines. So with all that said, construction accidents do occur. The problem is Los Angeles, they have such an impact when they do occur. So as you said, reducing that risk by more technology, adding technology, adding knowledge in it is always a good idea. It's always a good idea.

Okay, well, thank you. Seeing no other questions from my colleagues, I want to thank you, the panelists, and actually to the residents in East Los Angeles, too, because they were resilient and they trusted, I want to say, what we were telling them, what you all were doing, and I want to continue to have that trust. So we've got to work on it so that we don't lose that. So thank you very much. Okay, with that, Executive Officer, let's go to public comments.

Madam Chair, there are no in-person speakers that have signed up to speak on this item. We will go to remote speakers. Caller with phone number 323804, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Yeah, hi, this is Tony Torres. I'm calling in today to support the motion made by Supervisor Leith, item 20. I'm really proud and very happy that Supervisor Leith And her office has taken a very, very active role in informing the community. I went to school at Belvedere Middle School in the 1980s, so a long time ago. And Belvedere is very close to where this oil spill took place. So I actually had some of my folks go out. We recruited some volunteers to help walk door to door and inform the residents. And it is true. Folks were very concerned. about what was taking place, and they knew of the oil spill, they could smell the fumes, but they had very little in the way of where to reach out and how to file their claim. I think the information that was provided that day by the supervisor's office, and I think over 30.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 562922, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Hello, my name is Jelani Arriaga. I'm calling in to thank Supervisor Solis for really trying to take care of my community. We've had a lot of environmental issues in the past, and seeing a supervisor who actually cares about us It's really important, I feel like, in my community because then we get a little more feedback in the government and the processes that go on there. So thank you so much for Supervisor Solis supporting us and helping clean up our area. Thank you.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 562547, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Hi, my name is Michael. I'm a long-term resident of East LA. I've been living here since I was a kid, pretty much. I really want to thank Hilda Solis for standing up for East LA and our office and the firefighters for responding so quickly. I really appreciate the community outreach that you guys did. I knew a little bit about the oil spill, but I didn't know it was 25,000 gallons that spilled into East LA and into the river. That's kind of crazy, all the damage that it's going to do to the wildlife and to business and the streets. That's really concerning, and I am kind of peeved that we didn't get a lot of media attention about it. But yeah, I just wanted to call and say thank you for standing up for us. Whoever did this needs to be held responsible. I don't want taxpayer money to be used for this or the county money. This is their mistake. They should fix it. Thank you so much, Hilda.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 5626423, your line is open. Please state your name and begin. Caller with phone number 626-423, your line is open. Please begin. Caller with phone number 323-422, your line is open. Please state your name and begin. Caller, your line is open.

Hi.

Please continue. Yes.

Hi, Clara Solis, thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Solis for bringing this motion forward. When I first heard about this, I called the group I trust the most, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, who always works to help the community on these events that always seem to happen in East LA. They were hearing from total school students that they could hear smell odors East LA always seems to get shortchanged. The Exide cleanup has been a failure with Exide going into bankruptcy and DTSC cleanup not doing what is needed. So I worry that once again residents will be shortchanged. You should ask for punitive damage And also, I would like to ask that you get another U.S. AQMD to get another pro-trans.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 323-695. Your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Good morning, Supervisors. My name is Diego Rodriguez, and I serve as COO of Alma Family Services, which serves more than 18,000 residents annually, including thousands living in East LA. I want to thank Supervisor Solis for her leadership through this motion, through her office's immediate presence, coordination, and commitment to accountability. For a community that has faced environmental challenges in the past, it is critical that the spewing is fully remediated and that residents can have confidence in the safety of their neighborhood and public spaces. Residents deserve confidence that affected roadways are fully restored, any potential soil contamination is properly addressed, and that remediation efforts move forward in a timely and transparent manner. As this work continues, it's also important that those responsible are held accountable and the cost of cleanup and restoration not shifted onto county taxpayers. I respectfully urge your support for item 20. Thank you.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 323-719. Your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Hi, my name is Lily Hernandez. I'm a lifelong resident of East LA. I want to thank, I wonder if you can hear me. Yes, we can. Okay. I'd like to thank the police for pushing this item. It's very important. I was actually at a forum and a lot of residents spoke of this. They were still having after effects because due to asthma. The fact that it was five gallons per second at the estimate of 65,000, 6,500 gallons, and for 30 minutes because it was at 319 and they shut it off at 350,000, And people didn't know because they were sleeping and it sat there and they inhaled it. I think that has to be investigated. I mean, what are the ramifications for the community, for the people that live there, as well as the air quality monitors still have it at Main Street and Pico Rivera. So how can we actually know what is the harm within the community of East LA because it sits right in the middle.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 323-262. Your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Hello, good morning. My name is Veronica Ramos. I'm calling with Ramos Industries. We have the business here, Sister Chavez, just in front of our business. It was closed for the issue, and I wanted to say thank you My supervisor is for support our community. And actually, I have a number for the pipeline that they give us to submit a claim and nobody answer. That's a matter because they close our industry and they don't let us to work. Thank you.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 323-684. Your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Melissa Castro, and I'm proud to support item 20. I work for Alma Family Services with their outdoor equity program. So I work directly with youth and families to connect them with nature and create green spaces in our community, as well as promote environmental stewardship. So it's extremely devastating to hear what has happened and how this impacts youth and families directly. There is a long history of environmental hazards disproportionately impacting communities. And so, again, I just want to reiterate, along with a lot of people on these calls, that we want to thank Supervisor Solis' office, as well as our emergency response partners. As you guys continue to conduct recovery efforts, we want to make sure that those held responsible are held accountable. resident tax dollars should go to these efforts again. Those should be held responsible. Thank you again. Everyone deserves clean air and clean water.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 626-419. Your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Good afternoon. My name is Adrian Mancia. I'm a I work for Alabama Family Services. I'm a youth development director here in the area where we provide services to East LA. Thank you, Hilda Solis, for bringing this, Supervisor Hilda Solis, for bringing the motion forward. Again, just like everyone that called earlier, everyone is very concerned with this oil spill. Unfortunately, East LA has a history of environmental injustice, and it is a stark reminder that we collectively must continue working towards a healthier, cleaner world that is safe for residents and community members in East LA area. I appreciate knowing that the supervisor's office was responsive from the start, being present along with the first responders and helping coordinate critical steps in the response. And the cost of damage of the oil spill, like Manny mentioned, shouldn't be for the taxpayers in the area. It must be carried out by the people responsible for the spill. So thank you again, supervisor, for making sure the situation is appropriately investigated. So yeah, vote yes on item 21.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 323-228, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Hi, my name is Joanna. And I'm calling to support in item 20 and appreciate that supervisor is bringing this motion forward and taking action in helping East Valley community and small business owners. We appreciate all your help.

Thank you.

Caller with phone number 562-606, your line is open. State your name and begin.

Dear Honorable Board of Supervisors, I am Kerry Chai, a volunteer from iHeart East L.A. and a resident and SNAC member of iHeart Long Beach under SPCC. Impacted by the old spill, I urge the Board to support this motion by Supervisor Lease and vote yes on item 20. It ensures accountability for oil spill by assessing response gaps, pouring impacted distance, and pursuing authentication and cost recovery from the most possible company. Thank you so much. Bye.

Thank you. Roy Humphreys, your line is open. Please begin.

Thank you. Did the public works notes restoring... is the first concern, help me. The cause to the effect is priority one. It did not hit the news, that is suspicious. That is a unique smell that the county negligence has historic as the preventable Roland Heights sewage spill, which closed the river to the sea two years ago. Of course, county disaster and control has scenario training considering Supervisor Han's pipeline dynamics as stated since the 1969 spill. Check it out. It is not a question of if, but when.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 323-378, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

hi good morning my name is genesis coronado i'm a concerned resident of east los angeles i've lived here for almost my whole life uh today i'm calling on item 20 which is calling for accountability and justice however as we heard today from the supervisor han and mitchell as well who really uplifted this the county failed in the responsibility to provide direct communication to the community since may 22nd community has received has only received updates via social media that's completely unacceptable In the past weeks, community has reached out to our most local representative, in this case, Supervisor Solis, to request a community meeting. However, to date, our request has been ignored. As our local representative, your office needs to step up to communicate with community through an open forum where community can actually ask questions. There cannot be justice without community at the table. This resolution should not be passed if there is zero commitment for open communication and transparency with the community. And that starts with, at a minimum, a much needed community meeting in East Los Angeles. Thank you.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 951-842. Your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

My name is Angelica Prieto and I'm here to support item 20. This community has seen a history of environmental injustice and this is a starting point that we collectively must continue working towards a healthier, cleaner world that is safer for residents and the land that we live on. I appreciate knowing that the supervisor's office has been responsible for the start beginning present along with first responders and helping coordinate critical steps in the response. However, Justice needs to be happened. The party responsible for this oil spill and their actions must be known. And the cost of the damages of the oil spill in the East L.A. community to the L.A. River and the impacted wildlife. Thank you to the supervisor for making sure the situation is appropriately investigated. Please vote yes on item 20.

Thank you. Byron, your line is open. Please begin.

Byron calling us an SD1 constituent and someone with family members and loved ones living in East LA and CELA. I wasn't given a script, so I won't rush through this. I would like to thank the department directors for doing their best to coordinate the response and engage the communities with limited directors from this board. We could have had this conversation on Wednesday, May 27th. Yes, after holiday, we could have those two extra days. And then they could have information around language, around memos, and around whether the media is covering this or not. Imagine if the chair last year would have canceled all the scheduled board meetings or half of the scheduled board meetings and refused to hold an emergency meeting that were obviously East L.A. community members needed and anyone impacted by the river. So again, if the chair is busy running for office, we can have the Pro Tem do this. Like last year, the Pro Tem was running all these meetings, even during the ice rates. So we want to make sure that Pro Tem Mitchell can be running these meetings.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 323-653, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Yes, hi. Sorry, I'm actually wanting to comment on item 18. I apologize if this is the wrong phone number.

Madam Chair, that concludes the time for public comment on item 20.

Item 20 is before you.

I will move the item seconded by Supervisor Han to approve this item. Executive Officer, call the roll.

Supervisor Mitchell?

Aye.

Supervisor Mitchell, aye. Supervisor Han?

Aye.

Supervisor Han, aye. Supervisor Barker? Aye. Supervisor Barker, aye. Supervisor Solis?

Aye.

Supervisor Solis, aye. Motion carries four to zero.

And for the record, I would just like to say to the caller that said we had not convened any meetings. There will be a convening of those departments in the district and we will continue to make information available and coordinate with all our departments. Thank you.

We will now move on to item A6, discussion and consideration of necessary actions on the status of federal and or state budgets, federal and or state legislative matters, and executive orders, which was held by Supervisor Solis. For members of the public joining us remotely to comment on this item, please use the raise hand feature if you're online or press star three if on a telephone. Dr. Christina Ghaly, Director of Health Services. Kristin Stringer, Chief Deputy Director, Department of Public Social Services. And Alan Wecker, Chief Financial Officer, Department of Health Services. Sherry Doi, CEO, Ambulatory Care Network, Department of Health Services, will make a presentation. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health, is available for questions. For the departmental speakers, please state your name and title for the record when you address the board.

Thank you. I think what we'll go ahead and do is just start with the panel so you can inform us on what impacts we're going to be faced and ongoing with HR1. So why don't we start with you, Dr. Galley? Christina Galley, thank you for being here.

Thank you, Supervisors, and good morning. I'm Christina Galley, the Director of the Department of Health Services, and I'm joined by Alan Wecker, our Chief Financial Officer. I'll run through very quickly a series of slides and then allow the panel also to make their comments and then happy to answer any questions that you might have. So if you could go to the next slide, please. This shows our projected fund balance. We anticipate closing the books this year with an available fund balance of approximately $1.5 billion. Please note that this does not include our long-term receivable, which is not noted on the slide, of approximately $1.2 billion. However, due to both rising costs and declining revenue, health services has a worsening structural deficit, and we anticipate needing to use an increasing amount of our fund balance to balance the books every year. On the cost side, the major pressure is the cost of labor, which rises every year, along with the need for capital investments in aging facilities and the rising costs of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. This is coupled with declining state and federal revenue streams, which I'll address in future slides. Without intervention, as you can see on the slide, this will exhaust our fund balance after 27-28. Because we are not able to go negative and because we understand the board's policy of not backfilling state and federal revenue cuts, addressing the imbalance will require either a reduction in our costs or new revenue streams or both. Next slide, please. This slide should be familiar to you and your teams. It breaks down the department's major sources of revenue. Please note that this slide excludes community programs and correctional health services. This just includes the core DHS delivery system. Overall, on the right in blue, 42% of our funding comes in the form of supplemental payments. 40% in red, is direct payments for services, and 18% in gray is state and county subsidies. The changes in HR1 affect primarily the blue, but also some of the red revenue streams. Next slide, please. This slide shows a timeline of changes that are on the horizon. In 2025, we experienced the end of the COVID era Medicaid flexibilities, which made it more difficult for people to maintain their Medicaid enrollment. At the beginning of 2026, the state froze enrollment for UIS populations in state-only Medi-Cal, which functionally reduces the degree to which undocumented individuals can obtain full scope Medi-Cal coverage. Later in 2026, We will have a decrease in the federal matching share, or FMAP, for undocumented adults needing emergency services. Also, and critically, our 1115 Medicaid waiver expires on December 31, 2026, and without renewal, we will lose the global payment program. The Global Payment Program is essential in allowing us to serve uninsured individuals in low-cost, non-hospital-based settings rather than in high-cost emergency departments. In 2027, the federal eligibility and enrollment limitations of H.R. 1 go into effect, and on the state side in the May revise, the governor proposed a $50 per month premium for UIS populations, which will further limit and reduce Medi-Cal enrollment. Finally, in 2028, at the far right of the slide is the beginning of the phase down in supplemental state directed payments. That's largely what affects the blue pie chart, the blue portions of the pie chart on the previous page. Next slide, please. I won't go through this in detail, but in total, each of the program components often have overlapping impacts. But in total, health services stands to lose approximately $700 million by 2028 in federal and state revenue streams. Please note that these estimates do not take into account the potential additional impact of other regulatory rules which we are awaiting release from from the federal government. Next slide. We've been working hard to address the structural deficit and the challenging times ahead, and I'll just touch very briefly on a number of key revenue streams that we're awaiting for decisions points on throughout this fiscal year. First, Measure ER. Thank you for the board support of Measure ER and for the advocacy. This measure would bring in approximately $220 million each year to DHS for a period of five years of the initiative. In addition, it would provide support to other entities in the county and the community, including putting in place an access program for individuals who lack insurance. Second, we are working with the state to advocate for $500 million statewide in support for Medi-Cal inpatient fee for service claims. Currently, public hospitals do not receive any state general fund support for inpatient fee-for-service, but private hospitals do, and we're looking to right-size that disparity through this advocacy of the $500 million. The State Assembly has supported, preliminarily, a $250 million allocation, and we continue to work with the Assembly and the Senate in the ongoing budget discussions. DHS would anticipate receiving approximately a quarter or so, plus or minus, of that allocation. Next, we're working on a new incentive band managed care program in partnership with the state, as well as working to enhance our billing and claiming functions. Next, if it passes, there's a one-time tax on billionaires on the November ballot that would bring in a currently unspecified amount of funding for health services. 90% of the money is earmarked for health, but there's not a lot of details available about how that funding would be distributed. And finally, we have a number of internal initiatives, including conversion of our outpatient clinics to federally qualified health centers over the next couple of years, which would allow us to access wraparound PPS rates. As hard as we're working on these initiatives, it will likely not be sufficient to address our underlying costs and our underlying deficit. Next slide, please. As a result of that, we'll need to continue to aggressively focus on cost reduction. And I'll take just a moment to explain this slide. There's four different kind of categories of cost reductions that we're working on, and that could be considered over time. To date, we have only focused on the far left of the slide, which are cost reductions without either workforce reductions or layoffs and without service reductions that affect patient care. I'll call these efficiencies just for the sake of a crisp word. Second, if those efficiencies are not sufficient in balancing the budget, we would need to move on to further reductions in costs. As the next phase, we would need to consider workforce reductions that don't impact services. We would focus, for example, on management and administrative staff. If those are also not sufficient, then we would next move to services that, to reductions that do focus on reductions in services, but that do not affect our revenue. We have several services that we either don't bill for or we bill very little for, and we would able to reap more financial benefit from cutting services that we don't bill for than those that we do bill for. And then finally, as a final effort, if we are not successful in balancing our budget with the before-mentioned initiatives, we would need to consider cuts to revenue-generating services. We will do everything we can to avoid this. These types of actions will result in large-scale layoffs and large reductions in services for our community, and they would have a deleterious impact on really a lot of people who rely on us for jobs and for care. However, because these services are associated with revenue, when we make cuts to them, we also achieve relatively little in savings. As one example in one financial model that we've run, if we cut $1 billion in revenue-generating services, we are only able to save approximately $170 million. Next slide. That is why we are working so hard on the efficiency measures that were in that first box. I also won't go through this in detail, but happy to answer questions if there are any. These are just examples of the types of initiatives that are in place across the department and really looking to make the most effective use of the available resources that we have so we can maintain the jobs and the services that our patients and our staff rely on. Finally, and last slide, I thought it would be helpful to just outline some of the key considerations that we'll need to look at if we do get to the point of service reductions in the future. Among the considerations are whether or not a certain service or program is regulatorily mandated, For example, our local EMS agency is a required entity within the county. Second, and I've touched on this, is what the fiscal impact is of the cut. If a service generates revenue, then it's harder from a fiscal perspective to cut than a service that does not generate revenue. and some services are more costly than others. Third is the workforce impact and what the magnitude of the layoffs would be. And finally, the patient and community level impact, thinking about what the impact would be on communities, how patients and the public would access care, with consideration of other alternative care options, thinking about social vulnerability indices, transportation times between sites, provider and access metrics, and other factors. And our internal team is already mapping out those different options and models so that we can put in place an equity frame on potential future service reductions down the road. Because we have fund balance, we are grateful that we do not need to begin service cuts at this point in time. We are awaiting the outcome of Measure ER, the billionaire's tax, our waiver renewal, pending federal rules, our state general fund request, all while working on our internal efficiency initiatives. At the end of the calendar year, we'll be in a better position to know if we need to progress to service reductions in 2027. And if we do so, we'll do so in partnership with your board, with the public, with our patients, and in collaboration and advice of County Council. Be happy to answer questions or can turn it over to the panel for additional comments.

Yeah, let's go to the panel. We'll go DPSS, yeah. Thank you.

Go ahead.

Thank you. Go ahead.

Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board. My name is Kristen Stranger and I serve as our Chief Deputy of Operations at the Department of Public Social Services. So today, I am here to share information related to our recent implementation as well as future implementation efforts to implement changes based off of federal and state policy to our CalFresh and Medi-Cal programs. Next slide, please. So I've broken this presentation up into what has been implemented thus far, what's on the horizon. So the first part is what has been implemented thus far. The bulk of the changes thus far have been to the CalFresh program. What we have seen are changes to the eligibility criteria. where limitations to CalFresh now are only for U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, Cuban or Haitian entrance, as well as individuals who reside in the U.S. in accordance with the Compact of Free Association Agreement. We have seen the removal of eligibility for refugees, parolees, battered non-citizens, trafficking victims, and asylees. This was implemented in April of 2026, so it's a fairly new implementation. We also have implemented the able-bodied adults without dependents work requirements. for CalFresh that implementation began on June 1st, 2026. We are nine days in, but we were able to prepare and in preparations for the implementation of ABOD, we trained approximately 6,000 of our eligibility workers. And we continue to provide onsite support as well as virtual support to our team members as they are Conducting eligibility determinations for our customers and sometimes when you are transitioning to new rules, the ability to have access to life support to make sure you're applying policy correctly is critical. Our eligibility systems have been operable. We haven't experienced any significant issues to our CalSAS or to our benefits CalSystems but I do want to note that this has had a significant impact on not only our team members but our customers. Our interviews are taking longer, customers are having questions and so there we're seeing an increase in in inquiries, it takes time to assimilate to the new screens and so the process for determining eligibility is something that our team and our customers are getting acclimated to. And there has been frustration, frustration on both parts and I want to acknowledge that. I also want to give acknowledgement to our team members at DPSS who are doing an amazing job of familiarizing themselves with the changes and doing their very best to serve the community and I want to acknowledge the public for their grace as we navigate these changes together. We've also been really leaning into our communication efforts because this is not something that DPSS can do alone. So there's an extensive amount of thank yous to the community, community-based organizations, other fellow county departments, just all of LA County in totality for coming together to really scale the efforts and education of what goes into compliance with the ABOD work requirements. We lean into our existing community forums. We lean into our Keep Your Benefits web page, which is kind of our hub of all things changes and for all audiences. And that is where we are directing the public in general, because that's where we're keeping the most up-to-date information. So given we are nine days into ABOD implementation, we haven't seen terminations. because there's up to three months of eligibility before termination. But our goal is to help our community members preserve those months, those three months of eligibility, by helping them to, by evaluating and seeing if there is a possible exemption to the work requirements, as well as helping them to identify opportunities for meeting work or community engagement requirements. And then lastly, we had a change to our standard utility allowance policy, which limits that payment to only those households with an elderly or disabled family member. And that went into effect in late last year. So to surmise, in CalFresh, we've seen a decrease in our caseload thus far. Just for context, in fiscal year 23-24, we had an average of 993,000 customers per month. In fiscal year 24-25, that average caseload was 1 million. And then we are seeing so far in fiscal year 25-26, an average of 957,000 cases per month. So we are seeing a decrease. And in our Medi-Cal, which much of the Medi-Cal changes begin in the next year, the next calendar year, but there have been some changes already. We have reinstituted the asset limits for Medi-Cal. That went into effect January 1st. And we have, as Dr. Galley highlighted earlier, we have the expansion freeze to the population that is 19 to the population that has unsatisfactory immigration status. So for contacts for our Medi-Cal caseload we have seen, so just for contacts in terms of numbers, in fiscal years 23 and 24 and 24 and 25 we averaged at a Medi-Cal caseload we have seen, so just for contacts in terms of numbers, in fiscal years 23 and 24 and 24 and 25 we averaged at about 2.1 million cases per month and And right now, we're averaging about 2 million cases per month. But again, the bulk of the changes for Medi-Cal are going to happen in the coming year. Next slide, please. So upcoming changes. In October 1st, 2026 is when we'll see the changes to the cost sharing ratios for administrative funding. I know Dr. Contreras has covered that in previous budgetary items, but I do want to recognize and thank the board for the support in terms of preparing for responding to that change. Our DPSS is extremely grateful. In terms of Medi-Cal, we have the engagement requirements or work requirements coming in January of 2027. The exemptions have been limited, but some of the exemptions to highlight for the public are individuals who are fully disabled, parents with children younger than 13, and then, of course, the medical frailty, which is one that we have been working a lot with the provider community to understand more. Meeting the engagement or work requirements will equate to, for those that are subject to them, an average working or volunteering an average of 80 hours per month. Or if it's earned income, it will be approximately $580 per month of earned income. Then we have the six-month renewal requirement, which is currently an annual requirement. It's now going to be a redetermination every six months. Limits to retroactive Medi-Cal as well as, yes, so limits to retroactive Medi-Cal as well as premiums that will go into effect next year. for those individuals with unsatisfactory immigration status. And then lastly, just highlighting the changes in coverage for full scope Medi-Cal with no dental. And I said lastly, but I really have one more. There's one additional change around just general eligibility, similar to the CalFresh program, where Medi-Cal would be limited to US citizens, lawful permanent residents after five years, certain Cuban and Haitian nationals, as well as the COFA. country nationals that I mentioned earlier. So collectively, we are anticipating with state projections an impact to approximately 1.35 million Medi-Cal customers, which is about 43% of Los Angeles County's Medi-Cal customers. Next slide, please. So highlighting the value and importance of communication and partnerships, I mentioned this earlier, but this is our Keep Your Benefits webpage. On there is our policy changes and calls to actions, frequently asked questions, social media messages, toolkits for whomever would find the information helpful. We do have informational videos that walk individuals through how to complete their documentation. There is communication about opportunities to meet and engage in work or community engagement requirements as well as our contact information to if there is a provider or if there is a community member who is interested in hosting a work fair or community service site. Next slide please. We also, there's additional information related to communications and partnerships. We have relaunched our health and nutrition meetings, which hosts approximately 200 various stakeholders that meet monthly to not only share changes related to policy, but it's a bidirectional communication. Hear feedback on what outreach and communication efforts are working well and which ones need to be adjusted. We are working with the managed healthcare providers to expand data sharing efforts and improve data and benefits retention. I mentioned this a second ago, but working with other county departments, not only to share information about the changes, as oftentimes we're serving the same public in various venues, but also if county departments are interested in becoming a potential work fair site, that's an opportunity there, and raise general awareness about the upcoming changes. And then we are grateful for the collaboration with the Center for Strategic Partnerships, as we have been working with them to secure philanthropic funding to team up with community partners in efforts to recruit community service and workfare partners. And the goal is to recruit as many work sites as possible to support individuals who are subject to the engagement requirements. We are leveraging our existing partnerships, our district offices and regional offices host local community meetings that are hyper-local to their service areas, as well as our larger, more list serves in our general meetings that we have. And then we're building new partnerships. We have some newer partners that we, this effort has created new opportunities to meet additional partners such as street medicine providers, new non-profits, as well as faith-based providers. So we are leaning into those relationships as well. And so that concludes the end of my presentations and I'm available as well for questions.

I'm going to go ahead and start with Supervisor Mitchell because I know you and I originally wanted to have this review. So I'll start with you and then go to the other members and then I'll chime in after.

Thank you for that and thank you for the presentation. It's sobering. continues to be sobering. Um, when I think about the impact HR one is going to have on our public hospital, our healthcare safety net across the board, um, it, it reflects. And, and again, um, we've only heard today from two departments, DHS and department of public social services. We know that public health and others, um, are going to be impacted, um, by, And again, from my perspective, the scale of the harm continues to be devastating. Just one couple questions for DHS. I want to focus, first of all, on process. I appreciate the chart you showed us that talked about your strategy around cost containment. the far left column you showed us. And I think it's going to be important as you implement those strategies that we continue to be as transparent and as clear as possible as we all continue to navigate these financial changes. A specific example, you know, when you use the term consolidating services or clinics. I think many of our constituents interpret that as closing or that services will go away in some case. And so recently your department decided to consolidate services by closing the Gardena High School school-based clinic. I understand that decision was ultimately rescinded But the problem for me was I didn't know that was a Department of Health Services decision until our phone lines lit up and the request meetings overwhelmed our email system. So I heard about it from the community, not the department. And so as we all continue to navigate these difficult financial challenges together, I think it will be really critically important that we are all on the same page. And so every time you are even considering issuing a Billion to Notice for a service change, I would ask that just our offices are informed so we are prepared with a... A response or even, you know, if we want to engage your department in understanding why the consolidation or closure of that service. So I hope I can get that agreement from you.

Yes, absolutely. Thank you, Supervisor Mitchell. And I do want to apologize. I also learned about the Gardena High School closure from the community. It was not a decision. I take responsibility for that. Like we had some internal, clearly, you know, process that needs to be improved. So I do apologize to your office as well as to Gardena High School students, and I'm grateful that they reached out. And I know that Harbor has also apologized to your team as well as to the director of that clinic for what was a misstep on our part. So please accept that apology and know that we will take steps to be sure that that doesn't happen again. We have also been clear with the school that we will, at least for the time being, continue the services, work in partnership with them to find hopefully a long-term solution that works for everybody. I think it's a great service for the students there and I apologize for that. And then your broader point, absolutely. We will continue to engage with your offices and do so in the future anytime we are considering potential changes.

I appreciate that. I just wanted to make sure that from that experience we learned and that every office has the opportunity of information upfront, because it's going to be really important that we are all speaking with one voice as we make these very, very tough decisions, because as we all know, services will change across LA County. The second piece on your new major revenue chart, and I fully appreciate that the ballots are still being counted on Measure ER, but as I look at your expected allocation to health services, the 220 million a year, That didn't jive with my estimate in terms of what's coming to the department, so I just wanted to make sure or hear from you if that number includes the 2.5% for correctional health and the administrative reimbursement your department will get for managing the 45% category.

Yeah, thank you, Supervisor, for calling that out. So I should have been clearer in this slide. The $220 million is the 22% on an assumed $1 billion annual base that is directly allocated to the department for the hospitals and the clinics. And I should have been clear that the focus of this was on the structural deficit in the hospitals and the clinics. So the 22% is for that. You're correct. There's an additional 2.5%. which would be directly allocated to correctional health services. The numbers that are included in the presentation today don't include any of the financials for correctional health services. And then, yes, also there is a 45% allocation that goes to creating that low-cost coverage program or access program for individuals who lack insurance. DHS would administer the program and would receive some administrative funding for the cost of administering it, which we will absolutely keep in a minimum. We don't know what that amount would be at this point in time. And then the way the program is structured and the way the spending plan is written is that the community clinics would provide the services. that the patients need, and we would love it if the community clinics could provide all of those services. I think also one of the things that will need to be discussed over the subsequent six months, assuming the measure passes, is to the extent those clinics can't provide every last service, certain specialty care or surgeries or procedures or diagnostics, how those referrals will be managed and there's language in the spending plan that would allow either DHS to provide that or other providers as well, depending on the capacity of the community clinics. So those numbers are also not included in that $220 million number.

Got it. Thank you for that clarification. And in terms of the 45%, I appreciate your comment about that admin rate. Now you should get an admin rate for administering it, but I appreciate your comment about trying to keep it well within reason. So thank you. So, to Department of Public Social Services, I think when we look at the number of LA County residents who've already lost their Medi-Cal, this is for me, I think, one of the harshest provisions that have already taken effect. And it's interesting when I see comments on social media about who people think they are, we are. And you know, the reality is that the majority of the residents who've lost their Medi-Cal in LA County thus far have been US citizens. Of the more than 220,000, I think that number is higher, it's closer to 300,000 as I understand it. What is our number in terms of how many have lost Medi-Cal in the county thus far?

Thank you, Supervisor. So thus far for the average monthly caseload, For Medi-Cal, we have... I'm sorry, I have that right here. It's approximately a decrease of 100,000 cases.

Say that one more time.

100,000. So right now, our average caseload per month is 2 million cases, and that's down from 2.1 million on average.

So what's our total number since... I thought we were going back to like July of last year, that have lost Medi-Cal. Do you have that total number?

So I do have the by month, I can pull them out right now, but yeah, in terms of, I was giving averages.

The point I'm trying to make is that, you know, we know that our immigrant family friends and neighbors are losing coverage at an alarming rate, but this is really dismantling healthcare access for all of our communities. You know, I chair First Five. The number of children who have lost their Medi-Cal is devastating. And so I just think it's important for the public to understand that it's going to impact all of us. And that over half, as I understand it, of those who've lost Medi-Cal thus far are U.S. citizens and a significant number are children. Another devastating impact is the cut to CalFresh, which will only exacerbate the level of food insecurity far too many Angelenos experience. And again, four out of every 10 of them are children under 18. And infants under one are losing benefits at the steepest rate of any age group. So, as we think about early childhood development, you know, we aren't prepared, I think, for the short-term or long-term consequences of chronic food insecurity for children, which we are going to experience as a direct result of HR1. So, to that, can you speak to what DPSS is doing to proactively reach eligible families who may not know that they're at risk of losing coverage under the new work requirement and re-verification rules and to help them stay enrolled.

Yes, thank you for that question, Supervisor. So we are doing several efforts, but there is absolutely more we can be doing. And this is where we look to your offices and to the community as a whole to continue providing that authentic feedback, excuse me, to continue providing that feedback. And we authentically will take it into consideration and continue to adjust our messages. Right now we have, Dr. Contreras has done a number of media interviews clarifying the changes that have occurred or at the time it was were going to occur. Now it has occurred for the able-bodied adults without dependent work requirements. We are working with through our exist, a lot, we are really leaning into our existing community networks. We have ongoing community engagement meetings, as I mentioned, kind of at that higher level, but then hyper-local ones where it's the local community-based organizations who have the direct contact information of their particular leadership of that service area. So we are doing bi-directional communication there. We have finished a toolkit, which is available on our Keep Your Benefits web page. We are working to refine our systems, for instance, so on our hold messages, it communicates the various changes. But most importantly, and I failed to mention these earlier, so I appreciate the opportunity to kind of blend this in, a lot of these changes are not happening all at once. So for the existing customers that we have, these changes don't get evaluated until it comes to your actual redetermination. And so I think that's one of the messages that has been out there because we've been receiving a number of calls of people who are concerned, which I totally understand. Because they're seeing everything. Because they're seeing everything, exactly. And so our team's been fielding a lot of questions around that. And the reality is these determinations, the bulk of them will happen at the redetermination period. So those are the ways that we're leaning into community engagement. And again, I full-heartedly mean if there are additional ideas, additional partners that we don't know yet, we are more than welcome to engage in additional partnerships.

When we talk about the number of children and infants that are going to be impacted, I'm wondering if we are thinking about any kind of out-of-the-box coordination with other entities, you know, LACO through their preschool program, you know, us at First Five with Department of Public Health. Is there anything that you are considering given the number of infants and children that are gonna be directly impacted? And I know they don't apply themselves. It's the grownups in their household that have to do the application, however. What's the program? I just drew a blank. Where you get milk. WIC, thank you. Through partnership with WIC. Are we doing any of those kinds of creative partnerships?

Thank you for the question. So yes, we are. And again, there's more we can be doing. So I'll take first the WIC. We are piloting right now WIC presence in a number of our offices to determine if we can have cross-directional increases in access to the program. So for instance, When the coordinators of WIC are on site, we're able to have, refer customers that are in the offices to WIC, and then we can help with supplementing by accessing the WIC program. These partners too, LACO, First Five, these are partners that are part of kind of the health and nutrition committees. They're plugged into existing venues that we have, but we are looking at additional creative opportunities. This is something that one of my team members came up with the other day that I thought was a wonderful idea. Now that we have the dashboards, the Poverty Alleviation Initiative dashboards that really give us information, rich information, about where our gaps may be. Of course, there's an eligibility determination associated with it, but the team member that I was working with had the idea of, hey, we can highlight the specific grocery stores that are in that area. Let's go put something at their checkout stands where you can do an automatic benefits cow link. I happened to be at Grocery Outlet earlier in the day and saw somebody doing that for employment for Grocery Outlet, so it was like, it felt like a sign. So there's a lot of those types of grassroots ideas that are coming about as well as the more formal partnerships that we're engaging in because everything you just said is incredibly important and The impact is so great. We collectively as a community need to do whatever we can to help eligible individuals maintain their benefits.

I agree. I would add one more county entity, and that's the county office of child care. Because when you consider those who are eligible for subsidized child care, again, engage in the child care provider community as well as those who are eligible that that department can work with. resource and referral and our alternative payment agencies to really get the message out to those families and child care providers as well.

Absolutely, we will do that. We actually, one of the newer partners we recently met and have engaged with is the City of LA. They have a child care network. So we're now on their webpage as of last week. And we have been, we are getting, receiving training about the various resources. So Yes, absolutely. We will look further into that relationship and continue to further these relationships with the other entities you mentioned.

I would add the Child Care Alliance because that's all of L.A. County. Just last comment, Madam Chair, because it just gets under my skin to see the Medi-Cal asset test results. re-established because when the state eliminated it, I was there and it was not altruistic. It was based on economics then because it cost more to do the asset test evaluation than we ever gleaned. The asset test is so low, it was just clear. And when we did the calculation and figured out what counties and what the state paid to perform that work compared to the number of people who dropped off the program because their assets were higher than the test. It just didn't add up. So this is another direct correlation for me about just the ugliness associated with H.R. 1. It's not about saving money. It's not about making sure that services only go to U.S. citizens. I just said here in L.A. County that half of the people who've lost their Medi-Cal are U.S. citizens. So the asset test is, again, just another shot across the bow at poor people and criminalizing poverty in an ugly, harmful way. It will cost us more to administer the asset test than it will save. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Supervisor Barger.

Thank you. And thank you for the presentation, Alan. It's nice to see you. And this question really is, I think, directed at you, but it's feeding off of what Dr. Galley said. Structural deficit. Pre-HR1, pre the governor changing who can sign up. What was the projection based on the structural deficit that is in place as we speak, even without that? This is exacerbated it definitely. But and the second part of that question is, and what what were you planning to do to address the structural deficit? Because revenues far fell below what actual costs were.

Basically, what we were looking at was probably between $100 and $150 million a year, and a lot of it had to do with the cost of living increases in our salaries. What we've always tried to do is work with the state and work with the federal government in order to maximize our revenues, and as Christina said, one of the things that we're looking at right now is an incentive program. We're still working at that. We're hoping that it would bring in about $100 million a year to the department, but that won't be until January of 28 due to the complexities of it. The other things that we do is we work with our health plans. LA Care has been a great partner to us, and we're always able to try to limit our costs that we have in running the program with LA Care. And we basically negotiate rates that we believe will help us sort of start covering this. And that's what we've been doing in the past. But we've also been very good at saving money in the past. If you notice, we have a fund balance, and the fund balance is always growing. That's why we've always done this. We've been very efficient every single year, and our goal has been to increase fund balance because we knew we would hit this point at some point, and now we're able to look at fund balance and then use that, as Christina was saying, buying time for us to be able to make very good decisions in December and give everybody, here's the different processes we need in order to solve our, I shouldn't say solve, To be honest, we've been trying to solve our structural deficits in 1995 when you were around. And the goal is we try to survive each year and go forward. And that's what we've been doing very well over the last 15, 20 years.

And I do want to praise the department for the hiring freezes, registry and overtime reductions, pharmaceutical referrals, and the IT consolidations. There's no question that you all... Even pre-HR1 and the state changes have been addressing some of these concerns, to your point, since 95. On 1115 waiver, what is to stop us from... The state has submitted a new waiver, correct? With modifications.

It's a renewal. They've submitted a renewal of the existing waiver with minor modifications.

With minor modifications. Would an extension with no modifications at least steady that ship, or would that matter?

Absolutely. A renewal of the waiver with no modifications would be very helpful for the department, particularly because of the stabilization of the revenue that's associated with the global payment program. With or without the minor modifications, that would be a positive thing for the department.

Because I think, and I think you heard it, we were told that without modifications, it probably could be extended.

We're hopeful that there will be an understanding of just the flexibility that the waiver provides. We're not asking for more money than the federal government. We're not asking for new programs, new anything. What we're asking for in particular is is the ability to continue to have the flexibility to use what is ultimately dish funding in a way that can be applied to our non-hospital based sites in addition to our hospital based sites.

And where is the 1115 waiver on the anticipated revenue impact of federal state actions? Is that on this chart? Because I know you've got state enrollment freeze, 65 million.

We did not.

It's the end of Medicaid flexibilities?

I didn't put it, if you're looking at the major cost reduction initiatives chart, it's not listed there. That one we listed was just new federal and state actions. The global payment program is worth in total $750 million net to us per year.

Okay. And then I guess the frustration I have, is the state communicating with you as it relates to the 1115 waiver?

Yes. The state has been a very good partner. taking our suggestions on the waiver. They obviously have their vision and they're the lead on the waiver but they've been in constant communication with us and working very closely with us in advocating for the continuation of that waiver. It was submitted a few weeks ago by the state to CMS and then CMS put it out for public comment a week or two ago. There's a 30 day public comment period and then after that there can be the initiation of discussions.

And is the CalAIM waiver different?

CalAIM includes portions that are in the 1115 waiver, which is the waiver that is most important to us on global payment program. There's also components of CalAIM that are built into the 1915b waiver, which is also undergoing a renewal process.

And where are we with that? I believe they're taking public comment right now at the state, and it'll probably be submitted to the federal government probably in about a month or two. And again, it does, as Christina says, the same thing. The feds then have to do a one month of public comment. So it'll probably be having discussions sometime around September or October for that one. The 1115 waiver will be having discussions before, we believe, in July, August. Both of them expire at the end of December.

So we're right down to the wire? Yes. I mean, obviously, you know where I stand on the tax, and it was not about the health care system at all. I feel it's a regressive tax, and I'm concerned about who it's going to impact, but I'm also concerned about how these cuts are going to impact the most vulnerable community. And so it's... Frustrating to me that I don't see much coming out of the legislature as it relates to other counties that did not. I think one other county did put a tax on the ballot. I don't know what happened with that. But what are your thoughts regarding the state and the legislature? Have they reached out to you? I know that CSAC, I've been on calls. I know Supervisor Mitchell's been on calls discussing... the lack of movement, but I'm concerned about the system as a whole collapsing, which impacts us here in LA County.

Yes, thank you, Supervisor. We work with the state in a variety of respects. Our interactions with respect to the waiver are mostly with DHCS and with the state Medicaid director. We work very closely with them on a variety of issues, both the waiver and various health plans and rates and different aspects of Medicaid operations Our advocacy with the legislature and with the broader budget is on a couple of different areas first and foremost It's the request for the five hundred million dollars in state general fund to support inpatient fee-for-service claims versus public hospitals That's the statewide number. That's the five hundred million dollar number and I'm grateful to this board for its advocacy to CSAC for its advocacy and I know the LA delegation has written letters of support for that as well. The Assembly we've had we continue in conversation with members of the Assembly and the Senate just to keep that top of mind and to continue to push for that and we're hopeful that at least some portion of that request will be able to be approved in the final budget. The second piece that we also would like to advocate for which is really I think just important both for the finances of public and private hospitals as well as for access to care among vulnerable communities is changes to the state-only Medi-Cal and really trying to arrive at a solution that understanding the fiscal constraints, but that allows the state to unfreeze enrollment in state-only Medi-Cal for UIS or individuals with unsatisfactory immigration status. and or reduction in that premium, which went from $30 to $50 per month in the most recent May revise as proposed by the governor. Both of those will effectively limit enrollment in state-only Medi-Cal for UIS populations, and then patients will struggle accessing care, and the safety net institutions, clinics, hospitals across the county will have patients coming in who need healthcare who don't have a funding source for that care.

And I'm not, I know enough to be dangerous on this. Maybe you know more. This morning I was reading that IHSS, there are some rules that are being, or there was something not included in the budget that's impacting IHSS. Will that impact, if that, I don't have the specifics, but if that were to occur and changes toward eligibility for IHSS was to occur, would that impact DHSS?

It would not impact, I'll let Alan chime in if he wants to disagree with me, but it will not impact DHS directly. Our patients would potentially have less access to care depending on what the rule changes are on IHSS. Depending on what the worker contingent is, it potentially would have a separate effect on us with us being the major provider in the IHSS health plan, which we contract with LA Care for, for as a service provider, but I'm not sure what the specific change was, and there's nothing else.

Again, I just really quickly scanned it. We'll drill down more. What were you going to say, Alan?

Yeah, no, I don't believe it will be.

All right. And then, Kristen, you talked about able-bodied. I know there was a question about the definition of that. Have we got a clear definition in terms of able-bodied? Because I think there was a gray area on some.

Thank you, Supervisor. I just want, for clarification, are we referring to CalFresh, correct? Yeah, I'm sorry, CalFresh. So we do have a clear definition as well as clear definitions around what constitutes exemptions. Okay. That information has not only been received, but we have it programmed in our systems.

Can you get that to our office? Sure. Because I know we get the calls. And it was interesting, when the change went into effect, we thought there'd be a lot of calls and there weren't. but I think the calls are gonna come in 30 days or whenever the requirement all of a sudden becomes clear that they're not gonna be getting the aid. And so I would ask that, you've got great staff, by the way. I mean, when we do referrals, I'm sure I can speak for all my colleagues, when we do the referrals over, you all are very responsive, but I wanna make sure that we have something in place because I think we're gonna all get inundated with phone calls to all my colleagues, and the chair especially. So I think we need to be prepared on that. Yeah, we'll just refer them over to first district, that's right. I'll talk to you offline, because I have some thoughts about what we can do as it relates to some of the changes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Great.

Thank you. Thank you. I want to thank the panel for coming together so quickly. And I, again, want to thank Supervisor Mitchell and myself for agreeing to put this as an item, because we do want to know what's going to be happening in the next 30 days and even two weeks, very essential for us. But I just want to say that HR1 is already impacting, even if it's psychologically, our communities. And just to give you an idea, in my district alone, we have over 730,000 people who are enrolled And we have a district that has a lot of cities that also have large numbers. So El Monte, where I live, 61,000. Montebello, 20,000. South El Monte, 8,000. And then DPSS, their latest estimates are that over 330,000 SD1 residents will be impacted by the new work requirements come January the 1st. So yes, we do need to be on one page with one message and really getting as much information out as possible and providing not just over the phone advice and guidance, but technical assistance where needed for our CBOs as well as our other partners. I know I serve on LA County. LA CARE BOARD AND WE HAVE RESOURCE CENTERS THERE. I KNOW DR. CONTRERAS HAS WORKED WITH THEM AND I'D LIKE TO SEE MORE OF A SOLIDIFIED FORMAL MOU WITH THEM SO WE CAN SHARE INFORMATION. THAT'S BEEN TALKED ABOUT SEVERAL TIMES NOW OVER THE LAST MONTH WITH LA care and Dr. Contreras. So that's something that I'm going to be putting forward as a motion in the next meeting. But I know this is on her radar. So I'd really like to push push for that. Also wanting to mention that I know the state they're going through their discussions committee meetings right now. And our ask is what 500. But it's going down to maybe 250. And the assembly I believe is we're kind of aligning ourselves with them. But any word on where the Senate or negotiations are?

So thank you, Supervisor. I'm Angela Ovalle from Legislative Affairs. We are expecting the budget bill to come out fairly soon, which would be the deal between the Senate and the Assembly. By the Constitution, it has to be out 72 hours before it gets voted on, and the deadline for them to pass it is Monday at midnight. So at the latest, we expect it on Friday.

And I do know that we have a letter that both the pro tem and I signed that is going to be going up.

Supervisor, let me add a little additional context to that, just because your question was, where does that money stand? So the governor's budget, as you know, there was no allocation for public hospitals. The Senate proposal last we saw, the last one also had no funding for public hospitals. The assembly proposal had $250 million in there. And now I think they're at a point where negotiations are taking place on what that final number will look like, if anything. Yesterday, our team was invited to, up in Sacramento, invited to a meeting with Senate Budget Committee, a consultant, What I understand was it was more of a listening session to hear our concerns and provide us additional opportunity for advocacy. But their ears remain open at this point, and we're hopeful that there will be some deal struck between the Assembly and Senate. We continue to push for the $500 million. Right. That is our advocacy point, and that's what we pushed for yesterday.

That's really unfortunate, disappointing that we were not included in the governor's budget period. and I know there's a lot of heartburn amongst our delegation, LA County members that are there, but I know we're gonna be weighing in as best we can, and I think this is the time that we have to do it. I am very concerned, though, about the immigrant community also with respect to having their services minimized, and I know that there is an alternative proposal now being talked about I believe, well, it's been talked about, managed care plans that would preserve access to quality, managed care for immigrant communities that would also result in savings to the state. Can you elaborate on that, Dr. Ghaly?

Sure. The May revise included a proposal from the governor's office to transition individuals who are undocumented out of managed care and into fee-for-service. This was done largely because there was a CMS rule issued earlier this year or late last year that required that individuals who have unsatisfactory immigration status cannot be cared for within managed care plans. And so as a result, the governor's proposal proposes moving them out in their entirety. The proposal from a coalition including LHPC and a number of others proposes having there be kind of a split approach so that there can be some of the benefit of managed care that remains with non-hospital-based services remaining in managed care, and then hospital-based services including inpatient, outpatient, and emergency services reverting to fee-for-service so that there can be compliance with the rule. And I believe that there's ongoing discussions about that approach. There are separately discussions among a broad coalition about really how to address just the overall access to care and insurance status for those UIS populations. And what might be put in place to really try to preserve access to care and coverage over the long term in a fiscally sustainable manner.

So one thing that has become clear to me in talking with our federally qualified clinics is that they are also going to be weighed down dramatically, regardless of our discussions. And I am very concerned about that because in many ways they are our safety net as well. I mean, after we have our cutbacks and things of that nature, clinics, people, as you said earlier, we're going to be relying on them. And they're looking at us saying, well, we need to be really working closer together, very closely together. Because I am concerned, I get it, the hospitals, public hospitals have what they want, right? And fee for service and what have you, managed care, those are sometimes competing initiatives. And my concern is that we not try to hurt our allies as well, and that whatever that compromise is, or whatever it is, whatever it's gonna take, is that we try to think about that, because once we dismantle the system, it's not gonna come back in the same manner, and it's really unfortunate. I understand that fully.

Yeah, thank you, Supervisor. May I add, I agree. The community clinics, FQHCs, are a really important access point for the community and their trusted providers for many. There's two areas where there's really potential benefit to the community clinics and the FQHCs. One is with the passage of Measure ER. where they would be able to access funds for continuation of care for coverage for uninsured populations. The second is the proposal that I think you're referring to directly, which would preserve the PPS rate for undocumented or UIS populations. And in my own discussions with the legislature, I have also reiterated when asked and when this comes up, which it always does, that we absolutely support that continuation of PPS for UIS, because to your point, it really is important that we all work together. It's a broad safety net. There are multiple partners here, and we need every partner to be fiscally sustainable to be able to preserve access for the public.

Thank you. And just one last item, Dr. Galley. I know that my colleague, Supervisor Mitchell raised, maybe knowing in advance when closures were happening, maybe at a school site, community clinic, and sometimes that doesn't require a bellison hearing, but I would also ask you to continue when things of that nature do come up as they are coming up in my own district, that there are outreach opportunities. And I know we knew when there were gonna be changes at Wilson High School, I asked your staff, Jorge Orozco, what his plan was for outreach. So I don't think I have to prompt staff I would hope that that just comes naturally. I think all of us are very concerned about what decisions are being made and how they're gonna impact our community. But having us know beforehand and then hearing the plan for outreach I think is going to be essential. And that's just something that's part of course.

Absolutely. We will do that and continue to do that. And I know with respect to Wilson High School, there's no planned changes that I'm aware of at the school. And I know Mr. Orozco has reiterated his commitment to providing those services. So thank you, and we'll absolutely continue that.

And then the question I have for DPS SAS before I move on is I wanna know how you all are partnering with our CBOs and especially food organizations beyond just Delhi Regional Food Bank, because I know we're doing our distributions, but there's limits here. How are we providing assistance and thinking about those bridges to help our CalFresh beneficiaries and those support systems that exist?

Thank you for the question. So I would say, The entities that you mentioned are traditionally partners that we work really closely with, that we have application assisters oftentimes that are working at the food banks who are very familiar with the CalFresh program. Some of that is state funded, some of that is just local level partnerships, but That has been a network that has been in existence for some time now. Continuing to utilize our local efforts that we have, the food bank happens, one of the headquarters for the Los Angeles County Food Bank happens to be very closely located too. um, the DPSS headquarters. So we have a relationship with the, the, um, executive leadership as well as, um, through the more local level, um, uh, partnerships that we have. Um, so I would say that it's continuing to lean into those food nutrition networks, the food nutrition meetings that they are one, they are the partners that are at that table. communicating not only where DPSS is sharing what the changes are, what things are on the horizon, when to expect them, but the last piece of this that I really think is important that I think DPSS has shifted over the past couple of years is also making sure that wherever that food bank, community partner, whomever it is, they are geographically located, they are connected with that local office's leadership. That has been something that we've been leaning into more to be able to share, hey, if you are working with a customer and they're experiencing issues with accessing programs or benefits through our traditional means of the phone or online or what have you. This is the leadership that you can reach out to locally. Of course, there's an escalation opportunity, which is well known, but trying to continue to further infuse those local level relationships, I think is one of the practices that we are really trying to further going forward.

I would just encourage us to do more. I know I've been sponsoring my own food bank drives, and they have run up anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500. And I've looked at the region in my districts that are most impoverished, and we had to turn people away because we didn't have enough food boxes. And most of the people are DPSS or they get texts from you all, but they're also, you could see the need is so great, especially amongst our seniors. And it isn't just my region, because when people hear about it, word of mouth, they're coming from as far as other parts of the district. So I would encourage our CEO and our fiscal, folks to start thinking about how we plan for the next year and a half as we move forward because hunger no one should go hungry in the County of Los Angeles and we do have a lot of other groups in the county system that do their own distributions their own food pantries I know it The South El Monte office, every week they have food giveaways to seniors on a regular basis. They've been doing it now for several years. I'm just wondering how can we consolidate that information so that everybody gets, those that need it, get it in that particular region. Because I don't think we're doing a good enough job to let people know that. right now when it is really something of high need for a lot of our, especially our seniors, because they're complaining that they don't even have gasoline to get in the car, to sit in line, to pick up a food box. So that just tells you where people are at. And then you hear from people that have lost their jobs. And I had a young woman tell me, she had three kids, she didn't have a job, and ICE just picked her husband up. And those are the folks that we're not hearing about, in addition to people who are working three or four jobs, and it's still not enough warrant paying for $70 every week or $100 to go buy groceries, so the need is very great, and I think we need to think about some of those other populations that are being impacted, and they're not all undocumented, by the way. These are people who have driver's license, who have, they're retirees, they're on fixed income, Social Security, and I think for some reason we need to be really understanding what pain and how we can help mitigate as much as we can. I get it, we can't do everything, but certainly coordination and then asking for people to give donations to the regional food bank. I think we haven't been clear about that and I really do think we should be doing that. Thank you. Any comments from our CEO?

I think when we were facing the shutdown, the federal government shutdown back in October and the CalFresh benefits lapsed for a while through Carrie Miller and her team, we were able to work with DPSS and many other county departments to sort of catalyze what I would describe as a major push to support food distributions and food availability in the region. I think as we look at what would be a longer term reduction in available resources, people, different types of people now coming off of CalFresh, I think Supervisor Mitchell was particularly concerned about infants and children. We need to, I think we need to do an analysis to see who is the most likely to need food assistance and food support and then think about the ways we can consolidate the regional, the food giveaways, there's gift cards, there's other supplemental ways that people can get food by working with all of the partners in the region and they get that information out to the community-based organizations that actually have a footprint in the area. And so I think that as we went through the budget, we started to have some conversations about highest and best use of funding based on what we will see in the future. I think that's a good start. Going forward, I think we can have Kerry sort of reconvene that group, think about, based on the projections of how our populations will be impacted, where the most need will arise, and think about how we best leverage the region to bring those resources forward.

the picture, demographic has changed so much. We don't even think about too often about the community college students who are also homeless and some have established community colleges, their own food pantries for the last two, three years, actually since COVID. And they too are struggling. And those are folks that are trying to, for all intent and purposes, work requirements are being met right there by being in class, going to school. And yet they're not, many of them eligible for the CalFresh program. Then I'm also hearing about the EBT program that is also being constrained. And some of the providers and servers, providers of that that give food are also not able to provide that benefit. So we need to look at that as well and come back with something that's a plan for us.

And I just wanted to add, Carrie walked over and whispered in my ear, she reminded me that when we When we made $10 million available during the federal government shutdown for food, there was a residual that was unspent. The food was purchased. It's shelf stable. It's about $2 million worth of food benefits, and so we will be pushing that out over the coming months. Especially in the summer.

I mean, we're talking about kids that are not going to be at summer school, right? So, okay. Thank you. Thank you, Carrie.

So I would describe that as a head start, but we still have work to do, as I described, to do that analysis.

All right. Hopefully we'll find another $10 million. Thank you. Okay, thank you to the panel. Seeing no further questions, then we'll go to public comment.

Will the following individual please come forward and staff will assist you. Claudia Jerez. As a final reminder for remote participants, to be placed in the speaking queue to address item A6. If you have not already done so, use the raise hand feature on your device or press star three on your telephone now. Roy Humphreys, your line is open. Please begin.

Thank you. This is the climax of a dynamic, self-fulfilling prophecy. Supervisor Solis, yes, people working to earn public dole is abhorrent. I agree with you. Your criminal conspiracy of creating the monster defrauding the federal government, $425 billion in hospice fraud, is the tip of the iceberg. Gavin, as it says, California, Los Angeles County's largest economy, fourth largest in the world, that cries out for a forensic audit. You spending one penny on Biden illegals is your ticket to alligator Alcatraz. God bless President Trump and protect him from the Democrat assassins to include, I love to kill people, Plattner. Supervisor Mitchell's comment as to the cost and outcome is disingenuous as to the cost of establishing and implementing system accountability and integrity. is what and is invaluable. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Chair, there are no other remote speakers to address the board. Remote participation for this item is concluded. We will go to in-person speakers. Please begin.

Good afternoon. My name is Claudia Jerez, DPS SDWC. The safety net has eroded quite a bit after HR1, and it will continue to erode. I believe LA County and... Especially the city of Los Angeles can overcome these challenges if we can all pull together as a team. Is it possible? Is it worth a try? The mental health of our community must be a priority. Emotional support without bias must continue. No one should go hungry. just like no one should go out at it alone without emotional support. These changes do cause emotional imbalances in the community. I believe that they're very tough for all of us, but my take, I am an ICMS case manager, and I understand that is very impactful. Thank you. That concludes the time for public comment on this item.

These reports will be received and filed.

Hearing no objection, that will be the order. Executive Officer, we move on to the next item.

We will now move on to item seven, proclaiming June 2026 as Pride Month in Los Angeles County, which was held by Supervisor Hahn. For members of the public joining us remotely, to comment on this item, please use the raise hand feature if you are online, or press star three if on a telephone.

Are you leaving?

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I want to also thank our colleague, Supervisor Horvath for partnering with me on declaring Pride Month. This month, we celebrate the history of Pride, born out of the Stonewall uprising in 1969. But we also celebrate something just as important, the resilience, the creativity, and the joy of the LGBTQ plus community. We saw that on full display just a few weeks ago in Long Beach. When the annual Long Beach Pride Festival was unexpectedly canceled, it was a real disappointment. But the city of Long Beach, the community leaders, the volunteers, my office, we all came together and with hours, an entirely new celebration was organized. Against all odds, the Long Beach Pride still happened. and if anyone knows how to overcome obstacles it's our lgbtq plus community that spirit of resilience is exactly what pride celebrates in 2023 supervisor horvath and i authored the motion requiring that the progress pride flag fly at all county facilities during this month of june Pride Month. I didn't fully appreciate the importance of that decision until the following year when the Downey City Council voted to prohibit the pride flag from flying over their own city hall. And while that vote was devastating to Downey's gay community, especially their out and proud Mayor Mario Trujillo, But I realized that we had not one, not two, but eight county buildings in Downey. And because of our policy, we flew the pride flag over every single one. Despite some setbacks, I've been heartened by the progress I've seen just while I've been supervisor. A few years ago, my office set out to open the first LGBTQ plus center in Whittier. And it wasn't easy. There was a significant resistance. But last week, we raised the progress pride flag at that very center, and Whittier's newly elected mayor, James Becerra, not only became the first mayor to visit the center, he helped me raise the pride flag. That's what progress looks like. It happens because people continue showing up, speaking out, and refusing to let setbacks define them. And I also want to really thank our internal services department, ISD, for making sure that our pride flags fly at all of our county facilities across Los Angeles County during the month of June. And some of our own departments, I want to thank them. Some of them hold their own pride celebrations throughout this month. Then remind everyone else that Los Angeles County will continue to stand with its LGBTQ plus residents. And these are important times for our LGBTQ plus community as their fundamental rights are at stake in many other states and many other cities in this country. In fact, recently there's been a handful of Republican governors of certain states that have renamed Pride Month completely. They've named it Strong Families Month. They've named it Nuclear Family Month, highlighting those families that have one husband and one wife. They've named it Fidelity Month in one of our states. So even as we celebrate this month, and it is known worldwide, June is known as Pride Month, we know that there are attempts to erase them And. not value the contributions of our LGBTQ plus community. But I love the same article I was reading about these governors renaming Pride Month. The co-president of USA Prides, Jordan Braxton, said, you can call it whatever you want, but one thing you're not going to do is take away our pride or take away our joy. So happy Pride Month to everyone. And I'm proud to co-sponsor this motion. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you and I want to thank you Supervisor Hahn and also Supervisor Horvath for bringing this proclamation forward. And I want to say also happy Pride to everyone. Today this board is proclaiming June 2026 is Pride Month in Los Angeles County and I'm proud to have joined my colleagues in doing so. Pride did not begin as a celebration, it began as a demand to be seen made by brave individuals like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Stormy DeLavare, and so many others. Every generation since has carried that demand forward, turning it into something joyful, defiant, and beautiful. And today's proclamation honors that legacy. This past Friday, we kicked off Pride Month right here, raising the Progress Pride flag right here at the Hall of Administration and the county buildings countywide. A tradition made permanent by this board in 2024. The flag is a welcome sign and it tells every LGBTQ plus person in this county, you belong here. But belonging has to be backed by action and this county has delivered. I was proud to lead the motion to establish the first ever Los Angeles County LGBTQ plus commission back in 2023. It also, it led to the support of motions to ensure that the county also uplifts and supports gender affirming and inclusive care for our residents, including our youth. And earlier this year, I coauthored a motion with Supervisor Horvath directing the county to fight federal efforts to strip Medicaid coverage for gender affirming care. Because every young person deserves care that affirms who they are and lets them thrive. The attacks on the LGBTQ plus community are not behind us, but they are intensifying. With this proclamation, we affirm that LA County will not back down from protecting its LGBTQ plus residents. And this month, I encourage everyone to celebrate Pride across this county, including in the first district, the San Gabriel Valley, which I represent. The San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Plus Center Pride Tour is underway with events in El Monte, La Puente, Baldwin Park, Pasadena, Whittier, and Moore. So we're actually crossing counties. not counties, but districts. I've been proud to support the Pride Tour, which launched back in 2022, and I've heard time and time again how many of our communities and young people are excited to see queer, trans-centered events and programming in their neighborhoods, which is very inclusive for many, many families, because visibility does not just mean coming to downtown LA or to the west side, but it also means feeling safe in your own communities and your neighborhoods as You said, Supervisor Hahn, that's why Pride Month is especially important. To every LGBTQ plus person in the county, your joy is not frivolous, your love is not a problem to be solved, and your full authentic self is exactly who this county is proud to have and represent. We stand with you not just this month, but every day in the services we fund, the policies that we pass, and the care that we defend. Thank you. Support your motion. Thank you. Seeing no other questions from the board, let's go to public comment.

Will the following individual please come forward and staff will assist you. Claudia Jerez. Caller with phone number 310701. Your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Hi, this is Ron McGill. I'm a Los Angeles native and a particular voting constituent, and I'm also in LA. I just wanted to please urge you to remain with the label of Pride Month for June. I know it seems like only a label, but it's so much more important to so many people. And I, being an ally in the Los Angeles community, would love to see our diversity continue. secrets of their own. I want to hopefully have this remain and LA must be a beacon of hope and an example of equality and equal rights for all. Jim must stay Pride Month. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Byron, your line is open. Please begin.

the Trans Latina Coalition. Thank you to this board for this motion. As we recap some of the policies and some of the previous investment that this board has had for our communities, for us it's important to continue growing that. As we know, an equitable investment It's intentional, but it's also sustained investment. For the last couple of years, price season for the Trans Latina Coalition has been budget season. We're glad that this year the city of Los Angeles has joined the county and your leadership and your work towards the TGI One Listen Equity Initiative. So now we've leveraged other city funds and other initiatives. and other funding sources for this work. And as we move forward, especially given this year's budget process, and as we move forward to June 22nd for the recommended budget, we want to make sure that the TGI Housing Initiative, specifically funding allocation for vulnerable populations, move forward. Thank you.

Thank you. Roy Humphreys, your line is open. Please begin.

Yes, the LGBTQ, I believe there's something like 10, 12% of the total population in the United States, and they should be able to have everything due to them under all the laws of the state, with some exception. and the Constitution of the United States of America. But when it comes to this, the state of California has gone a bridge too far. And to that, I applaud the federal government for reaching in and trying to save the youth. And if you don't want to believe me, try Pink Floyd. Leave those kids alone. You are disgraceful. And why is it that Rob Schneider even notes that you have Pride Month? Pride Month? What about the Veterans? How about Veterans Month? People that gave up their lives unwillingly for this country so that you could do what you're doing. Thank you.

Thank you. That concludes the time for public comment on this item.

This item is before us, moved by Supervisor Han, and I will second to approve the item. Executive officer, please call the roll.

Supervisor Mitchell?

Aye.

Supervisor Han?

Aye.

Supervisor Solis?

Aye.

Motion passes.

Thank you. Moving on to item 18 and 2D, executive office.

We will now move on to items 18 and 2D, Baldwin Park Animal Care Center Improvement Project, which were held by Supervisor Solis. For members of the board of, excuse me, for members of the public joining us remotely, to comment on these items, please use the raise hand feature if you are online, or press star three if on a telephone. Marcia Maeda, Director of Animal Care and Control is available for questions. For the departmental speaker, please state your name and title for the record when you address the board.

Thank you. Members, I held this item because I wanted to point out some things that are happening in my district, but actually impact the region. And I want to state that for the record, there's only one Los Angeles County Animal Care Center located in the first district. And it was built a long time ago in 1958. and it currently serves over 200,000 residents across 12 different unincorporated communities in the first district, and approximately 100,000 residents across nine unincorporated communities in the fifth district, and six unincorporated cities encompassing over 250,000 residents, all of which are represented in the San Gabriel Valley, so quite a large number. And thousands of residents you and I know rely on our animal care centers, especially I know that to be true in Baldwin Park. They look for low cost veterinary resources and vouchers, adoption services, lost and found pet services, pet microchipping, low cost vaccinations, and much, much more. Part of providing quality care and services to our community is to ensure that all of our facilities are maintained and are welcoming, and that includes our animal care centers. And it is also, I believe, the county's responsibility to treat animals that we do take into our care with dignity and quality service. And this also is best done when we have modernized facilities. The last time the facility at Baldwin Park completed any substantial improvements occurred back in 2018. The dog kennels were replaced, covered with protective coating by hygienic purposes, and drainage work was completed to address flooding in that facility. And in 2017, the lobby was refreshed. But unfortunately, space for the waiting area was not created, and it is still very much overcrowded. I have also spent some time there, weekends, and have seen the current lobby overcrowded with residents interested in adopting, looking for resources and waiting for vaccinations, or just searching for lost pets, all standing with no place to sit for extended time periods. And just imagine when it's raining outside or the weather is too hot. it would be helpful if we had a place for them to be able to wait in an appropriate manner. That's why today's motion aims to launch a revitalization project that's much overdue at the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center, which will include an improved waiting area protected from the elements with seating and more for visitors waiting to access services. The improvements proposed by the motion are well-timed with the construction that had already recently started. In the past few weeks, the department began work on a new veterinary technician room where animals are to be spayed, neutered, and receive necessary medical attention. However, there was no budget for new medical equipment to this modernization. and this will help provide easier utilization for staff as well as for patients. Therefore, I would like to provide assistance with my own discretionary funds to help ensure that the facility has the tools necessary to provide that quality medical care that has been lacking. And I'm also going to assist further by utilizing my discretionary funds to increase access to spay and neuter services through additional vouchers that will help unincorporated residents cover their costs. That has been something that I've heard time and time again, when people who are already hurting and can't put enough on their table for food are going to have additional funds available to spay and neuter their pets, which in many ways are very much a part of their family. The lack of access to affordable spay and neutering services leads to a higher number, as we know, of abandoned and surrendered pets, which end up in our care and sometimes, unfortunately, It's not a good picture. When residents struggle to feed themselves, we know that it also can be harmful to their pets as well and their care, because that's not the first thing that they think about. Data collected by the Animal Care and Control shows that finances and housing are the two top reasons that pet owners find themselves making this difficult choice. And lastly, the cat kennels have a failing air conditioning system that will be replaced with a new grooming station that will be installed. And trained volunteers from homeboy industries will be able to groom animals at the shelter much quicker. And residents will be able to book slots to use the all-in-one grooming station as well. A clean animal is not only more hygienic, but more likely to be adopted, which is the goal of every surrendered or abandoned animal in the care center. I would ask my colleagues for your aye vote in approving the use of my own discretionary funds for the benefit of the residents and their pets in the San Gabriel Valley. So with that, I would turn it over to Marcia Maeda, Director of Animal Care and Control, to please share some words with us, thank you.

Thank you very much, Supervisor, and thank you for this very generous gift. It's going to make a tremendous difference for the public and the animals served at the Baltimore Park Care Center, which is one of our busiest care centers that we operate. They'll create a safer, more comfortable and more humane environment for the animals and support the physical and behavioral well-being of the animals entrusted to our care. We'll also improve the experience for the visitors visiting our care centers so they can be more comfortable and have a more positive experience if they're adopting pets or attending for any other reason, buying a license or anything. It would be much more pleasant for them. The medical equipment that this gift is purchasing will make a big difference for the animals getting medical care at our animal care centers and will speed up the diagnostics that we can do on the animals to identify their problems and address them quickly. The spay and neuter support, which is so important, will prevent unwanted litters being born and fewer animals coming to the care centers, which is our intent is to reduce the need for our services through proactive outreach and services, which this does cover. This just really reflects an overall positive, proactive, comprehensive approach to animal care, one that addresses prevention, treatment, humane housing, and community access. And we thank you very much for your support.

Thank you, Marcia. And I actually want to thank all the volunteers that come to the animal care shelter there, as well as all the providers and folks that have been partnering with us and you over the last few years. It's really something incredible that we can do at this time. I wish we could have done it sooner, but I know that it's going to help down the line, so thank you. Yes, Supervisor Mitchell.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And let me just say, that's a baller shot caller move, Madam Chair. That's fantastic. I appreciate you. making that contribution to your constituents and raising the issue. I wanted to take this opportunity with you holding this item to really talk about the Department of Animal Care and Controller Master Plan, acknowledging that most of the county's care facilities were built anywhere from 40 to 75 years ago. I have one such center, a center 65 years old, ago was constructed, the Carson Care Center. It's one of the oldest and identified in the master plan report as in need of structural replacement. The plan highlighted several critical deficiencies that affect the safety and health of animals, including outdated physical layouts and lack of adequate space. So if you could share with us, if you could briefly summarize the most critical needs of our care centers, really considering the 2019 master plan notes and the fact that many of them have exceeded their life cycle.

Yes, Supervisor, we were very Gratified to complete that project to be able to show the needs for our animal care centers with the exception of Palmdale is fairly new but it needs to be expanded because of it was not built large enough to accommodate the volume of animals that are coming in All of the others are quite old. Carson, Gardena in particular, the recommendation was to actually replace that with a different facility because, as you said, the physical layout, it's really old-fashioned animal housing. It's not up to modern standards of how animals in public move through an animal care system, and it's landlocked. So there's no room for that to expand. Parking is always a challenge. It's on a very busy street. So I always worry about people walking with animals and trying to get them out of their cars on that busy street. So a different location ultimately is what's recommended in the master plan for that facility. But all of them have various needs and upgrades that are recommended. Baldwin Park actually is recommended to keep that care center, but also to add an additional one to serve that area, but keep that as our REALLY CRITICAL NEEDED OVERFLOW CARE CENTER FOR WHEN WE TAKE IN HUNDREDS OF ANIMALS AT A TIME FROM ANIMAL CRUELTY CASES OR THE FIRES OR FOR WHATEVER REASON. AND IT COULD CONTINUE TO SERVE THE LOCAL COMMUNITY WITH SPAY NEUTER AND OTHER OUTREACH SERVICES. SO ALL IN ALL, YOU KNOW, I KNOW This is a very difficult time to expand with capital projects, but we're very ready and willing to work with your offices to make whatever improvements can be made.

It also came to my attention that we, the county, and our care centers provide long-term support to contract cities who don't have animal care centers. So as we're thinking about financially how we can afford to expand or build new up-to-date facilities, how much funding, if any, do contract cities contribute toward long-term facility costs that they utilize?

I would have to double-check the numbers, but it's my understanding they are not paying into capital improvements. They pay for services, so the cost of an officer and a truck, the daily cost of animal housing and care, and the rates are set by the auditor-controller.

So they pay for staffing and care for the animal, but nothing around infrastructure or facility costs? I don't believe so. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Seeing no other questions from the board, let's go to public comment.

Will the following individuals please come forward and staff will assist you. Claudia Jerez, Vanessa Batista. Caller with phone number 323653, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Yes, hi there. My name is Kat, and I would like to thank Supervisor Hilda Solis for stepping up to make such needed improvements at the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center, which is the assigned care center for thousands of residents. Healthy, well cared for pets in the care center is an ethical responsibility of the county. Please, please, please vote yes on item 18. And once again, thank you so much, Supervisor Hilda Solis, for your contributions. Thank you.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 909-595, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Hi, good afternoon, everybody. My name is Chris Vasquez. I'm the Director of Community Development for the City of Walnut. And I just want to make sure it's clear that we as a city are in support of item number 18, We would like to thank Supervisor Hilda Solis for stepping up to make these much needed improvements at the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center, which, as you all may know, is the assigned care center for thousands of residents, including those within our city. Supervisor Solis' attention to this matter is important, especially considering the budget cuts to animal care and control, in which it is not in a financial position to make these much needed improvements themselves. This project uplifts both animal welfare and public health since the health of our community's animals and that of our people are interconnected. Healthy, well cared for pets in the care center is an ethical responsibility of the county and also leads to improved adoption rates and ensures healthy pets are introduced back into our neighborhood.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 310701, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

This is Ron McGill making a statement again. I also want to thank Representative Solis for bringing this up. I definitely am in full support of 18. We need more spay and neuter. Our clinics are chronically full It's a huge crisis, and there's something toward it. I see nothing much being done, but people offering green permits and things like that, even on Skid Row, it's unacceptable. We need more state meter. Please pass 18. Thank you.

Thank you. Brittany Benessi, your line is open. Please begin.

On behalf of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in strong support, we want to thank Supervisor Solis for her leadership on this effort and commitment to the issue. Community spay-neuter services and facilities that are both welcoming to the public and safe for animals are imperative responsibilities, and we really appreciate the board's consideration of item 18. Thank you.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 323-896. Your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Oh, yes. Good afternoon. My name is Mel Bailey in District 2. And I was just calling in to thank you for this. Wondering if this would be able to springboard to our district. Approximately six weeks ago I mentioned to all of the Board of School of Arts about a beautiful orange and white cat that was being abused and tortured in our community. I was told someone will reach out. No, 1 has yet to reach out. I actually have reached out to 1 of your offices and left the message. And no 1 has still reached out. The cat is still being abused. And I do reach out to the. Made a report, nothing's happened, so I'm glad to see at least. Something is being done somewhere, but I really need help here and. That's it, I was gonna make the comment during general comments, but I think I'll leave it for right now.

Can we have Marsha follow up with this individual? If you'll be so kind to give us your phone number, we'll make sure that you're connected with our director for animal care and control. Thank you. Thank you.

Jess, your line is open, please begin.

My name is Jess with Michelson Center for Public Policy in strong support of item 18. First off, I want to thank Supervisor Hilda Solis for championing these critical improvements at the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center. Because the Department of Animal Care Center Control lacks the budget to do this alone, your leadership here is truly essential. Properly housing and caring for shelter pets in a county is a county obligation. This investment will directly benefit our community by boosting adoption rates and protecting public health. We also fully support allocating funds for spay-neuter vouchers. Making these expensive procedures accessible is a proactive common-sense solution to reduce pet overpopulation and keep pets in their homes. This project uplifts both animal welfare and public policy. We urge a yes vote on item 18. Thank you.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 213-999, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Hi, my name is Tom Keish. Can you hear me okay?

Yes, go ahead.

I am a volunteer for the LA County Shelter System. I am actually at a shelter right now. Please do everything you can to approve item 18. You can ask me any question you want, but this place needs a shot of positivity and an upgrade in all of those things that Marcia and the supervisor talked about are accurate. A facelift would just be part of it, but Anything you can do to help the staff, the volunteers, the communities, the rescues, and most importantly, the animals in the care here. It's just, it's so hard these days. And anything you can do to make a dog coming in or a cat coming in that much more comfortable and people waiting that much more welcoming. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Yes. On item 18. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 626-543, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Yes, hello. My name is Pam Farley. I'm an L.A. County resident, and I've been a volunteer at the L.A. County Animal Care Center in Baldwin Park for the past five years. And I'm speaking today in support of Item 18, the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center Improvement Project. I am most concerned with the beautification aspect of the project as it pertains to the needs of the dogs, the staff, the volunteers, and the public. Our dogs are housed in small kennels with concrete floors. There's no area at our facility where dogs can feel the grass under their feet. We have AstroTurf in our play yards, which of course can get very hot in warm weather. We also have a large barnyard area we can use for exercising the dogs. It's a fairly large area, maybe 500 square feet or so. It contains dirt and rocks. After the modest rainfall we've had so far this year, there's a few weeds and grass around the edges of the yard, and the dogs immediately gravitate towards those areas because they're so desperately seeking some greenery, some signs of nature.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 909-964, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Hi, this is Sam Pedroza, Assistant City Manager for the City of Industry. Just want to relay our strong support for Item 18. The shelter there works very closely with the Priceless Pets Rescue operation that we have in the city, and we really appreciate And we really support Supervisor Solis for bringing this forward. So thank you very much to Supervisor Solis.

Thank you. Madam Chair, there are no other remote speakers to address the board. Remote participation for this item is concluded. We will go to in-person speaker. Please begin.

Hi. Hello. My name is Vanessa Bautista with Best Friends Animal Society here in Los Angeles. And I'm here to say we appreciate Supervisor Hilda Solis for bringing this item forward and for supporting much needed improvements in the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center and especially expanding access to spay and neuter services. Every animal... in the shelter system deserves quality care and a safe, healthy environment while they wait for their new home. Investments in shelter improvements help ensure animals receive the care for a better life-saving outcome. This project uplifts both animal welfare and public health, since the health of our community's animals and that of the people are interconnected. We are also pleased to see funding for additional spay and neuter vouchers. The spay and neuter programs are one of the most effective tools for reducing shelter overcrowding and preventing pet homelessness and helping more animals leave shelters to new homes. Thank you so much for this item. Thank you. That concludes the time for public comment on this item.

Item 18 is before you.

I will move, seconded by Supervisor Barger, to approve the item. Executive Officer, please call the roll.

Supervisor Mitchell. Supervisor Mitchell, aye. Supervisor Hahn?

Aye.

Supervisor Hahn, aye. Supervisor Barker?

Aye.

Supervisor Barker, aye. Supervisor Solis?

Aye.

Supervisor Solis, aye. Motion carries for the zero. Next is item 2D.

I will move, seconded by Supervisor Hahn, to approve the item. Executive Officer, please call the roll.

Supervisor Mitchell? Supervisor Mitchell, aye. Supervisor Han?

Aye.

Supervisor Han, aye. Supervisor Barger?

Aye.

Supervisor Barger, aye. Supervisor Solis?

Aye.

Supervisor Solis, aye. Motion carries. Madam Chair, for the record, Supervisor Barger has indicated that she would also like to vote aye on item seven, which has passed. We'll next move on to specials, I believe we have one.

Yes, thank you. I do have a special that I'd like to read in. Colleagues, I'd like to read in an urgency motion to respond to the start of the long awaited Whittier Narrows Dam Modification Safety Project. The United States Army Corps of Engineers has started some outreach related to this project. While the full detailed phase construction sequencing is unknown, we know that construction will soon be moving from planning to execution and creating immediate urgency for the county to protect local interests. Long-term phase construction will span five to seven years and bring major disruptions to open space, recreational areas, and regional mobility corridors. Regional bikeways and greenways face potential closures or permanent realignments, including segments of the San Gabriel River bike path and countywide bicycle master plan routes. Communities surrounding Whittier Narrows that have historically faced environmental injustices will bear the brunt of construction impacts, making it essential to prevent further inequities. Immediate county coordination is needed to secure ADA compliant detours, protect county assets, and ensure full restoration commitments before work begins. And urgent outreach is required so residents receive clear, multilingual information on closures, detours, timelines, and long-term changes, while also making clear what the county's role is in this process. And to that end, I'd like to read in the directives of a motion which will be formally brought before the Board at our next meeting. I therefore move that the Board of Supervisors designate the Department of Public Works to lead the county's response in collaboration with the Department of Parks and Recreation. I further move that the Board of Supervisors direct the Department of Public Works to lead the county's response in collaboration with the Department of Parks and Recreation to coordinate with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to identify Avoid and mitigate all temporary and or permanent short and long term impacts related to county trails, open space facilities and roadways. Establish ADA compliant and safe detours to ensure safe access to the regional system and facilities is maintained during the construction of the project. Collaborate with the United States Army Corps of Engineers on how these facilities will be fully restored, enhanced upon the project's completion. And to conduct robust community outreach on associated impacts, both in conjunction with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, as well as independent meetings hosted by county departments with local stakeholders. And outreach shall be multilingual, accessible, and include clear timelines, detour information, and long-term facility changes. and with the report back in writing in 60 days on the above directives. I further move that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors direct the Chief Executive Officer, Legislative Affairs, and Intergovernmental Relations Branch in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Department of Parks and Recreation to send a five signature letter to the United States Army Corps of Engineers with a copy to the Los Angeles County Congressional Delegation. uplifting and formally documenting the county's concerns regarding the project's unmitigated impacts to the county's infrastructure, open space, and regional trail network, as well as local residents living near Whittier Narrows Dam and Reservoir, and request that the USACE, Army Corps of Engineers, work with the county and conduct outreach to impacted residents to minimize any adverse outcomes. Thank you, colleagues.

Next, we will now move on to general public comment. At this time, we will hear from members of the public wishing to address the board on general public comment. This is an opportunity for the public to address the board on subject matters within the board's jurisdiction, but not on items on the meeting agenda. For members of the public joining us remotely, please use the raise hand feature if you're online or press star three if on the telephone.

We will now call in in-person speakers, and while they're coming forward, we will take remote speakers. Will the following individuals please come forward, and staff will assist you? Claudia Jerez and Jessica Peral. Caller with phone number 858-229, your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

Hi, my name is Yasmine Shoka, and I'm a member of Reimagine LA Coalition, and I'm an intern with La Defensa. I'm commenting on the six settlements involving the Sheriff's Department and the Probation Department totaling 5.39 million. These settlements are not just numbers on a budget sheet. They represent real people harmed by county systems and taxpayers paying the cost of those failures. This is not an isolated incident. Nearly every board agenda includes settlements tied to misconduct, abuse, violence, or unsafe conditions. At the same time, we're told there's not enough funding for housing, youth programs, mental health services, violence prevention, and community-based solutions that make our communities safer. The public is paying twice, first through the harm experienced by community members and then through costly settlements. These payments are not just legal expenses. They are signs of policy failure and lack of accountability. The question is not whether the county can afford reform. The question is whether it can afford not to. Continuing the status quo means continuing to spend millions while communities experience the same harm as we are.

Thank you. Roy Humphreys, your line is open. Please begin.

Yeah, I'll keep this short and sweet. This county is a criminal organization, especially with the Democrats' influence here. But as to the jails and so forth, sex, sex, sex, it's everywhere, federal, on every conceivable level. When are you going to get with the program? And one thing, state legalized prostitution. There's billions of dollars going out because you refuse to do it, and besides the diseases, and also in the trafficking and so forth. Trying to mature a bit in dealing with that. And as far as in the jail situation, the big thing, it's a national joke. Hey, go to the prison, go to county jail, and males will get the sex thing. How about this? If you find to be doing sex with a male unwillingly in county jail, you're castrated. How about that one? Thank you.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 323-896, your line is open. Please begin.

Good afternoon again. This is Bailey again. I just wanted to ask a question asked about last year. If the Board of Supervisors or county leaders are going to have any type of assessments looking into the possibly high level of asbestos that are located in some of our county facilities and county buildings as it relates to your county employees and to your county constituents' health. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Caller with phone number 213-840. Your line is open. Please state your name and begin.

I'm calling because I'm disappointed that as a member of the Food Equity Roundtable, Director of VPSS, Jackie Contreras, seems very, very unconcerned about what's going on with CalFresh and in her department. Her lack of responsiveness and lack of action is appalling. In addition, she's apparently ignoring operational administration issues and jurisdiction and employee issues. There's a lack of paperwork and communications, the notice of actions, instructions are not applicable to some of the things that the actions are being taken on that you are told to go to a state hearing where it is going to be only county jurisdiction and they're not readdressing anything. There have been ADA violations and other biases. Second topic is it would be nice if we could get some which was before federally funded LIHWOC, which was a low-income household water researchers program, if the county can do something about that. Regarding animal control, the general...

Thank you. Madam Chair, there are no other remote speakers to address the board. Remote participation for general public comment is concluded. We will go to our in-person speaker. Please begin.

Hi, good afternoon board. My name is Jessica Peral here on behalf of the Los Angeles LGBT Center as a policy advocate for homeless services specifically for youth in LA. We've come nearly every Tuesday for the past few months and are asking in these last two weeks before the budget is finalized to prioritize the youth experiencing homelessness in LA. We still do not have answers on certain items and currently are asked. is $24 million to services led by the Department of Homeless Services and Housing, $13 million to TAE-specific wraparound services, $10 million to interim housing, and $1 million to legal and financial services in the stabilized category. There's still uncertainty around state resources, and we have no increased youth set-aside as we've been advocating at that level as well. So as an organization representing thousands and thousands of unhoused LGBTQ youth, we ask you this Pride Month to allocate these resources. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

The mental health and emotional state of each individual should be a priority for us since the stability of our population here in LA impacts impacts all of us, and it goes a long way. It even reaches the East Coast. So it impacts the nation. The erosion of the safety net is a serious situation to confront. And if there's ignorance among our population, there is ignorance and there is some type of... there's not a control there. People will not be in control. So I think that it's important to know that it will reach the East Coast. It will reach the entire nation. And we need to be there. Thank you. That concludes the time for public comment.

We will now proceed with adjournments.

Okay, we'll begin with Supervisor Hahn, and then the fifth, the first, and the second. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that when we adjourn today, we adjourn in the memory of Anne Lau. After a courageous two-year battle with colon cancer, Anne passed away on May 8th at the age of 72. She was the beloved mother of Long Beach City Council Member Suli Saro. Anne was born in 1953 in Cambodia. She survived war and the Cambodian genocide before resettling in San Diego in 1982. She later lived in the city of Los Angeles for 21 years and spent the last 23 years of her life in El Monte. Ann was known for her kindness, her generosity, and positive outlook on life. Despite experiencing significant hardship, she remained committed to supporting her family and bringing people together. She dedicated her life to raising her four children and building community among family, friends, and neighbors. Many who knew Anne remembered her warmth, welcoming spirit, and willingness to help others. She was a source of encouragement and support to those around her and left a lasting impact on her community. Anne is survived by her husband Paul, her children Sheldon, Sang, Suli, and Danny, as well as her five grandchildren. Anne Lau will be remembered for her strength, her devotion to her family, and the care she showed others. throughout her life.

Yes, yes, thank you.

It's with sadness, this next one, I move that we adjourn today in memory of Bill Burke, Dr. Bill Burke. Dr. Bill Burke was a giant in Los Angeles County civic life, a tireless champion for cleaner air, healthier communities, and public service. He lived an extraordinary life, left behind a remarkable legacy of his own, and of course, he was the devoted husband of our former supervisor, Yvonne Burke. Bill's life took him from Zanesville, Ohio to service in the United States Air Force and eventually to Los Angeles, where he became deeply involved in public service and civic life. He worked for Assembly Speaker Jess Unruh and Council Member Billy Mills before building successful businesses. Bill had a gift for taking an ambitious on ambitious challenges. When Los Angeles was preparing to host the 1984 Olympic Games, Bill was recruited to oversee tennis for the games. And soon after, even though he was not a runner himself, he founded the L.A. Marathon in 1986. What began with 11,000 runners has grown into one of the premier marathons in the world, drawing tens of thousands of participants every year. He was a trusted voice for the public and a champion of Californians. He served on the state's Fish and Game Commission, the Wildlife Conservation Board, the California Coastal Commission, and the Air Resources Board, as well as the Los Angeles Fire Commission. I had the privilege of serving with him on AQMD when I was representing the board on that body. He served as chairman of AQMD for 23 years. And under his leadership, the agency adopted groundbreaking air quality policies that improve the health and well-being of countless people and aimed at addressing the disproportionate impact of pollution on low income communities of color. Bill made Los Angeles County stronger in so many ways. But those who knew him best will remember his warmth, his vision, his incredible sense of humor, and the steadfast support he gave Yvonne throughout her own historic career in public service. He was a devoted father to Christine and Assemblymember Autumn Burke. And no nothing brought him greater happiness than his beloved granddaughter Isabella who was truly the apple of his eye The day before his passing Bill asked for me so I had a chance to visit him to say goodbye and Thank him for his life of service to supervisor Burke And to Christine and Autumn and Isabella and to all who loved Bill, we extend our deepest condolences. And may his memory continue to be a blessing to you and to all of us. Thank you.

May I join on that? Because he, to your point, when he would talk about his daughters and his granddaughter, he lit up. And when I hear Cabo San Lucas, I think of Bill Burke.

Yes.

And my understanding is that he wanted to go down there. He did. Shortly before he passed away. Yeah, he did. Amazing man. Supported Supervisor Brathwaite Burke when she served on this board because I would see him. And then AQMD. I actually was surprised when he stepped down because he loved that job and did it well. Mm-hmm. He's gonna be missed, but I can tell you that the legacy that he's leaving behind is going to continue through his children and his granddaughter.

Supervisor Hahn, I wanted to join you also to just say a few words. I had the privilege of serving with him also on the South Coast Air Quality Management District back in 2018 and 2019. And during that time, Dr. Burke brought tremendous knowledge, expertise, thoughtful leadership, and some of the most significant air quality and environmental justice issues facing our region. It was an honor to work alongside him on matters that directly impacted the health and well-being of our communities, including the Reclaim Program and its transition under the California's Cap and Trade Framework, environmental and public health concerns related to Exide facility in Vernon, and air quality impacts associated with the Quebetco battery recycling facility in Avocado Heights, and efforts to address the dangers of hexavalent chromium and other harmful emissions, which you know a lot about, Supervisor Hahn. Dr. Burke was a steadfast advocate for clean air, public health, and EJ. He never lost sight of the people and communities most impacted by pollution, and his commitment to protecting vulnerable residents helped shape important public policy discussions and debate. I'll always appreciate his integrity, his dedication to public service, and his unwavering commitment to improving the quality of life for so many others. My thoughts and deepest condolences are with his wife, who we all love, Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke and their children, Christine and Autumn, and their granddaughter as they mourn this tremendous loss. Dr. Burke's legacy of service leadership and advocacy will continue to inspire all of us who had the privilege of knowing and working with him. Thank you, Supervisor Hahn.

And I'll just add, Supervisor Hahn, you clearly said it all. I just think on behalf of Supervisor Horvath, who was not here, who was their supervisor, I'd like to extend a full board sympathy to Supervisor Burke, their entire family, and a lifetime of community leaders and friends. He and Danny Bakewell Sr. were very, very close, and I know that he's mourning him deeply. to all those whose lives he's touched and stayed connected with and had deep personal friendships. We send them our condolences as well.

Yeah, and one of the things I really loved about him when he was executive director of Irvine of AQMD or the chairman of the board. He would push them to have their meetings out in the community. He had one in Torrance when they were grappling with the refinery. I remember before I was elected to the City Council of Los Angeles, he came to the Port of LA. I remember going and testifying about the pollution that the port emitted for our communities. So he made me laugh on that last, last visit I had with him in the hospital. I said, I was thanking him for his long history of services and he was hard to hear him at that point. You had to kind of lean in to hear him and he, looked up and he says, I knew you when you were still a housewife. So one of the things at the private service that they had for him last week, everybody, and Danny Bakewell Sr. was there and spoke. Everybody told a story that had all of us laughing because Bill had an incredible sense of humor that just caught people off guard and allowed them to laugh. So we will miss him. Thank you for that, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that when we adjourn today, we do so in memory of longtime Antelope Valley resident Sylvia Faye Corrado, who passed away peacefully in her sleep on May 12th at the age of 103. Wow. Born on March 24th, 1924 in Iowa City, Iowa, Faye came to the Antelope Valley in 1965. In 1970, she and her first husband, Art Lebrun, developed the Country Mobile Home Estates in Llano. After her arts passing, Faye met and married John B. Corrado in 1994 and moved to Lancaster, where she lived until her passing. Faye was active in many Antelope Valley organizations, including the Antelope Valley Guild of Children's Hospital, Los Angeles Republican Women of Antelope Valley, Christian Women of the Antelope Valley Philanthropic Educational Organization of the Antelope Valley, the Antelope Valley Symphony Committee, Crystal Air Country Club, and the Antelope Valley Country Club. Faye is survived by her four stepchildren, John Corrado, Melody Corrado Robertson, Debbie Corrado Todd, and Michael Corrado, along with seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Also that we adjourn in memory of Antelope Valley resident Richard Odenthal, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department employee for 32 years who passed away on May 14th at the age of 79. Born on September 1st, 1946, Richard joined Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in 1968 after serving as a petty officer in the U.S. Navy. He later was an infantry officer in the California Army National Guard. Richard was honored by the California Association of Tactical Officers with its Lifetime Achievement Award. He served as a team leader or a member of the Sheriff's Department units involved in planning for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, three Super Bowl games, five presidential visits, and the ground transport of four space shuttles from Palmdale to Edwards Air Force Base. Richard retired as a captain and commander of the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station in 2000. After his retirement, Richard was public safety administrator for the city of West Hollywood and served as a safety and security consultant to the Lancaster Baptist Church. Richard is survived by his wife, Elise Claussen Odenthal, who is my arts commissioner, and his three sons, Sean, Eric, and Robert, and seven grandchildren. Also that we adjourn in memory of Larry Thornhill, born on July 24th, 1955, in Burbank. He was a broadcaster and radio station manager in the Antelope Valley for more than two decades. Larry was instrumental in bringing professional baseball to the Antelope Valley. In 1994, he helped launch the A.V. Ravens, an independent league baseball team. Two years later, with the arrival of the Lancaster Jet Hawks, he became one of the franchise's founding faces, serving as a team's public address announcer. Later, he served as the team's general manager and was the inaugural inductee into the Jet Hawks Hall of Fame. Larry coached U Sports for decades. He served as the play-by-play voice of the Antelope Valley College Martyrs football and baseball. He also called numerous local high school sporting events. Larry survived by his wife, Belinda Ann Thornhill, son William Thornhill, daughter Noelle Thornhill, two sisters, and four grandchildren. And last, I move that the Board of Supervisors adjourn in memory of the following individuals who were identified as indigent veterans by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner and were subsequently buried with dignity and honor at Riverside National Cemetery in the last month. Louise Thomas Seminara, Jr., Air Force. Bill Hinojosa, Air Force. Brian Bailey, Army. Carl Sams, Army. Ronald Dennis Mulligan, Army. Michael Andrew Hallahan, Army. Samarin Seaton, Army. Eric Lee O'Neill, Navy. May their contributions and sacrifices in service to our country never be forgotten. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much. I hope we can all join you on that. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Members, today, when we adjourn, I want to do so in the memory of former Congress member Barney Frank. I'm grateful today to honor the life of my friend and frequent collaborator during my time when I served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Barney was not only an incredible person, but a forceful legislator who had a transformative impact during his 32 years in Congress representing the great state of Massachusetts. I had the privilege of working with Barney to push forward many pieces of landmark legislation, including a bill to protect unionized public sector jobs against outsourcing, and a bill to protect consumers through establishing a credit card holder's bill of rights. Barney maintained an unwavering commitment to protect working families, including co-authoring the Dodd-Frank Act, one of the most consequential initiatives to protect consumers following the 2008 financial crisis. But what I admired most about Barney was his ability to pair his ideals with pragmatism. He never lost sight of what mattered, and he had a rare gift of navigating difficult political landscapes to deliver real results for working families. We shared a deep commitment to labor rights and economic equality, and that common ground became the foundation for our work. This included cosponsoring the Fair Minimum Wage Act back in 2007, which ultimately raised the federal minimum wage by over $2, boasting the earnings of millions of American workers. And Barney was also a pioneer for LGBTQ plus rights. And I was proud when he asked me to be a founding member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus he helped to create. The caucus gave the fight for LGBTQ rights an institutional home in the Congress, which feels more important today than ever. I was equally proud to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Barney's landmark bill to prohibit employment discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation. Barney's sharp intellect was viewed by many, including myself, as someone who always looked out for our country. He believed in using government to improve people's lives and he was quite successful in doing just that. I'm grateful to have known Barney, to have served alongside him, his big shoulders and his robust voice. People were often afraid of him because when he took on a fight, he meant to win. And there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to land on the right side. I also want to thank Supervisor Hahn for joining me today also on this adjournment because I know how she also worked alongside him. Thank you. Yes.

Can I say a few words? Yeah. Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I had the honor of serving alongside Barney Frank in Congress just for a couple of years. He was one of the most consequential members of Congress over the course of his 30 years in the House and earned a reputation as one of the sharpest minds on Capitol Hill. He was one of the architects of the landmark Dodd-Frank financial reforms that strengthened oversight of Wall Street after the 2008 financial crisis. But he also impacted the American political landscape in a much more deeply personal way. His decision to come out as gay in the 1980s was extraordinarily courageous and made it possible for countless LGBTQ Americans to see themselves represented in public office. When he was recently asked what he would change about his life if he could do it all over, he said he would have come out earlier. He was known for his wit, his candor, and willingness to speak his mind. Barney Frank proved that you can be brilliant, principled, and authentic all at once. He leaves behind a legacy not only of landmark legislative victories, but of expanding opportunity and representation for future generations. He will be deeply missed. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. And lastly, finally, I move that when we adjourn today, we do so in memory of Timothy Shearer, who passed away on May 29, 2026. Timothy Shearer was widely respected by his leadership in the AAPI community. Many knew him through his work as president of the Asian Food Trade Association, where he dedicated himself to strengthening the industry, fostering meaningful partnerships, and promoting greater appreciation of Asian food and culture. His generosity, his vision, and commitment earned him the friendship and admiration of colleagues throughout the San Gabriel Valley region. And above all, Timothy was remembered for his integrity, kindness, and genuine care of others. Timothy was a beloved husband, father, son, brother, and friend whose life was marked by deep devotion to his family, community, and service. He survived by his wife, four children, his parents, two sisters, and many nieces and nephews, all of whom were profoundly blessed by his warmth, guidance, and unwavering support. Thank you. Supervisor Mitchell.

Thank you so much. I move that when we adjourn today, we adjourn in the memory of Bishop Theodore L. Kirkland, Sr. Bishop T.L. Kirkland was born on April 4th, 1942 in Alabama and passed away May 28th at the age of 84 in the unincorporated community of View Park. He attended Alcorn State University and the University of Mississippi before pursuing theological studies at the Claremont School of Theology and the California School of Theology. In 1977, he became the founding pastor of Brookins Community AME Church, beginning with 12 members. Through his vision, leadership, and pastoral care, Brookins grew into a congregation of more than 8,000 members, becoming a spiritual, civic, and cultural anchor in Los Angeles. His work focused on uniting the church and the community, expanding access to resources such as computer literacy and healthcare, and supporting local entrepreneurs. In 1996, he was elected to serve as bishop, extending his ministry from the leadership of a single congregation to the entire African Methodist Episcopal Church. In this role, he provided distinguished leadership, serving congregations and communities across the US and abroad, including service as president of the Council of Bishops. Bishop Kirkland was also a respected national voice for justice, civic engagement, and economic empowerment. He was featured in Ebony and Jet magazines, appeared on C-SPAN and CNN, and welcomed then-Senator Barack Obama to the historic Selma Observance. Following his retirement in 2016, he continued preaching, mentoring, and shaping leaders with the same conviction and compassion that defined his ministry. Bishop Kirkland will be remembered for his unwavering faith, visionary leadership, and steadfast commitment to building God's kingdom and serving his people and community. His legacy lives on through the countless lives he touched, the leaders he mentored, and the ministries he helped develop and grow. He is survived by his devoted wife of 60 years, Mrs. Mary Simon Kirkland, his three children, Makita, Deidre, and Theodore II, his grandson and a host of extended family friends, and his beloved church family and community. He will be deeply missed and fondly remembered.

Thank you. We will take all those motions as seconded. If there's no objection to a unanimous vote, that will be the order. And, Executive Officer, please read us into closed session.

Members of the public, the Board will now be going into closed session. While the Board is in closed session, we will be showing a video presentation. Supervisor Mitchell has a video presentation recognizing the International Day of Plague. In accordance with Brown Act requirements, notice is hereby given that the Board of Supervisors will convene in closed session to discuss item number CS1, conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation as indicated on the posted agenda.

Hi, it's Jessalyn from LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell's office. We are just leaving back there where all those tents are, Mattel's headquarters in El Segundo, where they hosted Camp Mattel, Play It Forward, in preparation and celebration of International Day of Play. They had over 700 kids from the second district, including kids from the Children's Institute, the Wiley Center, Friendship Foundation, Hawthorne, Lenox, all here to just play! And I love Mattel's philosophy that creating access to play is important for a child's imagination but also development and general well-being. And also Supervisor Mitchell is authoring a motion you will see on a board agenda coming soon to proclaim International Day of Play in LA County on June 11th.

We'll be right back. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ¶¶ Thank you. so Hi. so so Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. We'll be right back.

We are back now into open session. Executive officer, please read the report of action.

The following is a report of action taken in closed session on June 9, 2026. Item number CS1, conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation. No reportable action was taken.

Thank you. That concludes today's meeting. Our next regular meeting of the board will be Tuesday, June the 16th, 2026 at 9.30 a.m. We are adjourned.