The Thorn West is a state and local news roundup compiled by members of DSA-LA. Our goal is to provide a weekly update on the latest developments in state and local politics, and to track the issues that are most important to our membership.

Issue No. 151 - March 31, 2023

City Politics

• Mark Ridley-Thomas, who was elected to represent CD10 in 2020, was found guilty of seven of the 19 counts he was facing in a federal corruption trial. LA City Council will now decide how to fill Ridley-Thomas’ seat for the remainder of his term. In lieu of calling a special election allowing the residents of CD10 to decide, Council President Paul Krekorian has called for the appointment of interim councilmember Heather Hutt for the remainder of the term.

• CD6 special primary election voting has begun, and closes at 8 PM on Tuesday, April 4. Find your polling location here. DSA-LA candidate recommendations here.

Labor

• Jacobin has a further rundown of the victories of LAUSD education workers following last week’s historic strike.

• UNITE HERE Local 11 is joining with local activist groups in calling for a boycott of the Tommie and Thompson hotels in Hollywood, until the hotels address multiple workplace discrimination and gentrification concerns.

Anti-Gentrification

• The fence around Echo Park Lake, put up by former councilmember Mitch O’Farrell in 2021 to displace an encampment and left up indefinitely without explanation, was taken down. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, who campaigned on a pledge to take down the fence if elected and then won by over 15 points, had the fence removed this week after  announcing last week that it would come down soon. His statement is here. Independent coverage at LA Podcast (@38:04). Weekend canvassing of communities neighboring the park is still ongoing, coordinated by the CD13 and CD1 offices; to volunteer, sign up here.

• A lawsuit seeking the end of exclusionary no-vending zones at various sites in Los Angeles will be allowed to proceed. SB 946, passed in 2018, legalized street vending statewide.

Incarceration

• Thursday marked two years since the county released a two-year plan to close the decrepit Men’s Central Jail, but there has been little progress. A coalition of activists, including JusticeLA, held a rally demanding the LA County Board of Supervisors to commit to a hard deadline.

• The LA Times updates the progress of a lawsuit, filed by a coalition of activists and people who have experienced incarceration in LA County, compelling the county to return to the zero-cash bail policy implemented as a response to COVID-19. The article follows a cluster of deaths within the jail system of people who were awaiting sentencing.

Housing Rights

• A lawsuit attempting to overturn Measure H, the ballot measure implementing rent control in Pasadena, has failed.

• LAist covers the end of all COVID-19 eviction protections, which happens today.

Environmental Justice

• Despite persistent flooding resulting from months of heavy rain, in his most recent budget Governor Newsom eliminated all $40 million that had been allocated for restoring floodplains, halting projects that help protect vulnerable, disadvantaged communities in the San Joaquin Valley.

• Meanwhile, Governor Newsom also announced the rollback of several drought restrictions, though he acknowledged that not all indicators show that the crisis is over.