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. 156 - May 5, 2023

City Politics

• The Los Angeles City Council Budget and Finance Committee wrapped up two weeks of hearings with a presentation from the People’s Budget LA coalition that began by calling out “eleven LAPD officers doing nothing” in the lobby of City Hall. A revised draft of the budget will now move on to the full council for deliberation.

Labor

• The Writers Guild of America has gone on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Stakes for writers are high, as the job is becoming one that doesn’t provide a sustainable living, and the two sides were still far apart in contract negotiations. Jacobin covers in further detail. Picket lines are ongoing, and DSA-LA is rallying members to support any way they can, including this Sunday’s picket of the MTV Movie & TV Awards!

Anti-Gentrification

• In Compton, community members are fundraising to purchase the Compton Community Garden, which will otherwise be purchased for redevelopment. LA Public Press covers.

• DSA-LA joined with United Teachers LA, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, and Reclaim Our Schools LA to rally against a proposed zoning waiver that would allow a charter school to be built on vacant land owned by LAUSD.

Transportation

• In Culver City, a newly installed council has voted to roll back parts of MOVE Culver City, the highly successful road redesign that reallocated space away from cars and toward buses, cyclists, and pedestrians.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• Reporting in the LA Times covers the deposition of a whistleblower from within the LAPD SWAT Unit, alleging a deeply ingrained culture of corruption and violence controlled by an inner circle of officers known as the “SWAT Mafia.”

Environmental Justice

• In a lawsuit filed this week, environmental groups argue that the California Public Utilities Commission acted illegally when it slashed compensation payments for power generated by solar panels. 

• Grist explains state Senate Bill 233, which mandates that all electric vehicles be equipped with bidirectional hardware. Bidirectional charging allows the power in vehicle batteries to be rolled back into the grid itself to bolster grid reliability.