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. 165 - July 14, 2023

State Politics

• As the state Assembly transfers to a new leadership team under Speaker Robert Rivas, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan has been sworn in as majority leader.

• Tony Thurmond, California’s elected superintendent of public instruction, announced Wednesday he is “seriously exploring” a run for governor in the 2026 election.

• The second issue of California DSA’s bimonthly newsletter California Red includes stories from up and down the state — on labor and more!

City Politics

• The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a motion that would take the next step toward guaranteeing a right to counsel for all tenants facing eviction. The current timeline calls for a report in 180 days, implementation “as soon as” 2024 in unincorporated areas, and expansion to cover the entire county by 2030.

Labor

• SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 on-camera performers, has gone on strike! Despite extending the negotiation deadline to July 12, SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP were unable to come to terms. Today, members joined the WGA on the picket line. It’s the first time both unions have struck simultaneously since 1960. Speech from leadership here. Picket schedule here.

• Following a 96% vote in favor of a strike authorization, hotel workers with UNITE HERE Local 11 struck at 19 hotels across Los Angeles and Orange counties over the July 4th holiday weekend. That strike ended on July 5 without a deal in place, but with further actions anticipated. A second wave of walkouts is underway.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• A judge has granted a preliminary injunction temporarily halting an investigation into deputy gangs within the LA Sheriff’s Department, in response to a lawsuit filed by LASD’s deputy union.

• The LA Times uncovered the names of the LAPD officers responsible for last year’s disastrous botched detonation of confiscated fireworks — information the LAPD had refused to disclose. Reporters credited the LAPD personnel photographs on the Watch the Watchers database as an indispensable resource.

Housing Rights

• Continued coverage of the planned mass arrest of the residents of an encampment in a West Valley park, implicating several LAPD officers as well as the council offices of both Bob Blumenfield and John Lee. A statement from the residents of the encampment speaks to a pattern of LAPD harassment.

• Mayor Bass has faced increased pushback from councilmembers over her office’s failure to provide required data regarding the success of the Inside Safe program at connecting unhoused people to permanent housing. The numbers that were finally released this week to theHousing and Homelessness Committee were far short of the program’s stated goals. Later in the week, Bass updated the emergency declaration on homelessness.

Environmental Justice

• As Southern California deals with the first heat wave of the summer, LAist surveys the new normal of a hotter climate. Globally, June was the hottest June on record.

• Manufacturers of heavy trucks and truck engines in the country have agreed to accept a California plan to ban sales of new diesel big rigs by 2036. The deal averts a costly court battle.

• California has taken a big step toward boosting how much sewage water local governments can purify and reuse for drinking — a process known as water recycling. On Tuesday, the state proposed draft regulations which would allow putting recycled water directly into the local water system, allowing more cities that don’t have enough space in groundwater basins because of past pollution, (which is the case in LA).