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. 183 - November 17, 2023

City Politics

• Several dozen Los Angeles Times reporters who signed a letter condemning the Israeli government for the killing of journalists, as well as the media for systematically perpetuating Islamophobic bias in its coverage of Israel and Palestine, have been prohibited by the paper from covering Gaza for three months. On the other side of the paper, the editorial board became one of the first to call for a ceasefire.

• LA Public Press spoke with Jewish and Palestinian organizers in the Palestinian liberation movement on its Smogland podcast, and covered an action that shut down the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue on Thursday, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. Today, thousands of Angelenos occupied the streets in a national day of protest.

• DSA-LA members have voted to endorse Kahllid Al-Alim and Karla Griego in their LAUSD board races! Both candidates are DSA members and were endorsed by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) in October.

• The final list of candidates who have requested nominating petitions in the upcoming city council and school board elections has been released. Candidates will now need to collect 500 signatures to officially get on the ballot. DSA-LA is organizing volunteers for the signature-gathering efforts of its endorsed candidates, Kahllid Al-Alim, Karla Griego, and Ysabel Jurado. Sign up here to join DSA-LA tomorrow morning in gathering signatures for Jurado, who is running for council in CD 14. There is also an upcoming doorknocking for the reelection campaign of Councilmember Nithya Raman, who brought LA City Council’s first explicit acknowledgement of the Israeli assault on Gaza with an adjourning motion in honor and memory of the 11,000 civilians who have been killed since October 7.

Transportation

• The 10 Freeway was significantly damaged by fire, forcing its closure between the Alameda Street and Santa Fe Avenue exits. The original estimate was that repairs would take several weeks, but Governor Gavin Newsom is now saying that the freeway will reopen “by Tuesday at the latest.” The Los Angeles Times reports on the predatory landlord who was leasing the space below the overpass from CalTrans and illegally subletting it. StreetsblogLA covers the adjustments made to strengthen public transportation in the freeway’s absence, with Mayor Karen Bass taking a leading role.

Housing Rights

• Los Angeles City Council passed a motion, by a vote of 10–2, to blunt a coming rent increase. Landlords of RSO units will be able to raise rents by 4%–6% on February 1, as opposed to the 7%–9% increase that the current formula would have allowed. The LA Housing Department has been directed to study whether this formula needs to be adjusted, and the original version of this motion delayed the rent increase to allow time for the study to be completed. An amendment to restore the original version of the motion failed, with only Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez, Nithya Raman, and Eunisses Hernandez — the sponsors of the initial resolution — supporting. An amendment to allow “small housing providers” to implement the larger 7%–9% rent increase was withdrawn, after it was revealed that landlords are on the honor system when they self-report how many units they own.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• California Highway Patrol Officers will receive raises that are much higher than those given to any other state government employees. By law, CHP salaries are indexed to current salaries for LA County Sheriffs, LAPD officers, as well as police salaries in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Diego.

Labor

• In Starbucks stores across the country, workers participated in “Red Cup Rebellion,” a walkout scheduled to coincide with the company’s annual promotional day. The action was organized by Starbucks Workers United. Workers are walking out in protest of working conditions and chronic staffing shortages.

Incarceration

• Knock LA’s series of first-person reporting from incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people continued this week, with an article on what it is like to spend 14 years in solitary confinement.