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Introducing The Thorn West, 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. 

Want to join The Thorn West team? Have an idea for what we should be covering? Please get in touch at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>. 

The Thorn West sends a huge thank you to DSA-LA member Jessae Brown <[link removed]> for designing our beautiful logo, and to NYC-DSA <[link removed]> for inspiring us with The NYC Thorn <[link removed]>.

Issue No. 1, March 13, 2020

LOCAL NEWS


- California has been in a state of emergency over COVID-19 since March 5. There are 32 confirmed cases <[link removed]> in Los Angeles County at press time, though the real number is undoubtedly far higher. The Los Angeles Unified School District will close all schools <[link removed]> as of Monday. Mayor Garcetti has recommended canceling events <[link removed]> of over fifty people; the city has curtailed travel on official business; and the city has seen a series of cultural events and institutions <[link removed]> close down or be postponed. UCLA and USC have ended in-person classes <[link removed]>, joining Caltech, CSU-Long Beach, and Pepperdine. 


- The statement from DSA on COVID-19 can be found here <[link removed]>. 


- City Councilman John Lee (CD-12) is facing calls to resign <[link removed]> after his former boss and the man who he replaced on the city council Mitchell Englander surrendered to federal authorities for "criminal charges of obstructing a federal investigation into allegations that he accepted cash, hotel rooms, costly meals and the services of a female escort during 2017 trips to Vegas and Palm Springs from an unnamed businessman." Lee was chief of staff to Englander and accompanied him on the trip to Las Vegas, but claims he was not aware of his boss' activities and did not say whether he is "City Staffer B," who is identified in the federal indictment as receiving some of the same perks as Englander. News of the charges emerged after Lee narrowly secured a majority on March 3rd to avoid a runoff in November.


- State Sen. Scott Wiener, the San Francisco lawmaker behind the defeated SB50 housing bill <[link removed]>, is trying again with a new bill that he calls a “light touch” approach. The new bill <[link removed]>, SB902, would push for more residential units in single-family neighborhoods without local government approval and would provide incentives for larger cities to allow for 10-unit projects.


- The California Labor Commission's office hit the owners of a KBBQ chain with a $2.1 million fine <[link removed]> over wage theft. An investigation into Genwa restaurants found that workers were not allowed rest or meal breaks and that many of them were not paid minimum wage or shorted on overtime pay while working 11-hour shifts. The Los Angeles Times’ Frank Shyong published a column last July about the poor conditions <[link removed]>for restaurant workers throughout Koreatown. 


- Neighborhood organizations in Bel-Air are preparing to take action against L.A. Metro in an effort to stop plans to build a rail line through the Sepulveda Pass that would connect the Orange Line in the San Fernando Valley to the Expo Line between Santa Monica and Culver City and the extended Purple Line at UCLA. The Bel-Air Association Board <[link removed]> is calling for “continued financial support” and is “prepared to wage war and protect our land and property values.”



ELECTIONS


- Bernie Sanders has received 210 out of California’s 415 delegates <[link removed]>, with 22 delegates remaining to be allocated. Block-by-block results from the state’s 58 counties are viewable on this map <[link removed]>, which will be updated until the count ends.


- DSA-LA member <[link removed]> and DSA-LA endorsed candidate Nithya Raman <[link removed]> is headed for a November runoff <[link removed]> with incumbent David Ryu, after gaining 39.44% of the vote <[link removed]> in the Los Angeles City Council’s 4th District. As Los Angeles municipal elections now coincide with the November presidential election date, the campaign will continue for an unprecedented eight months. 


- Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey appears to be headed for a runoff election <[link removed]> in November after her share of votes fell below 50%. She is expected to run against former San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, who leads public defender Rachel Rossi with 27.6% of the vote to 22.4%. The county registrar is updating the vote count today. 


- A big win for Measure R <[link removed]>, co-written by the Reform L.A. Jails Committee <[link removed]>, which provides stronger civilian oversight by allowing the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission to investigate misconduct using subpoenas and requires the development of a plan to reduce the jail population.


- Proposition 13, a $15 billion bond measure that would have funded school construction has been defeated <[link removed]>. The CA School Boards Association believes a major factor in its defeat was voters confusing it with the 1978 Prop 13 that severely limited property tax increases. 


- California and Los Angeles once again suffered debilitating problems <[link removed]> on election day last week as "[i]nadequate staffing, poor communications and balky technology" resulted in voters waiting longer than four hours in some cases. The problems this year are consistent with previous years <[link removed]> in California as well as issues experienced in multiple <[link removed]>other <[link removed]>states <[link removed]> this year. 


DSA-LA
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