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Friend --
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].
The Thorn West sends a huge
thank you to DSA-LA member Jessae Brown for designing our beautiful logo, and to
NYC-DSA for inspiring us with The NYC Thorn.
Issue No. 1, March 13, 2020
LOCAL NEWS
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California has been in a state of
emergency over COVID-19 since March 5. There are 32 confirmed cases 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 as of Monday. Mayor Garcetti has recommended canceling events of over fifty people; the city has
curtailed travel on official business; and the city has seen a series
of cultural events and
institutions close down or
be postponed. UCLA and USC have ended in-person classes, joining Caltech, CSU-Long Beach, and
Pepperdine.
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The statement from DSA on COVID-19 can
be found here.
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City Councilman John Lee (CD-12) is
facing calls to resign 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.
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State Sen. Scott Wiener, the San
Francisco lawmaker behind the defeated SB50 housing bill, is trying again with a new bill that he
calls a “light touch” approach. The new bill, 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.
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The California Labor Commission's
office hit the owners of a KBBQ chain with a $2.1 million fine 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 for restaurant workers throughout
Koreatown.
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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 is calling for “continued financial
support” and is “prepared to wage war and protect our land and
property values.”
ELECTIONS
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Bernie Sanders has received 210 out of California’s 415
delegates, with 22
delegates remaining to be allocated. Block-by-block results from the
state’s 58 counties are viewable on this map, which will be updated until the count ends.
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DSA-LA member and DSA-LA endorsed candidate Nithya Raman is headed for a November runoff with incumbent David Ryu, after gaining
39.44% of the vote 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.
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Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie
Lacey appears to be headed for a runoff election 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.
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A big win for Measure R, co-written by the Reform L.A. Jails Committee, 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.
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Proposition 13, a $15 billion bond
measure that would have funded school construction has been defeated. 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.
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California and Los Angeles once again
suffered debilitating problems 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 in California as well
as issues experienced in multiple other states this year.
DSA-LA
http://www.dsa-la.org/
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