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. 7 - April 24, 2020
DSA-LA ORGANIZING PROFILES:
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What is Streetwatch?
- Streetwatch began in 2017 as a project of the DSA-LA Housing & Homelessness (H&H) committee, inspired by and trained by the amazing organizers in the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN), who began their “Community Watch” program in 2006, and won several lawsuits against the city. Streetwatch member Jed Parriott, who is also a member of LA CAN, noticed that those lawsuits ended in settlements that only applied to Skid Row, and realized there was a need for a similar program that gathered evidence of the city’s harmful practices throughout LA. The Streetwatch group quickly grew into a big part of the work of the H&H committee. Streetwatch teams are now active in Echo Park, Hollywood, Westside, SF Valley, Koreatown and Downtown LA, with a newly formed South Bay team in progress. Streetwatch co-founded a citywide coalition that calls for Services Not Sweeps, which has now inspired the similar Solutions Not Sweeps in San Francisco and works closely with Ktown for All.
A Major Legal Victory
- Streetwatch was there when Janet Garcia, a housecleaner, had all her work supplies thrown away by the city as she was using a nearby restroom, and has seen the city do this countless times. Janet Garcia and seven other unhoused people in different locations agreed to sue the City of LA. Members of LA CAN, Streetwatch, Ktown for All and lawyers at Legal Aid Foundation offered to negotiate with the city, and spent eight months trying to come to an agreement out of court. The city refused to offer meaningful concessions and the negotiations failed, so lawyers at Legal Aid filed the lawsuit, which challenges the city’s municipal code 56.11, one part of which allows the city to immediately trash anything they consider a “bulky item.” People living through these dehumanizing sweeps get no warning and no clear instructions on what is and is not bulky. The court ruled on April 13 that this part of the city code is likely unconstitutional, so the City of LA must immediately stop enforcing it. The lawsuit continues against other aspects of LAMC 56.11, but this is a huge victory for Janet Garcia and everyone else who has had their rights violated because they cannot afford a roof over their heads. DSA-LA was instrumental in the work that allowed this lawsuit to go forward; without Streetwatch we would not have had the leverage to get this result. In 2019, LA CAN presented DSA-LA with a “Freedom Now” award. We are proud of our work to bring together housed and unhoused people across the city, fighting against capitalism together — which continues with our #NoVacancyCA campaign!
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- Hundreds of immigrant detainees report being on hunger strike to demand protections against COVID-19 at three ICE detention facilities in California — Adelanto, Mesa Verde and Otay Mesa. At Otay Mesa, site of the second-worst outbreak in ICE detention, 42 detainees and eight ICE employees have been confirmed positive for the virus as of April 22; ICE has confirmed 287 detainees and 35 employees in their facilities testing positive nationwide. Detainees at Otay Mesa report that employees of the private prison company Core Civic, which runs the facility, attempted to force them to sign a release form — written only in English — in exchange for a single surgical mask that they are expected to use for a period of 15 days. Those who refused to sign and protested were pepper sprayed. Detainees at other ICE facilities nationwide have described similar abuse as they have advocated for themselves in light of the risks of the pandemic. On April 20, a federal judge ordered ICE to review the custody of every at-risk person in detention nationwide and consider their release, saying that the government’s failure to protect them from the risks of COVID-19 “likely exhibited callous indifference to [their] safety and wellbeing.”
- 144 people incarcerated by the state of California have tested positive for COVID-19 as of April 22, as have 97 Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation employees. The first confirmed death of an incarcerated person in a California state prison came Sunday in San Bernardino County. Meanwhile, Lompoc, CA, is the site of the worst outbreak of COVID-19 in a federal prison in the US; 69 incarcerated people and 25 employees have tested positive there. Research suggests that mass incarceration will be a major driver of COVID-19 infection rates and fatalities. The United States incarcerates more people than any other country on earth and also leads the world in COVID-19 cases. An epidemiological study released in collaboration with the ACLU this week finds that models projecting 100,000 COVID-19 deaths in the United States have failed to account for mass incarceration as a vector of infection, and estimates that an additional 100,000 people could die unless drastic decarceration is undertaken.
- A coalition of more than 50 Black Los Angeles–based community leaders issued 55 immediate and long-term demands in light of COVID-19 and rates of Black death, stating that “Interlocking economic, political, and social injustices collide with long-standing patterns of medical racism to make COVID-19 a Black issue that demands a response specific to the needs of the Black community” and highlighting that “Black people are dying at two-three times our population share from COVID-19. In Los Angeles County, the rate of Black death is twice our population share, with Black people constituting 9% of the County population, but 17% of the COVID-19 deaths. With nearly 900,000 Black residents in the County and 403,000 Black residents in the City (the eighth-highest number of any city in the United States), what happens in Los Angeles has serious national implications. While several initiatives have been launched nationally, state-wide and locally, none speak to the particular needs of the Black community.”
- The coronavirus pandemic continues to place a spotlight on the devastating impact of air pollution on the human body, with severe cases of COVID-19 being linked to high air pollution. Scientists have recently detected coronavirus on particles of air pollution, and are investigating if this may increase the distance that the virus can travel. Even before the pandemic, air pollution was considered the largest environmental risk factor for disease in the US. Communities of color are particularly impacted by pollution due to higher rates of pollution and decades-long disparities in healthcare systems. The result is that African-American children are “500 times more likely to die from asthma than white children, and have a 250 percent higher hospitalization rate for the condition.” In Wisconsin, African-Americans are just 6% of the population but account for half of the COVID-19 deaths, and “in New York City, Hispanic people represent 29 percent of the population, and 34 percent of the city’s deaths — the largest percentage by race.” The impact of pollution goes far beyond being associated with severe cases of COVID-19. Studies have indicated links between high pollution and long-term health impacts such as increased likelihood of developing high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and negative impacts on fetal birth weight.
- At Wednesday's Los Angeles City Council meeting, a bid to blanket ban all evictions for the duration of the Coronavirus emergency failed, by a vote of 6–7. A measure already passed in March banned evictions of tenants who had been impacted by the pandemic, but Councilmember Mike Bonin, one of the sponsors of the blanket ban, echoed objections that the earlier law forced tenants to demonstrate loss of income, and allowed unscrupulous landlords to strong-arm tenants unsure of their rights. The city attorney, again present at council in an emergency capacity, reiterated concerns that a blanket ban would exceed the city's authority and open the city to lawsuits. These concerns were cited by the measure's opponents, including Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell, who called the process a “charade” and specifically chastised the legal advocacy group Public Counsel — which had released analysis arguing the city indeed had the legal authority to enforce an eviction moratorium — for offering “false hope.” The legality of such a measure remains in dispute. Councilmember Gil Cedillo reassured the council that the knowledge that the City of Los Angeles would not be going much farther than it had to protect renters would bring people “peace.” The City Council passed a measure voicing support for combined relief for renters and property owners at the state and federal level, and moved over a million dollars into a fund that would provide assistance to renters. A similar fund established in Santa Clara quickly ran through 11 million dollars in March.
- A study found that people “experiencing homelessness are twice as likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 and two to three times more likely to die than the general population.” Getting into a shelter may not help, as outbreaks are developing in some — and a new UC Berkeley study shows “high-density congregate settings” to be unsafe even if operators follow social distancing guidelines. A better solution is to use single-occupancy hotel rooms, but, as of Tuesday, LA County has leased just 2500 and fewer than 750 are occupied, vastly below the city’s 60,000 homeless residents. Efforts to expand the use of hotels is being met with resistance from local residents.
- A drive-through protest of stay-at-home orders was held by right-wing group “Operation Gridlock” in Downtown Los Angeles, but was sparsely attended.
- The Los Angeles Times plans to stop publishing three community newspapers: the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader and La Cañada Valley Sun. “The three titles, while journalistically sound, are operating at significant losses,” the paper explained in a note to readers.
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- DSA-LA member and city council candidate Nithya Raman — an urban planner who has focused on urban poverty, housing and homelessness and is endorsed by DSA-LA in the ongoing race for City Council District 4 — published an op-ed criticizing the City Council for cracking down on unlicensed street vendors, writing that “in an environment of near-universal desperation like this one, getting relief requires a loud voice to make your needs heard. Unfortunately, those who need the most help right now are often people we’ve forced into the shadows all along. The faces of LA’s shadow food economy are its street vendors. There are about 50,000 street vendors operating in Los Angeles, 10,000 of whom sell food. Many are undocumented. Many are refugees, whose families came here fleeing violence in Central America. Many are seniors. 80 percent are women of color...Los Angeles has never done right by its vendors. This crisis was an opportunity to make up for decades of cruelty — to give neighborhood vendors the opportunity to serve food safely and legally, and help fill the gaps left by dried-up supply chains and shuttered restaurants. Instead, the city has done the opposite. We’ve failed them again.”
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