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.

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Issue No. 22 - August 7, 2020

Coronavirus: Resurgence and Response

• Time is running out in both Sacramento and Washington, DC, to save tenant and unemployment protections. Talks between top Democrats and Republicans are going nowhere, and California legislative leaders are asking the state judicial board to extend their eviction ban through September 5 to give them time to pass legislation to protect millions of tenants.

• The recent resurgence of coronavirus in Los Angeles County has hit especially hard in the predominantly Latinx hub cities of Southeast LA, driven by the “huge blind spot” in pandemic response that failed to protect workers.

• Los Angeles County has resumed the enforcement of evictions, following similar actions in Orange and San Bernardino counties. A planned round of lockouts will be enforced by the sheriff’s department, with the “currently highlighted” eviction orders limited to those that predated the shelter-in-place order. “How do they expect people to shelter in place if they have no place to shelter?” asked tenants’ rights activist Elena Popp.

• Los Angeles County has not met thresholds set by the California Department of Public Health that would allow schools to apply to reopen. A waiver process was being developed that would allow certain schools to reopen if they demonstrated a broad base of community and labor stakeholder support, but it can only be put into effect if the number of coronavirus cases in the county drops below 200 per 100,000. It's still at 355.

Labor

• After a yearlong standoff and collective action, the Writers Guild of America has reached an agreement with ICM Partners that will make ICM the second of the “Big 4” talent agencies to end the predatory, but long-standing, industry practice of negotiating packaging fees.

• A new LA Times report shows that Cal/OSHA, the safety board meant to protect the state’s workers, hasn’t even been able to protect its own employees. Anonymous staffers say the organization is not providing testing or other COVID safety measures in its offices, and depleted ranks have left Cal/OSHA without a bilingual inspector or enough staff to do in-person inspections.

Climate

• Despite demands from environmental groups and frontline activists, the California Senate Committee on Natural Resources voted 5–4 against passing AB 345, a bill that would require the CA Natural Resources Agency to adopt an environmental justice program and require buffer zones between oil wells and at-risk areas like schools and homes. Public comment preceding the bill’s hearing was flooded by callers who work in the oil and energy industries. The bill will be reconsidered for a final vote on August 12.

  
  

Elections

• Black Lives Matter-LA will now have the chance to take their case directly to voters, as the County Board of Supervisors approved 4–1 to add the Reimagine LA Initiative to the November ballot. The initiative would permanently shift 10% of the county’s unrestricted funding — approximately $1 billion — away from law enforcement and toward programs like community counseling, mental health services, youth development programs, and affordable housing.

• The husband of Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey will face assault charges related to his pointing a gun at Black Lives Matter activists in March.

• Ground Game LA  organized a discussion among four leftist candidates for office in Los Angeles County: Godfrey Santos Plata and Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, running for state assembly seats, and Nithya Raman and Konstantine Anthony, running for city council seats in Los Angeles and Burbank.

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