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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. 88 - December 3, 2021
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- A motion proposed by Councilmember Nithya Raman, calling on the state to revise its food codes to better accommodate the needs of street vendors, passed unanimously.
- For the second week in a row, Councilmember Joe Buscaino was scolded on the floor of city council. This time, Buscaino’s motion to impose 41.18 enforcement zones against sleeping, lying, or sitting at 161 sites in his district was chided as overreach.
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- The Los Angeles Daily News has published its annual report card grading California cities on how close they are to meeting their state-mandated housing requirements. Last week, Los Angeles (C-minus/D) updated its housing plan to accelerate the growth of the city’s capacity for affordable housing.
- Some California municipalities are taking steps to blunt the impact of SB 9, the state law that attempts to address the affordable housing shortage by drastically curbing single-family zoning. SB 9 goes into effect January 1.
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- Analysis from NOlympics LA breaks down the “Games Agreement,” to show how the blueprint agreement between Los Angeles and the Olympics committee exposes the city to potentially limitless cost overruns. Today the city council voted to approve the agreement, with Councilmembers Raman and Mike Bonin the only votes in opposition. Knock LA live-tweeted the discussion.
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Police Violence and Community Resistance
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- The Metro board voted to extend its contract with law enforcement agencies by six months and to approve $75 million in related cost overruns. The six-month window’s stated purpose is to give Metro’s new Public Safety Advisory Committee time to make recommendations.
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- Though the fracking ban proposed by Governor Newsom failed in the legislature, the state’s Geologic Energy Management Division has rejected an unprecedented 109 fracking permits in 2021, approving only 12.
- A “net-zero” carbon housing development in Tejon Ranch north of Los Angeles has been approved to go forward. The development’s climate commitments were won through extensive litigation from environmental activist groups.
- A proposal to bring a coastal oil pipeline back online following a disastrous 2015 oil spill is facing opposition.
- Hundreds of toxic sites in California will be threatened as sea levels rise due to climate change, according to environmental health professors at UC Berkeley and UCLA.
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