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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.

Issue No. 147 - March 3, 2023

State Politics

• With record snows trapping residents of California’s mountain towns in their homes, Governor Newsom has declared a state of emergency in 13 counties, and has simultaneously extended the state tax filing deadline to October 16.

City Politics

• The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion 5 – 0 to consider expanding the size of the board. Currently each supervisor has a constituency of about 2 million people.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• The LA City Council voted 10 – 2 this week to retroactively approve a six-month contract extension with the LAPD to patrol Metro buses and trains. Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisess Hernandez were the dissenting votes, with both arguing that armed officers are a failed approach to public safety on transit that drain funds from actually effective solutions — and noting that a recent uptick in overdose deaths on Metro occurred with the LAPD contract in place. This week’s vote was procedural, but Los Angeles will make genuinely impactful decisions about the future of Metro public safety in the coming months.

• In unexpected news, with contract negotiations upcoming, the LAPPL, police union for the LAPD, has proposed that officers stop responding to 28 types of nonviolent calls, diverting them instead to unarmed responders.

• A report (found here) from the special counsel to the Civilian Oversight Commission calls Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy gangs a cancer that “must be excised” and makes recommendations about how to proceed. The report summarizes a year-long investigation. A statement from the Check the Sheriff coalition applauds the report’s intentions but finds its recommendations inadequate to address the LASD’s "pervasive culture of abuse and violence," of which the prevalence of gangs are a symptom.

Environmental Justice

• Three months of rain have made a significant dent in California’s current drought. The latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that recent storms have freed 17% of the state from drought conditions, with the biggest areas of improvement being the Sierra Nevada, central coast, and far northern coast.

• Federal regulators today granted an exemption that will allow the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant to continue operating past 2025, while PG&E pursues a full 20-year operating permit.