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. 148 - March 10, 2023

City Politics

• The corruption trial of Mark Ridley-Thomas, the suspended councilmember for CD10, began this week. The ongoing trial of Raymond Chan, the ex–deputy mayor who was implicated in the corruption of former CD14 councilmember José Huizar, was temporarily suspended after his lawyer fell ill.

• The Committee on City Governance Reform met this week and further discussed reforms to the Municipal Lobbying Ordinance. Under discussion were potential amendments that could exempt nonprofits and unions from some registration requirements for lobbyists. Strong opposition to these exemptions came from a coalition of neighborhood council members (who were credited at the top of the meeting for leading the charge for reform) and in public comment. The meeting, which can be heard here, ended without decisive action being taken.

• The general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE), which oversees the city’s neighborhood council system, has resigned. The resignation followed an incident in which a neighborhood council under temporary DONE oversight was compelled, over the principled objections of most of its members, to make a $4,000 donation to a youth organization run by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

• Reporting in the LA Times shed more light on Councilmember Kevin de León’s (widely known) relationship with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit which owns several apartment buildings in his district and which paid De León $100,000 in consulting fees in the year before he took office. “This is really unethical,” said Ann Ravel, former chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

Immigration

• A motion introduced this week by Councilmembers Nithya Raman, Eunisses Hernandez, and Hugo Soto-Martinez, and drafted in coalition with JusticeLA, CIPC, CHIRLA, The TransLatin@ Coalition, CARECEN, and DSA-LA, instructs the city attorney to draft legislation that would bar any city resources or personnel from being utilized in federal immigration enforcement, enshrining into law Los Angeles’ status as a sanctuary city. It is agendized for a vote on Friday, March 17.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• LA City Council discussed whether or not the LAPD should be given a robotic dog-like creature, paid for by a donation from the secretive Los Angeles Police Foundation. Public comment was strongly opposed. For now, the robot would only be intended to be deployed in specific, nonviolent scenarios, though there is widespread concern that its usage would rapidly expand; a spokesperson for the robot touted its ability to “carry more payload.” The motion was tabled for 60 days as it became clear that certain ramifications had not yet been thought through. During the meeting a protester was ejected and subsequently arrested after jeering loudly.

• From Capital & Main, the newly appointed Los Angeles County undersheriff, the second-highest ranking person in the LASD, has a tattoo alleged to be associated with a deputy gang.

Housing Rights

• AB 257, a Republican-drafted motion that was essentially a statewide expansion of Los Angeles’ recently-enacted ban on any encampments within 500 feet of schools, was voted down in the State Assembly's Public Safety Committee. “That to me is absolutely inhumane. The way to solve homelessness is not to criminalize poverty,” said Assemblywoman Mia Bonta.

Environmental Justice

• In his initial climate budget proposal,Governor Newsom has cut about $561 million from local coastal resilience projects. California’s coastal resilience programs provide funding for local governments to prepare coastal plans and pay for projects that protect beaches, homes, and infrastructure at risk from rising seas.