Does L.A. need a city council? You be the judge
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Tuesday, Oct. 25. I’m Jon Healey, senior editor of the Utility Journalism Team, the group that answers burning questions and offers news you can use.
The lingering scandal at Los Angeles City Hall — the latest in a series — has prompted Zócalo Public Square to schedule a panel discussion next week on this question: “Do we even need a city council?” It’s not just an expression of dismay about the legal, ethical and moral lapses of the city’s leadership; it also reflects the public’s uncertainty about what the council does for the city.
To help on that front, I wrote a piece that unpacks the multiple layers of local government in California, including mayors, city councils, special district boards and county boards of supervisors.
The lines between city and county duties are especially blurry, given that the county delivers many important social services within city boundaries. Meanwhile, in the unincorporated areas within their districts, each of the five L.A. County supervisors serves as a cross between a mayor (the executive overseeing government operations) and a council member (a lawmaker who votes on rules and policies).
Here’s another point of confusion. Almost every department head in the city of Los Angeles reports to the mayor, who has the power to hire and fire them. Yet council members also set priorities for the departments within their districts, steering street repairs, homeless encampment clean-ups and land-use actions, among other services.
For many Angelenos, their council member’s office is the one they call when they have a problem with trash pickup, graffiti removal or building permits. You don’t need to call a council member to get help with city services — the city has the 311 hotline and the MyLA311 app for that. Yet there’s something to be said for having an elected official promise to lean on a city department to get stuff done.
My article doesn’t try to measure how hard it would be for Los Angeles to dispense with its council, or whether the council adds more value than its members detract with their misdeeds. That’s up to you to decide. It simply tries to help you understand why we have overlapping layers of government and what each of them does. (That said, if you are interested in getting more involved in local government — on that question or other issues — try out The Times’ new Shape Your L.A. tool for civic engagement.)
And now, here’s what’s happening across California.
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L.A. STORIES
New council president raises the temperature under Kevin de León. City Council President Paul Krekorian told De León that his refusal to resign is “causing actual ongoing harm” to the body but also refuses his request to skip council meetings for the time being. Instead, Krekorian urged his scandal-enmeshed colleague to step down and let his constituents “start fresh.” Los Angeles Times
Construction of L.A. Metro’s Westside Purple Line is halted over safety issues. Transit officials halted work on an extension of the subway line for two weeks amid “serious safety concerns.” Dozens of workers on the project have been injured since July. Los Angeles Times
They seized vacant El Sereno homes at the start of the pandemic. Now, they face eviction. The state agreed to lease eight vacant homes that had been in the path of the never-to-be-built 710 freeway. But those leases are expiring, and the families aren’t allowed to renew them. Los Angeles Times
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POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
More evidence that the pandemic set back California students. Two out of three California students did not meet state math standards, and more than half did not meet English standards, on state assessments taken in the spring. These are sizable drops in performance from the year before the pandemic, when there were already large numbers struggling to meet grade-level expectations. Los Angeles Times
California is poised to overtake Germany as world’s No. 4 economy. Matthew A. Winkler, Bloomberg’s former editor in chief, makes the case that “the California economy is punching above its weight on the world stage.” Bloomberg
California starts sending prepaid debit card version of “Middle Class Tax Refund” to eligible households Monday. The cards will go to households whose 2020 tax returns qualify them for the program but who do not have direct deposit set up with the Franchise Tax Board. More than 4 million Californians with direct deposit have already received payments, which range from $200 to more than $1,000. Los Angeles Times
Stop me if you’ve heard this one already. Gov. Gavin Newsom pledges to serve the full four-year term if reelected in November. Associated Press
CRIME, COURTS AND POLICING
Veterinarian contradicts L.A. County Sheriff’s Department account of K-9 death. A memo by the department says vet Yolanda Cassidy told an investigator that the dog, which had been left in a car for several hours, could have died from a number of things, including “heat, aspiration and underlying medical conditions.” But Cassidy said the statement was “fabricated” and that she wasn’t on duty when the dog was brought to the animal hospital. Los Angeles Times
Harvey Weinstein’s second sex-crimes trial began in L.A. Monday. The erstwhile producer faces 11 counts of rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual battery in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills — including the alleged sexual assault in the early 2000s of actress Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who is now the governor’s wife. Los Angeles Times
Meanwhile, one of actor Danny Masterson’s three accusers wrapped up four days of testifying in his rape trial. She told jurors of how she feared the Church of Scientology and was pressured by its officials not to go to law enforcement with her allegations of rape against Masterson, a high-profile church member. Los Angeles Times
Before Border Angels founder retired, two women alleged sexual harassment. The complaints led to an internal investigation, which found that Enrique Morones, a nationally known immigration rights activist, engaged in behavior that “made volunteers and interns uncomfortable.” Los Angeles Times (subscription required)
Few California D.A.s bring wage-theft charges against employers. Most cases are handled administratively by the state labor commissioner, rather than prosecuted by county district attorneys. But that’s starting to change, officials say. CalMatters
Comedian and actor Leslie Jordan, a ‘queer icon,’ died in a car crash Monday in Hollywood. An Emmy winner for his work on “Will & Grace,” the 67-year-old Jordan was also known for posting uplifting Instagram videos during the pandemic. Los Angeles Times
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HOUSING
Thousands of apartments may come to Santa Monica and other wealthy cities via “builder’s remedy.” Developers are taking advantage of state laws that give them more freedom to build in communities that fail to develop adequate plans for housing. Los Angeles Times
Meanwhile, in the Bay Area, NIMBY governments propose dubious sites for housing to avoid more development. Some wealthy cities that are opposed to building the housing needed to meet their projected needs — or that are simply resigned to failing — have offered up outlandish or logistically impossible sites in their blueprints to accommodate future homes. San Francisco Chronicle
HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
RSV cases are rising in Southern California and nationwide. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles reports an unusually early surge in cases of respiratory syncytial virus, an often mild ailment that can be problematic for kids less than six months old. Tests for the disease are coming back positive in almost one-third of cases, versus last year’s peak of 24%. LAist
Yes, that is a great white shark popping out of the ocean. You have to see it to believe it: Surf photographer Jordan Anast somehow managed to capture a great white having a “Sharknado” moment during a San Onofre Surf Club competition. Orange County Register
CALIFORNIA CULTURE
Why Lydia Millet writes about what frightens her most. The novelist, an important Western voice on the environment, is a writer and editor at the Center for Biological Diversity, which means she “can’t get away from reading and writing and editing materials about extinction and climate change.” She’ll discuss her new book, “Dinosaurs,” Wednesday with Jeff Fleishman at the L.A. Times Book Club. Los Angeles Times
Hollywood talent agency CAA cuts ties with Kanye West after antisemitic tirade. The rapper now known as Ye has aired antisemitic views in a string of interviews, making it nearly impossible for companies to defend working with him. Los Angeles Times
New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl was the last of a breed. Times art critic Christopher Knight writes about his roughly 25 years of dialogue with Schjeldahl, his friend on the opposite coast. Los Angeles Times
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CALIFORNIA ALMANAC
Los Angeles: 76, sunny. San Diego: 73, sunny. San Francisco: 66, mostly sunny. San Jose: 68, partly sunny. Fresno: 74, sunny. Sacramento: 72, mostly sunny.
AND FINALLY
Today’s California memory is from Wendy Hughes:
My mother was born in 1921 in Minneapolis. Her father died when she was 6, and my grieving grandmother moved with her three children to California. They lived for a year on Gramercy Place in Los Angeles. My grandmother’s grief wasn’t mending, though, so they moved back to Minnesota. My parents met and married in Washington, D.C., during WWII. When I was born, my mother told my father, “I don’t know about you, but I’m taking the baby and moving to California.” She had never forgotten what it felt like to live without snow.
If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)
Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
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