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ERIC PREVEN'S NOTEBOOK - On paper Friday’s meeting looks like a snoozer, we’ve got the $2,340 lien for 237 West 88th Place—always a crowd-pleaser—and the UCLA Labor Center’s report on dockwork automation, a hot topic sure to draw sparks. And, of course, we’re wrapping up with the official declaration of election results (wince here).
But don’t let Friday’s slimmed-down three-item agenda fool a brother—this meeting may or may not be brief. There might be presentations designed to blunt the anger brewing among unionistas over automation at the port. The logic goes: if the council makes it annoying enough for the mob, they’ll go back to work. Besides they can be more influential by grabbing a few Margies with Tim McOsker at one of his Portside watering holes or tree-forts. No reason not to join a Swedish racing team, scoping out an Olympic berth... Skol!
Tuesday’s meeting, though—it was a spectacle.
The Padilla Inquisition:
The post-public comment, pre-closed session fireworks began with Councilmember Imelda Padilla (CD6) laying into John Ackerman, CEO of LAWA, over community benefits and FAA funding. Padilla wasn’t asking questions about the proposed settlement; she was interrogating, with a tone that suggested subpoenas were just around the corner. It was impossible to miss her frustration—she came prepared, and it showed. Marqueece Harris-Dawson (CD8), caught in the crossfire, clung to his single-use water bottle like a life preserver. Strefan Fauble sat on the side, sobbing, like a child torn apart by a painful divorce.
Lawa's chief John Ackerman and City Attorneys faced a drubbing from Imelda Padilla (CD6).
Then after the closed session, came Padilla’s follow-up performance: insisting that the closed session vote count be read aloud with just the right level of shaming. The lease passed, but the Yes voters opted for stunned silence instead of defending their positions. It wasn’t confidence; it was capitulation. The No votes alongside Padilla were De Leon (CD14) Blumenfield (CD3) Rodriguez (CD7) and Soto-Martinez (CD13)Later, Monica Rodriguez went after LAHSA with a ferocity that would make a bulldog blush, hammering the agency’s inefficiencies and runaway costs. Nithya Raman (CD4) tried to justify an $89-per-bed LAHSA rate as reasonable, but Rodriguez wasn’t in the mood. Her ferocious takedown of the badly wounded Joint Powers agency almost resulted in Rule 7 and 12 violations.
Amid the mayhem, Tim McOsker (CD15) that he calls the One Five, delivered a cool, calm, and collected update on a West Harbor lease. McOsker, reminded everyone why he’s still a fan favorite. To his ever-present cheerleaders, why not “get a room?”
Nutshell:
Padilla’s fiery attacks, Rodriguez’s no-holds-barred takedown, McOsker’s smooth charm—it was a meeting to remember. As for Friday? Expect less theatrics but plenty of underlying hostility. After all, the sparks from Tuesday aren’t likely to fade completely.
Marqueece Harris-Dawson (CD8) unleashed the (CD6) bulldog.
Jonathan Groat, City Attorney: Yes, the amendment is for item number 10 and does the following: With regard to instruction number 6, it strikes all the language beneath the heading. Again, it strikes all the language beneath the heading. I believe the second is Councilmember Krekorian.
Jonathan Groat, City Attorney: Okay, we can continue with public comment.
City Clerk: Caller ending in 2616, please unmute yourself.
Smart Speaker: Yes, it's Eric Preven from Studio City.
Jonathan Groat, City Attorney: Good morning.
Smart Speaker: Yeah Good morning, I’d like to speak on the available items and also a general public comment.
Jonathan Groat, City Attorney: Okay, you have three minutes for the items and one minute for general public comment. Please begin with the items. Go ahead.
Smart Speaker: Well, on item 10, which you just amended—when you strike all that language, are you undoing the vacation? Is this yet another attempt to squeeze someone for more? You know a little office-holder finisher upper thank you very much account? Like Huizar used to do with Krekorian and Blumenfield helping. Anyway, congratulations on the shadiness.
I’d like to thank AIDS Healthcare Foundation once again for all the capital projects and the funding. Forty-six million dollars is a lot, and it's nice to see that $32 million will be earmarked for CD4. I’d like to thank Nithya Raman for that, you know I’m a little less grateful about Encino Park.
This is not exactly the same as Studio City Rec Center, but they’re very similar, I was looking at the park and got hot there for a second — when I noticed that in Encino they don’t have a giant high school regulation basketball court in their lovely little park. What Nithya Raman’s doing or approving today is the creation of two towers right around the corner from the cute little park.
Encino had an outdoor illuminated basketball court. Like we did.
Unfortunately, thanks to Paul Krekorian and his pack of thieves and the inaction of Nithya Raman (CD4), they’ve knocked it all down, our Rec center had a little theatre stage like they do in Encino. Gone. Final curtain.
Studio City is packed full of actors and Hollywood artists… so it’s a real shame that neither CD2 under Krekorian or Congressman Brad Sherman or Nithya Raman, as their foil supported the residents. Instead, we are facing a $35 million dollar Bureau of Engineering ... travesty. Thank you, Drucker.
A giant structure in our precious open space. Not green, not needed. Unwanted.
Are any of these people around and listening? It’s nice to see that Kevin de León is teeing up a $185,000 winter wonderland. That is what the people want.
What a shanda, as we say in the business. Item 32 had a typo. Augustus Kawkins…it’s Hawkings. And that is an insult to a man who was actually a very important first-timer to go to the Congress or something like that. I hope that’s corrected for the official record, Mr. Harris-Dawson.
And as for your MORE recess schedule—here we have an activist in his prime. Marqueece Harris Dawson (CD8) got the gavel from Herb Wesson via Krekorian/Martinez and has continued the trend started by his besties. He has been steadily decreasing the amount of time the council meets in front of the public. It’s all in line with the council's new great taste: less public comment! “We can’t stand these bastards.”
Those bastards are the people, FYI. We have a lot to add and that’s why I stand by the people who give public comments and I’m very upset with the council's constant demoralizing. We are reviewing our options, Groat.
Jonathan Groat, City Attorney: Please stick to the recess schedule. If you’d like you can do this during general.
Smart Speaker: This is the recess schedule. I looked at it—you’ve increased it from 55 days in 2023 to 59 days in 2024 and this coming schedule will be like 62 days off on recess, in 2025.
Jonathan Groat, City Attorney: Your time has expired. You have one minute for public comment.
Smart Speaker: Okay, I’ll get to the heart of the matter. I think we need the City Attorney’s office to come down to the principal’s office for a thorough drubbing under Rule 7 and Rule 12. The lack of transparency about who chooses the speakers is something that the people are disgusted by.
Hochman, get in here!
Nathan Hochman District Attorney embraces justice and Traci Park (CD11).
What we’d like to see is the City Attorney sit quietly and allow public speakers to have their time. When you start line-editing what people say to see if you can make a connection, or if their comments meet your narrow views of jurisdiction—the whole thing is very very bad. And I don’t mean to embarrass you, Groat, more like, humiliate!
You simply need to get a grip of yourself.
And Mr. Harris-Dawson, as a young progressive leader, I urge you to sit forward and control Mr. Groat, Mr. Fauble and Mr. Quan’s favorite, Tanea Ysaguirre. They all behave badly out of line with expectations.
Council, we need to get hold of this because the attorneys have a clear conflict of interest. We want our attorneys to help the public, not break the law. There’s a fine tradition of breaking the law by our city attorneys.
Jonathan Groat, City Attorney: Caller, your time has expired.
Smart Speaker: Go Blue.
City Clerk: Caller ending in 1828.
Rob Quan, speaker: Rob Quan. I’m just wondering where the disheveled Mr. De Leon is—I’d like to speak on all items.
Jonathan Groat, City Attorney: Okay, you have three minutes for the items and one minute for general public comment. Please begin with the items.
Rob Quan: Groat, do you know where Kevin de León’s Winter Wonderland is - getting shitfaced with Gil Cedillo at SoHo House as they refer to one another as State Senators? This Winter Wonderland—we can’t even cough up a couple hundred thousand, but tomorrow, the council will be voting to move $2.5 million from redevelopment projects and services in CD14 to bail out Kevin’s staff.
This is audacious. The man lost by nearly 15 percent, and he’s raiding $2.4 million from the person about to take office. For purely self-serving ends. This isn’t your routine aiding and abetting—your shamelessly pillaging public benefits to lavish CD14 staffers at the eleventh hour.
I don’t know what… you can’t say they are not going to find a home in the city family. Look around the horseshoe. There’s Cedillo staffers, Martinez staffers who found new places… Yes, CD6, 7, 11 and 12 can only absorb so many bodies. FYI - Wherever you are, Kevin? You look like shit.
Dim Lights:
Smart Speaker: Let’s start with some well-deserved congratulations. The City’s ITA snagged 2nd prize in the digital advancements category—Ted Ross, hats off to you! But while we’re removing our hats, the public remains the size of Blumenfield’s nose on taxpayer-funded telecasts. Not big enough, Ted! Meanwhile, the County broadcasts every speaker in high resolution. Why the disparity? Fernando Guerra might assign his students an essay: “Why Democracy Requires the Visibility of Its Speakers.”
Fernando Guerra speaks!
On ethics and accountability, new District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s much-anticipated overhaul of the Public Integrity Division is still in the toaster. We hear Hochman’s been studying the Menendez case from the 1980s—fantastic—but please study why the City Council operates like a nightclub when deciding who speaks and how? It’s not public if the public feels shut out.
Admiral Duarte is the top dog bouncer but Governor Graciano is the smart one.
Not clear why items 4 through 17—housing compliance, homelessness interventions, and zoning changes—are being shoved through without comment. How do you build trust when $440,000 for legal defense (Item 26) and sweeping Downtown Community Plan amendments (Items 15-16) are decided away from the public?
You love to blather on about processes… how about the participatory process?
Immigration and sanctuary policies? Nice sentiment on Item 25, declaring LA a sanctuary city. But let’s not provoke unnecessary backlash. We’re already operating as one—why draw the spotlight and risk giving Trump an excuse to lash out? Subtlety might’ve served our immigrant communities better. We shall see!
Why can’t the people be seen and heard, full-size, the way they are at the County? Democracy thrives on the curious and alert and visible populace.
County Crows:
Executive Officer: Eric Preven, your line is open.
Smart Speaker: Thank you. Supervisor Horvath and I have not always agreed on everything, but I am absolutely delighted that Notre Dame walloped USC on Saturday. This is something we share—Go Blue! And Barger is a seasoned veteran. Mike Antonovich was her sensei, and he thrived on the board when there was real division—Republicans, Democrats, and lots of bickering. He loved that I would go after the lefties, despite being on the left myself, because I go after everyone—in a nice way.
I’m a little—well, Solis is terrific. She has her own village. But I thought Mitchell should have been the pro tem since she was Horvath’s bestie during the “G is for Government” fight. Still, I want to thank Supervisor Horvath for being a fighter. She shoves her agenda through, sometimes aligned with public sentiment and sometimes not. Congratulations to everyone, but let’s have more meetings. You can’t keep canceling meetings, ladies—that’s not appropriate.
Smart Speaker: Hello, can you actually hear me?
Supervisor Hilda Solis: Yes.
Smart Speaker: Okay, can you refresh my memory—is this the same Latino item that’s been on the agenda for quite a while, or did we change it?
Supervisor Hilda Solis: Yes, it’s item 3.
Smart Speaker: Thank you, Supervisor Solis. What an enormous situation we have here. It’s such an important part of Los Angeles. I think your efforts to drag Barbara Ferrer up here, rolling up sleeves and seeing what’s going on, is very appropriate. I wasn’t able to see the details about how we’ll get the resources. I worry that, as with many well-intentioned initiatives by this historic, self-congratulating group—
Executive Officer: Your time has expired.
Roy Humphries (Speaker): This board is a disgrace to all Latinos!
Smart Speaker: Thank you, and thank you, Rafael. I’ve had some experience with the county’s mediation programs. Hats off to Avis Ridley-Thomas, an early pioneer. Mediation is great on paper, and I agree funding these programs by need and district is the way to go.
But mediation has its limits because it’s opt-in only. If one party doesn’t show up, it’s toothless. For instance, we’re dealing with public works and waterworks. A neighbor doesn’t pay their water bill, won’t come to the table, and everyone throws their hands up. Meanwhile, an older person in the county suffers. Horvath didn’t take an interest, and we’ll see if Mr. Pestrella and his team can do better. Mediation is only as good as participation, but there are plenty of disingenuous bad actors—
Executive Officer: Your time has expired.
Smart Speaker: Thank you, Supervisor, for such a loaded agenda. It’s great to see so much going on. One comment about the sole-source agreements—
Supervisor Kathryn Barger (Chair): What items are you speaking on, Mr. Preven?
Smart Speaker: There are four sole-source agreements on the agenda. Do you want me to identify them?
Supervisor Kathryn Barger: Alright, item number 4. Thank you.
Smart Speaker: No, not number 4. Look, I don’t like wasting my one-minute citing item numbers. I prefer to focus on content. Here at the board, all items are open for comment—unlike that prison run by Charles Safer and mad scientist Paul Krekorian et al.!
Anyway, Supervisor, let’s not quibble. My main point is about reducing the number of public meetings, part of Supervisor Horvath’s vision: meet less in public, and more behind closed doors or in cluster meetings. That’s why I’m calling for a primer for the public on how cluster meetings work. To be honest, I don’t even know, and I try to pay attention. I’ve certainly been diligent with County Counsel—I know how to get their attention.
(Eric Preven is a longtime community activist and is a contributor to CityWatch.)
