{"id":41151,"date":"2025-07-05T16:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T16:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/41151\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T16:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T16:14:10","slug":"performative-politics-on-the-council-floor-thats-an-eye-roll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/41151\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Performative politics’ on the council floor? That’s an eye roll"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record \u2014 our City Hall newsletter. It\u2019s Noah Goldberg with an assist from David Zahniser, giving you the latest on city and county government. <\/p>\n

A few Los Angeles city councilmembers got in some final zingers before packing their bags for summer recess. <\/p>\n

It was the final council session before the three-week pause, and members were working their way through a thick agenda Tuesday. After weeks in which the main focus has been President Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown in the city, it didn\u2019t appear there would be fireworks. <\/p>\n

Then, Councilmember Traci Park <\/b>rolled her eyes at Councilmember Hugo Soto-Mart\u00ednez<\/b> while he was speaking. And Councilmember Monica Rodriguez <\/b>had some sharp words for both of them. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s backtrack and figure out how we got there.<\/p>\n

In May, the council passed an ordinance to raise the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers<\/a> to $30 per hour \u2014 higher than the city\u2019s minimum wage \u2014 with Park, Rodriguez and Councilmember John Lee<\/b> voting against it. <\/p>\n

Soto-Mart\u00ednez, a former organizer with the hotel and restaurant union Unite Here Local 11, which pushed for the minimum wage hike, led the charge at City Hall. <\/p>\n

Park said she voted against the ordinance because she thought that it didn\u2019t take into account economic realities and that it would result in hotel and airport workers losing their jobs. Park\u2019s opponent in a bitterly contested<\/a> general election for her Westside council seat in 2022 was a Unite Here-backed candidate, Erin Darling<\/b>.<\/p>\n

After the minimum wage hike passed, a business coalition called the L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress began a campaign to overturn it by gathering signatures to place it on the June 2026 ballot, which would at least delay its implementation.<\/p>\n

Things quickly got ugly. Unite Here\u2019s lawyer alleged in a letter to the L.A. County district attorney and the city attorney that petition circulators for the business coalition misrepresented their campaign to voters and even assaulted activists on multiple occasions<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a petition circulator alleged that she was assaulted outside a Food 4 Less in Inglewood by an SEIU-USWW executive board member while gathering signatures. The woman filed a police report, and a judge granted her request for a temporary restraining order against the board member. <\/p>\n

Enter Soto-Mart\u00ednez and Park. <\/p>\n

Soto-Mart\u00ednez quickly drafted a motion asking for the LAPD to investigate the petition circulators for fraud and other misconduct alleged in the Unite Here letter.<\/p>\n

When Soto-Mart\u00ednez introduced his motion at the City Council\u2019s Economic Development and Jobs Committee last month, Park spoke up, saying it was hypocritical for Unite Here to complain about misleading campaigns when it engaged in the same tactics \u201con a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Park quoted from a text message campaign that she said dozens of her constituents had brought to her attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cA new complaint alleges paid signature gatherers are using misdirection and misconduct to collect these signatures. Don\u2019t sign the petition. Email Traci Park to tell her to stop this misleading effort to lower the minimum wage,\u201d read a text message from Citizens in Support of the LA Olympic Wage, a campaign backed by Unite Here in favor of the hotel and airport minimum wage. <\/p>\n

Park said the text made it sound as if she were involved in the campaign to repeal the ordinance. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have nothing to do with it. No one ever consulted me about it. No one ever asked my opinion about it,\u201d she said at the committee meeting. <\/p>\n

When the committee approved Soto-Mart\u00ednez\u2019s motion on June 17, she voted \u201cno,\u201d saying any investigation should scrutinize both sides of the wage campaign. The motion reached the full council on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Park quoted from the text campaign again and introduced an amendment asking for the LAPD to investigate both sides of the petition fight \u2014 those aligned with the L.A. Alliance for Tourism and those aligned with Unite Here. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that engaging in misleading tactics are not unique to one group or one organization,\u201d she said. \u201cI know this because I have personally been targeted by misleading smear campaigns by the very group now complaining about this behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soto-Mart\u00ednez fired back at his colleague. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been plenty of things said about me that have been misleading and I didn\u2019t agree with, but I didn\u2019t bring it into this chamber,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Soto-Mart\u00ednez also said he wanted to draw a distinction between the text message campaign about Park and the alleged physical assaults against Unite Here campaigners. <\/p>\n

Still, in the end, he said he supported Park\u2019s amendment. <\/p>\n

Park could be seen in a video recording of the council meeting rolling her eyes as Soto-Mart\u00ednez finished his speech. <\/p>\n

In a statement, Unite Here co-President Kurt Petersen called Park\u2019s comments at the council meeting \u201cunbelievably narcissistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking people plea for her help after they were allegedly assaulted while they campaigned to raise wages. Instead of focusing on helping the victims, Councilmember Park complains about being criticized for her vote against the minimum wage, and equates criticism of her to the alleged political violence,\u201d Petersen said. \u201cThis kind of greedy self involvement in the face of injustice is a hallmark of the billionaire allies of Councilmember Traci Park, and it\u2019s why working people don\u2019t trust her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Park responded in a statement, \u201cKurt Petersen is killing jobs and tanking our local economy. Iconic restaurants are closing, airport workers are being replaced by kiosks, hotels are pulling out, and working families are losing, not winning. His divisive and reckless tactics are speeding up automation and driving opportunity out of Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilmember Rodriguez chastised both Park and Soto-Mart\u00ednez. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think this idea that\u2019s trying to assign blame to one side or another is kind of futile, given the demands of what we need LAPD to be focused on, but I think performative politics is the name of the game these days,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cEveryone needs to grow the hell up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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State of play<\/p>\n

\u2014 SANCTUARY SUIT<\/b>: The Department of Justice filed suit against the city of Los Angeles on Monday over its sanctuary ordinance<\/a>, calling the ordinance illegal and saying that it discriminates against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. L.A.\u2019s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities has resulted in \u201clawlessness, rioting, looting, and vandalism,\u201d according to the lawsuit. Mayor Karen Bass <\/b>called the lawsuit part of an \u201call out assault on Los Angeles<\/a>\u201d by President Trump. Immigrant rights groups filed their own lawsuit<\/a> against the Trump administration Wednesday, seeking to block the administration\u2019s \u201congoing pattern and practice of flouting the Constitution and federal law\u201d during immigration raids in the L.A. area.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b> HOMELESSNESS DROP<\/b>: Homelessness declined by 15% overall in three areas<\/a> of Los Angeles in 2024, according to a new Rand study. The biggest drop came in Hollywood, where the report found that the number of homeless people decreased 49% from 2023. The number fell 22% in Venice and went up 9% in Skid Row, according to the report. The Rand study linked the Hollywood decrease to a series of Inside Safe operations in 2024. <\/p>\n

\u2014 SEE YA, CEQA<\/b>: As part of the state budget, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 130 and Senate Bill 131 Monday, which exempts most urban housing projects<\/a> from the California Environmental Quality Act. The act, known as CEQA, has often mired construction projects in years of litigation. Gov. Gavin Newsom <\/b>muscled the new rules through the Legislature despite concerns from progressive lawmakers and environmental interest groups.<\/p>\n

\u2014 MANSION SPEND<\/b>: The L.A. City Council approved a plan Tuesday to spend almost $425 million<\/a> collected from the city\u2019s \u201cmansion\u201d tax on property sales over $5 million. Backers of the controversial tax \u2014 which has been criticized by the real estate industry for limiting property sales and reducing property tax revenue \u2014 say the fund is producing crucial dollars for affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs. <\/p>\n

\u2014 FROZEN FUNDS<\/b>: The Trump administration moved to withhold $811 million from California<\/a> that would have helped students who are learning English or are from migrant families. \u201cThe [Education] Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President\u2019s priorities and the Department\u2019s statutory responsibilities,\u201d the administration said in a letter to states on Monday.<\/p>\n

QUICK HITS<\/p>\n