Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record \u2014 our City Hall newsletter. It\u2019s Noah Goldberg giving you the latest on city and county government. <\/p>\n
At her official campaign launch Dec. 13, Mayor Karen Bass<\/b> told Angelenos that they face a simple decision. <\/p>\n
After speaking about the Palisades fire, federal immigration raids and the homelessness and affordability crises, she turned to the primary election next June. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis election will be a choice between working people and the billionaire class who treat public office as their next vanity project,\u201d Bass told a crowd of a few hundred people at Los Angeles Trade Technical-College.<\/p>\n
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Attendees take their picture against a \u201cphoto booth\u201d wall at Mayor Karen Bass\u2019 reelection campaign kickoff rally.<\/p>\n
(Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
In one sentence, without uttering a single name, the mayor appeared to be taking a shot at three different men. Was she talking about President Trump<\/b>? Mayoral hopeful Austin Beutner?<\/b> Her previous opponent, the billionaire developer Rick Caruso?<\/b><\/p>\n
Or how about all of the above, suggested Bass\u2019 campaign spokesperson, Doug Herman<\/b>. <\/p>\n
The billionaire class certainly includes Caruso, who self-funded his 2022 campaign to the tune of more than $100 million. It also includes Trump, who the New York Times estimated could be worth more than $10 billion<\/a>. Though the mayor is not running against Trump, she likes to cast herself in opposition him. And Beutner, a former Los Angeles schools superintendent, was once an investment banker, Herman pointed out.<\/p>\n Beutner confirmed to The Times that he is not a billionaire. To the contrary, Beutner said, he drives a 10-year-old Volkswagen Golf. <\/p>\n Herman said Angelenos don\u2019t care if Beutner has billions or just a lot of millions.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether you\u2019re a billionaire or multimillionaire is not really important to someone having trouble getting by and playing by the rules,\u201d Herman told The Times. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to find the polite words,\u201d Beutner said when asked about Bass\u2019 comments. \u201cFrankly, I think it\u2019s an attempt to distract people from her record or lack thereof.\u201d<\/p>\n Caruso declined to comment.<\/p>\n In a speech at Bass\u2019 campaign launch, City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Mart\u00ednez <\/b>hammered the same point as the mayor. <\/p>\n City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Mart\u00ednez shows his support during Mayor Karen Bass\u2019 reelection campaign kickoff rally at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. <\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always going to have rich old white men, the millionaires and billionaires \u2014 they think they can do it better,\u201d he said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t get it last time, and they\u2019re not going to get it this time.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, Soto-Mart\u00ednez seemed to reference Beutner. <\/p>\n \u201cDo you want a healthcare worker over a hedge fund manager?\u201d he asked the crowd, to roaring applause (Bass used to work as a physician\u2019s assistant, while Beutner founded the investment banking advisory group Evercore Partners). <\/p>\n With Bass\u2019 reelection campaign underway, Beutner challenging her as a moderate and community organizer Rae Huang<\/b> running to her left<\/a>, Caruso could be the last major domino left to fall. <\/p>\n The Grove and Americana at Brand developer, who has been mulling a run for either governor or mayor<\/a> (or neither), still has not revealed his plans for 2026. <\/p>\n Karen Bass supporters created signs for her reelection campaign kickoff rally.<\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Stuart Waldman<\/b>, president of the Valley Industry & Commerce Assn., was among the diverse array of Bass supporters gathered on stage at Trade-Tech to voice their endorsements. <\/p>\n Waldman told The Times that he is supporting the mayor in his personal capacity, though VICA has not yet endorsed.<\/p>\n In 2022, Waldman and VICA supported Caruso, and Waldman spoke at some Caruso events. <\/p>\n He said he switched to Bass this time partly because of his unhappiness with the $30-minimum wage for airport and hotel workers passed by the City Council earlier this year. Businesses cannot move quickly enough to raise worker wages without laying off other workers, he said.<\/p>\n Waldman said that Bass arranged for him to meet with Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson<\/b>, who then introduced a motion<\/a> that would phase in the minimum wage increase over a longer period. The current law brings the wage up to $30 by 2028, while Harris-Dawson wants the $30 minimum to start in 2030. <\/p>\n \u201cBass was instrumental in making that happen, and we appreciate that,\u201d Waldman said. <\/p>\n Harris-Dawson, a Bass ally, was at the campaign kickoff but did not make a speech. <\/p>\n Some were not pleased with his minimum wage proposal. Yvonne Wheeler<\/b>, who is president of the Los Angeles County Federal of Labor and was at the Bass event, called it \u201cshameful<\/a>.\u201d Soto-Mart\u00ednez, who co-sponsored the minimum wage ordinance, also opposes Harris-Dawson\u2019s proposal. <\/p>\n Waldman said that Soto-Mart\u00ednez refused to take a meeting with him during the minimum wage fight. <\/p>\n \u201cHugo and I come from two different worlds and see the world differently,\u201d Waldman said. \u201cUnfortunately, I am willing to talk to everybody, and he is not.\u201d<\/p>\n But at the Bass campaign launch, the two men delivered speeches one right after the other. Waldman said the diversity of opinion among the mayor\u2019s supporters is a good sign for her.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a broad coalition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n You\u2019re reading the L.A. on the Record newsletter State of play<\/p>\n \u2014 AFTER THE FIRES<\/b>: The Times posted a project called \u201cAfter the Fires<\/a>\u201d online Wednesday, nearly a year after the Palisades and Eaton fires. The stories, which document mayoral missteps<\/a>, changes at the LAFD<\/a>, failed emergency alerts<\/a> and more, will be published as a special section in Sunday\u2019s print edition.<\/p>\n \u2014 VEGAS, BABY<\/b>: Councilmember John Lee <\/b>is facing a steep fine for his notorious 2017 trip to Las Vegas, with the city\u2019s Ethics Commission saying he must pay $138,424<\/a> in a case involving pricey meals, casino chips and expensive nightclub \u201cbottle service.\u201d The commission doled out a punishment much harsher than that recommended by an administrative law judge. Lee vowed to keep fighting, calling the case \u201cwasteful and political.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 EX-MAYOR FOR GOVERNOR<\/b>: Four Los Angeles City Council members \u2014 Harris-Dawson, Heather Hutt<\/b>, Bob Blumenfield<\/b> and Curren Price<\/b> \u2014 threw their support behind former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa <\/b>to be the next California governor. <\/p>\n \u2014 POOLS OUT FOR WINTER<\/b>: City swimming pools will be closed on Fridays \u201cuntil further notice,\u201d the Department of Recreation and Parks announced Monday. \u201cThese adjustments were necessary to continue operating within our available resources,\u201d the department said on Instagram<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u2014 HOT MIC<\/b>: Bass was caught on a hot mic<\/a> ripping into the city and county responses to the January wildfires. \u201cBoth sides botched it,\u201d she said on \u201cThe Fifth Column\u201d podcast, after she shook hands with the host and they continued chatting. The final minutes of the podcast were later deleted from YouTube, with Bass\u2019 team confirming that her office had asked for the segment to be removed.<\/p>\n \u2014 HOMELESSNESS FUNDING<\/b>: The Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency on Wednesday approved nearly $11.5 million<\/a> in homeless prevention funds, the largest single allocation yet for the new agency.<\/p>\n \u2014 A YEAR OF JIM<\/b>: After more than a year as the LAPD\u2019s top cop, Chief Jim McDonnell is receiving mixed reviews<\/a>. While violent crime is at historic lows, some say the LAPD is sliding back into its defiant culture of years past. <\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cCALM AMIDST CHAOS\u201d<\/b>: LAFD spokesperson Erik Scott<\/b> announced this week<\/a> that he has written a \u201cfrontline memoir\u201d about the January wildfires. The book is set to be released on the one-year anniversary of the Palisades fire.<\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cTHE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING\u201d<\/b>: Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath <\/b>got into a tiff on X over homelessness. After Bass published an op-ed in the Daily News<\/a> saying that the county\u2019s new Department of Homelessness is a bad idea, the supervisor shot back, calling the mayor\u2019s track record on homelessness \u201cindefensible.<\/a>\u201d Following the spat, City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado <\/b>posted on X<\/a>, \u201cI fear the girls are fighting.\u201d And Austin Beutner, who is running against Bass, responded with a nearly six-minute video<\/a> criticizing the mayor\u2019s record on homelessness.<\/p>\n \u2014 OVERSIGHT OVER?<\/b>: Experts worry that effective civilian oversight of the L.A. County Sheriff\u2019s Department could be in jeopardy<\/a> following a recent leadership exodus. A succession of legal challenges and funding cuts, coupled with what some say is resistance from county officials, raised concerns that long-fought gains in transparency are slipping away.<\/p>\n QUICK HITS<\/p>\n Stay in touch<\/p>\n That\u2019s it for now! We\u2019ll be dark next week for the holidays. Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com<\/a>. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here<\/a> to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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