Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record \u2014 our City Hall newsletter. It\u2019s David Zahniser, dishing up the latest on city and county government. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not hyperbole to say that 2025 was a terrible year for Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Wildfires ravaged huge stretches of Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Malibu and other communities. Federal immigration raids tore families apart and disrupted the economy<\/a>, prompting furious protests<\/a> in downtown and elsewhere. L.A.\u2019s political leaders, facing a brutal budget year, signed off on cuts<\/a> while working to stave off layoffs of public employees.<\/p>\n Now, we\u2019re heading into a year of uncertainty \u2014 one with the potential to bring fresh faces both to City Hall and the county\u2019s Hall of Administration, while also ushering in bigger, structural changes.<\/p>\n You\u2019re reading the L.A. on the Record newsletter <\/p>\n Here are a few of the political issues we\u2019ll be tracking over the next twelve months, in this newsletter and elsewhere: <\/p>\n 1) WILL HE OR WON\u2019T HE? <\/b>It\u2019s January, and we still don\u2019t know if real estate developer Rick Caruso <\/b>will seek a rematch against Mayor Karen Bass <\/b>in the June 2 primary election. A second Caruso run would deliver a jolt to the campaign, complicating Bass\u2019 attempt to win a second four-year term in a single shot. He\u2019s got to decide soon!<\/p>\n Per Mike Murphy<\/b>, a political strategist and longtime Caruso friend: \u201cHe is close to a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Caruso, a fierce critic of the city\u2019s handling of the Palisades fire, lost to Bass by 10 percentage points in 2022. If he jumps in, he would join a long list of challengers that includes former L.A. schools superintendent Austin Beutner<\/b><\/a>, community organizer Rae Huang<\/b><\/a> and an assortment of unknowns.<\/p>\n The larger the field, the tougher the road Bass will have in trying to avoid a November runoff \u2014 and winning her election overall.<\/p>\n 2) WILL THE COUNCIL GET BIGGER? <\/b>The Charter Reform Commission,<\/a> which is made up of a dozen or so citizen volunteers, is heading into the home stretch as it works on a plan to update the City Charter, the governing document for L.A.<\/p>\n The commission\u2019s report, due in April, is expected to say whether voters should expand the number of City Council members, scale back the duties of the elected city attorney and grant the city controller additional authority. There are also some smaller proposals, including a move to a two-year budget process.<\/p>\n The council will then decide which of those proposals will go on the November ballot. Raymond Meza<\/b>, who chairs the commission, sounded optimistic about the prospects.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of serious public input and energy behind this process, and we think the council is going to thoroughly consider our recommendations,\u201d Meza said.<\/p>\n 3) WILL CITY HALL KEEP MOVING LEFT? <\/b>Eight council seats are up for grabs this year, with bruising campaigns looming on the Eastside, on the Westside, in the west San Fernando Valley and in South L.A.<\/p>\n Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez<\/b> and Traci Park<\/b> are among those battling for a second term. Voters also must find replacements for Curren Price<\/b> and Bob Blumenfield<\/b>, each of whom is facing term limits after a dozen years on the council. <\/p>\n Ground Game LA, Democratic Socialists of America and other groups inspired by the victory of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/b> are looking to keep pulling the Overton window in their direction on public safety, tenant protections and other issues.<\/p>\n The ballot will also feature two other citywide contests, with City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto<\/b> and City Controller Kenneth Mejia<\/b> both seeking reelection.<\/p>\n 4) CAN L.A. AFFORD MORE COPS? <\/b>Bass has been pressuring the council to free up the money to hire more officers<\/a> in the new year. She\u2019s not likely to let up, even as she begins preparing her newest citywide budget.<\/p>\n Still, a fight over LAPD hiring could spur the council to take a fresh look at Bass\u2019 other major policy initiative \u2014 Inside Safe, which has been moving homeless people indoors since she took office.<\/p>\n Amid growing concerns about the city\u2019s financial stability, some council members have begun exploring the idea of paying the county<\/a> to deliver homeless services \u2014 an idea that Bass panned<\/a> in a Daily News opinion piece last month.<\/p>\n That op-ed drew some icy rebuttals from County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath<\/b>, who called the city\u2019s track record on homelessness \u201cindefensible<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n 5) WHITHER THE COUNTY? <\/b>Speaking of the county, officials inside the Hall of Administration will likely spend the coming year trying to figure out how to prevent Measure J \u2014 which requires public spending on alternatives to incarceration \u2014 from being struck down<\/a> by Measure G, the reform measure approved by voters in 2024.<\/p>\n (Measure G, which was largely about expanding the number of county supervisors and establishing an elected CEO, inadvertently set the stage for a pending repeal of Measure J, in what has been billed as an enormous bureaucratic snafu.) <\/p>\n We\u2019ll also be watching as the county\u2019s new homelessness department gets up and running. And we\u2019ll monitor Sheriff Robert Luna\u2019s <\/b>bid for reelection, as well as the campaign for two supervisorial seats.<\/p>\n 6) COULD WE SEE A BUILDING FRENZY? <\/b>L.A. County\u2019s fire-scarred communities are hoping to see a ramp up in the pace of rebuilding<\/a> in 2026. But will fire victims stay put? Or will they sell their burned-out sites to developers? The stakes are high, not just for those communities but for the elected officials who represent them.<\/p>\n Of course, there are plenty of other issues to track in the new year beyond the big six. For example, there\u2019s the proposed sales tax hike<\/a> to fund Fire Department operations; the push for higher taxes to pay for park facilities; the gambit to slow down wage hikes<\/a> for hotel and airport workers; and the movement to hike the city or county minimum wage.<\/p>\n Then there are the preparations, and behind-the-scenes negotiations<\/a>, over the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which have huge cost implications for the city. <\/p>\n Are you exhausted yet? If not, we\u2019ll see you next week. <\/p>\n State of play<\/p>\n \u2014 \u2018HIGHLY UNPROFESSIONAL\u2019:<\/b> The author of the Fire Department\u2019s after-action report on the Palisades fire declined to endorse it<\/a> because of changes that altered his findings, according to an email obtained by The Times. \u201cHaving reviewed the revised version submitted by your office, I must respectfully decline to endorse it in its current form,\u201d wrote Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook<\/b>, about an hour after the report was made public. Cook also called the final version of the report \u201chighly unprofessional.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 PLAYING WITH FIRE: <\/b>Two groups have sued the city of L.A., alleging that agencies ignored state wildfire safety regulations<\/a> while signing off on development in areas with severe fire hazards. The State Alliance for Firesafe Road Regulations and the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns. offered what they described as 75 examples of building permits and other plans that violate the state\u2019s \u201cminimum firesafe regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 DIGGING INTO DTLA: <\/b>It\u2019s been a tumultuous year<\/a> for DTLA Law Group, which grew from a small firm focused on car crash victims into a litigation powerhouse with thousands of sexual abuse claims<\/a> against government agencies. The firm\u2019s activities are now the subject of an investigation<\/a> by the DA\u2019s office, amid lingering questions about how DTLA amassed so many plaintiffs so quickly. The Times spoke with dozens of former clients and employees who described aggressive tactics to bring in new clients.<\/p>\n \u2014 RADIO SILENCE: <\/b>L.A.\u2019s parking enforcement officers were removed from the field<\/a> last weekend after copper wire thieves damaged a key communications tower in Elysian Park, leaving some workers with inoperable radios.<\/p>\n \u2014 LUCKY NUMBER 13: <\/b>The Charter Reform Commission might finally get its 13th member, just a few months before it wraps up its work. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield <\/b>recently nominated<\/a> Jason Levin<\/b>, a onetime spokesperson for his office, to fill the seat after his previous pick, former Councilmember Dennis Zine<\/b>, flamed out. Levin is an executive vice president at the firm Edelman, focusing on crisis and risk.<\/p>\n \u2014 NEW YORK STATE OF MIND:<\/b> City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson<\/b> and Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez<\/b> flew to New York City this week for Mamdani\u2019s inauguration. Hernandez, on Instagram<\/a>, called the event \u201ca reminder that the movement for dignity, justice, and humanity is bigger than any one city.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 READY FOR SIGNATURES: <\/b>The City Clerk\u2019s office recently cleared the way<\/a> for the firefighters\u2019 union to begin gathering signatures for a sales tax hike<\/a> to pay for fire stations, fire equipment and other emergency resources. The proposal comes amid complaints that department brass sought to cover up findings<\/a> about the Palisades fire. <\/p>\n \u2014 YET ANOTHER WAGE HIKE: <\/b>The fire tax proposal comes a few weeks after the city clerk cleared the way for another ballot petition \u2014 this one hiking the city\u2019s minimum wage<\/a> to $25 per hour. The proposal includes provisions to ensure that hotel employees are \u201cpaid fairly for burdensome workloads\u201d and prohibit \u201cthe exploitative practice of subcontracting housekeeping work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 BIG DAY FOR THE V<\/b>A<\/b>: <\/b>The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court order<\/a> requiring the federal Department of Veterans Affairs to build more than 2,500 units<\/a> of housing on its West L.A. campus. \u201cRather than use the West Los Angeles VA Grounds as President Lincoln intended, the VA has leased the land to third party commercial interests that do little to benefit the veterans,\u201d wrote Circuit Judge Ana de Alba<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u2014 CHANGING CHAIRS: <\/b>One of Harris-Dawson\u2019s top aides, senior advisor Rachel Brashier<\/b>, is switching offices at City Hall. Brashier, who frequently sits next to the council president as he presides over meetings, has taken a job with the mayor, according to Harris-Dawson spokesperson Cerrina Tayag-Rivera<\/b>. Brashier will serve as a deputy chief of staff, per Bass\u2019 team.<\/p>\n QUICK HITS<\/p>\n Stay in touch<\/p>\n That\u2019s it for this week! 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 \n