Tomorrow (8/1) is the deadline for payment of back rent from the first 18 months of the pandemic. Experts anticipate a wave of eviction filings.

Here's some of what LA is doing to keep people housed — including some tenant resources we’ve never had at our disposal before. 🧵 This year LA passed the universal just cause ordinance, declaring that tenants can only be evicted for one of a set of defined reasons.

In one line, there’s another important new rule: landlords are now required to report to the Housing Department whenever they file an eviction.

The SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes have huge, obvious implications for the entertainment industry and creative work.

But the outcomes of this moment also have *enormous* stakes for Los Angeles.

The future of this city is being fought for on the picket lines right now. 🧵 This goes without saying, but Hollywood is *very* important to LA’s economy.

In 2012, a local study found that the industry was directly or indirectly responsible for $43B in labor income and more than half a million jobs across the County.

https://t.co/5JfOeDKLVYlaedc.org/reports/Entert…

See these bizarre cutouts in the sidewalk to make the street wider? These are all over LA. Why do they exist??

They’re actually mandated by the city for new developments!

This policy leads to costlier housing and more dangerous streets. But we can do something about it: Mandatory street widening leads to:

Sidewalks that jut in and out nonsensically
More dangerous roadways for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers
Removal of trees
More expensive housing

Advocates have been raising this issue for years! latimes.com/california/sto…

Three men were killed by LA police in the first week of 2023.

In at least one case, Chief Moore says officers did not follow mental health crisis protocols. But history suggests they may not even be fired if the Chief recommends it.

That’s partly because of a recent change: LAPD’s Chief can’t actually fire officers. He can make recommendations, but decisions are made by separate disciplinary review panels.

Since 2019, these panels have reinstated 69 officers that the Chief recommended be terminated. dailynews.com/2022/12/13/lap…

In case you aren’t caught up on everything that’s been going on with LA County’s Sheriff, Alex Villanueva, here’s a summary of his first term.

(thread) After his surprise election, one of Villanueva’s first acts was to rehire a deputy who had been fired by his predecessor because of allegations of domestic violence and breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s home. The deputy worked on Villanueva’s campaign.

latimes.com/california/sto…

As I engage in discussions around housing policy in LA, I’ve been thinking a lot about the story of LA’s first zoning plan from a century ago.

To me, this story has a lot to tell us about how we got to our dire housing situation – and maybe how we can do better. (thread) In 1921, the City Council approved a new plan to govern growth in Los Angeles. This was the first real zoning plan in the city’s 90-year history.

It was exciting, but also a product of need – the city had doubled in population over the last decade and was about to double again.

With so much global turmoil, I want to share some joyful news from LA.

Last week, with service providers and city partners, our office was able to get more than 60 people in our district off the street in just eight days.

Here’s how we did it and how we can keep the work going: For the last few months, our office has been working to supplement our existing shelter and housing navigation resources to get more people indoors, and ultimately into stable housing.

Last week, a lot of that work came to fruition at once.

I want to share a few stories that demonstrate how absurd our current approach to homelessness in LA is.

Instead of a coordinated, citywide response, LA has built a system where each of our 15 Council Districts handle the issue for themselves.

Here are the results. (thread) 1. Recently, our team was working with a couple who wanted to get into a shelter in a nearby neighborhood – close to where they’d lived for years.

But because that shelter was in a different district, they couldn’t go in. The only shelter we could offer them was 15 miles away.

Last week the LA City Redistricting Commission moved forward with a proposed map that effectively *erases* our district in its current form.

This happened despite the fact that the minimal changes in population in LA show no basis whatsoever for such drastic shifts. (thread) The single map adopted by the Commission - Draft Plan K2.5 - assigns numbers to 13 of the 15 districts, but leaves 2 districts, the grey and blue ones, unassigned. They could be either District 2 or District 4. Confused? Yeah, we are too.

There’s been a lot of talk lately that, if Newsom is recalled, a Republican governor couldn’t do much damage because we have another election next year and a Dem supermajority.

That is not true. When it comes to the state budget alone, the chaos would be an absolute nightmare. In California, the Governor proposes the annual budget — and has veto power over both the budget itself and any appropriation within it.

A Republican in office would almost certainly try to gut many of the programs that are holding this state together right now.

Some good news to share!

After months of effort from volunteers, case workers, and our staff, the last residents of one of CD4’s larger encampments were brought indoors last week. And the entire process was voluntary.

Here's what happened and what we learned. (thread) There has been an encampment on the corner of Berendo and Hollywood for years, but it grew during the pandemic. There were fires, incidents of violence and other unsafe situations for residents.

In partnership with LAHSA, we set up outreach to begin making contacts.

In my time at City Hall, I’ve learned a *lot* more about LA's approach to homelessness.

Let’s dig into one piece of it: sanitation. It's essential for keeping residents healthy and spaces accessible.

So why is our current system for sanitation at encampments so broken? (thread) As LA works to get more adequate housing and shelter spaces online, sanitation at existing encampments is a core component of our homelessness response.

You’ll frequently hear a desire from encampment residents for better trash disposal options -- it benefits everyone.

Deaths among people who are homeless have increased dramatically, in LA and beyond.

These numbers signify an emergency -- a crisis of alienation and despair.

Let’s talk about why this is happening and what we can do. (thread) time.com/5950759/homele… The leading cause of death among unhoused people in LA has been the same since 2017: overdoses.

Meth is involved most often, but in 2020, the percentage of deaths involving fentanyl more than doubled. Meth is now commonly cut with fentanyl. publichealth.lacounty.gov/chie/reports/H…

People often ask what places at the local level they can get engaged and contribute to real change.

One important avenue -- Assembly Delegate Election Meetings -- happens this month, but *you have to register by Monday* to make your voice heard. (thread) ademelections.com Every two years in CA, 14 members of the Democratic party are elected by voters in each Assembly District.

These elected members get to vote on the official CA Democratic Party platform and party rules, as well as make endorsements of candidates for office.

Every single one of my neighbors has a story about how Tom personally resolved an issue they were facing in their community.

He would drive the district regularly, talk to his constituents, and whenever possible attempt to solve their problems on the spot. (thread)

https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1347593158339780609

The example he set in running his office, leading with his sincere love for the city and his love for Angelenos, is one I’ve taken to heart and one that my office hopes to emulate as we move forward.

I know that we’re all looking for hope as we enter this new year. So it pains me to reach out to you today with a dire message: LA is at an extremely dangerous inflection point. (thread) ICU capacity in hospitals remains at zero. Growth in new COVID cases and hospitalizations has slowed. But any further gatherings threaten to undo our mild progress and overwhelm our systems of care in the new year.
latimes.com/california/sto…

We’ve gotten questions about LA’s new COVID-19 Safer at Home Orders.

It’s understandable! Orders are changing quickly: the county amended its rules Monday, the city did the same Wednesday, and the state may impose stricter rules soon.

Here’s what you need to know. (thread) On Monday, due to rapidly rising COVID-19 infections, LA County instituted new restrictions.

The order prohibits gatherings of multiple households, with exceptions for religious services and protests that follow social distancing guidelines. latimes.com/california/sto…

Last Wednesday, families were forcibly removed from vacant state-owned homes in El Sereno. They were charged with crimes and made homeless on the eve of Thanksgiving.

It didn’t have to happen this way. (thread) latimes.com/california/sto… El Sereno has a long and complicated relationship with the state of CA.

For decades, CalTrans bought homes (and forced sales through eminent domain) to build an extension of the 710 freeway directly through the neighborhood. laist.com/2020/11/26/chp…

LA's Council District 4, where I’m running, cuts through K-town, Mid-Wilshire, Sherman Oaks, Toluca Lake, Los Feliz, Hollywood and Silver Lake.

This wasn’t always the case! CD4’s been wildly gerrymandered over the years. Here’s how it’s changed, and why we need reform. (thread) When Harold Henry was elected to CD4 in 1945, the district was square and compact, bounded by Fountain Ave, Wilshire Blvd, Fairfax Ave, and Catalina Street.

Henry was lauded for beautifying the Miracle Mile -- but voted against a $1 million proposal for public housing.

The love we've received, today and all week, has me at a loss for words. We're thrilled that our campaign to build a more just, sustainable LA is resonating.

But voting has begun. If we’re going to see this through and win, we need you now.

Here's how to help. (thread) Texting and calling friends who live in the district about our campaign is the best way to help us win.

Here’s a CD4 map. It includes:
Sherman Oaks
Hollywood Hills
Toluca Lake
Los Feliz
Larchmont
Hancock Park
Mid-Wilshire
And parts of Silver Lake, Koreatown, and Hollywood.

If there's one thing LA desperately needs, it's affordable housing.

Today, we're releasing a comprehensive report on how it gets built, what slows it down, and how we can make the system work better.

Join us on a trip through the process! (thread) nithyaforthecity.com/affordable-hou… In recent studies, more than 60% of renter households in LA were considered rent-burdened (meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent), and the county faced a deficit of more than 500,000 affordable units.

That was before the pandemic.