and the government workers of Los Angeles have been collaborating with Los Angeles for more than three years with developing recommendations of how to support the local industry. And we work with the economic development and the labor force. working together with companies to develop legislation to be able to create a local industry that is a lot more healthy and more efficient. However, it has proven to be very difficult for the offices to really invest into this program. Angeles. I hope you invest in this industry because it is very important for local business here in Los Angeles.
▶ Play from 50:18Full brief
LA City Council Meeting - May 20, 2026
Everything we captured from this meeting — agenda items and public comment, with links into the recording.
Quotes and speaker names come from YouTube auto-generated captions. Verify against the recording before relying on them. Speaker names are extracted automatically; missing names are shown as “Unverified speaker”, never guessed.
Agenda items
- PRESENTATION OF REPORT BY THE BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE relative to the Mayor's proposed 2026-27 Budget for the City of Los Angeles, related Motions and Resolutions Council File 26-0600
- CONTINUED CONSIDERATION OF HEARING PROTEST, APPEALS OR OBJECTIONS to Building and Safety Department report and confirmation of lien for nuisance abatement costs and/or non-compliance of code violations/Annual Inspection costs, pursuant to LAMC and/or LAAC and CONFIRM said lien… Council File 26-0160-S11
- CONTINUED CONSIDERATION OF HEARING PROTEST, APPEALS OR OBJECTIONS to Building and Safety Department report and confirmation of lien for nuisance abatement costs and/or non-compliance of code violations/Annual Inspection costs, pursuant to LAMC and/or LAAC and CONFIRM said lien… Council File 26-0160-S12
- CONTINUED CONSIDERATION OF HEARING PROTEST, APPEALS OR OBJECTIONS to Building and Safety Department report and confirmation of lien for nuisance abatement costs and/or non-compliance of code violations/Annual Inspection costs, pursuant to LAMC and/or LAAC and CONFIRM said lien… Council File 26-0160-S26
- CONTINUED CONSIDERATION OF HEARING PROTEST, APPEALS OR OBJECTIONS to Building and Safety Department report and confirmation of lien for nuisance abatement costs and/or non-compliance of code violations/Annual Inspection costs, pursuant to LAMC and/or LAAC and CONFIRM said lien… Council File 26-0160-S14
Public comment
62 comment segments captured. Transcribed from auto-generated captions and excerpted for publication.
Good morning. item number one and public comment. Good morning. My name is Jackie Navertil. I'm the founder of a community organization called Lux Paws. grassroots effort in CD13, CD1, CD4, and CD14. I would like to speak on LA Animal Services. Shelter data isn't just statistics. It tells the story of a dire community need for basic city animal welfare services. A 31% increase in dead animal pickup by sanitation is costing the city millions of dollars. Last year, 49,000 plus animals entered our city shelters. That would fill the Hollywood Bowl with animals three times. Over the past six years, animal related liability payouts have increased 65fold to over $7 million. Municipal leaders must …
▶ Play from 54:20Good morning., general public comment and item one. Hello. My name is Bob Guzman. I represent United Parents and Students., we on behalf of a coalition to fund public bank., we really need this in our city., we can I know that we're in debt and this is a great way to kind of fix a lot of the issues that we see financially. So I implore the city council to fund public bank. Thank you so much. [applause] Good morning. What
▶ Play from 56:43general comment, please. Thank you. Morning to all council members, city of Los Angeles. To honorable Isabelle Herado. my name is Joe Manzano and I'm here as a constituent and resident of the 14 district that you represent. I've gone to the Elseno branch. I've spoken with your staffers and I've called your staffers at here downtown office to make a meeting with you and to discuss many important issues regarding our neighborhood. They've all said they'll get back to me, but nothing has happened. So, here I am to make an appointment with you today or as soon as possible. Our neighborhood and our community is a historic rose hills community. We are not Elserino. Elserino sued the city of Los …
▶ Play from 57:21good morning. This is Chi-Chi and Permanent. I'm going to speak on item number one as well as general public comment.
▶ Play from 58:33just a reminder for general public comment. the general public comment while it is quite broad, it does need to be connected to something within this city council's or the city's subject matter jurisdiction. I would also like to take this opportunity to formally warn Mr. Herman, you're here at almost every meeting. You know the drill. If you're going to applause, please wait until after the speaker is done. you disrupted the speaker multiple times. This is your first and only formal warning. Do not do it again or it'll be subject to removal pursuant to rule 7 and rule 12. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 1:01:41item number one and public comment. a public comment. I'm going to start on the public comment. I hope you guys have a great weekend. can we hold our time really quick? So just to be consistent with everyone else, we ask that you please start with the items and then you can go to general public comment afterwards. Okay. Item I just my lovely Unis Hernandez. I wanted to like thank her for knowing and and knowing and mentioning the trans people that are here every time. I know you have us. Miss Heather Hut, I don't know where she's at. I just wanted to thank her, you know, personally. And I encourage you all of you to support the $500,000 that Miss Hernandez is mentioning to support the TGI …
▶ Play from 1:02:11Hey, hey, good morning. This is Mr. Would you like to speak to and you know I've been impressed with you, McQueen, because I've been watching you on social media. I want General M first.
▶ Play from 1:04:18hi there. Item one in general public comment, please. Great., Godfrey Plata, LA Forward Institute., we are so excited that the budget committee working with the CLA was able to find $2 million to expand unarmed models of crisis response from its nine current divisions to six more., which adds up to 15 divisions by the end of fiscal year 2627. Don't touch this money on Friday. in these police divisions, 911 calls that once were directed to armed officers will be diverted instead to unarmed and trained mental health clinicians, crisis interventionists, and more. While many of you have been supportive of expanding this program, thanks especially to my council member Heather Hut for moving …
▶ Play from 1:06:38item number one. good morning. My name is Jorge. first I want to thank the budget committee for supporting the renewal of the day labor center program and increasing the funding. we truly appreciate the support and recognition of the work being do being done in our communities. At the same time we understand there is a still more work to to do ahead to reach a level of funding that can fully sustain these programs and to service the families and to service the families that depend on these services every day. We respectfully ask for the support of the full city council to vote yes on this budget item and continue investing in the programs that provide resources and direct support to impact …
▶ Play from 1:08:30Good morning. General public comment and item one. Hi, my name is Alexandra Morales. On behalf of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, we urge city council to secure $3 million for Represent LA. In prior years, the city's support was $2 million. Last year, this council secured 1.5 million. This is the moment to double down and not to scale back. The city's budget must reflect the urgency and our values. It should also reflect the contributions of immigrants to this great city. They are saying that the worst is yet to come. Congress is currently teeing up millions of multi-year billions of dollars for funding ICE and CBP and more intentions of our community members. They only need simple majority …
▶ Play from 1:09:28item one in public comment. General comment. My name is Monica Valeros. I'm here with Move LA, a part of the public bank LA coalition. And I'm here to talk about how to ask that you guys fund the feasibility study. This is an investment in LA. It is actually about saving money, not spending money. At Move LA, we work at the cross-section between affordable housing, clean air and climate, and of course, affordable and accessible transit. The money that could be saved from the public banks that we take from Wall Street can be used to fund all of this., we lose billions in interest and fees to Wall Street every year. A public bank would keep that money local, recirculating in LA to fund the …
▶ Play from 1:11:32Thank you. Good morning. My name is Lilit Malconeian and I'm a managing attorney at Garrison's deportation defense unit where we represent individuals in removal proceedings. I am here today asked council to vote for increase for the rep LA program to $3 million and for day labor center program to $ 1.5 million. Because every day I see firsthand how complex and high stakes immigration proceedings are. People are expected to navigate rapidly changing immigration policies, language barriers, trauma, and incredibly complicated legal process, often without representation. Without representation, many of our community members are forced to make lifealtering decisions without fully understanding …
▶ Play from 1:13:22Good after Good afternoon. I would like to speak to item number one, please. Thank you. with item My name is Hugh Rockington. I'm with Move LA and Public Bank LA. And with item number one specifically, we request that you fully fund the feasibility study for the public bank. This is a way to maximize our tax dollars to be able to fund transit, affordable, and public housing. We have the Dline that just opened. We have so many projects while also restaurants closing. This is a breakdown in our city finances. We ask that this $325,000 that is left to fund it, we thank the nine council members that have funded it. And we ask that you fully fund the rest of it so that we can balance our budget, …
▶ Play from 1:15:13good morning. I one and general public comment., thank you, Byron Jose with the Trans Latina Coalition., I would like to thank Council Member Hernandez and Council Member Hut for their championing the TGI Wellness and Equity Initiative as well as the leadership and the rest of the members in the budget and finance committee., we are glad that after years of advocacy, we're at least now there's a placeholder, a starting point in our budget. that this budget not only repres reflects the carceral system and the funding to the LAPD that continue to kill our communities, but now we're investing in care and in life affirming services and programs. we would like to ask Council Member Tracy Park to …
▶ Play from 1:16:17Wenos Maria. Good morning. My name is Maria. I'm here to ask all of you for your support for the garment industry. We are here. We are here. All of us are as garment workers and we're here to ask for your support for to fight for the garment center. There are many small companies here that are in need of your support. Please don't ignore what we are asking for. We need investment in the name of all of the members and organizers which is why we're here asking for your support. Thank you.
▶ Play from 1:18:31Item one, general public comment. Good morning. My name is Chelsea Vez. I'm here with Trans Latina Coalition and I'm also a resident of District 13. I'm here to thank and urge the city council to please support and sustain the 50 the $500,000 investment for the TGI equity and wellness initiative. As a non-binary and queer person who has experienced houselessness and food insecurity and who has struggled to make ends meet and who has lived paycheck to paycheck, I know how urgent and life saving these resources, support, and care are for the TGI community. At a time where gender affirming care and the rights of TGI people are under attack and where our communities disproportionately …
▶ Play from 1:20:24yes. I would like to speak on number one and general comment. Thank you., Lynn Cow, L Y N C H AO. Good morning. I have submitted over 50 public written comments to LA Animal Services Commission documenting shelter conditions at South LA shelter. numerically ordered, fact-based, and available for city council review. Please fully fund Dogs Playing for Life DPFL in the fiscal 2026 27 budget and ensure there is no lapse in June. DPFL is not simply playtime. It is a behavioral evaluation, rehabilitation, enrichment, safety handling, and placement infrastructure. DPFL's important function is helping safely evaluate and handle highly stressed reactive dogs outside of kennel confinement creating a …
▶ Play from 1:21:37I'd like to speak to why Katie, the budget and finance committee chair, is not in the room., actually, I'll take item one and public comment, please. Thanks. We knew the mayor was going to give LAPD even more of the city's money, even though more police funding means increase safety. council. Now it's your job [singing] to do what the people ask you. We don't want a police state, but you can make the city great if you [singing] like repair and sanitation and animal shelters. [singing] Cats and dogs are dying waiting on adoption. We're done waiting for waiting for real reform. Real reform. And there's still time. There's still time to get back on track. Our department need to resume hiring …
▶ Play from 1:23:39excuse. Yeah. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 1:25:52That was a tough act to follow. Sorry. My name is B Kuriel. I'd like to speak to item one and general public comment. All right. Thank you., good morning, council members., my name is Buriel. I serve as the director of,, the policy at the Trans Latina Coalition., first I want to take some time to thank council member Hernandez Hut and the rest of the budget and finance committee for allocating and naming the TJI wellness initiative is one of the items on the budget. we have been campaigning at this for many years knowing that we represent some of the most vulnerable Angelinos in the city. and the time is now to come back to this investment and really assess how it correlates with the …
▶ Play from 1:25:57begins, I'd like to call up Steven Fish, Renee Okmpo, Roelio Martinez, Mac Investment Co. Jessica and Virgila Romero. All right, as those people are coming up, I want to call on Mr. Price. And just to let everybody know, we're going to close public comment at 11:15. 11:15, we're going to close public comment. For somehow, there are about 60 names on the queue and I don't there are barely 60 people in here, so I'm not sure what's happening., I'd like to continue item five for 30 days until June 30th. Item five. All right. Without objection, are we in council on June 30th, Mr. Clerk?, so just to confirm, 30 days would be June 19th, 2026. All right. June 19th. All right. You June 19th is …
▶ Play from 1:28:17The we need this industry to support the businesses that respect the law. Yes, in Los Angeles there are many clandestine shops that don't need and don't deserve the support of the city. However, there's other shops that do follow the rules and the regulations and those do deserve the support of the city. I know many people in downtown Los Angeles have many family members that work in the industry.
▶ Play from 1:29:35And I'll also ask the interpreters to make this additional announcement., if you run out of time or if we run out of time and you aren't able to speak during public comment, you can always provide additional written public comment at lounsilcomment.com. Again, that's lounil comment.com. LA council comment and you can find that URL at the top of every council agenda or by doing a quick Google search. Thank you. And last final translation for what the previous speaker said was please defend them today.
▶ Play from 1:32:23All right. You have three minutes for the items and one minute for general. Please stick to the items for your first three minutes. My turn. I'm going to talk about all the accounts that I have for Cholo Rufo on this budget idiot. So the finances of this Nazi, I'm going to tell you that the health of Is it because you Nazi don't want to give me attention for my healthcare It's part of the finances for this for this budget, dumbass. Okay, so you've exhausted your one minute on item number one., please move on to another item. Numero quattro pendjo. So number four, dumbasso smoke and scan. For example, smoke and scan. now. Bob, let's go back into this situation. Bob, my understanding, Bob …
▶ Play from 1:33:26general public comment. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 1:39:31Good morning. My name is Roelio Martinez and I will be speaking on item number one and then general comment. Thank you., so regarding item number one, what I was hoping to see more of or any evidence of was what we're going to do with the trash. mainly the trash in the LA River that's going down into the ocean. And so I was hoping to see budgeted for monies on restoring the power plant and the border of Long Beach and LA. It's the Coventa power plant to make sure that we take the trash and burn it into provide clean power for the city of Los Angeles and for the city of Long Beach. Now, regarding a general,, so my name is Roio Martinez., there's going to be two Martinezes on the city …
▶ Play from 1:40:47Hi, I was contacted by Nila Food Distribution. It's a community organization that gives 200 meals to communities that are scared because of ice. It's been doing it for over a year. I know that Hernandez, you've donated some food for them before. I would ask if you could donate even more. They do it on a weekly basis. no. Huh? No. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank I was just calling it out because also Hurdo they contacted me to try to make a social media video to to highlight them to get more support. They really are begging. they're using money from their own bank like they use their tax refund. so Hurd we have text messages and emails from your office and they haven't received the support that they …
▶ Play from 1:43:38I'm sorry. You said item one and what and general comment. What I want to say about the budget since that's item one. I believe myself when there's items put in the budget for certain things, they shouldn't be taken out of the budget. they should stay in there because you're doing a disservice to the people of the city of Los Angeles when you take items out of the budget that's important to us, especially like the feasibility study that we've been fighting for months and years. And that put us back because it was taken out of the budget when it was earmarked in the budget. It should never been taken out. So, this is why we here fighting day in and day out. And another thing I want to say, I …
▶ Play from 1:44:52Good morning, city council. General commentary. Oh., okay. I didn't know it was one minute., my name is Ayanna. This is crazy. One minute. We need money. We have $500,000 for the Trans Latina Center., we house people., there's there's mental health services. I don't know how to do this in one minute. So, now I got to pour it out. I prepared a speech for like two days and then I get one minute and it's down to 30 seconds., how are we supposed to lift up our community? Let's talk about first of all running a homeless shelter with 30 to 50 people just per day. It costs $1,200 to $3,000 per day just to run a homeless shelter. That's $30 to $50 per person just to feed them, put on the lights, …
▶ Play from 1:47:25Public comment. Good morning to the board council member. My name is Pamela Moa and advocated for half million budget to TGI way. The transgender community has been attacked by most of the society. Transgender people often face violence, exclusion for employment and education. The trans community often struggles to find basic resource like food, mental health and housing. Hate crime have been affected my life deeply by the transatina college of playing important role in my life to return to school and get my certification to be ready to start applying for a job. I decide back to be part of the society. Please consider my trans community as you continue your own priorities. to everyone who …
▶ Play from 1:51:23I would be speaking to item one. Good morning, council members. My name is Alex Bass and I like I live in district 5. I'm here in strong support of the 500,000 allocation for transgender, gender diverse, and interex wellness and equity initiative. I identify as transgender and non-binary and I run a trans support group. I have seen how TGI serving organizations have saved members of our community. When I myself have received services from trans-led programs, I am not just accessing resources. I am understood and supported by my own community. This initiative is a vital step toward equity and inclusion because it uplifts all members of Los Angeles. I urge the council to find or to fund this …
▶ Play from 1:52:39polar comment.
▶ Play from 1:53:34Yes. Good morning., item one and also general comment. Sure. Thank you., good morning council members. My name is Peter Abdul Malik and I am the founder of Love and Light 888. I have served on the front lines of South LA since 2020 through WLCAC and Hopics. I'm here to thank you in advance for your leadership in protecting the three pillars of our community's hope. I have seen the miracles these programs perform. I have seen Access Center restore a man's dignity with a single shower so he can walk into a job interview. I've seen Safe Park sites give a mother the first night of peaceful sleep she's had in months. And I've seen problem solving funds save a family's home by simply keeping a …
▶ Play from 1:54:37general public comment.
▶ Play from 1:55:59item one and general public comment. Well, good morning. My name is Doug Coats, 20-year veteran of the LFD and proud to be the president of the United Firefighters of LA City Local 112. Council members, this is straight up. When you take up the proposed budget tomorrow, I want you to think about what's happening right now at the LFD. We're taking nearly twice as long as we should to arrive to emergencies inside your council districts. Instead of being four and a half that we could save a life, it's taken us eight. That's unacceptable. And why is this? We have the same number of firefighters as we did in the 1960s. We have six fewer fire stations than the 1960s. And we have five times the …
▶ Play from 1:57:06Item one and general public comment, please. Thank you. My name is Rich Ramirez. I'm the vice president of Local 112 United Firefighters of Los Angeles City and also a firefighter paramedic for over 20 years. recently signed to the area of MacArthur Park at Fire Station 11. I want to put something into context. We have a National Fire Protection Association that recommends we have [clears throat] that we have 1.8 firefighters per 10,00 residents. Right now, we actually have point with 0.87 per 10,000 residents, which means if we follow the National Protection Association's recommendations, we should have over 8,000 firefighters. Right now, we have 3,000 just over 3,000 members on the ALF …
▶ Play from 1:58:30Morning. item one and general public comment. my name is Jake Hart. I'm an organizer with the Working Families Party and I'm here to ask you to ensure the public bank feasibility study gets funded. we send a billion dollars a year to Wall Street in bank fees and interest charges. But all that money could stay here and go towards a public nonprofit bank that could partner with local organizations to fund rental assistance programs, small business loans, and community land trusts. So we can buy land before developers do. And we get to decide what's built there, how many parks, green infrastructure projects, and affordable housing. Also, everyone, regarding all the ballot measure projects we …
▶ Play from 2:00:26Good morning. I'm Trinity Tran and I'm here to urge the council to move forward with the public bank feasibility study. We already have a majority of nine council members who are financially backing. So we thank your leadership. thank you to CD 1 3 4 6 8 9 10 13 14. So thank you for your leadership. We're asking you to help us move this and get this out the door. This is a practical step for the city to put together a detailed plan to figure out how to save money, how to cut borrowing costs and generate revenue so that we can build affordable housing and support small businesses and support community lenders. Every year we're dealing with budget deficits. Every time the city borrows money, …
▶ Play from 2:01:49Item one and public comment. When banks give loans to the community, this creates wellness for the entire community. This is why it's important for the county and for you here to consider the $325,000 added into the budget for the public bank. The existing banks work for Wall Street, not for working people. They give us really high fees and we can't obtain loans and we can't create our own businesses. Our hands are tied. much gracias. Please, members here, members of the county, please vote in favor of this funds needed for the public bank. Thank you very much.
▶ Play from 2:03:43General comment. First topic. When you expel people from meetings, sometimes it's for a valid reason, but sometimes it's not. This is a violation of due process. Police officers should refuse to expel people without giving them a citation so they have an opportunity to challenge the expulsion in court. Second topic. One bit of nonsense which is repeatedly spewed is the claim that public comments are only intended to address the council. This is false. Public comments are directed at both the council and the public. If someone wanted to send a message without attracting attention, it's easy enough to send an email and this would become part of the public record. We come here to raise issues …
▶ Play from 2:06:23Public comments. My name is Francisco Salceto and I'm here in support of the Latino Coalition and also thanks to Anise and Heather Hunt for remember us and our presence. also for the proposal of the $5,000 thousand to dollars to wellness and quality program and in support and interex community. I encourage all 50 [snorts] members to support and say yes and as we know our struggles and society how treat how we are treat us. So please have us in your consideration. Help us in these difficult times. Society and government as are trying to shut the door on us. You are our lifeline. You are a helping hand. History will tell how it unfolds. Make sure you're on our side. Remember that you are on …
▶ Play from 2:07:35One and general. I stand in strong opposition to this budget. This budget would be continuing the disaster of this year's budget and it does not fund the things that people have actually asked for constantly during public comment. There's sure there's a few concessions, but this budget isn't even anywhere near close to what people are actually asking for, which is things like the people's budget. I mean, Udys, you sat through the whole presentation, decided to ignore it. So, everyone, so people have asked for less police. Nobody is asking for more police. I don't think there's been a single public comment over this entire process where people are asking for more police. Yet, this budget …
▶ Play from 2:08:44Miranda. My name is Miranda Gonzalez. As a transgender woman here in Los Angeles, I suffer daily the problems that we face right now. We are living through difficult times with each word that comes out of the White House. and they're trying to make us stray away from our path. And these activities by the White House cause horrible crimes to be committed against transgender women and cause harm towards the TGI community. We need more respect and more empathy from the county of Los Angeles towards us. Gracias. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 2:10:58Hello. My name is Rene Okmpo. I live in East Los Angeles, District number 10. Latina. I'm here to express my support to the Trans Latina Coalition and the members of our community. The amount of funds given to $4 million for the organizations of our community, interex, organizations that work with transgender people and interex people. Given the fact that transgender people suffer a lack of housing and a lack of essential services, Angeles. That is why I invite for you to better the lives of all the marginalized people through the budget process of Los Angeles.
▶ Play from 2:13:03Item one, public comment. Hello, my name is Beverly Roberts and I'm a member of ACE and a founding organ or organizer of Public Bank. Every year, Los Angeles faces budget shortfalls and fights over cuts to basic city services. At the same time, the city spends billions year after year on Wall Street through debt payments, fees, and interest costs. That money could be helping fix our street lights, fund affordable housing, public transit, parks, small businesses, and community programs here in LA. Instead, we keep paying billions to outside banks while struggling to meet local needs. A public bank would help Los Angeles keep more public dollars and working locally and invest more directly. …
▶ Play from 2:14:38The budget and general comment, please. My name is Alana Klene. I'm the director of development and communications at the community animal medicine project, our city's leading provider of highquality, lowcost veterinary care and spay and neuter. We serve a 100,000 pets each year and have clinics at several of our city shelters. Dr. Gary Michaelelsson, one of our city's leading private funders of spay and neuter, published an editorial this week that emphasized that no amount of private funding can stabilize a system that lacks consistent public investment. The LA Animal Services budget is just 2 of our city's overall budget, 2%. So, animals are increasingly dependent on volunteers and …
▶ Play from 2:16:39Item one and public comment. I'm Gabby Weiss. I run Bobby Street Cats. We do spayneuter in South Central CD9. we need to be funding spayneuter of community animals, the animals breeding and facilitating the overpopulation crisis flooding our streets and shelters. What is the sterilization fund? Who has access to it? Why is there no transparency around it? Is LA Animal Services dipping into it to fix animals in the shelters or the ones that rescues pull out? Those same animals not contributing to the overpopulation crisis? Where does the funding go? And why can't our neediest and most vulnerable community members pull vouchers for their pets? What happened to the audit that Kenneth Mia was …
▶ Play from 2:18:10Thank you. Hi., good afternoon. Good morning. My name is Vanessa Bautistan with Best Friends Animal Society here in Los Angeles., I just want to say thank you to the budget and finance committee for acknowledging the critical funding needed for our Los Angeles animals. I'm here in support of the restoring funding to ensure that animals in the care of LA animal services continue receiving essential medical and food care. we also strongly in support of the proposed 1 millia allocation for spay and neuter services which is critical to reducing shelter overpopulation and improving outcomes for animals across Los Angeles. In addition, we support the 1.53 to fully fund dogs playing for life to …
▶ Play from 2:20:21Good afternoon. Item one, public comment, please. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Jana Brennan with the Michaelelsson Center for Public Policy. Los Angeles is failing at shelter animals and community pet owners while threatening to cut the very programs that prevent this crisis in the first place. While we are grateful to the budget and finance committee for championing the championing the spay and neuter increases thus far, we c we have to remember that the work here is not done. Our shelters are overcrowded, understaffed, and overwhelmed. And at the same time, the city has reduced funding for proven solutions, namely spay and neuter and dogs playing for life. As council member …
▶ Play from 2:21:28Good morning. General comment. The Tulsa Zoo announced that XLA Zoo Tina now has a threatening in life-threatening infection. A year ago to the day today, both LA Zoo elephants were taken in the middle of the night to the Tulsa Zoo. Zoo Director Verrett refused to consider an offer by a world-class sanctuary to take both elephants at no cost to the city. Director Verrett offered no proof at the city budget committee meeting where she said that AA said that they thought that the Tulsa Zoo was better for Billy and Tina. The AA is not neither a state or federal agency. The AA is a 501 nonprofit. The AA has no legal authority to shut down or regulate a cityowned zoo. What's more concerning, at …
▶ Play from 2:22:47Good morning. On item one and general comment.
▶ Play from 2:24:16Good morning. I'm speaking on item one and public comments. Dear LA city council members, we thank the budget and finance committee, especially council member Hernandez and the chief legislative analyst for increasing the day labor budget. We hope to see the program budget grow to match the needs of our community. For decades, the day labor centers have helped ensure that workers perform safely, that proper wages are paid, and that both workers and employers have a structured, dignified system for connecting with one another. Additional funding in the future budget years would increase the cost of additional case management, legal, security, and infrastructure that these centers have taken …
▶ Play from 2:26:34one in public comment please. Hi council members. My name is Joshua Araso. one of the organizers at our day labor center in Westlake, one of the seven in the in the city. we thank the budget committee for the muchneeded increase to the day labor center program. but we are hopeful to see this program grow in the future. we need more funds. We need more resources. This past year was a heavy year for all Angelinos. especially our day laborers who were impacted by the fires and eventually also impacted by the large-scale violent immigration raids that are still going on. [snorts] these centers provide more than employment, more than employment connections. They are essential community hubs. …
▶ Play from 2:27:37Hi, I'm going to speak on public comment and item one. Okay. And item one, my name is Nantara Bannery. I'm speaking first briefly as an individual, Angelino. After sitting here and listening to public comment all morning, I urge the city council to vote in favor of funds needed for a feasibility study to move towards a public bank here in LA. The mission of the public bank will support countless individuals, small businesses and communities, including the immigrants and excluded workers who make up the fabric of the city, as well as worker-owned cooperatives. This investment now could help the city have the funds to support diverse ecosystems that sustain workers and small businesses in the …
▶ Play from 2:28:51Item one in general public comment, please. Hey, good afternoon. My name is Chris Tyler. I'm with Sage and Olympics LA. First off, big shout out to the budget and finance committee for striking the heinous Airbnb giveaway from this version of the budget draft. This and the vacation rental ordinance that are moving through council right now only stand to inflame our city's housing crisis and they need to be stopped. Since we're talking about the budget today, I thought it would be useful to contextualize this conversation in relation to another budget that is relying on taxpayer money. Current estimates indicate that nearly 12 billion and perhaps even more than that will be spent putting on …
▶ Play from 2:30:47general comment and the budget.
▶ Play from 2:32:56Gracias. Good afternoon. What
▶ Play from 2:34:34Good afternoon to all of you. My name is Francisco Mia. I'm a member of the Garmin Center industry workers. The garment industry workers like other industries are going through very hard times. in the city of of Los Angeles, including more in the region,, including local businesses. The workers are asking for $1.7 million. to make our maximum vision come true within the current budget.
▶ Play from 2:36:28Good afternoon. I'll do general public comment. Come on. Good morning. Good afternoon. What
▶ Play from 2:38:05My name is Jazelle and I'm with ACE. $1 billion is approximately what our tax dollars fund in private banks debt services, interest, and fees. Does this number sound familiar? It's approximately the city deficit. We thank the leadership of Councilwoman Isabelle Herado for making this a priority and the eight other council members who have contributed discretionary funds and we welcome more bipartisan support. The remaining 325,000 that's needed should be added to this budget. We cannot wait another year. We can't keep cutting city services, eliminating funds to animal shelters, transgender services, cutting jobs in the garment district because private banks will not invest in our community. …
▶ Play from 2:39:20I can't help but notice how much more police occupy these halls and these federal government buildings than a year ago. There's no money in the budget to help the communities who have been devastated by the fires, by there's endless money to intimidate anyone who dares show up and ask you for help. You are about to vote on a budget that defunds the services in the communities that need help now more than ever. About 70% of the city is low-income or hanging just above the poverty line. We are a year in and the air smells like fire again and ICE and the federal government are still occupying our city. Nothing has changed. For a year, myself and hundreds of others have given testimony about …
▶ Play from 2:40:43From the council floor
Council member Rodriguez seconds. What's next? Commendatory resolutions for approval. Council member Lee moves council member Price seconds. Let's run through our agenda for this morning. Thank you, Mr. President. Items one through five are items noticed for public hearing. For item one, additional community impact statements from the Delray Neighborhood Council, the West LA Sautell Neighborhood Council, the Greater Tuca Lake Neighborhood Council, and the Glassel Park Neighborhood Council have been submitted for the matter and are posted online under council file number 26-6000. All right. Uh, I've got a uh special from Council Member Rodriguez or your name is on the queue, I should say. …
▶ Play from 44:27