Meeting Summary
What Happened
The Council sat with a reduced bench through the day — four members were absent from the tenant-protection votes and two from the LAPD recruitment item. The short 13-item calendar was dominated by two tenant-protection ordinances coming out of the Housing and Homelessness Committee, both of which the committee forwarded without recommendation, leaving the Council to decide them on the floor.
Items 12 and 13 (CF 21-0042-S4 and CF 21-0042-S5) — eviction and relocation protections. These are the two halves of the package the Council took up as pandemic-era protections wound down.
Item 12 amends Los Angeles Municipal Code Sections 151.09 and 165.03 to restrict evictions for nonpayment of rent that is not material — establishing a threshold below which unpaid rent cannot by itself support an eviction, stated in the ordinance as being in furtherance of the public interest "to avoid forfeiture, limit displacement and homelessness." It was adopted 9-2 on first consideration, with John Lee and Traci Park opposed, taken as amended by a Soto-Martinez–Blumenfield motion and a Blumenfield–McOsker–Raman motion, on a Raman–Blumenfield motion to adopt.
Item 13 adds Section 165.09, requiring landlords to pay relocation assistance to tenants who give up a rental unit because they cannot afford a rent increase. It drew wider opposition and was adopted 9-4, with Council President Paul Krekorian joining Lee, Park and Monica Rodriguez against.
The split between the two votes is the notable feature: the same nine members carried both, but the relocation-assistance requirement — which imposes a direct cost on landlords rather than restricting a remedy — picked up two additional opponents, including the Council President.
Item 9 (CF 23-0078) was adopted 11-2, with Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez opposed. The Rodriguez–Blumenfield motion moves $500,000 within the LAPD's own budget — $150,000 out of Office and Administrative and $350,000 out of Uniforms — into Contractual Services to expand the department's recruitment marketing and advertising campaign.
Contested Votes
Tallies and member votes are the official record (LA City Clerk CVVS). Descriptions are drawn from the meeting transcript.
Item 9 — CF 23-0078 (Adopted): (CF 23-0078) — Motion (Rodriguez – Blumenfield) transferring $150,000 from the LAPD's Office and Administrative account and $350,000 from its Uniforms account into Contractual Services, to expand the department's public safety recruitment marketing and advertising campaign.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (11) | Bob Blumenfield, Curren D. Price, Heather Hutt, John Lee, Katy Yaroslavsky, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman, Paul Krekorian, Tim Mcosker, Traci Park |
| No (2) | Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez |
| Absent (2) | (Vacant) (Vacant), Kevin Deleon |
Item 12 — CF 21-0042-S4 (Adopted): (CF 21-0042-S4) — First consideration of the ordinance amending Los Angeles Municipal Code Sections 151.09 and 165.03 to restrict evictions for nonpayment of rent that is not material, which the Housing and Homelessness Committee sent forward without recommendation. Taken as amended by Motion (Soto-Martinez – Blumenfield) and Motion (Blumenfield – McOsker – Raman), on a Raman – Blumenfield motion to adopt. LA Left Tracker Key Vote
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (9) | Bob Blumenfield, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Katy Yaroslavsky, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman, Tim Mcosker |
| No (2) | John Lee, Traci Park |
| Absent (4) | (Vacant) (Vacant), Curren D. Price, Kevin Deleon, Paul Krekorian |
Item 13 — CF 21-0042-S5 (Adopted): (CF 21-0042-S5) — First consideration of the ordinance adding Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 165.09 to require relocation assistance for tenants who give up a rental unit because they cannot pay a rent increase, also sent forward by the Housing and Homelessness Committee without recommendation.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (9) | Bob Blumenfield, Curren D. Price, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Katy Yaroslavsky, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Nithya Raman, Tim Mcosker |
| No (4) | John Lee, Monica Rodriguez, Paul Krekorian, Traci Park |
| Absent (2) | (Vacant) (Vacant), Kevin Deleon |