Meeting Summary
What Happened
Council Member Price was absent for much of the meeting. The council adopted, without recorded opposition, several closed-session litigation settlements including $195,000 (Jesse Cabo v. City of Los Angeles), $200,000 (Jesus Zeno v. City of Los Angeles), an objection to a settlement offer from Brian Grantwood, and settlements of $1,919,862.51 and roughly $13.7 million in two other cases (Items 50-56). No debate occurred on Item 36 or most other agenda items.
Item 38, a continued Budget and Finance and Housing and Homelessness Committees' report on the Homelessness Emergency Account's 23rd status report and Inside Safe program funding recommendations, drew the most substantive discussion. Housing and Homelessness Committee Chair Nithya Raman and Council Member Blumenfield framed the item as necessary to release roughly $46 million owed to homeless service providers while adding new oversight conditions, including holding back a portion of third-quarter advance payments and Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) administrative funds pending invoice verification, given a tightening fiscal year and the city's homelessness-related consent decree (the Alliance settlement) obligations. Amendment 38D (Rodriguez-Blumenfield) and Amendment 38C (Soto-Martinez-Yaroslavsky) both passed unanimously 14-0.
Contested Votes
Item 36 (Transportation Committee report directing LADOT to post "No Stopping Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m." signage on the east side of Reseda Boulevard in CD3 to address criminal activity associated with parked vehicles) passed 11-3, with Hernandez, Jurado, and Soto-Martinez voting no. No floor debate accompanied the vote.
Item 38, Amendment 38E (Blumenfield-Raman), which held back release of the third-quarter Inside Safe advance payments and a portion of LAHSA administrative funding pending invoice verification and greater council oversight, passed 11-3, with Lee, Nazarian, and Park voting no. Blumenfield said the amendment was intended to ensure service providers are not carrying unpaid debt while requiring documentation that services are actually producing throughput toward permanent housing, warning that continuing to fund non-Alliance-compliant motel booking agreements was unsustainable.
Item 38, final adoption of the Homelessness Emergency Account report as amended by 38C, 38D, and 38E passed 13-1, with Rodriguez casting the lone no vote. Rodriguez said her frustration with the program was "no secret," criticizing LAHSA and the Mayor's Office for repeatedly submitting reports with blank data fields on the number of individuals housed and outcomes despite the Budget and Finance Committee's clear prior instructions, and argued the city should not continue funding the program without real-time accountability data given the ongoing fiscal crisis.
Public Comment
A recurring commenter criticized the Inside Safe program during general public comment, arguing it primarily relocates unhoused people to distant motel rooms without adequate support rather than securing permanent housing, and called for participatory budget hearings in every council district ahead of the city's May budget process. The same speaker also criticized a proposed Hollywood Walk of Fame star installation given other funding priorities, and urged the council to speak out on potential federal immigration enforcement actions against undocumented residents and student protesters.
Contested Votes
Tallies and member votes are the official record (LA City Clerk CVVS). Descriptions are drawn from the meeting transcript.
Item 36 — CF 25-0194 (Adopted): Transportation Committee report directing LADOT to post overnight "No Stopping" signage on Reseda Boulevard in CD3 to address criminal activity associated with parked vehicles.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (11) | Adrin Nazarian, Bob Blumenfield, Heather Hutt, Imelda Padilla, John Lee, Katy Yaroslavsky, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman, Tim Mcosker, Traci Park |
| No (3) | Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Ysabel Jurado |
| Absent (1) | Curren D. Price |
Item 38 — CF 22-1545-S26 (vote 1 of 2) (Adopted): Amendment 38E (Blumenfield-Raman) holding back third-quarter Inside Safe advance payments and a portion of LAHSA administrative funding pending invoice verification and greater council oversight.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (11) | Bob Blumenfield, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Imelda Padilla, Katy Yaroslavsky, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman, Tim Mcosker, Ysabel Jurado |
| No (3) | Adrin Nazarian, John Lee, Traci Park |
| Absent (1) | Curren D. Price |
Item 38 — CF 22-1545-S26 (vote 2 of 2) (Adopted): Final adoption of the Homelessness Emergency Account 23rd status report and Inside Safe funding recommendations, as amended by 38C, 38D, and 38E.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (13) | Adrin Nazarian, Bob Blumenfield, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Imelda Padilla, John Lee, Katy Yaroslavsky, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Nithya Raman, Tim Mcosker, Traci Park, Ysabel Jurado |
| No (1) | Monica Rodriguez |
| Absent (1) | Curren D. Price |