What Happened
The council met on June 18, 2025, ahead of the Juneteenth holiday, with 12-13 members present. Council Member Monica Rodriguez introduced singer Nezza (Vanessa Hernandez), who performed the Spanish-language rendition of the national anthem, "El Pendón Estrellado," in the council chamber, days after facing backlash for singing it in Spanish at a Dodger Stadium game; Rodriguez framed the moment as a statement of pride for the city's majority-Latino population amid ongoing federal immigration enforcement. Council Member Curren Price led a Juneteenth commemoration featuring a performance of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by South LA teacher and performer Faith White, and unveiled a commissioned artwork by LA-based artist Brandon Barry Brown reflecting on pan-Africanism and Juneteenth themes.
All items passed unanimously (13-0 or with limited absences), including renewal of the mayor's declaration of local emergency concerning the January 2025 windstorm and wildfires (Item 29, CF 25-0030), several Board of Recreation and Park and El Pueblo commissioner reappointments, animal-disaster-relief grant acceptances from Petco Love and the ASPCA tied to the January fires, and a request for proposals process for a WorkSource Center system redesign. A closed-session settlement (Item 34) resolving litigation over the city's STAP transit-shelter advertising program — Citizens for a Better Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles and Coalition for Scenic Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles — was approved; a settlement party told the council during public comment that the agreement would protect sensitive areas from digital-advertising light pollution while allowing expanded shelter and shade-structure revenue. The council also considered a request for proposals for interactive advertising kiosks in the public right-of-way (Item 33, CF 22-1154-S1); Council Member Nithya Raman initially asked to refer the item to the Public Works Committee, but withdrew the request after clerk staff noted the item had already been through that process.
Public Comment
Multiple speakers, including representatives of the Westside Neighborhood Council and the Coalition for a Beautiful Los Angeles, urged the council to send the interactive-kiosk RFP (Item 33) to the Public Works Committee for further review, citing the STAP transit-shelter program's troubled history and unresolved questions about revenue projections, environmental review, and neighborhood-council input. Other speakers criticized the pace of wildfire recovery under the emergency declaration (Item 29), alleged inadequate city attorney enforcement against post-fire rent gouging despite thousands of cited gouged listings, and renewed calls for the council to reinstate call-in public comment. Several speakers also described alleged LAPD use of force, including less-lethal munitions and mounted officers, against protesters opposing federal immigration enforcement. Multiple commenters were warned for disruptive or abusive conduct.