What Happened
Ten council members were present throughout this Friday session, which the Council lost quorum near the end of (briefly prompting an incorrect announcement that the meeting had adjourned before the clerk clarified quorum remained intact). Item 5 (CF 25-0006-S85), the continued Munger, Tolles & Olson wildfire-litigation legal services agreement, was continued without discussion to October 29.
Council adopted four items without floor debate: an Energy and Environment Committee report on the factors that led to the January 20, 2024 Wilmington oil spill (Item 1, CF 24-0082); the SB 165 annual report on the Proposition O stormwater program for Fiscal Year 2021-22 (Item 2, CF 15-0085-S11); a report on the closure and remediation of orphaned oil and gas wells citywide (Item 3, CF 24-0585); and the City Administrative Officer's first 2025-26 Transportation-Related Construction Projects report (Item 4, CF 25-1111).
The bulk of the session was devoted to presentations. Council Member Monica Rodriguez and Council Member Eunisses Hernandez honored Maryanne Hayashi, longtime executive director of the Central City Action Committee, for more than four decades of youth-development work in Angelino Heights and Chinatown, and pledged to dedicate "Maryanne Hayashi Square" near the organization's offices. Council Member Ysabel Jurado, marking Filipino American History Month, recognized rapper and spoken-word artist Ruby Ibarra. Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson led the annual National Clergy Appreciation Month presentation, in which each council district recognized a local faith leader, including Father Mario Torres of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Pico-Union and Reverend Wendell of LA Voice, both recognized in part for organizing support for immigrant families amid ongoing federal immigration enforcement activity.
Public Comment
Public comment was dominated by demands for the removal of LAPD Chief Jim McDonald, centered on the October 18 "No Kings" protest near the Metropolitan Detention Center. Multiple speakers, including several who said they attended as parents, photographers, or journalists, described mounted officers charging a crowd, use of batons and less-lethal munitions, and injuries to at least seven journalists in what they said violated an existing court injunction protecting press covering protests; several cited an October 11 Los Angeles Times report describing federal influence over the chief's personnel decisions. One speaker referenced an October 22 Council motion to transfer $150,000 from a homeless-services account to fund police overtime and asked why it was introduced amid the ongoing allegations. Another speaker referenced the prior week's floor debate over the Munger, Tolles & Olson wildfire-litigation contract, describing how a closed session and reversal of votes followed disclosure that the city, not the Department of Water and Power, would bear a $750,000 cost.