Meeting Summary
WHAT HAPPENED
The Los Angeles City Council's December 2, 2025 meeting featured the year's most direct floor confrontation between a council member and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, over whether to restrict the department's authority to use tear gas and 40-millimeter "less-lethal" projectiles under the state's military equipment law, alongside a fight over how many units an affordable-housing project can demolish while bypassing full public hearings.
LAPD MILITARY EQUIPMENT AUTHORIZATION (ITEM 24)
The council's Fourth Annual Assembly Bill 481 Equipment Report, which authorizes LAPD's continued use of military-grade equipment, became the year's most extended public exchange between a council member and police leadership. Council Member Hugo Soto-Martinez, joined by Council Member Eunisses Hernandez, introduced an amendment to withhold authorization specifically for 40-millimeter projectile launchers and tear gas, citing AB 481's requirement that such equipment be approved only when no reasonable alternative exists and its prior use complied with the law. Soto-Martinez cited LAPD's own count of roughly 1,000 projectiles fired at 6,000 people during a single day of unrest on June 8, and a widely seen video of a journalist struck by a round, arguing the deployment was not the "target specific" use AB 481 requires.
Chief McDonnell, appearing personally to oppose the amendment, said 40-millimeter rounds and tear gas function as de-escalation tools that prevent officers from resorting to deadly force, described 52 officers injured during the June unrest, and said removing the equipment ahead of the 2028 Olympics and other major events would be "incredibly uninformed public policy." Council Member Eunisses Hernandez pressed McDonnell on why tear gas, banned for use in armed conflict under the Geneva Conventions, was appropriate for use on residents, and on the roughly 60 excessive-force cases the Board of Police Commissioners had disclosed to council members after the summer's immigration-enforcement protests, noting the city's LAPD-related legal settlements have recently run above $10 million per case. Council Member John Lee argued removing the tools would leave officers with fewer options short of lethal force.
After a confusing sequence of vote changes and a reconsideration, the restriction amendment failed twice, first 5-7 and then, after Council Members Eunisses Hernandez and Heather Hutt each changed their votes and the council reset the roll, 4-8 (No both times: Blumenfield, Lee, McOsker, Nazarian, Padilla, Park, Price, joined by Hutt on the second vote). The underlying Public Safety Committee report authorizing continued use of the equipment was then adopted, 10-2 (No: Hernandez, Soto-Martinez).
AFFORDABLE HOUSING STREAMLINING (ITEM 22)
The council adopted, 14-1 (No: Soto-Martinez), an ordinance codifying the city's Affordable Housing Streamlining Program (formerly Executive Directive 1), which allows administrative, non-discretionary approval of 100% affordable housing projects. Council Member Ysabel Jurado proposed lowering the program's exemption threshold, which currently protects Rent Stabilization Ordinance buildings of 12 or more units from streamlined demolition, down to five units, saying the higher threshold left roughly 4,400 rent-stabilized properties in Boyle Heights vulnerable, with only 10 of them protected under the 12-unit line. City planning staff told the council roughly 37% of the streamlined program's approved projects to date, about 168 of 450, have required demolishing some existing RSO units, an average of 4.7 units per site. It was not clear from the meeting whether Jurado's amendment was ultimately incorporated into the version adopted.
The council also adopted, 10-2 (No: Hernandez, Jurado), two resolutions designating additional locations for enforcement of the city's ordinance against sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing property on public rights-of-way under Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 41.18: one in Council District 7, sponsored by Council Members Monica Rodriguez and John Lee, and one in Council District 6, sponsored by Council Members Imelda Padilla and Traci Park.
Contested Votes
Tallies and member votes are the official record (LA City Clerk CVVS). Descriptions are drawn from the meeting transcript.
Item 22 — CF 23-0623-S1 (Adopted): An ordinance codifying the city's Affordable Housing Streamlining Program, allowing administrative approval of 100% affordable housing projects, with a contested floor amendment over the unit-count threshold that exempts existing rent-stabilized buildings from streamlined demolition.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (14) | Adrin Nazarian, Bob Blumenfield, Curren D. Price, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Imelda Padilla, John Lee, Katy Yaroslavsky, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman, Tim Mcosker, Traci Park, Ysabel Jurado |
| No (1) | Hugo Soto-Martinez |
Item 24 — CF 22-0766-S3 (vote 1 of 4) (Failed): An amendment sponsored by Council Members Soto-Martinez and Hernandez withholding LAPD's authorization to use 40-millimeter projectile launchers and tear gas under the city's annual military equipment report. LA Left Tracker Key Vote
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (5) | Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Ysabel Jurado |
| No (7) | Adrin Nazarian, Bob Blumenfield, Curren D. Price, Imelda Padilla, John Lee, Tim Mcosker, Traci Park |
| Absent (3) | Katy Yaroslavsky, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman |
Item 24 — CF 22-0766-S3 (vote 2 of 4) (Unknown): An intermediate procedural tally on that same 40-millimeter and tear gas restriction amendment, taken during a sequence of vote changes before the roll was reset and retaken.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (6) | Bob Blumenfield, Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez, John Lee, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Ysabel Jurado |
| No (6) | Adrin Nazarian, Curren D. Price, Heather Hutt, Imelda Padilla, Tim Mcosker, Traci Park |
| Absent (3) | Katy Yaroslavsky, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman |
Item 24 — CF 22-0766-S3 (vote 3 of 4) (Failed): The final vote on the amendment sponsored by Council Members Soto-Martinez and Hernandez to withhold LAPD's authorization to use 40-millimeter projectile launchers and tear gas.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (4) | Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Ysabel Jurado |
| No (8) | Adrin Nazarian, Bob Blumenfield, Curren D. Price, Heather Hutt, Imelda Padilla, John Lee, Tim Mcosker, Traci Park |
| Absent (3) | Katy Yaroslavsky, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman |
Item 24 — CF 22-0766-S3 (vote 4 of 4) (Adopted): The underlying Public Safety Committee report authorizing LAPD's continued use of military equipment under the city's annual Assembly Bill 481 report.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (10) | Adrin Nazarian, Bob Blumenfield, Curren D. Price, Heather Hutt, Imelda Padilla, John Lee, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Tim Mcosker, Traci Park, Ysabel Jurado |
| No (2) | Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez |
| Absent (3) | Katy Yaroslavsky, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman |
Item 29 — CF 25-4118-S14 (Adopted): A resolution sponsored by Council Members Rodriguez and Lee designating an additional location in Council District 7 for enforcement of the city's ordinance against sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing property on public rights-of-way.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (10) | Adrin Nazarian, Bob Blumenfield, Curren D. Price, Heather Hutt, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Imelda Padilla, John Lee, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Tim Mcosker, Traci Park |
| No (2) | Eunisses Hernandez, Ysabel Jurado |
| Absent (3) | Katy Yaroslavsky, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman |
Item 43 — CF 25-4118-S15 (Adopted): A resolution sponsored by Council Members Padilla and Park designating an additional location in Council District 6 for enforcement of the city's ordinance against sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing property on public rights-of-way.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (10) | Adrin Nazarian, Bob Blumenfield, Curren D. Price, Heather Hutt, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Imelda Padilla, John Lee, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Tim Mcosker, Traci Park |
| No (2) | Eunisses Hernandez, Ysabel Jurado |
| Absent (3) | Katy Yaroslavsky, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman |