Meeting Summary
What Happened
Eleven to twelve members were present for the April 22, 2026 meeting. Council adopted a large committee-report and district-motion block, plus a slate of closed-session litigation settlements, without recorded dissent, including a $1,950,000 settlement in the case of Isidro Vera Cruz v. City of Los Angeles and a roughly $4.6 million payment to satisfy a judgment in Timothy Colome v. City of Los Angeles; three proposed settlements (Citlali Sanchez, Helena Townsend, and Maria Mendoza cases) were rejected on the CAO's and City Attorney's recommendation.
A Budget and Finance Committee report approving a legal-services agreement with the law firm Susman Godfrey to assist the city in evaluating potential litigation (Item 38) passed 11-1, with Council Member Adrin Nazarian voting no; no floor debate accompanied the vote.
Council Member Monica Rodriguez introduced a motion, with Council Members Ysabel Jurado and Heather Hutt, directing staff to explore a first-in-the-nation commercial-tenant anti-harassment ordinance protecting small businesses from landlord retaliation and displacement. Rodriguez cited Reed Books in Eagle Rock, which received a rent increase of more than 130% after its building was sold and was initially given only 30 days' notice before pro bono legal help secured the 90 days required by state law; the bookstore's owner and several small-business and tenant advocacy groups — Inclusive Action, Public Counsel, SAJE, Bet Tzedek, and the Little Tokyo Service Center — spoke in support during public comment, describing landlord harassment including ignored repair requests and rent hikes designed to force out longtime immigrant-owned businesses.
Public comment was dominated by advocates — including the League of Women Voters of Greater Los Angeles, Fair Rep LA, the LA Black Workers Center, and individual speakers who had attended nearly every Charter Reform Commission meeting — urging the council to require the Commission's final report be formally presented to the full council before the Rules Committee begins deliberating proposed charter amendments, rather than routing it through a single Rules Committee hearing with one day of public comment. Speakers cited the Commission's recommendations on police liability-insurance requirements and personnel/hiring reform as issues they said deserved full-council engagement given the city's mounting liability payouts. Separately, several speakers pressed the council on a closed-session settlement (Item 59) involving a former LAPD officer accused of sexual assault while off duty, saying the department had failed to seek his decertification or criminal prosecution; one speaker directed pointed criticism at Council Member Nithya Raman, a mayoral candidate, to take a public position on the case. Fast-food workers again urged passage of the fair work ordinance.
Contested Votes
Tallies and member votes are the official record (LA City Clerk CVVS). Descriptions are drawn from the meeting transcript.
Item 38 — CF 26-0461 (Adopted): A Budget and Finance Committee report approving a legal-services agreement with the law firm Susman Godfrey to assist the city in evaluating potential litigation.
| Vote | Members |
|---|---|
| Yes (11) | Bob Blumenfield, Curren D. Price, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Imelda Padilla, John Lee, Katy Yaroslavsky, Nithya Raman, Tim Mcosker, Ysabel Jurado |
| No (1) | Adrin Nazarian |
| Absent (3) | Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Monica Rodriguez, Traci Park |