What’s happening today?
The South Coast AQMD hearing on the Lineage warehouse odor violations ran seven hours long yesterday, with the board hearing from more than 90 people speaking at public comment. The board ended up delaying the presentations from South Coast AQMD regulatory officials who are seeking an order of abatement to be issued, and from Lineage, to today. After that the the board is expected to make a decision. The meeting started at 9:30 a.m., with the webcast being streamed here.
What just happened?
Air quality regulators heard from more than 90 people about odors from Lineage warehouse that caught fire in June
At Wednesday’s South Coast AQMD hearing on the Lineage odor case, people spoke about the stress and the harmful effects of having to endure the odors emanating from the spoiled food that was in the warehouse when it caught fire on June 17.
One woman, wearing an InnerCity Struggle shirt, said that having to shut her windows to avoid the odor, while already dealing with not having access to power and water at her home, has been “quite a stressful situation.”
“I’m nobody to demand, but yet I do demand,” she said. “Do something for the community, for the families, for the children.”
LA Mayor Karen Bass had earlier called into the meeting to give her comment remotely, demanding an order with strong provisions, including maximum financial penalties. And LA Council member Ysabel Jurado, who represents the 14th City Council District where the warehouse is located, appeared in person to urge that the board issue an order that will yield “meaningful accountability” from the company. She questioned whether even the maximum financial penalties will mean much to a company that has substantial resources at its disposal. “What does $1,000 to $75,000 in penalties per day mean to a multi-billion dollar company and the largest warehouse logistics operation in the world?” Jurado asked.
Boyle Heights Beat, along with City News Service and Spectrum News, covered the hours-long public comment marathon session taking place in the packed South Coast AQMD’s Diamond Bar hearing room on Wednesday. The LA Times yesterday also highlighted the $80 million to $100 million cost estimate for remediating the effects of the fire. Those figures were contained in Lineage’s presentation slide prepared for the hearing. That slide also included a goal by the company to remove all of the food waste from the facility by next week.
LA city leaders bristle at county officials’ offer to take lead role managing homeless services data
LA city’s distrust of the county, which just pulled funding from a joint homeless services agency to set up their own separate homeless services department, was on full display at Wednesday’s Housing & Homelessness Committee meeting. That committee’s members, including Nithya Raman, raised worries about the city losing access to case management data that they believe is important for accountability, and for ensuring their unhoused constituents get services.
One member of that committee, Council member Tim McOsker, was especially incensed about a recent move by LA county to assume a lead role over that data. He even accused the county of denying shelter to people because they were from coming from within the city of LA. “We have a county agency that’s declared war on homeless people,” McOsker said. “They think they’re hurting the city. What they are doing is missing their mission.”
This unexpected complication around case management data stems from the federal government’s effort to suspend funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the main agency providing homeless services. One of the fallouts of the federal government’s move is that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently sent a letter to the local “Continuum of Care” board — which oversees the local use of those federal dollars — telling the board that they were non-compliant and needed to take remedial action, such as designating a new lead agency or a new collaborative to apply for federal funds. In response to that, LA county officials offered to temporarily be the lead agency, which would include assuming ownership of case data entered into a system called HMIS. And it was THAT move that appears to have ruffled the feathers of LA city leaders and officials.
Raman, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that people who participate in the city’s programs get short shrift on mental health services – which are the domain of LA County, which operates the Department of Mental Health. “They [the county] have a process through which people are supposed to go from interim shelter beds to high acuity mental health beds and to rehab beds,” Raman said. “Very few people from our shelters ever move to high acuity beds. Very few.”
She said that the lack of data makes it difficult to demand services be provided to LA city residents, saying that “when we ask for data on mental health support, how many people are getting it, it’s very hard to get it. When we ask for data on anything from the county, it’s very hard to get.”
The city only relatively recently gained access to case management data, after a tortuous effort trying to get it from the existing agency, LAHSA, according to Council member Ysabel Jurado.
“We had a joint-powers authority… with LAHSA, and even then it was a struggle to get data and clear answers,” Jurado said. “And for the past two years we were trying to get metrics to drive better outcomes. And now you’re saying that as long as we have strong legal contracts that are in place in order to share that information, then we should be able to get it.”
But Jurado said she was skeptical. “Just from experience from my short time here, that’s not promising considering it may be with a new party, and it’s starting a new relationship all over again… it really makes the work that has been done null and void.”
These remarks came as LAHSA officials were scheduled to appear in court on Thursday to lay out their case to a judge for why HUD’s suspension should be blocked. In July, the federal judge had ordered a pause to the suspension to review the case.
Businesses, residents tired of delays in Crenshaw revitalization, demand relief from Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson
Businesses and residents along Crenshaw Boulevard in Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s 8th City Council District are not too happy about the construction delays in a big project he spearheaded to bring public art, park space and storefront makeovers to a 1.3 mile stretch of the street that follows the K Line between the Hyde Park and Leimert Park stations. The highly anticipated project, dubbed Destination Crenshaw, is set to be anchored by Sankofa Park, which will feature a public amphitheater and gathering area. But the project has dragged on a bit longer than anticipated. That park for example, had been slate to open by 2023, but is now possibly opening later this year.
There was a community meeting held last week for businesses and residents to air their concerns, and a week later on Wednesday, some of them sent Harris-Dawson a letter requesting that the business interruption and resident relief funds be set up, and for their council member to provide some straight answers. The Destination Crenshaw project was originally slated to begin in 2019, but did not break ground until 2020. They have also missed their original projected completion date of 2024.
Harris-Dawson, who did not attend the meeting, provided only a statement acknowledging that it was important that “our neighbors to know and feel that this project is for them and to build a prosperous future.”
Businesses have closed, residents are blocked off from their own driveways, seniors have had to walk long distances to get to their homes and streets are often left without lighting at night, according to the letter sent to Harris-Dawson and signed by residents and businesses, including KBLA Talk Radio 1580.
“The burden of the unexplained delays should not rest on the shoulders of the Crenshaw Corridor Community, which acted in good faith and supported this historic project,” the letter said.
Some of the headaches aired were reported in this story by CBS’s Lauren Pozen, including the frustrations of a veterinarian who’s parking lot was closed off, forcing his customers to park blocks away when bringing in their pets.
The owner of the KBLA radio station, Tavis Smiley, organized last week’s community meeting, and the letter is also shared on the front page of KBLA Talk Radio’s website. There is also a link on their page to fill out a form for an accountability tracker, and an “FAQ” in which they posed a series of questions that include, “Why was neither CD 8 Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson nor his staff in attendance at the recent KBLA Talk 1580/Bethesda Temple Church town hall meeting? Why is he doing media interviews but not reporting to the people who live and work in this community? The folks who have been harmed by his indecisions.”
Isaiah Murtaugh Barish of LA Local reported recently that the delay in the project was due to the withdrawal of federal funds, but with some new funding just identified, construction kicked back up in April, raising hope that the park would be done this year. Steven Sharp of Urbanize LA has a rundown of that return of construction activity, noting that earth movers had shown up “at numerous sites along Crenshaw Boulevard between Slauson Avenue and Leimert Park.”
LA Sentinel, which recently published a story that centered more on the nearing completion of the project, describes Harris-Dawson as “the founder of Destination Crenshaw,” and reports that Harris-Dawson “raised private funds to seed the project and has organized his peers at all levels of government to provide additional funding to complete the project before the People Mover and K-Line connects LAX and the world to Crenshaw Boulevard.”
The 1.3 mile span of Crenshaw that is in the project is expected to feature 10 pocket parks and more than 100 art pieces, in what is essentially going to be an outdoor art museum, with works by muralists and gallery artists such as Kehinde Wiley, Alison Saar, Charles Dixon, Toons One, members of the United to Inspire Collective and Rocking the Nation Crew.
Heather Aubry, daughter of a well-regarded activist, gets a glowing LA City Council sign-off to join Board of Police Commissioners
Heather Aubry, who recently wrapped up a 30-plus year stint in the City Attorney’s Office – and who is the daughter of the late Larry Aubry, a well-regarded South Los Angeles activist – was confirmed by the LA City Council on Wednesday to sit on the Board of Police Commissioners, which sets policy and oversees the Los Angeles Police Department. Aubry will fill a seat left vacant when Teresa Sánchez-Gordon, who was the board’s president, resigned after stepping down abruptly from her leadership role.
Aubry in her remarks to the City Council highlighted three issues that she gathered were top priorities for the council members, which were police brutality (referred to as “use-of-force” in police department lingo), pre-textual stops, and the retention and recruitment of LAPD officers.
Notably, several members of the council were simply beside themselves to be getting the honor of confirming Aubry, as they sent her off to the politically fraught Board of Police Commissioner mines. Council member Heather Hutt said that she has known the Aubry family “for decades and decades, and I know that you’re rooted in Los Angeles… I believe that you will bring your best mind to the table when you’re making decisions for our public safety.” Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, meanwhile, pointed to his admiration for Aubry’s father, saying that this confirmation gave him the opportunity to “brag on your father.” Aubry, who led major labor and civil rights organizations, was nicknamed the “godfather of South Central Los Angeles.” Harris-Dawson noted that getting to confirm his daughter felt like “full-circle” because “I really do believe the first time I went to the police commission, or came downtown to protest LAPD, I think your dad was one of the ones leading the protest.”
Given recent filings, I would say she should be concerned about the nature of LAPDs recruitment.