LA Squawk Box for Monday, June 1, 2026

The LA Reporter talks elections with LA Podcast, Google co-founder donates to Pratt, LA city leaders' calls for scrutiny of Flock contracts and Harbor area chemical plants, and more.

What’s happening today?

The LA Reporter sits in on an episode of LA Podcast: It’s the last day before election day, and candidates in local races are making their last push. You can catch up with some of what’s going on by listening to the latest LA Podcast episode, “Poll Yourselves Together,” in which I joined LA Forward’s David Levitus and Pat Brown Institute’s Mike Bonin to talk about some election stuff, including the LA mayoral and California governor’s races.

What just happened?

Latest campaign disclosures roll in just before election day: LA city and school district candidates filed their last set of campaign disclosures before election day, last Friday. You can dig through them here. You can also monitor spending above $1,000, which must be posted within 24-hours. The next report that campaigns need to file doesn’t come until after June 2, election day. Those are due to the Ethics Commission on July 31 and need to disclose fundraising and spending details.

One major headliner in the campaign money dump is that Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, gave to mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, as reported by Unrig LA, which described it as a “rightward lurch” by the tech titan. Pratt, who has tried to fend off characterizations of his candidacy as MAGA (including rejecting President Donald Trump’s recent endorsement of his bid for LA mayor) and downplayed his Republican Party voter registration, reframed Brin’s support as a turn toward “common-sense.”

Ground Game LA’s voter guide now also recommends Nithya Raman for mayor: Knock LA, a publication funded by progressive political organization Ground Game LA, has updated their voter guide’s mayoral endorsement to recommend that people vote for either Rae Huang or Nithya Raman. Previously the guide had only recommended Huang. The reasoning given for the update was Raman’s recently added policy platforms on immigration and public safety, including that Raman now also calls for the removal of police chief Jim McDonnell.

Yes, LA voters actually can cast ballots in-person, contrary to Trump’s claim: The LA County Registrar/Recorder had to do some debunking of President Donald Trump’s claim that LA doesn’t have voting booths. In fact there are 646 vote centers with voting booths sprinkled throughout Los Angeles County. You can look up the nearest vote center here.

LA City Council member Ysabel Jurado introduces Flock motion, but how far will it go?: Council member Ysabel Jurado presented a motion last Friday calling on the Board of Police Commissioners to “refrain from entering into any new Memoranda of Understanding, Contracts, or other Agreements, or implement any pilot programs with Flock Safety or its affiliates.” Her motion also calls for a report on existing contracts with Flock and the locations of Flock cameras, for an analysis of whether any data sharing with Flock has violated the city’s sanctuary ordinance, and a report on a plan to remove Flock devices. You can follow the progress of Jurado’s motion here. The motion is assigned to the Public Safety Committee, which is chaired by Council member John Lee, who decides when or if the item is scheduled.

OC chemical leak prompts LA city council member Tim McOsker to seek scrutiny of harbor area chemical plants: The recent chemical leak in Orange County has reminded harbor area LA city council member Tim McOsker that residents of San Pedro have also had some concerns about chemical plants in their area — namely Rancho LPG Holdings, LLC and JCI Jones Chemicals, Inc. “Both the Rancho LPG and JCI sites currently have outstanding violations or ongoing compliance and enforcement matters and, given the potentially catastrophic consequences associated with a major hazardous materials incident, the city must immediately evaluate all available mechanisms to eliminate or substantially reduce these risks,” a motion McOsker introduced last Friday reads. The progress of this latest motion — which adds to others introduced over the years since as early as 2011 — can be tracked here. This has been assigned to the planning committee (known a PLUM for short), and that committee’s schedule is set by Council member Bob Blumenfield.

Measure ULA ad hoc committee says no to ballot measure, after hearing staff report on transfer tax: The ad hoc committee on Measure ULA, which is a vote-approved transfer tax measure that funds tenant protections an affordable housing, has recommended changes that won’t need to go to the ballot. They chose not to recommend a measure to lower the tax. But there could still be further debate on the issue. The ad hoc committee consists of just three council members, and their recommendations would need the approval of the full 15-member City Council. And the battlefront over Measure ULA could switch to the ballot box in November, one that could be between two competing measures. Meanwhile, Friday’s meeting contributed additional analyses to the pile of conflicting takes on the effect of Measure ULA, which some have blamed for suppressing housing production, and in turn, tax revenue for the city. This time the assessment came from city legislative staffers who told the committee that it was too early to tell if ULA has had a serious impact on tax revenue — especially since there are other economic forces that were also in play. And city staffers recently obtained detailed data from the County Assessors office and have been poring through those. They pointed to an upward trend in tax revenues to the city. You can listen their report to the ad hoc committee here.

LA county clears encampment on the westside: LA County officials with the new Department of Homeless Services and Housing announced on Friday that they conducted a “Pathway Home” encampment clearing operation near Inglewood and Westchester. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, LA city Council member Traci Park and the city of Inglewood partnered on this operation. Officials say that 29 people were brought into interim shelter as part of the two-day operation that took place May 27 an 28.

A few more notes… LA Department of Water and Power is considering setting up an armed police unit to go after copper theft. The LA city Office of Finance last Thursday submitted its latest investment report, with information current as of April 30, 2026.