LA Squawk Box for Thursday, June 18, 2026
CM John Lee fights with city ethics, LAPD oversight and and LA parks budget increase headed to Nov. ballot, city report on El Pueblo and Olvera Street vendor struggles is out, and more.
What’s happening today?
Council member John Lee is fighting with the city Ethics Commission in court: A trial-setting conference is scheduled for today at 1:30 p.m. in Council member John Lee’s appeal of the City Ethics Commission’s decision last December that he had violated ethics rules by accepting excessive gifts, misusing his city position and aiding and abetting the misuse of another official’s position. The commission fined Lee $138,124 for the violations. Lee had vowed to fight the decision, and indeed, he appealed it in Los Angeles Superior Court in March. The latest date in the case is a trial-setting conference set for this afternoon.
An interesting note is that the CAO’s office has retained the law firm Devaney Pate to represent the city in the case, as it has been deemed a conflict, but the Ethics Commission is now requesting Hecker Fink LLP be the attorney instead, writing in a June 10 letter to the City Council that this firm has an attorney who is a “former Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California and has extensive experience in complex governmental ethics litigation.”
What just happened?
November ballot filling up with LAPD reform, proposed change to a much debated Measure ULA tax, and a new one half-cent sales tax for the fire department
LAPD oversight, a protected parks budget and other charter reform issues could be headed to the November ballot: Some key decisions were made Wednesday on what LA city charter reform measures will be put to voters this November. The council on Wednesday approved motions that start the process for drafting for ballot measures that would, if approved by voters, grant the City Council authority to set LAPD policy, increase the protected budget for LA’s recreation and parks department and untie the city’s hands in the event they decide to give LA’s immigrants the ability to vote in local school board and city elections. You can read my rundown of the major charter reform proposals that got the green-light Wednesday, via my live thread on the meeting here.
Voters could vote on changes to LA’s transfer tax, Measure ULA, which funds tenant protections and affordable housing: Also OK’d Wednesday was a ballot measure to revise LA’s transfer tax, Measure ULA. The city uses the proceeds of the tax revenue to fund tenant protection programs, including legal aid groups that defend people against evictions, and the construction of affordable housing. You can read the report on Wednesday’s vote, by LAist’s David Wagner, here. And I shared the language of the approved motion, which was posted up during yesterday’s meeting, as part of a live-thread from the meeting here.
A few things to note about this proposed ballot measure. The motion calls for a measure that would, if approved by voters, exempt for the first ten years new multifamily housing from the Measure ULA tax, which applies to sales of properties valued at around $5 million or more. And it calls for broadening the eligible use of the funds beyond permanent affordable housing, so that it can be used for temporary housing.
This ballot measure effort comes as a state measure put up by Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is seeking to repeal such tax measures statewide. Those who were calling for this compromise proposal say there are attempts to get the potential financial backers of the Jarvis measure to withdraw their support. They also argue that it has indeed suppressed housing construction, although studies and reports that have been released in recent months have concluded different things.
Those who are seeking to preserve the measure say that while the measure may not be perfect, there are changes that can already be made to the measure without actually needing to go to the ballot. The ad hoc committee that was formed in recent months to study the issue had recommended a compromise that would not need to go to the ballot, and that aims to reduce the tax for certain types of housing, including affordable housing and those that pay construction workers a prevailing wage.
Once the language for the charter reform and Measure ULA ballot measures are drafted, they will be sent back to the City Council for further votes. The council has until July 1, about two weeks later, in order to adopt the final resolution, although further language or decisions are expected before then, for at least some of the measures.
Keep watch for a fire department one-half-cent sales tax on your LA city ballot: Also on November’s ballot should be an LA city one half-cent sales tax to fund the hiring of Los Angeles Fire Department staff and the purchase and maintenance of fire facilities, vehicles and equipment. The City Attorney recently posted draft ballot language, which were prepared after sponsors of the citizen initiative submitted sufficient petition signatures to the City Clerk back in May. You can read the attorney’s letter, which includes a summary of what the sales tax would be used for, here. The draft measure language is available here.
El Pueblo vendors are behind a total of $1.3 million on rent, according to new report on the financial state of the historic destination
An anticipated report on the state of vendor leases at El Pueblo is out. Vendors of Olvera Street, which is a marketplace inside the El Pueblo historic city park and tourist destination, recently sat down with mayoral candidate Nithya Raman to air their concerns that the city has been failing to do enough upkeep at the attraction, even as the city welcomes people for the World Cup, and in a couple years for the Olympics. The report lays out the conditions of the park’s facilities, and the financial challenges faced by vendors who have been behind on rent by a total of around $1.3 million.
The report noted that while there are various significant upgrades needed in the park’s facilities, including at historic sites like the Pico House (the former home of the last Mexican governor of California), “many legacy merchant families remain committed to El Pueblo, reflecting the site’s enduring cultural significance and long-term potential. Stabilizing site conditions remains critical to supporting these businesses and preserving the character of Olvera Street.”
Some of these financial challenges were brought up in May, during budget deliberations as well, and this new report, dated June 15, 2026, similarly said that vendors are dealing with the “long-term impacts of the COVID19 pandemic, ongoing site conditions, reduced tourism and visitor-ship, broader economic challenges affecting small businesses, and other external factors that have negatively impacted merchant revenue and financial stability.”
Some vendors The LA Reporter spoke to during their meeting with Raman last month said that numerous tenants have left, but vacant stalls have yet to be filled, and this has caused them to feel as though city officials have abandoned them. One of the longtime tenants, a restaurant called La Golondrina that has been a spot for birthdays and special occasions, shuttered in recent years, despite efforts by other tenants to step in to help keep it alive. And the operator of a burro statue that tourists could take photos with also faced an imminent eviction.
The report came as the result of a motion authored by Council member Ysabel Jurado that described the businesses at El Pueblo as “multi-generational enterprises relying on in-person commerce.”
“While emergency measures and gradual reopening helped stabilize these losses, the pandemic exposed structural vulnerabilities and underscored the need for sustained investment and flexible policies to ensure El Pueblo’s long-term economic and cultural resilience,” the motion read.