LA Squawk Box for Thursday, June 4, 2026

City Attorney's Office overspends on litigation and outside counsel, Nithya Raman gains on Spencer Pratt for mayoral race runoff spot, CM Jurado wants answers on tenant protection contracts, and more.

What’s happening today?

The LA City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee is meeting at 9 a.m. Among the numerous items on the agenda is the latest financial status report for the city, that City Administrative Officer released on Tuesday. It relays that the city has a shortfall of about $81.45 million due to overspending and unbudgeted expenses related to the fire department, city attorney litigation and outside counsel costs and the general services department… Among the more than 200 pages of this financial status report is a brief update on increased litigation and outside counsel costs in the City Attorney’s Office, which can be found on page 41. There’s also a list of unfunded budget requests that’s before the City Council, which can be found on page 230, totaling about $54 million.

The LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk will be releasing another update to the election results, as they continue to process outstanding ballots that have yet to be counted. The update should be posted to their election results page between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. The County Clerk will also update the number of outstanding ballots on their X account.

What just happened?

More indications of high turnout in LA County election: Turnout could be pretty high for Tuesday’s primary elections, based on the latest numbers released by the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk of outstanding ballots they still have to count. The turnout could be at least 36% countywide, although even that should increase once more mailed-in ballots are received. A reminder though that there were some warnings this year that ballots should be mailed in at least seven days before election day, which might or might not affect things depending on whether people were paying attention and heeding those warnings.

Nithya Raman, now in third place, moves closer to runoff spot in mayoral race: We may be starting to see a shift in the mayoral runoff line-up. Election night ended with Mayor Karen Bass and Spencer Pratt positioned to advance to a two-person match-up in November, but those figures were already expected to shift if we base things on how results have shifted dramatically in past elections once more ballots are counted. Council member Nithya Raman, while seemingly a distant third on election night, has started to close in on Pratt to snatch up the second place spot, posting a greater increase in Wednesday’s election results update than Pratt. The ballots being counted include vote-by-mail ballots deposited into ballot drop boxes and at vote centers on election day, so those who did that could have cast votes that may prove pivotal in any switch-ups in the election result rankings over the next few days.

Post-election, Nithya Raman sits out chairing Housing and Homelessness Committee: Raman, who spent the last several months sprinting through a last-minute mayoral run, sat out chairing the Housing and Homelessness Committee. That task was taken up by another member of the committee, Ysabel Jurado.

Controller’s opponent concedes: Zach Sokoloff posted a video on Wednesday conceding in the City Controller’s race, just before another election results update dropped, showing the already wide margin between him and incumbent, Kenneth Mejia, widening even further.

Unexplained delay on contracts for tenants services: Council member Ysabel Jurado’s motion asking for information about unexplained delays to contracts with groups and firms offering services to tenants just got referred to the Housing and Homelessness committee, although it’s unclear when the motion will actually get taken up.

Monterey Park voters ban data centers: The voter-approved measure in Monterey Park to ban data centers is considered the most permanent ban in the country in the sense that it would take another ballot measure in order to repeal it. Monterey Park already has an ordinance banning data centers on its books, but that can be changed with enough votes on the city council there. Groups that pushed for this ban are also fighting data centers in industrial areas like City of Industry, Vernon, Santa Fe Springs and City of Commerce.

Latest LA City Council motions include funding for sweeps, anti-camping zones, affordable housing and summer programming at MacArthur Park bandshell: Motions introduced at Wednesday’s City Council meeting include one by Council member Bob Blumenfield to fund CARE+ overtime costs; a couple of motions to issue bonds to finance affordable housing projects, with one going toward a 41-unit affordable housing project in the 14th Council District at the Lincoln Hotel Apartments, and another for a 46-unit multifamily project called Oatsie’s Place on Sherman Way in the 6th Council District; a motion to create a 41.18 anti-camping zone at North Hills Park in the 7th Council District; a couple motions by Council member Eunisses Hernandez to fund community needs, with one that calls for using funds from her 1st District Council office and philanthropic organizations to offer summer programming at the MacArthur Park bandshell, and another to provide funding for beautifying the Korean Youth and Community Center; and motion by Imelda Padilla to instruct the Tourism department to put together a plan for attracting bookings and programming for the LA Convention Center.

Business group shares update on electoral efforts: Central City Association of Los Angeles’s president Nella McOsker sent out a message in response to Tuesday’s election results, writing in an email saying that this week’s election results are built on what their group has been working toward over the past several election cycles, including two years ago when their political committee spent $1 million back on the 2024 primary and general elections. CCA’s PAC this year spent $4.7 million on just the primary election. McOsker wrote that “throughout these elections, we have been intentional about supporting candidates and causes focused on building more housing; investing in public safety, transportation, and infrastructure; and supporting the diverse businesses that provide jobs and put paychecks in Angelenos’ pockets.”

A couple of interesting reads… The LA Times’s music industry reporter August Brown gives some context to the music executives that gave money to to Spencer Pratt’s mayoral campaign. Veteran political journalist Robert Greene offers a theory as to why Matt Mahan’s gubernatorial bid fell flat, pointing to a longstanding history of politicians who have served as mayors of major cities, including Los Angeles, who have had trouble running for that seat.