LA Squawk Box for Wednesday, October 21, 2026: Mayor Karen Bass says people hit with high LADWP bills won’t have to worry about utility shutoffs, for now

Also, Raman apologizes for Gates gaffe, and Supes Barger and Mitchell say they won’t run for county ‘mayor’ seat.

What’s happening today?

Toronto-style bike lane barriers were on the Los Angeles City Council’s Transportation Committee agenda for its meeting at 8:30 a.m.

The spendy LA Convention Center expansion project was the topic of discussion for the LA city tourism board at 9 a.m.

The Sheriff’s Department’s military equipment inventory is being taken up by county officials at 9:30 a.m.

Severance star Adam Scott, comedy duo Cheech and Chong, musical artists and acts Karol G and Smashing Pumpkins, and race car driver Jimmie Johnson are just a few of the celebrities that could be recognized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, according to this morning’s Board of Public Works 10 a.m. meeting agenda. Also, a public toilet on Fifth and Hill is being decommissioned, and an overnight closure is being planned in November for a tunnel portion of Sepulveda Blvd so that some inspection can be done to prepare for an emergency repair.

LA city council members are expected to take up a proposal to go their own way on homelessness, through setting up a “continuum of care” for homeless services, at their 10 a.m. City Council meeting, which is also where they’re debating whether to try out Axon automated license plate reader cameras on light posts. [Update 2: The Axon item should actually be continued to next Tuesday's meeting on Oct. 27, which is the deadline for taking it up. The continuation was revised from Friday to Tuesday. Update: The Axon item got deferred to Friday’s meeting, at the request of Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson]

Los Angeles city police commission president Rasha Shields’s work conflicts are on the Ethics Commission agenda for 1 p.m. Shield’s is an attorney at Jones Day, a law firm retained by Axon, Motorola Metro – all of which have had major contracts unanimously approved by the Board of Police Commissioners, with her being absent for the votes due to the requirement that she recuse from them..

The Charter Review Committee is supposed to be talking through a game plan for tackling a broad slate of possible charter changes to place on the ballot in 2028, at 1 p.m. Robert Greene of Los Angeles Rules offers a catch-up on LA city charter things here.

LAUSD Superintendent Andrés Chait is expected to speak to an LA City Council committee at 2 p.m.

And finally, algorithmic rent setting practices is on the agenda for the Housing Committee meeting at 2 p.m.

What just happened?

Nithya Raman has been on a bit of an apology tour over name-dropping reviled former LAPD chief, Daryl Gates, in the NBC mayoral debate. She expressed her contrition at a meeting with the Watts Gang Task Force recently, according to POLITICO, and she also gave an apology on a podcast with Yesi Ortiz that was released yesterday.

Raman started Tuesday off announcing the support of LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, which is a score for her mayoral campaign, but also a development that sets up an alliance that’s tripped up her opponent Karen Bass’s tenure as mayor. Raman referenced the sometimes tense nature of the relationship between the city and county during the news conference yesterday, especially as it relates to homelessness. She gave her promise that she will treat that alliance with care, while also saying she believes Horvath will do the same. Raman said that trust is vital and “to build that trust requires engagement, requires work, requires hashing out the details. I’m willing to do that work. So is Lindsey Horvath.”

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday took up the latest recommendations on the new elected County Executive seat that’s set to be filled in 2028. This sets up a new mayor-like position at the county, one that will alter the role of the supervisors, who have long been the highest ranking elected officials in county government. That makes the supervisors’ decisions over the details of how this role will actually look like all the more interesting. Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who has long expressed unease about the governance changes (brought about by Measure G, which was championed by her colleague, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath), put out a statement saying that she is joining Kathryn Barger in pledging not to run for the elected county executive seat. Barger, pointing to the $558,000 annual salary for this elected seat and the lack of term limits, described whoever fills the the county executive seat as someone who “will be one of the most powerful and highly paid politicians in the entire state of California.”

Mayor Karen Bass, in her campaign mode, sat down for a talk with radio show host John KobyIt. You can catch up on it here.

Bass acted on some calls to do something about the high LADWP bills that have been sticker-shocking ratepayers across the city. She said Tuesday that people won’t have to worry about their utilities getting shut off, at least for now, if they aren’t able to pay their bills. You can read her full official statement here.