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As government transparency advocate Rob Quan stepped up to the microphone at Tuesday’s Los Angeles City Council meeting, the names of the 13 council members in attendance appeared on an oversized television screen.
The reality was quite different.
Only six of the council’s 15 members were seated: Councilmen Eunieth Hernandez, Tim McCosker, Imelda Padilla, Monica Rodriguez, Hugo Soto Martinez and John Lee, who was serving as council chair for a time. A seventh, Katie Yaroslavsky, stood next to a pillar on the council floor.
The City Charter requires a two-thirds majority of City Council members to be present for a quorum, so 10 council members must be present to conduct business.
But as The Times previously reported, the City Council’s definition of “current” is a bit flexible.
Council members are considered to be in the chamber if they are in a nearby restroom, where the meeting is heard, or if they are in one of the two back conference rooms, the press room, the snack room, or the copy room, where council meetings are heard.
And voters don’t even have to sit down to vote, because the voting system will automatically record a “yes” unless they manually change it to “no.”
For those watching Congress, whether from the gallery or via live coverage, it can be hard to know where lawmakers go when they leave the chamber. On Tuesday, Quan suspected some lawmakers weren’t actually in the chamber, so he went to the courtyard across the hall and found two lawmakers, Heather Hutt and Kevin de Leon, attending a Juneteenth reception.
That means neither should be considered present at the board meeting. It’s not clear where the other council members were while Quan was talking about several proposals, including funding for the city’s ethics commission.
In an interview, Quan said the parliament’s attendance system “undermines the value of public opinion.”
“They should listen to the public on this matter,” he said.
Over the past few months, City Council members have discussed a series of possible government reforms, including cutting meetings, increasing fines for ethics violations and expanding the size of the City Council. The efforts are also a response to a series of high-profile corruption scandals at City Hall and secretly recorded conversations between De Leon and other politicians that included racist comments.
Still, some say full reform of the City Council won’t be possible unless council members improve how they interact with citizens. Former Santa Monica Mayor Michael Feinstein said keeping council members in their seats while listening to public input is a key part of that.
Feinstein said it’s “very disrespectful” to keep city council members out of the room while people are speaking, and she also addressed the many council seats vacant on Tuesday. Speaking on behalf of the Los Angeles County Green Party, Feinstein called on the city to switch to “ranked” voting, which allows voters to cast their ballots according to their preferences, rather than choosing just one candidate.
“Even if they have the legal quorum, if there’s no one there, it shows they don’t really care about the public’s opinion,” he told The Times.
Hugh Esten, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Paul Krekorian, said in a statement that council members can hear what is happening in many nearby communities thanks to a small speaker that broadcasts audio from the meetings.
“Ongoing meetings, including public comments, can be heard very clearly on the audio systems in these spaces,” he said.
Mandy Morales, a legislative assistant to the city clerk, told The Times that once the speaker notifies the clerk of a council member’s resignation, the council member’s name is removed from the board.
De Leon ended up attending part of Quan’s testimony on Tuesday. When asked about Quan’s complaint on Friday, he decried the complaint, saying Quan, who has sometimes mocked city council members on social media, was “not in good health,” and declined to comment further. Hutt’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Complaints about vacant seats are not new. More than a decade ago, then-Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson was seen smoking a cigarette outside City Hall during a vote count. During another vote count, former City Council member and now county supervisor Janice Hahn was seen attending a meeting with a lobbyist in a back room.
Although the council members were not present in the meeting, they were marked as present in the automated voting system and therefore counted as a “yes” vote.
The controversy comes as city council members have become particularly frustrated with public comment periods, which can be not only tricky but can also get ugly at times.
Yaroslavsky, who has called for a reduction in the number of rallies, cited racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic comments made by audience members, some of whom frequently shout, use foul language and make derogatory remarks about the appearance and clothing of government officials.
Quan’s group, UnLive LA, asked candidates in the March primary about whether city council members can be counted as present when they meet with lobbyists behind the scenes, and about the automated voting system.
Among those responding to Anrig’s survey was Adrin Nazarian, a potential candidate to replace Krekorian, who is stepping down due to term limits at the end of the year. Nazarian called the rule “worrisome” and said he would push for a review of the rule.
Nazarian’s opponent, business owner Jillian Burgos, called the program “completely unethical” in a survey.
“Each council member must be present to vote,” she wrote. “As members of the Neighborhood Council we are required to be present and we should follow the same rules at the city level.”
current situation
— Charter Change: The Los Angeles City Council voted this week to create a citizens commission to amend the City Charter, which spells out the roles of city offices, agencies and elected officials. The commission will recommend changes to present to voters in November 2026.
— Convention Center Upgrades: A City Council committee has taken the first step in approving an expansion of the Convention Center, a project expected to cost the city $4.78 billion over 30 years. City leaders are looking to upgrade the facility in time for the 2028 Olympic Games and plan to spend up to $54.4 million to determine whether renovations are feasible.
— Restoration efforts: Can Oceanwide Plaza, a series of empty, graffiti-covered high-rises a few blocks from the convention center, still be restored? Or is it time to demolish it? The Times explored the options.
— Graffiti is gone: Meanwhile, a group of Van Nuys residents celebrated the removal of graffiti from a vacant building on Sepulveda Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. City Councilwoman Imelda Padilla, who represents the area, said through an aide that her office had ordered the building cleaned up.
— POLICE PHOTO RECOVERY: The City of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit with a journalist and activist group that obtained and published photos of LAPD officers. Lawyers for City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto asked the court to order freelancer Ben Camacho and the Coalition to Stop LAPD Spies to return the photos of officers performing sensitive duties, remove them from the internet, and prevent them from being published in the future.
— Saving on Meals on Wheels for Seniors: Los Angeles’ Emergency Senior Meals on Wheels program, launched to help low-income and housebound seniors during the pandemic, is set to end this fall. The City Council is debating whether to find funding to continue the program, which serves about 5,800 participants.
— Raising funds: The potential for climate change bonds is all the rage in Sacramento. Mayor Karen Bass wrote state leaders this month asking for about $1 billion in climate change bonds to pay for infrastructure improvements at the Port of Los Angeles, stormwater harvesting and Los Angeles River projects on the city’s east side. Bass spokeswoman Clara Karger said Bass is also seeking funding for the Sepulveda Basin and emergency heatwave mitigation.
— KDL IN THE HOUSE: Two years ago, President Biden called on City Councilman Kevin de Leon to resign in the wake of the audio leak scandal. But de Leon showed up at a major Biden reelection fundraiser last weekend to argue that too much is at stake to let Trump win. Days later, de Leon celebrated Juneteenth by calling for Pershing Square to be renamed after Biddy Mason, a former slave who became an unsung hero of Los Angeles.
— Isabel on the move: KDL’s opponent, tenant rights lawyer Isabel Jurado, is also on the move, and has been heavily involved in large-scale Door-to-door event in Highland Park Also appearing were council members Eunises Hernandez and Hugo Soto Martinez, who are supporting her. Celebrating the support He is president of the Los Angeles County Labor Federation, a group that once had close ties to Mr. de Leon.
— The defense: Since taking office, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has been sued by 20 prosecutors over workplace retaliation. DA employees say they were pushed out of leadership positions or relegated to less-than-desirable assignments because they challenged the legality of Gascón’s progressive policies and directives from his first day in office.
— ANIMAL ATTACK: A Van Nuys woman whose arm was amputated in an attack by a dog she adopted from the city’s animal shelter will receive up to $7.5 million in a settlement from the city. Algeria Alvarado, 74, was seriously injured in September 2020 after being attacked by a pit bull named Oggy.
— High rents: A survey of more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ residents released this week found that most say Los Angeles County is a great place to live, but many question whether they can afford to stay. LGBTQ+ people also experience food insecurity and homelessness at a disproportionate rate compared to residents of other counties, the survey found.
— Utilities: LAT’s Boiling Point newsletter recently sat down with the Department of Water and Power’s new Secretary, Janisse Quiñones, to discuss the department’s clean energy goals, the transition to hydrogen energy, and her track record in the private sector.
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Quick Hit
Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s program to combat homelessness was located at the intersection of 10th Avenue and Gramercy Place, represented by City Council Member Katy Yaroslavsky.
On next week’s agenda: The City Council is scheduled to vote on Nov. 5 on a proposal to overhaul the Los Angeles Police Department’s disciplinary system.
keep in touch
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