Thursday's Headlines: Chartering a new-ish path for L.A.

After a racist scandal sparked calls for charter reform in 2022, there was great hope that the city might be broken up into more districts, that ethics safeguards and oversight mechanisms would be fortified, and that L.A. would finally adopt a capital infrastructure program, among many, many other things. That hope has since been tempered. Council expansion was punted. Ranked choice voting, the splitting up of the City Attorney’s office into an elected city prosecutor and an appointed city attorney, and the City Controller’s efforts to boost his office’s capacity for oversight never really got off the ground. And many of the more ambitious attempts to reshape the charter got relegated to further study. Still, yesterday’s marathon council session did yield significant some significant outcomes and will send a number of charter amendments and a Measure ULA amendment to the November ballot for voter approval.

L.A. could finally adopt a Capital Infrastructure Program, which would greatly enhance the city’s capacity to plan, budget, implement, and maintain infrastructure improvements at the city-wide level over the long term.
Parks funding is also on the way to getting a major boost, with an amendment that would double the department’s guaranteed budget allocation from 0.0325 percent to 0.0650 percent (with a 10-year ramp-up). (LA Public Press)
Council oversight of LAPD is moving forward in starts and fits. The proposed amendment that would allow council to set LAPD policy – a responsibility that currently falls to the Board of Police Commissioners, the members of which are appointed by the mayor – will appear on the November ballot.
But an amendment that would have allowed the Police Chief to fire problem officers was effectively thwarted by the Police Union’s refusal to respond to five meet-and-confers requested by the City Attorney. The amendment isn’t completely dead – it’s been sent to an Ad Hoc committee which will meet in August, and could appear on a future ballot. But the union successfully ran out the clock for the November ballot, much to the outrage of CM Hugo Soto-Martinez.
The measure proposed by CM Soto-Martinez to give noncitizens the right to vote in L.A. elections is also headed for the ballot. (LAT)
Also making a November ballot appearance: Measure ULA: In about-face, LA council votes to pursue a ballot measure for ‘mansion tax’ reforms (LAist, LAT)
Keeping up with all the madness was a Herculean task. Check out the twitter feeds of Rob Quan/@UnrigLA (see also @FairRepLA) and Liz Chou of the L.A. Squawk Box for their live coverage of the amendment process.

In other news

Shelter in place orders may have been lifted, but the Eastside is still reeling from massive fire and toxic smoke that blackened yesterday’s skies (KTLA, CBSLA, NBCLA). What does it mean for air quality? (LAT) The sheer size and reach of the black cloud had local advocates thinking about toxic plumes from Exide, the former battery plant that showered the community with lead for years. (EYCEJ)
Passengers ‘Ride the D’ — and other Metro lines — in droves as World Cup mania sweeps SoCal (LAT)
Inglewood and Metro respond to viral complaints that the World Cup blocked them from their homes (LA Local).
Today’s match is The Most L.A. World Cup Game Ever (KCRW)
California won’t consider L.A.’s request for extra time on $100M in street improvement projects (LAist)
Police ID driver suspected in car chase rampage that ended with 8 pedestrians hurt (NBCLA)
Oxnard man charged with murder for PCH crash in Ventura that killed two cyclists and injured a third (KTLA)
Judge: Councilmember Price Ex-Field Deputy’s Whistleblower Suit Can Proceed (Daily News)
Pasadena Council Got Little Warning before Army Exercise at St. Luke’s, Police Chief Acknowledges (Pasadena Now)
Long Beach unveils early designs for new Pride Plaza, LGBTQ+ district (Long Beach Post)
Glendale approves L.A. River bridge to Griffith Park (Urbanize LA)
More Than 770,000 Children Are No Longer Receiving SNAP Benefits After Trump Changes Federal Food Program (ProPublica)

And finally in L.A.-as-backdrop-for-federal-grandstanding news:

With Border Patrol’s Greg Bovino moving on to white supremacist pastures, F.A. US Attorney Bill Essayli, via the DEA, seems to have been tasked with filling the weird propaganda void Bovino left. A DEA reel of the “enforcement operation” at the park last night shows a number of armored vehicles, lots of heavily armed agents and officers walking and standing around on corners, and, finally, a couple of discarded needles in the grass. It’s being done with LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell’s blessing: 55 officers joined the 60 DEA agents on scene (NBCLA). Per statements by Essayli and reporting by ABC7, this third phase of operation “Free MacArthur Park” was allegedly focused on quality of life violations and moving people into drug treatment. Which is one of the reasons LAPD cooperation is so essential to the optics. The feds don’t prosecute those kinds of violations, but the arrest numbers make the sweeps look and sound much more impactful.

Speaking of arrests, Essayli continues to put out misinformation to justify such a large show of force. KTLA, who was invited to embed themselves with the feds, breathlessly reported last night that there were eight felony drug arrests. ABC7 today reports the 13 arrests LAPD made were actually for drinking in public and other quality of life violations.
It’s not the first time Essayli has muddied the waters during this operation. See this thread breaking down the effort to frame former peace ambassador Michael Alvarez – picked up by LAPD for having body armor – as a kingpin shot caller for 18th Street.

Listen to the locals: MacArthur Park nurtured generations of soccer players. Now its fields are about the World Cup (LAist). Catch a showing of the film Pelé in the park tonight.
Daily Memo: DHS Arrests Activists in Minneapolis As ICE Ramps Up Again Across Southern California (LA TACO)

See national headlines at Streetsblog USA, state headlines at Streetsblog CA