LA Podcast

Garcetti endorses Biden and a machine is activated. At least 50 people who are homeless are cleared out of Sepulveda Basin, along with several other sweeps. Garcetti and the Trump administration approach a quiet deal on homelessness. And Newsom's budget is out, along with an endorsement of SB50, which got some changes.

The LAPD lets us know they're on high alert after Trump's killing of General Soleimani. Chief Michel Moore has words for hit-and-run drivers. Sheriff Alex Villanueva is disappointed in the media online. And SB50 is back on the table.

A decade of high rents in LA. An environmental review of the Clippers arena in Inglewood comes out. And Alissa, Scott, and Hayes look at the most representative stories of 2019, evaluate their wishes from last year, and make some new ones.

The Sheriff's department opens a very invasive investigation on a movie producer-turned-activist! Weed entrepreneurs are mad about the application process for city licenses! Property owners are using a new mechanism to kick out tenants! LA and the Trump Administration plan their next moves after the Supreme Court declines to review Martin vs. Boise! And the Mayor of Inglewood gets accused of haras...

Scott, Alissa and Hayes talk about an LA general contractor with some recent money issues, a new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the closure of LA's board and care homes, Alissa's list of how cities failed us this decade, plus some good news and LA's most underrated museums.

The chair of an air quality board scoffs at the Flyaway bus, the head of LAHSA steps down, Councilman John Lee goes on a tear, Trump appoints a homelessness czar who specializes in camps, and LA takes the case for arresting people who are homeless to the Supreme Court -- Alissa, Scott and Hayes discuss all this and more.

Alissa, Scott and Hayes talk about snow, Thanksgiving traffic, emergency shelters, Herb Wesson stepping down as Council President, the percent of City Council votes that are unanimous, Wesson's latest campaign ad, a cancelled bus shelter contract, a new wrinkle in the Huizar saga, and that vacancy rate report.

Scott and Hayes talk to the great JESSICA MEANEY of Investing in Place on the need and the path to building out a network of dedicated bus lanes all over the city. But first: a series of homelessness columns by Steve Lopez and a study about vacant units.

Alissa, Scott and Hayes talk about the CA Dem Convention, the evolving status of street vendors, the new phase of the Marciano Union protest, the #PayUpHollywood movement, a new buck-passing anti-homelessness proposal, and the tragedy at Saugus High in Santa Clarita.

Alissa and Hayes are joined by HALEY POTIKER and RACHEL REYES of Fair Workweek LA, the movement to change how retail jobs work in the city. But first -- Southern California cities chose how to allocate their housing, and coastal cities are getting a lot more. A group of museum employees attempted to unionize, and what happened next was dramatic. The Public Utilities Commission moved to keep some n...

Why is prestige media declaring that California is unlivable? How did the first few days of the A Line go? What did the LA Times Guild achieve with their ratified deal? Who's covered by the City Council's new rent gouging fund? Did that LAX-It rollout really go that badly? But first: the most action-packed LA Story yet.

Little fires everywhere in LA County this week, but much bigger ones in the Bay Area -- what lessons can we learn from those fires and the report on what went wrong during the Woolsey Fire? Herb Wesson's son got breaks on his rent because Wesson was helping the developer -- why will probably nothing come of this? Plus new shade umbrellas on bus benches, Katie Hill's evolving crisis, more corruptio...

A deadly week on Los Angeles's streets -- what roads should we be making car free? As AB 1482 moves toward implementation, how is the City Council protecting renters from revenge evictions? Vox publishes an article about how LA is looking to safe parking as a homelessness solution -- are we really? Plus the controversy over AB 5, the victory of the LA Times Union's bargaining team, and a controver...

The Saddleridge Fire forces tens of thousands to evacuate. Gavin Newsom gets his veto pen out and uses it on a complete streets bill. The LAPD changes its ways thanks to an LA Times investigation. And we talk to Times reporters BENJAMIN ORESKES and DOUG SMITH about their eye-opening new analysis of LAHSA's Homeless Count data.

A bunch of presidential candidates blew through town. Uber and Lyft get thrown off the LAX horseshoe. A freeway in the middle of nowhere finally got scrapped. The state made big moves toward a public bank. The 2nd District County Supervisor race pulls in big money. Kathryn Barger takes a firefighting helicopter to work. Scott and Hayes discuss these things!

County supervisors freeze funding for the sheriff's department! Metro board members use Measure M money to pay the South Bay's Internet bill! The City Council brings up 41.18 again! And the Expo Line moves toward signal preemption!

Ed Buck is finally arrested -- what took so long? AB5 is passed -- what happens next? Trump came and left -- how did our local officials respond? A South LA development gets slammed -- what is the council president doing about it? Plus a few pieces of good news from last week.

We're joined by Ciclavia Chief Strategist TAFARAI BAYNE, trauma-informed care educator CHAVONNE TAYLOR, and Streetsblog writer SAHRA SULAIMAN for a conversation about Nipsey Hussle: his work, his legacy, the aftermath of his death, and what he meant to them. But first: the President is threatening to bulldoze people who are homeless into federal camps, and almost no LA elected officials seem alarm...

A full-episode interview with Los Angeles City Councilmember MIKE BONIN. We talk with the Councilmember about a nonprofit's campaign to fight the city over a density program, his recent break with the rest of the council over homelessness criminalization policies, and why a record-cheap solar deal is being held up.

Scott and Alissa talk to LA Times reporter MAYA LAU about Sheriff Alex Villanueva's busy couple months. Before that: John Lee gets right to work on the city council, the city wants to pull encampments off the hills, the Controller gives LAHSA a failing grade, and Paul Koretz opens up to Curbed about scooters.

A Lancaster deputy shooting is revealed to have been fake, the amount of new housing Southern California has to build is revealed to be huge, a French restaurant in Echo Park is revealed to be sold to a luxury developer, the new version of LA's sidewalk-sleeping laws are revealed to be cruel and unconstitutional, and a new elite scooter enforcement squad is revealed by Paul Koretz.

Alissa and Hayes are joined by the NRDC's CARTER RUBIN (@CarterRubin) to talk about the results of last Tuesday's special City Council election, the racist serial killer that didn't make the news, the City of Industry kicking out a third of its residents for political reasons, the LA city planner who was too eager to become a lobbyist, the newest turns in the AHF/Amoeba Civil War, and Carter's tho...

What Stephen Ross-owned properties do we have to boycott in LA? What amenities can you expect in your new $7,000-a-month downtown one-bedroom? Whose house did Mayor Garcetti ask the fire department to check on during the Woolsey fire? Why are so many city councilmembers staying out of the CD12 race? Why did USC not respond to complaints about yet another rapist doctor? And what is the current stat...

City Hall re-re-criminalizes sleeping in cars, and Mayor Garcetti's office has a woman's cart thrown away after she posed with him for a photo op. Uber and Lyft sweat the possible passage of AB 5, and high-speed rail might come to LA, but a lot slower and shorter. Guest ALBERT CORADO joins Scott and Hayes to talk about preserving his sister Mely's memory after she was killed by LAPD at Trader Joe'...

The FBI raids the DWP and City Hall again, turns out the LAPD and the city were investigating Nipsey Hussle all along (and still are), SoCalGas set up a "grassroots" front group to get people excited about balanced energy solutions, another group fights to preserve the historic Amoeba building, and the NYT is going to LA summer camp.