Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record \u2014 our City Hall newsletter. It\u2019s Noah Goldberg, with an assist from Libor Jany, giving you the latest on city and county government. <\/p>\n
How do you spot a journalist?<\/p>\n
The question lies at the center of a legal battle between Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto and the Los Angeles Press Club, as well as a political battle between Feldstein Soto and the City Council.<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago council members<\/a> called on her to give up her opposition to a federal judge\u2019s order prohibiting LAPD officers from targeting journalists with crowd control weapons. According to the press club, dozens of journalists were excluded from public areas or attacked by police<\/a> during chaotic summer protests against the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown. <\/p>\n Despite the slap down by the council, Feldstein Soto hopes to press forward. This week, in a confidential attorney-client memo shared with The Times by a source, she stressed to the council why she still wants to appeal the judge\u2019s preliminary injunction, which she says makes virtually anyone a journalist.<\/p>\n In the injunction, U.S. District Judge Hern\u00e1n Vera proposes \u201cindicia\u201d for LAPD officers to identify journalists, which include wearing distinctive clothing or carrying professional photographic equipment.<\/p>\n But the City Attorney\u2019s Office, which is representing the city in the case, sees future issues.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem with this vague definition is that anyone can claim they are a Journalist under the court\u2019s definition,\u201d Supervising Assistant City Atty. Shaun Dabby Jacobs wrote in the memo. \u201cAll a person needs to do is print out a badge that says \u2018Press,\u2019 or carry a camera … and they can go behind police line or into other restricted areas.\u201d<\/p>\n The memo asks what clothing might identify a person as a journalist. \u201cIs it simply that the person is wearing a suit or professional work dress? … It would be very easy for someone who is not a member of the media and is intent on causing trouble or harm to other peaceful protesters or to the LAPD, to pose as a journalist since they have some of these \u2018indicia of being a Journalist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Vera\u2019s injunction imposes more onerous conditions on when police can use \u201cless lethal\u201d weapons than state law does, the memo also argued, allowing the \u201cless lethal\u201d force only when \u201cdanger has reached the point where deadly force is justified.\u201d<\/p>\n The injunction also creates issues if the LAPD calls on mutual aid organizations, like the sheriff\u2019s department or federal partners, since it applies only to the city\u2019s police, the memo said. \u201cThe city could potentially be liable for our law enforcement partners\u2019 actions if they act in a manner inconsistent with the terms of the injunction.\u201d <\/p>\n All in all, the memo said, the judge\u2019s injunction amounts to a \u201cconsent decree.\u201d<\/p>\n With the nine-page memo in hand, Feldstein Soto headed to a closed session with the council Tuesday. Tempers flared when she and Chief Deputy City Atty. Denise Mills suggested that the press club\u2019s lawyer, Carol Sobel, took on the case only to make money, according to two City Hall sources. (Feldstein Soto\u2019s spokesperson, Karen Richardson, said the city attorney does not comment on closed session conversations but added that Feldstein Soto \u201cabsolutely did not say that.\u201d)<\/p>\n Many council members, including Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, came to Sobel\u2019s defense, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to restrain myself right now,\u201d Sobel said when she heard about the claim from Mills and the city attorney. \u201cI\u2019m really outraged. It is a baseless suggestion, and it doesn\u2019t alter the fact that they\u2019re shooting people in the head. Whether I get paid or not, they\u2019re shooting people in the head.\u201d<\/p>\n Sobel said she has taken on pro bono work frequently over her 40-year career and that when she is paid, it is partially to help fund future pro bono work.<\/p>\n Susan Seager, who also represents the press club in the case, took issue with Feldstein Soto\u2019s continued pursuit of an appeal.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a cop wannabe,\u201d Seager said. \u201cShe\u2019s just a fake Democrat doing what [LAPD] Chief Jim McDonnell wants her to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Richardson said Feldstein Soto has been a Democrat since 1976 and never worked with the police before she became the city attorney.<\/p>\n You\u2019re reading the L.A. on the Record newsletter State of play<\/p>\n \u2014 FIRE BOMBSHELL: Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters told a battalion chief that parts of a New Year\u2019s Day fire in Pacific Palisades still were smoldering the next day<\/a>, according to text messages. Firefighters were told to leave anyway, and the blaze reignited on Jan. 7, killing 12 and burning thousands of homes. Interim LAFD Chief Ronnie Villanueva said the Palisades fire was not caused by \u201cfailed suppression\u201d of the New Year\u2019s blaze.<\/p>\n The story in The Times led to a tweet from sports critic Bill Simmons (bet you didn\u2019t expect to see his name in bold in this newsletter!) blasting the city\u2019s \u201cindefensibly bad leadership,<\/a>\u201d which predictably led to a quote tweet from none other than Rick Caruso, who called Simmons\u2019 tweet \u201cspot on.\u201d \u201cThe buck stops with Mayor Bass,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u2014 TRASH ATTACK: Mayoral candidate Austin Beutner attacked Mayor Karen Bass<\/a> over the rising cost of city services for Angelenos, calling out the City Council\u2019s vote to increase trash collection fees. The mayor\u2019s campaign responded that the hike was long overdue. \u201cNobody was willing to face the music and request the rate hikes,\u201d said Doug Herman, spokesperson for Bass\u2019 campaign.<\/p>\n \u2014 SAYONARA, SANITATION: The city\u2019s top Bureau of Sanitation executive, Barbara Romero, stepped down this week<\/a>. Romero, who was appointed by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2021, touted the agency\u2019s accomplishments, including increasing sewer fees and championing the construction of a water purification facility expected to recharge the San Fernando Valley groundwater aquifer.<\/p>\n \u2014 FREE(WAY) AT LAST: A judge agreed to place 29 protesters who shut down the southbound 110 Freeway in 2023<\/a> into a 12-month diversion program, which would require 20 hours of community service each. If the protesters, who were demonstrating against Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, comply and don\u2019t break other laws, they will have their criminal charges dropped<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u2014 PHOTO BLOCK: L.A. County is trying to block a journalist<\/a> from obtaining photographs of about 8,500 sheriff\u2019s deputies and other sworn personnel in the department. The dispute centers on a public records request filed by journalist Cerise Castle in 2023 asking for the names and official headshots of all deputies not working undercover. An L.A. Superior Court judge ordered the release of the photos, but the county is appealing.<\/p>\n \u2014 A DOZEN BUSTED: Federal prosecutors announced charges against 12 people<\/a> who allegedly assaulted law enforcement officers during the chaotic protests this summer against the Trump administration\u2019s immigration raids. Many of the charges stem from demonstrators throwing items at police from a freeway overpass on June 8. <\/p>\n \u2014 CANDIDATE ALERT: A new candidate has thrown his hat in the ring to be the city\u2019s next controller. Zach Sokoloff works for Hackman Capital Partners, serving as \u201cAsset Manager of the firm\u2019s Television City Studios and Radford Studio Center.\u201d Sokoloff is running against incumbent Kenneth Mejia as well as veteran politician Isadore Hall<\/a>.<\/p>\n QUICK HITSWhere is Inside Safe? There were no Inside Safe operations this week. The mayor\u2019s team held a virtual town hall with Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky to engage with residents near nine operations in the West L.A. area, according to the mayor\u2019s office.
On the docket next week: Councilmember Curren Price will be in Los Angeles Superior Court for the preliminary hearing in his criminal case. The hearing is expected to last about five days.Stay in touch<\/p>\n