What's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin

Since a critical U.S. Supreme Court ruling last summer, public officials have been rushing to drastically expand criminalization of homelessness. It's a cynical move, spending a fortune on making homelessness less visible while actually making the crisis much worse, and much harder to solve.

In this episode, Mike talks with Alex Visotsky of the National Alliance to End Homelessness about the growing push to criminalize homelessness in California, and with John Raphling, author of a blistering Human Rights Watch report on how bad criminalization was in Los Angeles, even prior to the court decision.

Important links and further reading:

National Alliance to End Homelessness: https://endhomelessness.org/
Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/

NAEH - The Supreme Court Rules on Homelessness: https://endhomelessness.org/blog/the-supreme-court-rules-on-homelessness-what-it-all-means/

"You Have to Move" - HRW report - https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/08/14/you-have-move/cruel-and-ineffective-criminalization-unhoused-people-los-angeles

Mike Bonin - Tough Talk, Bad Policy: https://mikebonin.substack.com/p/tough-talk-bad-policy

Planetizen: California Cities Intensify Criminalization of Unhoused Residents: https://www.planetizen.com/news/2024/09/131753-california-cities-intensify-criminalization-unhoused-residents

Alex Visotsky - @alexvisotzky on Twitter

There are more than 3 million Democratic voters in Los Angeles County. Who decides which candidate gets the party’s endorsement? Or where the party spends its money? How is the local party negotiating tensions between progressives and moderates? I talk with Mark Ramos, the chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. A former grocery worker and current head of UFCW 1428, Ramos is determined to bring people into the party, and find common ground with fellow union members who have voted for Trump.

Did California Governor Gavin Newson kill efforts to save newspapers from Big Tech?  A few weeks ago, Newsom announced a deal with Google that effectively killed legislation to force Google, Meta and other big tech firms to compensate news organizations for making money off their products. He announced the state would enter into a sort of private-partnership with Google and Open AI -- just as a federal court was declaring Google an illegal monopoly.

What the hell happened? Mike Bonin talks with Matt Pearce of the Media Guild of the West, on the latest episode of What’s Next, Los Angeles?

LINKS
California's Deal With Big Tech on Newsroom Funding Kills Revenue-Sharing Legislation (KQED)

The News Business Really Is Cratering (Politico)

Notes on a Dying Form (Annenberg)

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce
https://mattdpearce.substack.com/

Media Guild of the West

It was just a year ago that Los Angeles was the focus nationally and internationally of the Hot Labor Summer of 2023. With workers in various industries taking to the streets and demanding better pay and working conditions, and with overwhelming public support, the message was clear: Los Angeles is a labor town.

But it wasn't always that way. Los Angeles was once known as one of the most anti-union cities in the country. On this Labor Day weekend, Kent Wong of the UCLA Labor Center walks us through the ups and downs of the history of organized labor in Los Angeles -- and reveals how victories and losses here shaped the labor movement nationally.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

UCLA Labor Center

Memory Work Los Angeles

Cal Federation of Labor - Labor History

LA Stories: Labor Movements in Los Angeles

Miguel Contreras: Legacy of a Labor Leader

Mike Garcia and the Justice for Janitors Movement

From Coors to California: David Sickler and the New Working Class

Voices from the Front Lines: Organizing Immigrant Workers in Los Angeles

From Mission to Microchip: A History of California Labor by Fred Glass (book)

Marqueece Harris-Dawson becomes Los Angeles City Council President September 20. Who is he, and how does he intend to lead? In this episode, he talks at length with Mike about Los Angeles, Black politics and multiracial coalitions, unarmed crisis response, homelessness, housing, preparing for the Olympics, and a lot more!
 

Links & Additional Reading

Marqueece Harris-Dawson Bio

MHD Off the Record Podcast

L.A. Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson wins the council presidency, will replace Krekorian

Destination Crenshaw:

A week after polls closed, the results of a lot of elections are becoming and apparent, and there have been some wild developments! There have been blowouts, nail-biters and big surprises, and Alissa Walker and Godfrey Plata join Mike Bonin to review and discuss it all.  The resounding victory of Measure HLA. An edge-of-your-seats finale to the Nithya Raman re-election campaign.  A huge surge for progressives in multiple races. A closely watched anti-gay campaign in Glendale. And a helluva lot more.

Check the chapter markers to find the segments of the show you're most interested in.

One of the most high-profile races on the ballot is the one for Los Angeles County District Attorney, where incumbent George Gascon – a progressive reformer – is being challenged by a large field of candidates.

What does a District Attorney really do? How does the position impact criminal justice? How much does it impact crime, and in what ways? And what is a progressive prosecutor? Why is reform needed and what does it look like? In this episode, we talk about that and more, including why it important – crucial even – to re-elect George Gascon. 

Mike talks with Marissa Roy, the podcast’s resident legal analyst, as well as Tracee Porter, who has been through the criminal justice system, and talks about what harms it caused her, and the rest of society. 

In Los Angeles, there is a deadly crisis on our streets. People from all walks of life – grandparents, elementary school children, service workers, pastors, artists – are falling victim to a rampant killer. Incredibly, elected officials are doing almost nothing about it, but voters can change that – right now.

The killer is traffic violence, and it is on the rise. In 2023, 337 people were killed in automobile crashes in Los Angeles. It’s the worst year on record, with more people dying from car crashes than from murder. In fact, car crashes are the number killer of children in Los Angeles County. An additional 1,559 people were severely injured last year. Voting yes on the Healthy Streets initiative – Measure HLA – would be a huge step to address this crisis and keep our streets safe.

In this episode, Mike talks with Michael Schneider of Streets for All, the lead proponent of the measure. They discuss what it would do, why it is necessary, and how the opposition if full of lies and exaggerations.

You've seen the waves of anti-LGBTQ+ hate in Florida and other places, but did you know it is happening right here in Greater Los Angeles? For the past few years, anti-LGBTQ+ hate has been growing, thanks to the influence of Proud Boys, J6 insurrectionists, and right-wing provocateurs with groups like LibsofTikTok and Gays Against Groomers.  And now, two of the leaders of the anti-LGBTQ+ movement, which has been terrorizing parents, students, teachers and school officials, are running for seats on the Glendale School Board.

In this episode, Mike talks about what has happened over the past few years with parent Angie Givant, teacher Alicia Harris and LGBTQ+ activist and GUSD alum Erik Adamian. And then later in the show, Angie and Alicia will join me to talk about the dynamics and the particulars of the school board race.

Further Information

GUSD Parents for Public Schools website
GUSD Parents for Public Schools  twitter
GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society

WNLA: Who is Really Behind the Anti-LGBTQ+ protests in LA? (June 12, 2023)
Guardian: ‘Chaos campaign’: how an Armenian enclave became the center of an anti-LGBTQ+ battle
Daily Beast: How Far-Right Extremists Are Targeting Pro-LGBT Schools
Glendale News-Press: Advocates Denounce Hate Speech, Harassment Across GUSD

The Real Jordan Henry: Extremist in Glendale
The Real Aneta Krpekyan

The last in my series of 2024 primary election candidate spotlights: Heather Hutt

Since 2020, L.A.'s 10th council district has had a revolving cast of councilmembers, both elected and appointed. The City Council appointed Heather Hutt to fill the post in September 2022. She is now running to represent the district as its elected councilmember.

Before serving on the council. Hutt served in senior roles for several public officials, most notably as state director for then-US Senator Kamala Harris, chief of staff to Councilmember Herb Wesson, and district director to state Assemblymember and Senator Isadore Hall. She has the endorsement of Mayor Bass, the council’s progressive bloc, and also the council’s most conservative members. She was born and raised in the 10th district – and she is also a single mother to 3 sons that she raised in the 10th district.

She and I served together on the council for about 90 days at one of the most politically tumultuous times in modern LA history.

Her website is here: https://www.heatherhutt.com/