L.A. CITY COUNCIL

Plastic Bag Ban for Los Angeles Is Back (Maybe)

Whatever happened to L.A.'s plastic-bag ban? Like so many other things at City Hall, there was a lot of bark but no bite, and the ban that was initially approved by the L.A. City Council never really went into effect as the politicians sat on their hands. Now the City Council's Energy and Environm ... More >>

Why Are Women Practically Nonexistent on L.A. City Council?

Of 15 City Council seats, the Valley's may soon have the sole female

Marijuana Dispensary Controls Coming To L.A. May Ballot

It looks like you'll get to vote on at least two initiatives that seek to regulate L.A.'s booming medical marijuana business. The L.A. City Council today gave its initial approval to to competing measures that aim to place some kind of rules around the pot shop industry. One of the two would elimin ... More >>

Food Trucks Booted From LACMA Area During Day

Food trucks, those ubiquitous attractions along Wilshire Boulevard's Museum Row for hipsters and tourists alike, are getting the boot. The L.A. City Council voted last week to prohibit the trucks from parking on Wilshire between Fairfax Avenue and La Brea Avenue between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Is this a ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensary Ban Repealed by Los Angeles City Council

Fresh updates at the bottom. See also: *Marijuana Dispensary Crackdown by Feds Could Go Citywide in Los Angeles. The L.A. City Council repealed its own pot shop ban today. Woo-hoo!? Facing the choice of letting you vote on overturning the ban or doing so itself following a referendum effort that ... More >>

L.A. Violates Your Due-Process Rights

How residents unearthed 200,000 words of phony findings City Hall used to illegally approve a skyscraper at Hollywood and Gower

Los Angeles Considers Slashing Pensions, Doubling Tax on Property Sales

As the L.A. City Council engaged in closed-door talks this week about how to reduce the exploding costs of paying retired workers to do nothing, at least one union said hell no. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local 721 put its foot down, saying that workers have already done their ... More >>

Porn Shoots in L.A. Could See Medical Inspector to Enforce Condom Use

As with a lot of things the L.A. City Council does, there was more bark than bite with its mandatory-condoms-in-porn law approved early this year. The city looks to be kicking this can down the road some more: It appears that by the time this rule is enforced, if it ever is, it will be 2013. That' ... More >>

Where to Buy Marijuana in Los Angeles After Dispensary Ban Takes Effect

Now that the L.A. City Council has decided that all medical marijuana dispensaries must shut down by Sept. 6, where will you get your medicine? The slacker down the street? No, he was put out of business by the dispensaries. MacArthur Park? Cleaned up years ago. Tijuana? You want to end up in Mexic ... More >>

L.A. Parking Taxes Gone Wild: City Approves New Meters, Looks to Expand Street Sweeping

The L.A. City Council knows our weak spot. In order to get almost anywhere in this godforsaken sprawl pit, we need to drive a car. And unless we can afford valet/a driveway, we often need to park that car on the street; and unless we're perfect parking robots, we sometimes sprint back to our vehicle ... More >>

L.A. Parking Taxes Gone Wild: City Approves New Meters, Looks to Expand Street Sweeping

The L.A. City Council knows our weak spot. In order to get almost anywhere in this godforsaken sprawl pit, we need to drive a car. Unless we can afford valet/a driveway, we often need to park that car on the street; and unless we're perfect parking robots, we sometimes sprint back to our vehicles fi ... More >>

Skateboard Bombing to be Banned in Los Angeles; Law Awaits Villaraigosa's Signature

The L.A. City Council really tackled the big non issues today. Besides declaring this Bob Marley Day, the body voted to ban high-speed downhill skateboard cruising known as "bombing." Of course, the city is underwater financially, our roads suck, and you're essentially seeing your local taxes raise ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensary Police Unit Considered to Enforce L.A. Pot Shop Ban

It's hard to figure out how serious the L.A. City Council is about closing down all of the city's dispensaries. While the body's vote last week was a nail in the coffin of our town's nationally prominent cannabis culture, you have to consider the history: The City Council has been trying to regulat ... More >>

Streetcar for Downtown L.A.? Council Creates Special Voting District So Residents Can Decide

What a romantic day for downtown: Dreams of a streetcar loop from Broadway to 11th to Figeroa to Hill (see map below) have a chance of becoming reality, now that the L.A. City Council has created a special voting district in the area it would service. Residents will be given the option to pay a sma ... More >>

Porn Condom Mandate Could See Vote From L.A. County Supervisors

Updated at the bottom: The supervisors put off the vote (but why?). First posted at 9:07 a.m. The folks who want porn stars to start using condoms have qualified just such a proposal for the November ballot in L.A. County. But before you get to vote on it, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors gets ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensary Ban Considered at L.A. City Hall Tomorrow

Updated at the bottom with the committee's momentous moves. First posted at 8 a.m. Hope you're getting your rest this holiday weekend. Because tomorrow's a big day for the medical marijuana scene in Los Angeles. The L.A. City Council's Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) committee will take u ... More >>

Porn Condom Enforcement Issue to be Worked Out by ... L.A. Arts Committee?

The L.A. City Council made a history when it voted to require condom use at on-location porn shoots in our fair metropolis. But history still awaits. We reported last week that a top city official has requested that a report on how to enforce this rule be put off until almost the end of summer. N ... More >>

Ignoring Marijuana's Biggest Day, L.A. City Council to Declare 4/20 'Dia de Siqueiros'

Could the L.A. City Council be any more out-of-touch with its half-lidded constituents this fine 4/20? In a move reminiscent of Invisible Children declaring April 20, 2012 "Kony Day" (the looney Evangelical charity apparently expects us to do activism and stuff while stoned), councilmembers are cho ... More >>

Chinatown Walmart Approved Day Before L.A. City Council Acts (Really)

So let's get this straight: During a week when the most pressing issue at the L.A. City Council was a toothless "resolution" condemning conservative talk-radio hosts for their racist leanings, the body passed up an opportunity to block a Chinatown Walmart that, it would seem, none of the powers that ... More >>

Angelenos Want City Hall to Spend Less on Politicians, More on Police

Another year, another budget deficit. As we head into summer L.A. City Hall will face a $200 million deficit. That said, revenues are improving, and the budget might be turning a corner for the better. Still, the mayor has been opening up the process to you, the citizen, and once again has asked wh ... More >>

Porn Star Condom-Use to be Mandatory at Most Los Angeles Adult Video Sets, City Council Votes

Updated at the bottom with official reaction from the porn industry. First posted at 12:53 p.m. The L.A. City Council today said that yes, porn stars must wear condoms when performing within city limits. The 11-1 vote means that a costly ballot initiative asking you, the voter, to approve just suc ... More >>

Venice Boardwalk Sees Ban on Selling of Cheap Sunglasses, Other Trinkets

Lesley Choa​Those cheesy sunglasses sold on the Venice Boardwalk? No more. At least not on the actual walkway and adjacent green spaces. (At least not if the LAPD is on the case). After years of seeing the famed boardwalk turn into a circus of trinket sales, the L.A. City Council today voted ... More >>

Corporations Are Not People, L.A. City Council Unanimously Declares (Stephen Colbert Begs to Differ)

Colbert is going to be mad at the L.A. City Council.​The L.A. City Council today voted to support the idea that corporations do not share the rights of individual Americans under the U.S. Constitution. Occupy L.A. demonstrators were in the house when the council took its vote. The move come ... More >>

Occupy L.A: Top 5 Would-be City Giveaways That Might Inspire Occupiers to Give up The Lawn

Leave it to L.A. leaders to make a half-assed offer to Occupy L.A. in an attempt to extract demonstrators from the City Hall lawn. The city said occupiers could take over the old old B. Dalton Bookstore space in the nearby, subterranean L.A. Mall if they gave the lawn a permanent break. Occupiers pr ... More >>

Red-Light Camera Tickets: Calm Down, L.A., You Still Don't Have to Pay Them

The debacle that refused to die.​Looks like all those goody two shoes who paid their red-light camera tickets last month -- against the hard advice of select City Councilmembers, traffic lawyers and, well, this very blogger -- just screwed things up for the rest of us. Though the L.A. City Co ... More >>

City Council Unanimously Passes Occupy L.A. Resolution -- Protesters Struggle to Distance Themselves From Democrats, Unions

Los Angeles TimesCity Council President Eric Garcetti shows his support.​Just now, the L.A. City Council unanimously approved a joint resolution to officially "support" the Occupy L.A. demonstration and "demand accountability and results from the banks we invest taxpayer dollars in." (Full tex ... More >>

L.A. City Council Has Not the Slightest Idea How to Regulate Medical-Marijuana Dispensaries Under Federal Crackdown

And we don't blame them. The base premise is ridiculous enough: Selling pot under any circumstances is illegal under federal law, yet California allows thousands of pot shops to sell it anyway, so long as it's officially for medical purposes. So, because the L.A. City Council obviously didn't want ... More >>

Starting Today, You Can Get Sued in L.A. For Calling a Bad Bicyclist an Idiot (Really)

Elvert Barnes​Just the other day we were thinking, What we really need in Los Angeles is another reason to sue people. Of course, the L.A. City Council, not so good at balancing the budget or focusing on serious problems faced by our town, was quick to pass a bicyclist-harassment law that wil ... More >>

LA's Budget Problem: More Like City Employee Bonus Problem

Do you smell something? ​L.A. City Council member Bill Rosendahl calls it "gold in the gutter." L.A. watchdog Ron Kaye likens it more aptly to "pennies in the gutter." They are talking about what is actually changeable in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's proposed 2011-12 budget. 85 percent of the ... More >>

Wilshire Grand Hotel: Los Angeles Digital Skyscraper Goes to a City Council that Has Little Idea What It's Approving

By Tibby Rothman and Jill Stewart Wilshire Grand Hotel rendering done at such an extreme angle it's nearly impossible to see light effects.​Update: The City Council has approved the top-to-bottom lighted Wilshire Grand Hotel project.  The vote will read as "unanimous" officially, yet one co ... More >>

1,680 Miles of L.A. Bike Lanes Approved by City Council; Mayor Pre-Signs Via Twitter

PHOTO BY TED SOQUIReady to burn some rubber​Aside from a few equestrian types worried about their horse lanes in the foothills, the long-labored plan to build 1,680 miles of bike lanes along Los Angeles streets (at least 200 miles every five years) was embraced by one and all at today's L.A. C ... More >>

L.A.'s Library Measure L

There's lots of hidden City Hall fat to fuel the 73 shuttered libraries

L.A. City Parking Garage Deal Dies An Unlamented Death

As expected, the L.A. City Council voted 12-0 todFlickr user grifayThe Hollywood & Highland garage ​ay to kill off -- once and for all -- the privatization of the city's parking garages. It's become commonplace to trash the idea. In a complex budget process with few easy choices, it became an ... More >>

L.A. City Council Bums

Entrenched and ridiculed, they line up for a March 8 "coronation"

Show Up At L.A. City Hall Tomorrow, Jan. 13, At 8:30 A.M. -- Unless You Want The City Council To 'Gut The Zoning Code' Without You

ILLUSTRATION BY MATT MAHURINThis could be you -- if you don't haul your ass out of bed tomorrow morning for the land-use party at City Hall​It's tough to talk about the L.A. City Council's sneaky new series of six to nine Zoning Code changes without tearing up from boredom. Each one is propos ... More >>

L.A. Has a Jammed 2011 Ballot

Residents will be asked to rein in DWP, save libraries from Villaraigosa's pen

L.A. May Say Good-bye to EIRs and public notice

City Council tries to upend Community Plans and zoning protection

New L.A. City Rule Would Allow 180 Pot Shops To Stay Open

Kind For Cures: Best pot-shop retail concept ever.​At least some of the hundreds of pot shops that were outlawed by the L.A. City Council are probably out of the woods: The body on Friday voted to start a process that will amend its dispensary ordinance so that about 180 cannabis retailers wou ... More >>

L.A. Plans To Ban Smoking In 'All Public Areas:' What About Burger Eating?

Put a burger in that belly and then see.​The same do-nothing L.A. City Council that made every possible exception to its so-called economic boycott of Arizona, shut down libraries on Mondays and cut overtime for the town's already limited police force is now telling folks they can't smoke -- p ... More >>

L.A. City Council Wary Of Library Tax

​Since the L.A. City Council balanced the budget by taking an ax to the Library Department, supporters have been pushing for a new tax that would keep branches open six days a week.But at a hearing today, the council seemed extremely reluctant to ask the voters to approve a proposed $39 annual par ... More >>

L.A. Council Rejects Mayor Villaraigosa's DWP Rate Hike Plan

​In a rare act of defiance against Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the L.A. City Council on Friday rejected the initial piece of his plan to hike Department of Water and Power rates by as much as 28.4 percent. However, the deal's not done: Councilman Richard Alarcon has filed a motion ... More >>

Bleak House at L.A. CityView 35

How eight layoffs at the gavel-to-gavel channel threaten more than jobs

A Nervous 'Rec'

Lavishing cash on itself, the L.A. City Council prepares to slash the parks

Unregulated Medical Marijuana: Could Pot-Brownie Bake Sales Help?

Today's City Council Agenda: Cigarettes and Water

​Fans of smoking and showering -- not necessarily at the same time -- should be nervous today, as the L.A. City Council considers a ban on outdoor smoking and a DWP funding request tied to a plan that will increase our water rates. If passed, the ordinance drafted by the City Attorney's office wou ... More >>

L.A. City Council Adopts Tough Gag Rules

In a move bound to anger gadflies across Los Angeles, the L.A. City Council has approved tough gagging rules to keep members of an apparently disorderly public from speaking too much of what's on their minds.mitchglaser.comL.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti​The unanimously approved action c ... More >>

May Day Melee Tab: $12.85 Million

The L.A. City Council today settled with lawyers representing demonstrators assaulted by police officersof the LAPD's Metro Division during a 2007 immigration-rights rally in MacArthur Park. The council unanimously voted to approve a $12.85 payout to clear the books of nine separate lawsuits involvi ... More >>

L.A. City Council Makes Solar Look Bad

Shenaningans taint a clean-energy plan, and the council lays it all on voters

Amazing Los Angeles City Council Salaries: $171,648 plus goodies

Activists Turned Elected Officials