good morning. Welcome to LA on the Record, City Hall’s newsletter. This is Tony Barboza. With assistance from David Zahnizer, Dakota Smith, and Rebecca Ellis.

I recently joined a team of reporters covering Los Angeles city government. And it’s a great moment to start this new mission. Los Angeles is in crisis, struggling to cope with the deadly and destructive fires that have devastated Pacific Palisades and other communities.

When the City Council met Tuesday to begin the recovery and rebuilding process, there was a rapid and difficult-to-follow movement of motions and votes, with more than 20 proposed fire-related measures approved that day. Ta.

As an 18-year veteran of the LA Times, I have visited City Hall many times to cover stories. But it’s been a while since we’ve spent much time in the 1928 Art Deco building. It had echoey hallways, marble interiors, and aged stairs, dented by decades of footsteps. So a lot of its weirdness stood out to me.

Some are reminders of a bygone era, like the industrial beige and brown “squawk boxes” installed in many offices, with analog dials and real-time audio feeds from the chambers of Congress. Or the half-drunk bottle of Bacardi Gold rum left in the desk drawer I inherited. Less endearing are the ugly or circus-like behavior of people shouting, singing, swearing, and hurling vulgar, racist, or misogynistic insults at city officials during meetings.

One of City Hall’s most complex and seemingly outdated features, the bulletin board where motions are made publicly available, was put to great use Tuesday. The bulletin board, which is approximately 7 feet tall and installed in the public part of the Capitol chamber, is the only way to see in real time what bills the 15 members of Congress are introducing.

The motions presented to the board on Tuesday include protecting those displaced by the fires from eviction and price gouging, expediting the arrival of federal disaster relief, assessing the risk of debris flows after the fires; It included assessing the risk of debris flows and making urgent recommendations. An independent “after the fact” report on the emergency response.

City staff pinned the motion on top of other motions. Reporters and members of the public gathered in scrums to read stacks of papers and take screenshots.

Keeping track of the sudden suggestions and votes was a two-person job, with my colleague David Zahniser and I splitting our efforts to photograph the movements, catalog them numerically, and quickly skim through them.

It is not normal for the council to have so many “special” motions introduced and voted on during the same meeting. City Council members said the ongoing fire emergency requires them to act quickly and avoid the usual 72-hour waiting period for action.

But I was wondering how the public watching on TV, online, or even in their rooms would be able to make sense of all the brand new proposals.

Is this really how America’s second-largest city will be run in 2025? Pass out papers, stick them on boards, and let the public figure out for themselves what’s going on. mosquito?

From some point of view, I called Abak Keotahiana former assistant legislative analyst who retired last year after 46 years in Los Angeles city government, has a wealth of knowledge about how City Hall works.

Keotahian explained how motions pass through the chamber, from the councilor who originated the idea and another councilor who approves it, to the council president who initials it, and the 15 councilors in the chamber. Physical copies were distributed to all members of Congress. Keotahian said city staff will keep the originals for safekeeping, and a copy of each motion will be posted on the bulletin board.

Ketahian defended the bulletin board, saying it had been in use for years since he started working at City Hall in 1977 and perhaps even before that. He said he understands that a paper-centric approach may seem outdated.

“It’s not surprising that that thought comes to mind,” he said. “What is the Roman Forum?” So Julius Caesar took the scroll and put it on the bulletin board? ”

While this approach could be modernized with the help of technology, “this is Congress in action, balancing the goal of informing the public with the need for council to be agile.” “We need to take it,” he said. Edit and explain proposals on the fly.

An email version of the motion will be sent to: sign up for them However, they usually appear several hours after the meeting ends. In some cases, it may not arrive in your inbox until the next day.

“Yes, it’s not instantaneous,” Keotahian said. “But if you’re looking for electronic postings of legislative thought patterns and trial and error, I don’t know of any legislative body that does such detailed, minute-by-minute, play-by-play. Please do your due diligence. .”

Still, I’m not sure message boards provide enough transparency, especially when so many other aspects of our lives take place online. I’m also sure there’s only one bureaucratic quirk or tangle I’ll encounter on this beat.

Readers: What other peculiarities should we know about how LA City Hall works (or doesn’t)? If you’d like to share tips and suggestions about our reporting, please contact me at my email address. tony.barboza@latimes.com.

State of play

— Missing Mayor: When the Palisades Fire exploded in Los Angeles on January 7, the mayor Karen Bass It was pose for a photo At a cocktail party at the Ghana Embassy. According to the Times’ Julia Wick, the mayor’s activities during the first critical hours of the fire were revealed through photos posted on social media. will definitely be added Intensifying criticism About bus response to catastrophe.

— Considering rebuilding: Governor Bass on Monday issued an executive order aimed at accelerating rebuilding efforts for thousands of fire-ravaged homes and businesses, eliminating red tape and red tape and prompting the return of displaced residents. He said it would lead to.

— Eviction protection: Of the 20 fire-related legislative actions taken Tuesday, one was proposed by a lawmaker. tracy park prohibits eviction For additional residents who had to be relocated due to a fire or tenants with unauthorized pets. More expansive proposals from council members Eunice Hernandez and Hugo Soto MartinezThe measure, which would freeze rent increases citywide for one year and prohibit the eviction of tenants facing financial or medical hardship due to the fire, was referred to the commission for further consideration.

— Empty reservoir: As wildfires spread rapidly through the Pacific Palisades, Department of Water and Power officials are faced with a high-stakes decision: shut off water to neighborhoods like Brentwood or face reduced water pressure on the front lines. I had a hard time making a choice. Now, the city council wants answers as to why the fire hydrants ran dry and why the Santa Ynez Reservoir in the Pacific Palisades has been out of commission for months.

— Wildfire planning: Los Angeles Fire Department leaders chose not to deploy available “immediate backup” engines and other resources ahead of warnings of “life-threatening” wind events on Jan. 7, forcing firefighters to work extra shifts. Did not order standby for. The department began calling in more firefighters and deploying additional engines only after the Palisades fire got out of control, the Times reported.

— Port Pick: City Council approved Bass’ appointment as Wilmington resident. Yolanda De La TorreThe longtime executive of the Greater Los Angeles YMCA appeared before the Port Commission on Wednesday. Her appointment followed recent developments in Charter amendment HHThe regulations require the five-member commission to have at least two port-area residents, including one from San Pedro and one from Wilmington.

— Early release: The man at the center of the DWP billing scandal has been released from prison months early. A judge approved it on Monday. paul paradis He requested a “merciful release” and home confinement to undergo surgery. Paradis was sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to accepting $2.2 million in kickbacks from another lawyer. He is expected to be a witness in upcoming California State Bar trial proceedings related to the scandal.

— Disappeared chat: The city reversed its long-standing practice of automatically deleting employees’ Google Chat messages after 24 hours after community groups threatened to sue. The change was announced in an email to city staff on Tuesday, which said Google Chat history was enabled “in response to user requests related to citywide emergencies.”

quick hit

• Where is Inside Safe?: The mayor’s signature program to combat homelessness did not begin operations in new locations this week.
• On next week’s calendar: The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors solution Prohibits landlords in non-statutory areas from evicting tenants who take in evacuees or their pets in violation of rental agreements. The county will also consider suspending some short-term rental restrictions to increase available housing.