Good morning and welcome to LA on the Record, City Hall's newsletter, where Dakota Smith and Rebecca Ellis will be with you through the weekend.

A little-known fact about the Olympic and Paralympic Games is that they are made possible by tens of thousands of volunteers.

Among other things, volunteering reduced costs.

LA City Council Member Tracy ParkAs chair of the committee helping to prepare for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, she recently returned from the Paris Olympics and spoke about some of the lessons she learned about hosting the mega-event.

“The decision to deploy volunteers has been really intentional and thoughtful,” Mayor Paris told city officials, labor leaders and consultants at a Los Angeles Current Affairs Forum luncheon in downtown Los Angeles on Monday.

For example, volunteers were stationed inside subway stations as well as in other areas where visitors might get lost, said Park, who represents Venice and other West Side neighborhoods.

“It's literally impossible to get lost in Paris during the Olympics,” she said.

About 300,000 people applied to be volunteers for the Paris Olympics, but only 45,000 were selected.

Training is key to any volunteer program, and The Times spoke to people on the ground in Paris who offered mixed reviews of volunteers and their contributions.

According to a 1998 Times report, about 30,000 people helped out as volunteers at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, including doctors, nurses, timekeepers, ushers and translators.

According to the Times report, volunteers “drove from as far away as Santa Barbara, San Bernardino and San Diego to work unpaid shifts of 10 to 14 hours at least three times a week before and during the tournament.”

LA28, the private organization that organizes and funds the Olympics, has yet to launch a volunteer program.

Park, who also serves as chairman of the city's tourism committee, visited Tokyo, host of the 2020 Olympics, earlier this year and made his first visit to Paris in March.

Unlike other host cities, if LA28 goes over budget, the ultimate responsibility lies with Los Angeles and the State of California.

Another difference is staffing: In Paris, government officials helped run the Olympics, Park said.

“You can't do that in Los Angeles,” she said. “If you're going to do that, you need to meet with the union now.”

Park said he had asked city departments in Los Angeles to clarify “what additional demands they anticipate in terms of preparing for and delivering the Olympics.”

Public spending on the Olympics will come under intense scrutiny, especially amid recent city budget cuts.

Already, some are outraged that the City Council approved $500,000 to remove Japanese and Korean artifacts from City Hall to make way for an Olympic and Paralympic exhibit.

At a Thursday press conference about the artifacts' removal, community leaders Scott Sue City officials said the $500,000 should be spent on tackling homelessness.

Meanwhile, Paris is known for its extensive bike lanes, a project spearheaded by the mayor ahead of the Olympics. Anne Hildago.

Asked about public spending on the Olympics at a luncheon on Monday, Park said he favored a network of bike lanes between Olympic venues but was frustrated by spending limits mandated by the Healthy Streets Los Angeles bill passed by voters earlier this year.

The HLA requires that improvements be made in accordance with city standards. Mobility Planoutlines where pedestrian facilities such as bike lanes, bus lanes and wider sidewalks should be installed.

Park said the HLA expenditure would “take funding away from transportation projects around the venue which we believe are absolutely essential to deliver by 2028”.

Michael SchneiderThe CEO of mobility group Streets for All disagreed with Park's assessment of the HLA, telling the Times that “it's entirely up to the city to decide which roads to pave and in what order to prioritize them.”

He said the city could use the HLA to add bike lanes near the Coliseum and UCLA.

current situation

—exposure Note: City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto Contacting the police chief, the organizers of the People's City Council Rich Sergeenko According to the memo, Mr. Sergeenko had participated in a Thanksgiving protest in Brentwood outside the home of a prominent Jewish civic leader, Michael Tutin, who has been an outspoken critic of Feldstein Soto and whose target, Sergeenko, has donated to his campaign.

—'deplorable'The embattled Animal Services Agency has also come under increased scrutiny. James Johnson The chairman of the steering committee resigned after scolding a public speaker at a July meeting. General Manager Stacey Danes He has been on two months' leave for unknown reasons and a new report into the city's two shelters says the “failures to provide adequate care” are “deplorable and inexcusable by any reasonable standard”.

—Canapes for everyoneDWP and Accenture officials worked together to falsely label invoices for meetings, and two DWP officials, including a former chairman, Cynthia McLain HillFormer DWP officials say Ms McClain-Hill may have to pay for meals, drinks and gifts from the DWP. Ms McClain-Hill denies any wrongdoing.

—Aftermath of the Scandal: The California Supreme Court on Thursday awarded the city of Los Angeles $2.5 million for destroying evidence. City Attorney Mike Feuer A lower court overturned the sanctions, saying the unanimous opinion “rights a grave injustice.” Julian W. Poon“We are pleased to announce that we have secured a $100 million investment from 2020,” said Mr. McDonald, a partner at Gibson Dunn and adviser to PricewaterhouseCoopers, in a statement to The Times.

— Not Counted: Los Angeles County is under pressure to find homes for its oldest foster children after a federal judge allowed a wide-ranging lawsuit to proceed. Lawyers updated the complaint this month, arguing that neither the county nor the state know how many foster children are living on the streets.

— Millions in the bank: State auditors found that the Los Angeles County Probation Department has spent just $9.7 million of the $88 million in state funding it has received since 2021 on rehabilitating young people who commit serious crimes, largely because programs the county plans to fund don't yet exist.

—Musical ChairThe International Longshore and Warehouse Union denounced Mayor Karen Bass' recent decision not to renew Commissioner Diane Middleton's term. Los Angeles News Group reporter Donna Littlejohn reported.Meanwhile, Councillor Tim McCosker He wants to ensure that at least two local residents are on the five-member committee — one from San Pedro and one from Wilmington.

—DWP Renewal: Speaking of DWP, the general manager Janice Quiñones Last week, the company announced the appointment of David Hanson as interim senior deputy general manager of its power systems, a top role for the energy division. Simon Zewdu, who previously held the role, spoke briefly to The Times but declined to comment on his employment status. Emails sent to him were returned.

Quick Hit

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor's homelessness program did not launch any new operations this week.

• Plans for next week: The City Council is scheduled to hear comments Tuesday on a proposed increase in the city's sewer rates. All city property owners have been notified because the increase would be considered a property fee under Proposition 218. City officials said the rate increase would be defeated if the majority opposed it.

  Tuesday The deadline is To file a protest. As of Thursday, the city had received 6,380 valid letters of protest. The City Clerk's Office said it would need 393,157 valid protests to block the rate increase.