good morning. Welcome to LA on the Record, City Hall’s newsletter. David Zahniser, with help from Dakota Smith, Julia Wick, and Rachel Uranga, brings you what happened last week.

Los Angeles City Council Pitch Current price You got the point right. He is innocent but needs money to pay his legal fees.

In an email sent this week, Mr. Price said he has begun fundraising for a defense effort to fight perjury, embezzlement and conflict of interest charges. The email, with the subject line “Need help,” said the new fundraising committee would ensure “the right team of lawyers” to challenge what he called “false accusations.”

“With your help, I hope that I can clear my name and continue working for the people of District 9 to be the unwavering voice voters so desperately need,” wrote Price, now in his third term.

For more than two decades, Los Angeles politicians have established legal defense funds to fend off lawsuits, ethics commission investigations and corruption investigations. Some survived for just over a month, while others lived for several years.

So how does the defense fund work? In Mr. Price’s case, it’s a lot like an election commission, except it raises a lot more money.

As a candidate for re-election last year, Price was allowed to collect $800 from each donor. (This number recently climbed to $900 due to the rise in the consumer price index.) As a defendant in a criminal trial, Mr. Price is entitled to receive up to $1,800 in donations under ethics committee rules.

Such donations are paltry compared to the sums the former city councilor has raised in recent years. Mark Ridley Thomashe faced a string of corruption charges of his own and was recently convicted of bribery, conspiracy and fraud.

The Times reported earlier this year that Ridley Thomas had set up two legal defense funds. One related to City Hall, where he filed a lawsuit seeking recovery of his salary, and another related to his service in Los Angeles County, where he was engaged in activities that were the subject of a criminal case as a member of the Oversight Board.

Ridley-Thomas raised $30,000 for the latter’s legal defense fund, which was not covered by the city’s contribution limits. (Price and his Chief of Staff, Curtis Ernest, each contributed $1,000 to the fund in 2021. )

Ridley Thomas isn’t the only politician holding multiple funds at once. At one point, the former Siti Ati. Rocky Delgadillo From 2001 to 2009, he had three separate defense funds. Among his donors was an attorney from an office that provides legal services to the city, and he donated to all three.

In 2011, The Times reported that the former mayor said: Antonio Villaraigoza It also has three legal defense funds, two of which were set up in response to an investigation into failing to disclose receipt of free tickets to concerts, sporting events and other activities. Villaraigoza received a combined fine of nearly $42,000 from the Ethics and Political Practices Commissions.

Neither Delgadillo nor Villaraigosa faced allegations as serious as those brought against Price and Ridley Thomas.

Mr. Price has not attended city council meetings since being indicted and has said little about his case. It remains to be seen how much money Price has raised for his defense, or who his donors are. Ethics committee officials said Price wouldn’t have to disclose the names of donors who donated after July 1 until the end of October.

It is also worth noting that the legal defense fund is supposed to be established on the basis of actions taken by elected officials in the course of their duties. In other words, a city council member who robbed a 7-Eleven is unlikely to qualify for a city-approved legal defense fund.

state of play

— Council Reorganization: Council Chairman Paul Krekorian this week issued a new roster of committee appointments, permanently removing Mr. Price from various appointments and adding newly elected council members. Imelda Padilla.Some Facts: City Council Members marquise harris dawson He plans to replace Price as a member of the budget committee.board member Tracy Park He will succeed Price as chairman of the Task Force on the 2028 Olympics. The Crecorian then dissolved the Economic Development Commission, chaired by Price, and assigned its duties to other commissions.

— Apply within: Padilla has 12 open positions in the San Fernando Valley area, including chief staff, according to the city’s Human Resources website.

— Who is Karen Bass? Readers of this newsletter may be thinking that the whole world revolves around LA politics. But on a recent episode of Jeopardy, three contestants were perplexed when a picture of the mayor smiling appeared. Karen Bass A message appeared on the screen, and the host described her as the first woman to be elected mayor of Los Angeles. This question was posted in the “Fish People” category where she was listed for $800 and was stared at until time ran out.

— Sitting Out Strike: Sitiati. Heidi Feldstein Soto Her team drew criticism this week after it advised city elected officials to refrain from participating in picket lines and similar union disputes. Feldstein-Soto’s team said in a memo that city councilors who did so could later have to back out of certain union issues. Several legal experts disagreed with this view, saying Feldstein Soto misunderstood the law.

— Facebook Firebrand: An executive from the Los Angeles Police Protection League, which represents the rank and file police, said on Facebook last month that departing officers should go to a city where “they don’t have to beg for expensive contracts.” The message comes as the LAPD is reducing its police force by about 1,000 compared to four years ago.

— Removing the RV: A judge ordered residents living in recreational vehicles on the Sylmar property to vacate the property by Sunday. Some residents told The Times they were paying $500 a month to live in their RV.

— tree drama: City officials have launched an investigation into the recent unauthorized cutting of a fig tree outside Universal Studios, which has provided shade for the impressive screenwriters in recent weeks. The City Roads Service, which oversees the problem of unauthorized tree cutting, has launched an investigation into the matter, as have city controllers. Kenneth MejiaWHO Said Street trees offer great environmental benefits, especially during heatwaves.

— Immigration Bus, Part 4: Governor of Texas Greg Abbottpreviously quoted LA as calling itself a sanctuary city and sent the following message to the city: 4th bus load Number of immigrants this week. An aide to Bass said the bus had 41 people on board, including six children. City leaders declared Los Angeles a “city of sanctuaries” in 2019 and are currently considering an ordinance that would prohibit the use of city resources to enforce immigration laws.

quick hit

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s program to combat homelessness wasn’t rolled out to the new location this week. However, Bass announced that he has secured $1.7 million in state funding to improve safety and renovate temporary housing sites across the city.

• Next week’s agenda is: Bass is scheduled to speak at Metro’s government event on Monday. The mayor, who took over as chairman of the agency’s board on July 1, will set out his priorities for the coming year.