Good morning and welcome to Records LA – City Hall newsletter. It’s David Zanizer and with the support of Dakota Smith, Julia Wick and Rebecca Ellis, we’ll be providing city and county government updates.

The first thing that stood out was the boldness of the movement.

Los Angeles City Council Chairman Marqueece Harris-Dawson I received a letter from the former fire chief Christine Crowleyasked the council to revive her, on the way on Thursday.

Harris Dawson, nearest allies Mayor Karen Bassthe person who kicked out Crowley moved quickly to schedule Crowley’s vote the next day.

Having the Council meetings very quickly would have already given the base that has been lit up for handling the Palisade fire. This is a quick way to sleep with Crowley questions in an age where politicians use it to break news they want to burial or ignore.

Also, the fast track process would have left Crawley little time to prepare her case. In addition, councillors Monica Rodriguezthe outspoken supporters of Crawley would not have been able to attend.

Rodriguez had an excuse from Harris Dawson due to the regular scheduled council meetings earlier in the day. She told the Times she couldn’t leave town and hold a 5pm meeting.

At some point in his career, Harris Dawson balked at such a scheduling operation. In 2022 he opposed the then president. Nury MartinezAttempts to attack through the appointment of Heather Hatt To temporarily fill the seats held by councillors Mark Ridley Thomasargued that the public needed time to be involved in such a big decision.

This time, Harris Dawson moved his boss as the bass struggled to regain its footing. The city’s charter gave him until at least March 21st, but he chose his first available day.

Sarah Sadwani, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College, said it’s safe to assume that Harris Dawson is moving right away from her loyalty to the mayor. She said the two have a long working relationship, before their time at city hall.

“Obviously, both in the mayor’s office and the city council, leadership hopes this issue will go away,” Sadwani said.

Unrig La organizer Rob Quan said he was baffled by the push to take on the fire chief’s appeal very quickly, especially as the council president is likely to have a vote to deny Crowley’s request.

“This was something he was about to bulldoze. He didn’t need to do this,” said Quan, who closely follows the council meeting.

After all, the meeting pushback was just as quick as the effort to schedule it.

Shortly after the agenda was published, Rodriguez denounced Harris Dawson’s rapid launch scheduling and accused him of trying to lock him out of public participation. Two groups defending female firefighters also complained, saying the “last-minute” meeting would deny the opportunity for Crowley to “sue the mayor’s decision appropriately.”

“Providing a 24-hour meeting notification indicates that the council will completely ignore city protocols and disenfranchise their ability to witness and speak at this meeting with Los Angeles chiefs and people,” he said. Tanya Clubinterim president of the fire service, and Lauren AndradePresident of Equity on Fire, in a joint statement.

Officials from United Firefighters at Los Angeles City Local 112, who support Crowley, said they do not remember similar scheduling operations. The planned Friday meeting was just another example of “why the public doesn’t trust city hall,” the union said in a statement.

“It’s another public flaw that comes out of city hall that Los Angeles keeps questioning the motivations and credibility of our city leaders,” the statement continued.

Right after 8pm Thursday – Three hours after the agenda for Friday’s meeting was released, Harris Dawson announced that he would change courses and postpone the meeting at City Hall at 10am Tuesday. He said that if he delays the meeting, he would allow Crawley, councillors and “interested parties” to “attend and prepare for the meeting.” By then, his office had received feedback from at least two councillors, some of which were negative.

In an interview, Harris Dawson disputed the idea that he had scheduled a meeting on Friday to help the mayor pass the debate quickly. He told The Times he heard from a council colleague who wanted to resolve the issue immediately.

“The meeting on Friday was an effort to give Crowley Chief a hearing as soon as possible, as this has been going on for a long time,” he said.

The bus drove Crawley out of Palisade’s fire handling on February 21, leaving her in a low-level position within the LAFD.

Harris Dawson said he chose Van Nuis because regular council meetings were already scheduled there at 10am. He said it was Friday evening that the most likely meeting on Crawley’s appeal would occur in order to comply with the Public Care Act.

Council meetings often last only a few hours, so council members and their staff probably had to spend the day with Van Nice. Anyone who had planned on a Friday evening would have had to dispose of them.

None of the over-timed round trips erase the fact that Crowley has a steep climb to get back to work. She needs 10 votes to overturn the removal. This is the goal most people deemed insurmountable at city hall.

However, 10 votes may not be a point. Greg Smith, an attorney who regularly file suits on behalf of current or former city employees, said Crowley could be laying the foundation for the suit by showing that he has exhausted all the city’s administrative appeal process.

“I think this is why the appeal was filed despite the very little chance of success,” said Smith, who does not represent Crawley.

A spokesman for Crawley said the former chief would not provide comment beyond her appeal.

Not everyone was upset at the meeting on Friday evening. Councillor Isabel JuradHe joined the council in December and said it was “wise” for city leaders to deal with appeals promptly so that city leaders can “continue to focus their efforts on recovery.”

Councillor Bob BlumenfieldThose who hold the council’s second leadership post said they only know about the 5pm meeting on Friday after the agenda was posted. Blumenfield said he then had a conversation with Harris-Dawson about timing.

When asked if he had encouraged Harris Dawson to change the meeting date, Blumenfield declined to comment, saying it was a private conversation.

“I’m so happy they’ll move next week,” he said. “It gives everyone more time and space.”

The state of play

– Hit the clock: At the region’s fire recovery milestone, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that it has completed the first phase of debris removal in the Eton Fire and Palisade burn zone. The crew removed hazardous materials from 9,201 buildings. Still, before removing any hazardous waste, an additional 4,400 structures (or about a third of all burnt buildings) were postponed to the US Army Corps of Engineers for additional cleanup.

– Sound off: mayor Karen Base‘Wildfire Recovery Czar, Steve Soborov, Last week, it was published in dissatisfaction with working for free. Soboroff was initially due to receive $500,000 in three months, but told the audience he was “lied” and had texts and emails to back it up. A few days later, he returned the comment and said he didn’t think the mayor had lied or intentionally misunderstood.

– What is the hold-up: The push to rewrite the Los Angeles City charter has been stagnant, and the mayor is a big reason. Politico reports.

– Jump: It’s like an Ati in the city. Heidefeldsteinsoth have At least one challenger Elections for 2026: Vice Atty. Gen. Marissa Roywho handles Atty’s consumer protection cases. Gen. Rob Bonta. Roy established a fundraising committee this week and filed papers with the Secretary of State.

– How about Bob: The candidate sector is growing to replace Blumenfield in the West San Fernando Valley. Barriworth GilvanWho has served? Community Affairs Director For Los Angeles County Supervisors Lindsey Horbusrecently established a campaign committee to expand the number of potential candidates to three. Blumenfield faces period restrictions in 2026 and is not eligible to run again.

– Testing the system: Los Angeles County deployed a new emergency warning system shortly before the January 7 wildfire, and relatively little time has passed on to civil servants to get used to the software. A speedy rollout raises questions about whether authorities properly debug the system before the county-wide evacuation order is incorrect.

– Throwing Lifeline: The County Board of Supervisors has approved new eviction protections for workers and small business owners. Renters across the financially affected county cannot be evicted for non-payment until July 31st.

– Runyon resumes: Runyon Canyon Park has partially reopened to the public after it was closed for several weeks after the sundown fire. The popular Hollywood Hills hiking spots are open to visitors everywhere except the West Trail area.

– Photo Finish: Someone sent ABC7 a photograph Councillor’s Isabel Jurad At the very least, she’s sitting at the council meeting in a way that makes her seem to be resting her eyes seriously. Jurad told the station “I’ve noticed the photos,” and said, “It looks like I was reading. In fact, if I dozed, I don’t think this is the first or last human moment I have as a councillor.”

Bad budget news

Things aren’t getting much better on the city’s budget, according to a 197-page report released Friday. City Manager Matt SaboHe wrote the memo and warned that the city is currently spending around $300 million this fiscal year.

City revenues are below estimates in many categories, including sales, real estate, and hotel taxes. And in the wake of a devastating wildfire, rating agencies have led cities to negative credit surveillance, indicating the possibility of downgrades.

Good news: Estimates of wildfire damage to the city’s public infrastructure have been revised downward to $220 million, down from the previous figure of $350 million last month.

Quick Hit

• Where is the inside? The mayor’s signature program to deal with homelessness went to Olympic Boulevard on the 405 Expressway, located on the West Side border, where councillors represent. Katy Yaroslavsky and Traci Park. The initiative has also returned to the area around Virgil Middle School on Vermont Avenue, according to the mayor’s team.
• At Docket next week: You’ve already heard it, but it endures repeatedly: City Council is planning to occupy the fire chief Christine Crawley Resurrect request Tuesday.