Good morning and welcome to LA on the Record, City Hall's newsletter, helmed by Dakota Smith and David Zarnizer and assisted by Rebecca Ellis.

As government transparency advocate Rob Quan stepped up to the microphone at Tuesday's Los Angeles City Council meeting, the names of the 13 council members in attendance appeared on an oversized television screen.

The reality was quite different.

Only six of the council's 15 members were seated. Eunises Hernandez, Tim McCosker, Imelda Padilla, Monica Rodriguez, Hugo Soto–Martinez and John Leewho temporarily chaired the conference. Katie Yaroslavsky I was standing next to a pillar on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The city charter states: Two-thirds of the council required It's a quorum, so 10 members must be present to conduct business.

But as The Times previously reported, the City Council's definition of “current” is a bit flexible.

Council members are considered to be in the chamber if they are in a nearby restroom, where the meeting is heard, or if they are in one of the two back conference rooms, the press room, the snack room, or the copy room, where council meetings are heard.

And voters don't even have to sit down to vote, because the voting system will automatically record a “yes” unless they manually change it to “no.”

Whether watching from the gallery or the live broadcast, it's hard to know where lawmakers go once they leave the chamber. On Tuesday, Quan suspected some lawmakers weren't actually in the chamber, so he went to the courtyard across the hall and found two of them. Heather Hat and Kevin de Leon — Attending a Juneteenth reception.

That means neither should be considered present at the board meeting. It's not clear where the other council members were while Quan was talking about several proposals, including funding for the city's ethics commission.

In an interview, Quan said the parliament's attendance system “undermines the value of public opinion.”

“They should listen to the public on this matter,” he said.

Over the past few months, City Council members have discussed a series of possible government reforms, including cutting meetings, increasing fines for ethics violations and expanding the size of the City Council. The efforts are also a response to a series of high-profile corruption scandals at City Hall and secretly recorded conversations between De Leon and other politicians that included racist comments.

Still, some say the council can't fully reform unless council members improve how they engage with the public. Remaining seated in the speaker's chair during public comment is a big part of that, he said. Michael FeinsteinFormer Mayor of Santa Monica.

Feinstein also addressed many of the council seats that were vacated on Tuesday, saying it's extremely disrespectful for council members to “keep council members out of the room when people are speaking.” Speaking on behalf of the Los Angeles County Green Party, Feinstein called on the city to switch to “ranked choice” voting, which allows voters to rank candidates according to their preferences, rather than choosing just one candidate.

“Even if they have the legal quorum, if there's no one there, it shows they don't really care about the public's opinion,” he told The Times.

Hugh EstenDirector of Communications for the Chair of the Council Paul Krekoriansaid in a statement that council members will be able to hear the meetings from many neighbouring areas thanks to mini-speakers that broadcast audio from the meetings.

“Ongoing meetings, including public comments, can be heard very clearly on the audio systems in these spaces,” he said.

Mandy Morales, a legislative assistant to the city clerk, told The Times that once the speaker notifies the clerk of a council member's resignation, the council member's name is removed from the board.

De Leon ended up attending part of Quan's testimony on Tuesday. When asked about Quan's complaint on Friday, he decried the complaint, saying Quan, who has sometimes mocked city council members on social media, was “not in good health,” and declined to comment further. Hutt's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Complaints about vacant seats are not new. More than a decade ago, then-Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson He was spotted smoking a cigarette outside City Hall during a vote count. A former city council member was seen during another count. Janice Hahn Now a county supervisor, he was spotted attending a meeting in a back room with lobbyists.

Although the council members were not present in the meeting, they were marked as present in the automated voting system and therefore counted as a “yes” vote.

The controversy comes as city council members have become particularly frustrated with public comment periods, which can be not only tricky but can also get ugly at times.

Yaroslavsky, who has called for a reduction in the number of rallies, cited racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic comments made by audience members, some of whom frequently shout, use foul language and make derogatory remarks about the appearance and clothing of government officials.

Quan's group, UnLive LA, asked candidates in the March primary about whether city council members can be counted as present when they meet with lobbyists behind the scenes, and about the automated voting system.

Among those who responded to the Unlig survey: Adolin NazarianKrekorian is due to step down at the end of the year due to term limits, but his potential successor, Nazarian, called the rules “worrisome” and said he would push for a review of them.

Nazarian's opponent, a business owner Jillian Burgosresponded to the survey, describing the system as “completely unethical.”

“Each council member must be present to vote,” she wrote. “As members of the Neighborhood Council we are required to be present and we should follow the same rules at the city level.”

current situation

— Changes to the Charter: The Los Angeles City Council voted this week to form a citizens committee to amend the City Charter, which spells out the roles of city offices, agencies and elected officials. The committee is expected to recommend changes to put before voters in November 2026.

— Convention Center Upgrade: A City Council committee has taken the first step in approving an expansion of the convention center, a project expected to cost the city $4.78 billion over the next 30 years. City leaders are looking to upgrade the facility before the 2028 Olympics and plan to spend up to $54.4 million to determine whether renovations are feasible.

— Salvage Work: Can Oceanwide Plaza, a collection of empty, graffiti-covered high-rises a few blocks from the convention center, still be salvaged? Or is it time to demolish it? The Times looked into the options.

— Graffiti is gone: Meanwhile, a group of Van Nuys residents Graffiti removal from a vacant building on Sepulveda Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. Imelda PadillaThe lawmaker who represents the area said through an aide that his office had ordered the building cleaned.

— Police photo paymentThe city of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit with a journalist and activist group who obtained and published photos of LAPD officers, according to an attorney for the city attorney's office. Heidi Feldstein Soto He asked the court for a freelance order. Ben Camacho They also called on the LAPD Anti-Espionage Coalition to return the photos of officers on secret missions, remove them from the Internet, and ensure they are not made public in the future.

— Saving on meals for seniors: Los Angeles' Emergency Senior Meals Program, launched to help low-income and housebound seniors during the pandemic, is set to end this fall as the City Council debates whether to raise funds to continue the program, which serves about 5,800 participants.

— Looking for cash: The possibility of climate bonds is now in the spotlight in Sacramento. Mayor Karen Bass said this month: Letter to State Leaders The city is seeking about $1 billion in climate change bonds to pay for Port of Los Angeles infrastructure, storm water harvesting and Los Angeles River projects on the city's east side. Clara Karger Bass said his administration also is seeking funding for the Sepulveda Basin and emergency heat relief measures.

— KDL In the House2 years ago, President Biden Request to council members Kevin de Leon De Leon, who announced his resignation following the leak of the recording, appeared at a major Biden reelection fundraiser last weekend, arguing that too much was riding on a Trump victory. De Leon They celebrated Juneteenth by calling for the renaming of Pershing Square. Biddy MasonThe former slave who became LA's unsung hero

— Isabelle Moves: KDL opponent, tenant rights lawyer Isabel JuradoAlso, large-scale Door-to-door event in Highland Park Featured Council Members Eunises Hernandez and Hugo Soto Martinez People who supported her. She also Celebrating the support He is president of the Los Angeles County Labor Federation, a group that once had close ties to Mr. de Leon.

On defense: Since assuming his new position, he has been the Los Angeles County District Attorney. George Gascon He is facing lawsuits from 20 prosecutors alleging workplace retaliation, saying they were removed from leadership positions or reassigned to less-than-desirable assignments after they challenged the legality of his progressive policies and directives from his first day in office.

— Animal attacks: A Van Nuys woman whose arm was amputated in an attack by a dog she adopted from the city's animal shelter will receive up to $7.5 million in a settlement from the city. Algeria Alvarado, 74, was seriously injured in a September 2020 attack by a pit bull named Oggy.

— It's too expensive: A survey of more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ residents released this week found that while most say Los Angeles County is a great place to live, many wonder whether they can afford to stay. A disproportionate number of LGBTQ+ people in the county suffer from food insecurity and homelessness compared to residents of other counties, the survey found.

— Utility player: LAT's Boiling Point Newsletter recently Janice QuiñonesHe met with new U.S. Secretary of Water and Power John McCain and spoke about the department's clean energy goals, the transition to hydrogen energy, and his track record in the private sector.

Quick Hit

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor's homelessness program was based at the intersection of 10th Avenue and Gramercy Place, an area the city council member represents. Katie Yaroslavsky.
• Next week's plan: The City Council is scheduled to vote on a bill on November 5th that would overhaul the Los Angeles Police Department's disciplinary system.