Winners emerge as L.A. council members receive new assignments for 2025

Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, pictured at a rally last month in Lincoln Heights, came out a winner in this year’s batch of council committee assignments.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s David Zahniser, giving you the info on the past week in city and county government, with an assist from my colleague Rebecca Ellis.

When Marqueece Harris-Dawson took over as Los Angeles City Council president in September, he kept his plans for the future mostly under wraps.

Now, his vision for the next legislative session is coming into clearer focus, following the release of his new councilcommitteeassignments on Wednesday.

Harris-Dawson’s closest allies — those who signed onto the motion to make him president — did quite well, making their way onto some of the council’s most coveted policy committees.

Those who criticized his leadership? Not so much.

Harris-Dawson selected Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who was among the first to publicly back him for council president last spring, to chair the powerful budget committee. She will replace Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who had been angling for the presidency himself. (He will stay on the committee but no longer run it.)

Another major winner of the committee sweepstakes was Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents part of the Eastside. Hernandez also signed the motion supporting Harris-Dawson — and as early as 2022 spoke in favor of him becoming president.

Hernandez will join Yaroslavsky on the five-member budget committee, which scrutinizes Mayor Karen Bass’ yearly spending plans. She’ll take over as chair of the public works committee, which oversees efforts to fix streets, sidewalks and other infrastructure. And she’ll serve on panels dealing with transportation, parks, libraries and the arts.

But perhaps the biggest plum is Hernandez’s new role as co-chair of a newly formed committee to oversee the city’s growing network of unarmed response teams.

According to Hernandez, the Ad Hoc Committee on Unarmed Crisis Prevention, Intervention and Community Services will work to ensure that unarmed responders are available citywide to answer an array of calls that would otherwise go to the LAPD, including noisy parties, barking dogs and, perhaps most crucially, people experiencing non-violent mental health crises.

Hernandez, who occupies the left end of the council’s political spectrum, has spent much of her career working to move money out of law enforcement and into social services. She voted against the mayor’s budget two years in a row, saying too much money was going to the LAPD.

In an interview, Hernandez sounded delighted with her new assignments. But she downplayed the notion that she fared much better than her colleagues.

“I wouldn’t say I’m the winner” of this year’s appointments, she said. “But I’m incredibly excited. I’m excited to do the work. It just feels like a lot of hard work has paid off.”

Hernandez will serve on the unarmed response committee with Councilmembers Nithya Raman, Curren Price, John Lee and Blumenfield, her fellow co-chair.

Councilmember Heather Hutt, who co-presented the motion to make Harris-Dawson president, is also joining the budget committee. She will continue to lead the transportation committee while serving on several others.

While Yaroslavsky, Hutt and Hernandez made out well, other council members lost coveted assignments. Monica Rodriguez was taken off the homelessness committee, where she regularly voiced concerns about the city’s approach to the crisis.

Rodriguez has been critical of the mayor’s Inside Safe program, saying it should receive more scrutiny from the council. She assailed the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, saying efforts to get information from that agency has been “the merry go round from hell.”

In recent weeks, Rodriguez criticized Harris-Dawson over his push to hike the city’s hotel minimum wage by 48% over three years, to $30 per hour in 2028. More specifically, she accused him of cutting a backroom deal to prevent council members from voting on measures to soften the financial impact on the tourism industry.

On Wednesday, Harris-Dawson removed Rodriguez not just from the homelessness committee but also the budget committee and the public safety committee, where she had been chair for the past six years. Lee, who provided the crucial seventh signature on the motion to make Harris-Dawson president, will replace Rodriguez as public safety chair.

Asked about her removal from so many committees, Rodriguez issued a statement questioning whether Harris-Dawson values a decision-making process that “respects taxpayer dollars.”

“I, however, will continue to hold those in power accountable for how taxpayer dollars are spent, and continue to fight relentlessly to ensure our constituents receive the city services they deserve,” she said.

Rodriguez will now chair a committee dealing with audits and government efficiency and serve on committees dealing with personnel issues, trade and civil rights.

Harris-Dawson, for his part, did not respond directly to Rodriguez’s remarks, saying instead that he looks forward to the “fresh perspectives” that will come from the new committee assignments.

“The Council faces both significant challenges and exciting opportunities ahead,” he said in a statement. “The committee assignments showcase the talent, commitment, and passion of the members. I am eager to see the innovative solutions and fresh perspectives that will benefit the city.”

Rob Quan, who closely monitors council meetings, said he hasn’t always agreed with Rodriguez on policy matters. Nevertheless, he called her removal from the homelessness committee a “bad day for those who care about oversight” of Inside Safe, which carries out encampment cleanups across the city.

“Say what you will about her positions, but she’s infinitely more informed and prepared than some of the people stepping in,” wrote Quan, an organizer with Unrig LA, on the platform X.

Quan said he was disappointed to see Lee, who is facing a 10-count ethics complaint over gifts he allegedly received, secure the public safety committee chairmanship. And he noted that Price, who is fighting 10 felony counts in criminal court, was kept on as chair of the economic development committee.

Price, who also landed a spot on the homelessness committee, has proclaimed his innocence. Lee has disputed the ethics allegations.

Councilmember Traci Park, who opposed the hotel wage proposal and is among the council’s most conservative members, was also bounced from the budget committee. She will remain the chair of the trade and tourism committee and the ad hoc committee on the Olympics.

Blumenfield, who kept his seat on the budget committee, declined to speculate on the reason Rodriguez was removed from so many committees. In an interview, he said he and his colleagues planned to “dig in and make the best of the new assignments.”

“I wouldn’t have necessarily done it the way he’s doing it, but I respect the process,” he said. “We’ll work hard to make the city function well.”

State of play

— THE FEDS ARE BACK: Deputy Mayor Brian K. Williams was placed on administrative leave this week after FBI agents searched his home as part of an investigation into a bomb threat against City Hall. The LAPD said Williams, who handled public safety initiatives for the mayor, was “likely” the person who made the threat, even though there was no bomb. Williams said through his attorney that he’s innocent. The bomb threat, one of many fielded each year by the LAPD, took place in early October, according to sources familiar with the allegations.

— FLOODING THE ZONE: On Thursday, Hernandez announced an influx of new services to address safety and cleanliness in MacArthur Park, which has been plagued by drug addiction, fatal overdoses and crime. Appearing with L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis and State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, Hernandez said city and county agencies would be sending out new cleanup crews, medical teams and “peace ambassadors” — community intervention workers assigned to reduce and prevent violence in the park.

—PANIC OVER LOS PADRINOS: The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to declare a “local emergency” over the looming closure of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, which the state has ordered shut down due to persistent staffing issues. The county defied the state’s order, instead giving Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa temporary authority to redirect some county workers into the hall.

— SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: Meanwhile, Superior Court Judge Miguel Espinoza has ordered the probation department to appear in court Dec. 23 to explain why Los Padrinos should not be closed. The judge’s order could force county officials to move youths out of Los Padrinos, though it’s unclear where they would go.

— MEGA-PROJECT ON THE MOVE: A $1.4-billion mega-project planned near the Sixth Street Viaduct in downtown Los Angeles was approved by the city’s Planning Commission, which is made up of appointees of Mayor Karen Bass. The project would bring 894 apartments to the Arts District along with restaurants, offices, shops, a hotel and a charter elementary school. It now heads to the City Council.

— UNSAFE SHELTER: The state agency that oversees workplace safety issued a $563,250 fine to the city of Los Angeles after concluding that the severe mauling of an animal shelter worker by a dog resulted from “significant safety and training lapses.”

— BAD DEPUTY: L.A. County will spend $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit on behalf of several girls who were sexually assaulted by a former L.A. County sheriff’s deputy. The payout comes six months after Sean Essex, who worked for the Sheriff’s Department for more than two decades, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexually abusing the three young daughters of a woman he was dating.

— STAYING OPEN: The California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to keep using the Aliso Canyon natural gas facility for several more years, despite furious objections from residents and environmentalists in the northwest San Fernando Valley. The vote took place nearly a decade after the facility was the source of the largest methane leak in U.S. history.

— JUMPING IN: There’s now a second candidate in the race to replace Blumenfield in the West Valley. Jon Rawlings, who lives in Tarzana, filed paperwork with the city’s Ethics Commission to raise money for his June 2026 election campaign. He joins businessman Tim Gaspar, who hopped in the race earlier this month.

— DCFS DEATH: County supervisors are seeking an investigation into what happened to Thyri Wood, the Canoga Park baby who died after the Department of Children and Family Services left her in the care of her 11-year-old-brother.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s program to combat homelessness went to Arleta, focusing on the area around Osborne Street and the 5 Freeway. That location is represented by Councilmember Imelda Padilla.

• On the docket for next week: We’ll be going dark for the holiday week. Happy New Year, and see you all again on Jan. 4!