News: Stay tuned to LA this year

Monday, February 14, 2022

Stay tuned to LA this year

Feb 14, 2022

By Jeremy B. White, Chris Ramirez, Juhi Doshi and Graph Massara

Presented by Southern California Edison

THE BUZZ — ANOTHER LA DEVOTEE: Los Angeles has officially hosted — and won — a Super Bowl. Now Angelenos can focus on a more consequential contest: the race to lead America's second-largest city.

The field is now officially set in the LA mayoral race. Perceived frontrunner Rep. Karen Bass, City Attorney Mike Feuer, City Council members Kevin de León and Joe Buscaino and businessman Mel Wilson are all vying for the top job. Developer Rick Caruso jumped in just before the Saturday filing deadlineand was immediately greeted by a pile-on from the rest of the teeming field, drawing attacks from his left (for his links to Republicans) and the right (for co-hosting a fundraiser for LA's embattled progressive district attorney, George Gascón). Business leader Jessica Lall bowed out last week.

They're all vying to lead a city where the public mood has darkened. The LA Times' Benjamin Oreskes and Doug Smith reported last week that even seasoned pollsters were stunned by the depth of disillusionment about the city's homelessness crisis — an issue that Mayor Eric Garcetti was unable to significantly ameliorate before getting nominated as ambassador to India. Spiking violent crime rates, punctuated by lurid cases like the murder of Jacqueline Avant during a home invasion, have people on edge.

Rick Caruso in 2019.

Rick Caruso in 2019. | AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

Those tensions will inform LA's 2022 elections. Crime and homelessness in particular look poised to be animating issues. Bass called last week for a fortified LAPD — a stance that aligns with her longstanding skepticism of her most progressive constituents' demands to "defund the police," even as she shepherded an abortive police reform effort in Congress. Buscaino has endorsed an effort to recall Gascón and is championing a measure that would outlaw homeless encampments and block City Council salaries if members don't address unhoused Angelenos.

Caruso's entrance in particular could reshape the mayoral contest. The billionaire developer switched his registration to Democratic and has retained blue-chip political advisers whose clients include California heavyweights like the governor. Caruso's opponents are eager to highlight the money Caruso has given to Republican candidates and committees, although he has also funded Democrats — Bass and Feuer among them. Caruso has flirted with running before. Now his candidacy will test whether a liberal electorate is willing to coalesce behind a message of righting a city adrift by battling crime and homelessness. We may see campaign ads featuring smash-and-grabs at one of Caruso's malls, for which he faulted "weak leadership."

And that's not even getting into the crowded and contentious L.A. sheriff race. Divisive incumbent Sheriff Alex Villanueva is seeking to fend off challenges from the left, further testing where the electorate stands on homelessness and public safety. L.A. may have effectively lost a House seat during redistricting, but it won't want for high-impact campaigns this year.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Monday morning. Congrats to the Rams on their first title since moving to LA, and to West Coast rap for a strong showing at halftime . Back to elections, voters are choosing new Assembly members in San Francisco and Los Angeles this week — and quite possibly ejecting SF school board members in a pandemic-spurred recall.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit jwhite@politico.com or follow me on Twitter @jeremybwhite.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "While the maps do not please everyone, we believe they are fair and equitable. We would have confidently defended these maps in court but are thankful we now won't need to." California Citizens Redistricting Commission Chair Russell Yee on avoiding a legal challenge to new maps.

TWEET OF THE DAY:LA Times reporter Julia Wick @SherlyHolmes , before the Rams' victory: "The real question today is do enough people in LA care about football to cause mass chaos if we win"

VIDEO OF THE DAY: LAPD officers firing projectiles at reveling Angelenos, via the LA Times' Kevin Rector.

WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! In 2018, California enacted a law requiring at least one woman on the board of every company based in the state. Did this law affect you? If yes, let us know via the form here. We want to hear from readers who have had personal experiences with the law and how it changed business and women's careers in the state.

A message from Southern California Edison:

We believe everyone should have the right to breathe clean air. That's why we're leading the charge for more clean, renewable energy. We're a national leader in battery storage and delivering solar energy to our customers. We're working to cut emissions from buildings and freeways. And we proudly support the growth of green jobs.

TOP TALKERS

SOLAR FLARES — Soak up the February sun? Not without climate change guilt in California, by POLITICO's Debra Kahn: Rather than blithely basking in the unseasonable warmth, residents can't shake the fear it will intensify California's drought and wildfire season.

— "Horrific allegations of racism prompt California lawsuit against Tesla," by the LA Times' Margot Roosevelt and Russ Mitchell: "Tesla segregated Black workers into separate areas that its employees referred to as 'porch monkey stations,' 'the dark side,' 'the slave ship' and 'the plantation,' the lawsuit alleges.

EXCUSES, EXCUSES … — "One city's excuse was mountain lions. Here's how others are trying to limit California's new housing law," by the SF Chronicle's Dustin Gardiner: "Rafa Sonnenfeld, director of legal advocacy at YIMBY Law, a housing advocacy group, said while mountain lion habitat 'is certainly the most creative way that we've seen cities trying to get around this law,' many other communities are deliberately creating obstacles."

TO MASK, OR NOT TO MASK — "Newsom wants to end school masks, but teachers say not yet, " by POLITICO's Susannah Luthi and Victoria Collier: "Democrats again face an internal struggle — caught between evidence that high-quality masks reduce transmission, parental concerns that children have lost a sense of normalcy and pandemic fatigue among all involved."

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

WATER WAYS — "Climate crisis and systemic inequities drive push to reform California water laws," by the LATimes' Ian James: "A group of prominent legal experts has presented a blueprint for updating California's system of water laws to fix long-standing weaknesses and adapt to the worsening effects of climate change. They say their proposals, if adopted by the Legislature, would help the state better manage surface water and groundwater, protect vulnerable communities and ecosystems, and improve state oversight of the water rights system."

ALAKAZAM — " How the Raiders made $189 million in taxpayer money vanish," by the Mercury News' Jason Cole: "Oakland and Alameda County ended up with an agreement that allowed the Raiders to turn over their training facility in Alameda to erase their public debt, even though the property was worth just a fraction of the $189 million amount."

WARM WEEKEND — " Heat records broken across L.A. region, including a high of 89 at LAX," by the LA Times' Kevin Rector.

DOMINO EFFECT — " Oakland's School Closures Might Be a Warning Sign for California," by the Wall Street Journal's Sara Randazzo and Christine Mai-Duc: "The reasons include increasing out-of-state migration, declining birthrates, less affordable housing for families, defections to charter schools and flattening immigration, according to researchers."

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED — "Why efforts to scale back California's 'three strikes' law for juveniles are failing," by the LA Times' Hannah Wiley: "Advocates saw their best hope to change California's three-strikes law fizzle last month in the state Capitol, a result of opposition from moderate Democrats and a number of legislative vacancies that left supporters short on the votes needed for passage."

— " Financial abuse can cripple domestic violence victims. These California proposals aim to help," by the Sac Bee's Cathie Anderson.

— " District Attorney Boudin recall: Breed's controversial commission appointee withdraws," by the SF Chronicle's Mallory Moench: "[Andrea] Shorter wrote in an email to the mayor's chief of staff Friday afternoon obtained by The Chronicle that she was withdrawing because 'family matters have developed limiting my capacity to serve at this time.'"

— " What's driving a historic exodus from the California Legislature?" opines the LA Times' John Myers: "While there have been other eras of great turnover in the state Senate and Assembly, the change now underway is being led by lawmakers who are voluntarily stepping down — with a surprising number of them choosing to do so in the middle of their current term."

UP THE LADDER — " How far up did San Jose State sex abuse cover-up reach?" by the Mercury News and East Bay Times editorial boards: "The statewide chancellor's office has oversight responsibility for SJSU and its president. When did the chancellor's office first become aware of the sexual abuse case and the memo? If they didn't know about the memo in 2016, why not? And if they did know and took no action, heads should roll."

BETTER IN BAKERSFIELD? — "A sheriff's office in California makes a recruiting pitch to L.A.'s unvaccinated deputies," by the New York Times' Eduardo Medina: "Sheriff Villanueva described the motion as a 'politically motivated stunt.'"

PAY UP — " 'Morale killer': California scientists battle over pay disparities," by CalMatters' Rachel Becker: "Full-time rank-and-file state scientists on average earned 27% less than state engineers in 2020 wages — $83,586 compared to $114,012, according to a January state assessment."

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CAMPAIGN MODE

SHOOTING HIS SHOT — "A candidate to improve the California GOP image?," by CalMatters' Dan Walters: "Running against an incumbent Democratic governor with fairly high approval ratings and who has twice garnered nearly two-thirds of the votes, as [State Sen. Brian] Dahle declared he wants to do, is a political kamikaze mission."

TRAILBLAZERS — "A militia-backed recall ousted a California Republican. Will it embolden other extremists?" by the Sac Bee's Ryan Sabalow and Jason Pohl: "The Shasta County recall was a local affair, but observers say it represents a major political victory and will embolden far-right factions, conspiracy theorists and anti-government activists looking to gain local power across the state."

BACK IT UP — "Former LAPD Chief Charlie Beck withdraws support for DA George Gascón," by the Los Angeles Daily News' Scott Schwebke: "Beck's reversal comes amid a rocky week for the first-term district attorney, who has drawn criticism for his refusal to participate in a virtual town hall with the Association of Deputy District Attorneys membership, which will vote whether to back renewed efforts to recall him from office."

— "S.F. school board recall race goes down to the wire as supporters, opponents rally for turnout, " by the SF Chronicle's Jill Tucker, Danielle Echeverria and Mallory Moench: "This is the first time city voters will consider removing an elected official from office since a failed attempt in 1983 to recall then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein."

MONEY MOVES — "Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, raises money for Democrats in Brentwood, " by the LA Times' Seema Mehta.

— "City controller candidate Rob Wilcox attacked outside City Hall," by the LA Times' Dakota Smith.

BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

TIMES ARE A CHANGIN' — Spouses, taxes and crypto: The unanswered questions for Congress' stock trading ban, by POLITICO's Katy O'Donnell: Bipartisan proposals that would require lawmakers to put assets into blind trusts are facing resistance from watchdogs who say they wouldn't go far enough and that members should be forced into broad-based mutual funds.

SILICON VALLEYLAND

CRYPT-OH JEEZ — "Divorcing Couples Fight Over the Kids, the House and Now the Crypto," by the New York Times' David Yaffe-Bellany: "The wealthy San Francisco couple sparred over child support, the profits from the sale of the husband's software company and the fate of their $3.6 million home. But the most consequential court battle between Erica and Francis deSouza concerned a bitter dispute over millions of dollars in missing Bitcoin."

HOLLYWOODLAND

LARRY THE SKEPTIC — "Larry David Doesn't Get Crypto. That's Why He's the Perfect Pitchman," by the New York Times' Tiffany Hsu: "The [Super Bowl ad] is part of a huge marketing push by the company, which was valued at $32 billion after its most recent fund-raising round."

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

MIXTAPE

— "A woman with an intellectual disability was left behind in Afghanistan, sparking a Bay Area rescue mission," by SF Chronicle's Deepa Fernandes.

— "Benicia elementary school apologizes for handing out 'thin blue line' T-shirts," by the Vallejo Sun's Scott Morris.

THE HORROR! — "US suspends Mexican avocado imports on eve of Super Bowl ," by the AP's Mark Stevenson.

— "Ex-Air Force sergeant and far-right Boogaloo movement member pleads guilty in killing of Oakland federal guard," by the SF Chronicle's Bob Egelko.

— "California game wardens rescue a rare fish 'folded' in the back of a poaching suspect's SUV," by the Sac Bee's Ryan Sabalow.

— "Hunt for third fugitive in COVID relief scam follows warnings she would flee, " by the LA Times' Michael Finnegan.

— "Love lost: Romance scams cost victims millions last year. Here's how they happen," by the SF Chronicle's Danielle Echeverria.

— " The untold tale of the San Diego surfer who enabled last year's Super Bowl streaker," by the LA Times' Anita Chabria.

IN MEMORIAM

— "Marty Morgenstern, longtime labor advisor to Jerry Brown, dies at 87," by the LA Times' John Myers.

— " Ivan Reitman, producer, 'Ghostbusters' director, dies at 75," by the AP's Lindsey Bahr.

BIRTHDAYS

SUNDAY: Facebook's Alex Burgos … Allison Ryan … Dov Blauner

SATURDAY: Ben Sherwood … Facebook's Ryan Beiermeister … former Rep. Gil Cisneros … Ray Kurzweil ... Darren Aronofsky … Matthew Nadherny … Charlotte Sellmyer … Peter Ewell

A message from Southern California Edison:

This is a time of great change and uncertainty. But what remains constant is our commitment to building a clean energy future for everyone. That's why SCE is standing with California, leading the charge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve local air quality and support continued economic growth. We're a national leader in battery storage and delivering solar energy to our customers. We're working to cut emissions from buildings and freeways. And we proudly support the fastest the growth of green jobs. We're more than 13,000 employees serving 15 million Californians. When we work together, we can move full speed ahead into a clean energy future.

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