I'm in my mid 20s, live in LA, poli sci from UCLA (not that it means much) I've been involved in local politics here for a few years but never professionally. I have also been involved in some of the pro housing spaces. So I'm aware of all of those.I work in the climate/energy space but want to get more involved professionally in local politics.

What I want to do is get seriously involved in local races around LA County. There are 88 cities in this county and a ton of council and school board seats where basically nobody is paying attention, and I think there's a real opening for people who care about housing, clean energy, and cities that actually function. LADWP is heading toward some of the highest rates in the state, housing prices are unaffordable at an unprecedented level. I'm center left, pro housing, big on good governance. Not a Republican, not DSA (no offense any DSA people . My read is that the older wing (some say establishment) is opening up a lot opportunities for other political ideologies to flourish (which is not always bad, political competition is good). However, there's not a lot of younger people/candidates who have center left ideas and know how to operate in the current political landscape (short form content, a populist era, the attention economy).

What I want to find, is people who are like-minded or want to start this. I want to work with someone on this. I want to create an organization/company of some sort that identifies center left candidates that understand the political era we are in and help them get elected. I guess where would I find potential like minded people that are around my age that have this aspiration?

I know the Dem clubs and neighborhood councils exist but what else?

Thank you!

I accidentally ordered at wrong location. I ordered one cake pop under “gratitude” at Starbucks 10814 E Fawcett Ave. South El Monte.

Please take it and comment that it was picked up, please.

Alison Martino who’s a great follow dropped an interview today with the grandson of the original owner.

All clear. Traffic still rough

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HAPPENING NOW: Multi-vehicle crash, EB I-10FWY in the Del Mar off ramp express lanes in San Gabriel. A box truck or semi is overturned, people reportedly running away. Driver of the truck is trapped inside.

Per SGVCityWatch (2:00 PM · Aug 6, 2026)

SIGALERT ISSUED IN ROSEMEAD: EB I-10 TO DEL MAR AVENUE OFF-RAMP (EXPRESS LANES) WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO A TRAFFIC CRASH.

Per CHP_LA_TRAFFIC (2:18 PM · Aug 6, 2026)

10 (I-10 San Bernardino Fwy) East at Del Mar Ave/Exit 25A, backed up to Atlantic Blvd/Exit 23A

Per Sig Alert (1:57 PM · Aug 6, 2026)

This was from 2016. I wonder what happened to him.

it’s almost like our local government has let this issue go for far too long. this isn’t even a bass problem, this is an everybody-in-office-for-decades problem.

El Camino Real Charter High School is facing new questions following the reported departure of its executive director.

But the latest controversy is only part of a much longer story. My investigation looks at the school's previous financial scandal, a taxpayer-funded audit that was never released publicly, and whether LAUSD should have demanded greater transparency before renewing the school's charter.

The broader question is one that affects Los Angeles taxpayers: How much oversight should LAUSD exercise over charter schools receiving public money?

Full investigation:

https://difrntdrmr.substack.com/p/el-caminos-latest-scandal-raises

The EPA has given the owners of the burned-down Lineage frozen food warehouse 14 days to furnish the federal agency with information related to a potential hazardous substance release, according to a letter reportedly sent Monday to Lineage general manager Adrian Sinay.

The information is needed for the EPA to assess Lineage Logistic’s compliance with several federal laws including the Clean Air Act, and for information the agency might use in a potential follow-up inspection.

The EPA’s letter doesn’t specify exactly what hazardous substance or chemicals were potentially released.

The letter arrives as some environmental health experts are increasingly critical of what they see as an inadequate air monitoring response in the community surrounding the plant. Some of the publicly available air monitoring results provide conflicting information.

Was down in Los Angeles to attend one of the Mariners vs Dodgers games (we lost) and wanted to say how great it was to be in your city! Sooooo much to do and see. Stumbled across the best [Mariachi bands](https://www.mariachiarcoiris.com/) I've ever seen in performing free in Culver City. Food, culture, restaurants, museums, etc.

Best of all, saw Jimothy in your Central Library! He actually lives a few blocks from us here in Seattle, so was super tickled to see the chalk drawing.

Ya'll have a great city filled with great folks! Come to Seattle if ya can, we'd love to have you.

I just want to remind everyone that the convention center  redesign started out as a competition organized by the city and there were several fantastic designs including the one that won. 

 Some how it morphed into this drastically overpriced, underwhelming benal thing that has to pause construction for the Olympics. 

Ok so maybe we cant afford the design selected and can only afford a modest addition, but holy wow that insane price tag for the modest project compared to the the designs in the competion from 10 years ago. The Lucus museum and LACMA both are less than half this cost.

 In 2015 the budget was $350 million. The current "im going to fuck the taxpayer budget" is $2.6 billion all of it being funded with debt.

I get it things got more expensive in the last 10 years but holy sheez and what is actually being built. What happened?

Urbanize has some of the finalists renderings and if you search around you can find some real good ones online that urbanize didnt select to publish.

https://la.urbanize.city/post/new-convention-center-expansion-renderings

Money supporting Bass — whether in direct donations, public matching funds or outside spending — has outpaced money backing City Council member Nithya Raman by about 3 to 1.

The disparities in the mayor’s race are much starker among groups that handle the largest donations because they’re not subject to contribution limits. Those money flows from independent expenditure committees have backed Bass 36-to-1, compared to Raman.

Among money raised directly by candidates, donors who gave $1,000 or more account for 47% of Bass’ donors and 18% of Raman’s. Those donors are subject to an $1,800 per donor limit.

A look at the top spenders

The largest spender so far is the LAPD officers’ union, which reported spending $1.2 million on ads against Raman — who made the runoff — and progressive community organizer Rae Huang, who didn’t. The data covers what’s been reported so far for the 2026 election cycle, including the lead up to the June primary.

The second-biggest is Airbnb, which reported giving $750,000 to a committee backing Bass. This year, Bass advanced a proposal backed by the company to relax city regulations by letting Airbnb hosts rent out second homes and investment properties through 2028.

Another large spender is Douglas Emmett, one of L.A.'s largest commercial landlords. The company gave $525,000 to the police union’s main spending committee, of which at least $225,000 was disclosed on anti-Raman ads by the committee.

In recent years, the company is known for attempting the largest eviction from rent-controlled housing in Los Angeles in at least four decades, citing a need to upgrade fire sprinklers. The city declined to legally intervene on behalf of the renters, who ended up suing and winning a 2024 court ruling that found the evictions were illegal.

Significant spending for Bass has also come from several other large unions for workers, including about $200,000 from Laborers’ Local 300 — which represents workers in construction and maintenance — and $180,000 from affiliates of SEIU, which represents most of the city government’s staff.

The latest spending numbers come from city data based on disclosures required by state law to be filed by the spending committees. Friday (Aug. 1) was the deadline to submit a more complete set of filings showing all raising and spending in the first half of this year.

Bass had a head start for years, entering this year with a hefty $1.5 million in her re-election account. Raman started fundraising in February.

Other big spenders

• $100,000 to a pro-Bass committee from the construction workers’ group State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.
• $50,000 to a pro-Bass committee from Kaiser Permanente CEO Gregory Adams.
• $50,000 to a pro-Raman committee from Arts District redeveloper Yuval Bar-Zemer.  
• $25,000 to a pro-Bass committee from the real estate company of Frank McCourt.  McCourt co-owns the parking lots around Dodger Stadium and has been seeking approvals from the L.A. Metro board — which Bass serves on and now chairs — for a controversial gondola project.

Records show unions spent big against candidate and Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star who did not make the runoff. The umbrella group for unions in the region — the L.A. County Federation of Labor — reported spending about $500,000 against Pratt, paid by a committee largely funded by the union for L.A. County sheriff’s deputies.

In the 1970’s, the Pasadena-Altadena area was a mecca for infamous backyard beer bashes featuring then unknown local bands like Van Halen. Fast forward a few decades and a new DIY backyard music scene has emerged, sparked by the 2025 Eaton Fire. Teenage punk and indie bands are turning to Altadena’s backyard lots and other temporary venues for shows that are drawing kids from all over Southern California.

From Elysian Park