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ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - Looking back, Tuesday’s council meeting was all good vibes.
Nowruz was in the air—sprouts, coins, renewal! Blumenfield didn't speak in Farsi, but ... Raman was celebrating a hard-fought four-year journey to finally staff up the Housing Department with 18 new positions to crack down on illegal Airbnbs, rogue yoga retreats, and the scourge of unpermitted short-term rentals.
We were practically basking in progress!
And then Wednesday happened.
Boom.
Matt Szabo the CAO who clearly just had a haircut, took the mic and said the city would need a $1 billion haircut too.
Layoffs? Thousands of them.
City services? Getting cut.
New hires? Yeah, about that…
So while Tuesday was all about expansion, Wednesday was about contraction.
Raman’s 18 new hires? Sure, right after they figure out which thousands of other city workers to fire.
Meanwhile, Big U Had His Own Payroll Plan
While LA struggles to pay its bills, turns out the city has been paying Big U Henley, a guy accused of running a criminal empire, with GRYD money.
GRYD—the Gang Reduction & Youth Development program—was supposed to help keep at-risk youth out of trouble.
Instead, some of that money appears to have gone into an enterprise accused of murder, extortion, and fraud.
Not exactly what taxpayers had in mind, but we have come to expect it.
And What About Big K?
Now, if Big U was quietly raking in public funds, let’s talk about Big K—Paul Krekorian.
Because while the city braces for layoffs, Council President Emeritus Paul Krekorian is getting a quiet pay bump as he bulks up his new Olympic bureaucracy.
He’s now in charge of making sure the 2028 Olympics don’t bankrupt LA—a bold assignment considering his track record of overseeing the city's finances right into this $1 billion hole.
His exact salary? "A little more" than his $244,727 council pay.
Right. Because nothing says “budget crisis” like quietly upgrading your paycheck.
Meanwhile, Steve Soberoff is working on the Rebuild for free if you ask the Mayor. If you ask Steve, he turned down other work and needs to earn enough money to be able to afford nice tickets to the Olympics.
12 layer cake.
Which, by the way, how much will an Olympic ticket cost?
I read that a ticket was $10,000 to see Shohei Ohtani in Japan.
So what are we thinking for a decent seat at LA28? We reached out to LAHSA but have not heard back.
We can't even get a seat at the table?
And through it all our fearless Council President has shut down public comment, because nothing says “we value democracy” like silencing the people who actually have to live with this mess.
During Wednesday's meeting a person waved a so-called “obscene item” during public comment. Did the public get to see or hear about it? Of course not. But rest assured, Harris-Dawson made sure it was “part of the record.”
If we are being honest: Harris-Dawson brought this whole nightmare on himself, karmically speaking.
When he killed virtual public testimony, he silenced countless Angelenos—many of whom can’t physically attend meetings due to jobs, disabilities, or simply being too far from City Hall.
If he reinstated it now, the goodwill alone could buy him a bit of breathing room. And he’s going to need all the help he can get, because this fiscal disaster isn’t going away.
- Will Raman’s enforcement squad survive the budget crisis?
- Will LA ever get real financial transparency?
For now, all we know is that Big U cashed out. Big K cashed in. And the rest of LA may not be able to afford the Olympic bleachers.
Player, player.
Happy Nowruz!
Executive Officer: Madam Chair, there are no speakers.
Moderator: The first remote speaker, please.
Moderator: Thank you. Our first participant is Eric Preven. Your line is open. If you are muted, please unmute and speak directly into your phone. You may begin.
Speaker: Thank you. It's Eric Preven, and I just want to say thank you to Supervisor Barger for recognizing the special needs animals as well. That gimpy little cat was adorable. Thank you. That said, The New York Times had a correction today, something about Covington Burling. They said that in yesterday's Dealbook newsletter, they referred imprecisely to the actions that Trump took against the firm; it was a presidential memo, not an executive order. This is similar to the way Trump sued George Stephanopoulos and ABC News because George wrongly claimed that Trump had been “found liable for rape” and “defaming the victim of that rape.” Rape was not exactly what the court found, though it was plenty bad.
Sup. Kathryn Barger, Chair: Public comment is on closed session and item 3.
Speaker: Yes, thank you for your interest. Covington Burling is a firm that did the report on contracting fraud that has not been made public yet, and they're a partisan group, but we don't mind. Everyone has some bias. But we do want to make Altadena great again and get Ridley-Thomas pardoned if it is at all possible. I know that this hallowed board of supervisors would support that. Can I get your commitment to write a five-signature letter?
Executive Officer: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Moderator: There are no others in the queue.
Nowruz in Sacramento:
The Board of Supervisors took a party bus (presumably to save money) to Sacramento:
The public was unable to attend the Board meeting, because … no reason. Maybe a cell phone could be provided to key members of the public by the Board, like Governor Newsom did with CEOs?
Smart Speaker: I would take a burner phone, but in the absence of a transcript from the Special March 19 meeting, we have to imagine what took place:
Scene:
Sup. Lindsey Horvath: Nowruz has been celebrated for over 3,000 years, marking renewal, hope, and fresh starts—something we desperately need. It’s big in Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Russia, China—basically, all the countries our president is feuding with.
Here in L.A., our Persian, Central and South Asian, Muslim, Jewish, and SWANA communities make our county richer in every way. Yesterday morning’s Nowruz reception was stunning—huge thanks to MTO and our community leaders. (Winky emoji)
As we vote on this, let’s embrace the Nowruz spirit: hope, unity, and pretending this year is going better than it is. Happy Nowruz!
[Applause]
Sup. Hilda Solis: Thank you, Madam Chair. Horvath covered it. Nowruz means “new day” in Farsi. We could all use one.
Jonathan Groat most certainly means well but is not helping the city council with its badly damaged image.
Metro Boarding:
Imelda Padilla (CD6), Metro's newest member of the board showed up a bit late Thursday morning, but where was Lindsey Horvath?
Metro’s budget activity is in full swing, and while we’re told stakeholder meetings will continue through May, culminating in a budget hearing, one Director was missing: Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.
We hear a lot about "Putting People First," but no fare doesn’t mean no cost. Metro is already over budget on many projects, state and federal revenue are in jeopardy, and tough decisions are looming. Staffers are openly saying, “I will be gone,” and yet we’re expected to believe there’s a real plan?
The reality is simple: We want things we can’t afford. We need to triage priorities, not chase fantasies. The Olympics are coming, and Metro is scrambling for new revenue and cost reductions. But let's be honest—sales tax revenue is going down.
Kathryn Barger said, "It’s okay to say no."
A staffer confirmed it was "my favorite word."
There was a brief discussion about the new investment policy. Metro’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) commitments—sustainability, equity, and ethical governance—may look good on paper, but in this financial and political climate, they require more than vague optimism. Where’s the hard truth? Where’s the leadership? And most importantly, where was Lindsey Horvath?
Shrinking aspirations in local government...
Bottom feeding:
A little over 40% of L.A. voters said Mayor Bass did a poor or very poor job in responding to the fires. Other local officials had similarly anemic performance ratings in the poll, with 21% of city voters describing the 15-member City Council’s fire response as excellent or good and 19% of county voters saying the same about the five-member county Board of Supervisors.
But respondents were much more negative about Bass than they were about either of those legislative bodies, with 28% saying the Board of Supervisors was doing a poor or very poor job and 27% saying the same of the City Council, to Bass’ 41%.
This is mostly BS because as anyone who follows the media here knows most Angelenos have no idea who their Council members or Supervisors are. Whereas, most everyone knows the Mayor.
(Eric Preven is a Studio City-based TV writer-producer, award-winning journalist, and longtime community activist who won two landmark open government cases in California.)
