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ERIC PREVEN'S NOTEBOOK - On the morning of September 17, 2025, I woke with a start, pounded out a column about America’s bipartisan love affair with censorship, and filed it before the coffee cooled.
Hours later, the Jimmy Kimmel story hit like a cymbal crash: ABC pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live” indefinitely after the F.C.C. chair blasted his monologue about the politics surrounding Charlie Kirk’s killing and publicly hinted at regulatory “remedies.” Affiliates fell in line.
I stared at my draft and thought: good grief, this is exactly the moment I’m writing about—when powerful people decide speech is too risky to tolerate. This isn’t about whether Kimmel is funny. I’m a 2013 “Colbert Report” person.
Taste isn’t the issue—power is. At all levels of government, from officials of both the Democratic and Republican parties, we are seeing the same anti-speech reflex play out.
Pam Bondi, the conservative U.S. attorney general, and Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the liberal president of the Los Angeles City Council, share a dirty secret: they both want speech that’s easy to manage—and they’re willing to treat the Constitution like a dimmer switch to get there. Different jerseys, same play: manage the message.
Bondi’s move is national. She floated the idea that “hate speech” can be prosecuted and suggested the Justice Department might punish a print shop that declines to produce Charlie Kirk vigil posters. She wobbled the next day—true threats are illegal, she clarified—but the point landed. The goal isn’t law; it’s message discipline. Make people fear the microphone, and the crowd gets quieter.
Harris-Dawson’s maneuver is municipal. The council packaged a profanity ban as “decorum,” expanding the power to eject critics for the wrong words—sometimes right before a vote. Last week a deputy city attorney went further, claiming a speaker can’t “repeat herself,” as if the First Amendment comes with a punch card. Same trick, different jersey: call messy speech dangerous, then write rules to sweep it away.
The law doesn’t bend that way. The First Amendment has no “hate-speech” carve-out. Government can punish true threats and incitement; it can’t criminalize insults. And here in the Ninth Circuit, you remove a speaker only for actual disruption — shouting over others, refusing to yield the mic — not for viewpoint, tone, or repetition. Courts have been blunt for years: disruption means interference with the meeting, not hurt feelings. If even a crude silent gesture has drawn constitutional protection, fragile egos don’t justify a gag.
I’ve done my time at that lectern. City Hall is a raw stage for democracy: scholars with binders, neighbors with gripes, gadflies with grievances sharpened to a point. Some are rude. Some repeat. Most are brief. That’s the deal. A housekeeper on her lunch break gets a minute to confront officials who make more in a month than she does in a year. Democracy promises that minute, not elegance.
Yet the council keeps shrinking it. They dodge hearings by pulling items out of committee, batch votes, and sprint through public comment like a hotel checkout. “Decorum” becomes a magic word that turns dissent into disorder. It isn’t about safety; it’s about controlling the message.
And yes, culture echoes government. ABC’s decision came hours after the F.C.C. chair publicly leaned on broadcasters, praising affiliates that pre-empted Kimmel and urging others to “push back.” That’s not a content debate; that’s a licensing gun on the table. The instinct to “quiet the room” isn’t confined to hearing chambers. Quiet is seductive. It flatters power. It promises calm. But quiet isn’t consent.
There’s a simpler way to keep order that doesn’t trample rights: start on time. Post clear agendas. Let people speak before you vote on the items they came to discuss. Enforce even time limits. If someone truly disrupts — won’t stop, drowns out others — escort them out and move on. But don’t police content. Don’t invent a ban on “repetition” inside a sixty-second slot. Don’t pretend the cure for coarse speech is a swear jar.
Bondi and Harris-Dawson both say they’re defending order. Fine — put order on the clock, not the voice. Manage meetings, not messages. The cure for raw speech has always been more speech — louder, sharper, repeated until it sinks in. If officials can’t stomach sixty seconds of discomfort, the public isn’t the problem. [This commentary appeared in the Los Angeles Daily News on Friday September 19, 2025]
Open the roll, close the roll, mortgage the future.
Friday proved the point. In an 11–2 vote, Council green-lit a $2.6B Convention Center gamble lashed to LA28—on fully borrowed money. Staff warn it drains the General Fund by ~$89M a year on average, peaking near $147M just as everything else gets pricier. Controller Kenneth Mejia waved a red flag. Katy Yaroslavsky called it “unrealistic, unaffordable, fiscally irresponsible.” Nithya Raman joined her no. Labor cheered; the ledger flinched. Different jersey, same play: manage the message, mortgage the future.
Main event: LA City Council vs. fiscal gravity.
Picture Chambers like a packed stadium—union banners draped like tifos, every row filled, hallways jammed. Outside, the public waited like season-ticket holders stuck at will-call. Inside, the home team pushed through the expansion on debt. The scoreboard read $104M a year for three decades. Question: where does that come from? Answer: the same General Fund that keeps the lights on—until the post-Olympics bill for raises arrives right on time.
The Goalkeepers
At the net stood Katy Yaroslavsky, former college soccer player, and Nithya Raman, the scrappy MIT-trained policy wonk. Different skill sets, same mission: keep the General Fund out of the red.
Raman opened with a methodical run down the field, stats flying like well-placed passes:
“We have 3,000 people on time-limited subsidies needing $70 million just to stay housed.
3,000 more in emergency vouchers needing $190 million through 2030.
A $50 million court-ordered shelter gap.
HUD guidance pointing to a $180 million hole for supportive-housing vouchers.
These are people we already housed—and the money just to keep them housed is evaporating.”
Lobbyists win!
She warned that federal and state dollars are collapsing, that sidewalks already crumble into lawsuit payouts, that tariffs and visa policies threaten tourism, and that statewide ballot measures could erase $800 million in revenue. Then the gut punch:
“I fear we’re going to have a beautiful new convention center surrounded by far more homelessness than we have today, which will drive away tourists and events.”
Katy followed with her own fierce slide tackle: debt service starting the same year every labor contract expires, a structural deficit already at $91 million, and a homelessness funding gap of $220 million. Her verdict: “This project will consume every bit of financial flexibility we have.”
The Strikers
Coach Tim McOsker sent in his scorers: Hugo Soto-Martínez with the union chant, Curren Price waving economic-impact charts, Ysabel Jurado refused doing the “vision versus stagnation” shuffle. Consultants promised convention bookings worth “ten to twenty times” the city’s own revenue forecast. One booster declared, “The best projects are done on a dime and in a time crunch,” as if speed magically lowers interest rates. Another said debate itself was a “distraction.”
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson played ringmaster, keeping the gavel moving like a midfield pass—decorum as a set play, eyes always on the clock, not the balance sheet.
Final Whistle
The vote: 11–2. Every striker scored; the union section roared. Raman and Yaroslavsky—right on the numbers, right on the ethics—took the loss but owned the highlight reel.
Watch Yaroslavsky (1:31) spelling out the debt trap: link
Must-See TV: Unions, CAO Matt Szabo, Katy Yaroslavsky, and Kenneth Mejia put our civic folly on full display. link
Fun to watch if it weren’t so expensive. Los Angeles now holds a thirty-year note on $104 million a season, betting that bigger halls will summon bigger conventions to pay for yesterday’s debt—while housing dollars, federal support, and basic services shrink like a late-game lead. In soccer, that’s called an own goal.
Studio City Double-Header (and a Maybe-Homecoming)
In lieu of meeting this week, City Council is playing the golden oldies.
People sometimes stop me at the coffee line and ask,
“Eric, why’d you leave the Studio City Neighborhood Council? Your Government Affairs meetings were spot-on and actually moved the needle.”
Short answer: I was politely—but unmistakably—pushed out by an eager climber (Randy Fried) who’d do anything to sideline a pesky watchdog with oversight ideas.
Now, with the High Holy Days upon us—shofars, apples, honey, the whole reflective pause—I’m thinking it might be time for a small homecoming right after the first round of festivities. Think honey cake, a ceremonial Lifetime Achievement nod to Barry Johnson, and maybe a reminder that accountability never really takes a holiday.
Conveniently, the council has teed up a two-night double-header this week that’s worth the price of parking (and the metal detector):
Wednesday, Sept 24 – Full Board Meeting (Radford Studio Center, MPR-3. Meet-and-greet 6:30 pm, meeting 7 pm. Zoom ID 898 684 8286)
• Rename Sustainability → Sustainability & Beautification
• Rename Outreach → Outreach & Events
• Approve a revised 2025-26 budget and August expenditure report
• Appoint Dimitri Gatsiounis as Corresponding Secretary
• Transportation fireworks: votes on citywide off-street-parking elimination, a Convention Center sign-district exemption, new preferential parking on Dickens, and a traffic signal at Ventura & Arch.
Thursday, Sept 25 – Public Safety & Homelessness Committee (same lot, 7 pm)
• LAPD Senior Lead & CPAB updates
• Motion to post info on problematic encampments
• Discussion of a Homelessness Liaison appointment
• Possible Community Impact Statement on the City’s plan to lease a lot for relinquished-vehicle storage (CF 25-0742).
Bring government ID, expect screening, and call 818-655-5085 if you need shuttle assistance.
Will I reclaim a seat at the table? Perhaps. Perhaps after the fast.
For now, consider this my RSVP in spirit—and a reminder that the Smart Speaker reserves all rights.
Warmly (and with honey),
Former SCNC Government Affairs Chair
Ovarian Cancer Awareness (+ fundraising goals)
Kawhi’s “Off-Court Hustle” and the Art of Getting Paid to Chill
The NBA’s latest circus act isn’t a dunk contest—it’s a contract so cushy it makes a memory foam mattress jealous. According to reporting, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard pulled ~$28 million in cash plus up to $20 million in Aspiration equity for an endorsement deal that’s less “work” and more “performance art with a side of naps.”
Deliverables (aka Kawhi’s To-Do List for Millionaires)
Kawhi’s obligations read like a billionaire’s nap schedule:
One 8-hour production day
One 4-hour PR day
Two 1-hour community appearances
Weekly 5-minute “deep thoughts with Coach Ty Lue” (while rehabbing)
Five organic likes/retweets/comments
Three “off-court projects” of Kawhi’s choosing
Beliefs clause to veto anything “not aligned with his vibe”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver sic’d Wachtell Lipton on whether the Clippers tiptoed around the salary cap. Owner Steve Ballmer, sweating like it’s a Windows 95 demo, says he just made an intro and—his gist—“got played.”
Fan Translation — Kawhi’s No-Sweat Jackpot
For the eight-hour production day, Kawhi pockets $6M to film a slow-mo smirk and call it a wrap.
The four-hour PR day nets $4M Councilmembers call that “before lunch.”
“Two selfies, three scissors, one ribbon.”(Fine print: specifically excludes the John Ferraro Council Chambers—no City Hall cameos required
A weekly five-minute Ty Lue chat earns $5M— “Weather’s good, knee’s better, see you next week.”
Five organic likes/comments/retweets score $2M for scroll, tap, cash—social-media cardio.
Three off-court projects, worth $6M, cover vague side quests like designing a silent sneaker or napping for charity.
And the beliefs clause, at $2M, declares his gospel: cash talks, schedules walk.
Twenty-plus million in cash, another reported twenty in stock, for a workload you could scribble on a Post-it.
The Clippers may or may not have broken the salary cap, but the contract has already dunked on the very idea of hustle.
Ballmer is Terrific, when it comes to bathrooms at Intuit Dome.
Board of Supervisors Pre-Game:
"Chosen" for this work.
“Tuesday’s Board of Supes meeting might move faster than the agenda suggests. After the heritage-month applause they’ve got five hearings, but one’s already punted (Dark Creek house → Oct 28) and a bundle of litigation items is delayed to Oct 21.
Watch Item 4 if you can—it’s the big Santa Clarita buildout (510 homes, massive grading, lots of oak removals) and Item 5, the vacancy summit with unions, which could spark real debate. The rest—streetlights, a 15-year water-pipe franchise, and the parking-enforcement update—should be quick.
On Parking Enforcement—since this is receive & file, let’s finally say it out loud: should enforcement live with Public Works or LASD? Please show response times, citation error rates, appeals backlog, and tow rates by ZIP, plus a map of where citation dollars are reinvested. If Public Works can deliver better equity and transparency, bring us an options matrix with costs, staffing, liability, and union impacts—and agendize a decision date. We don’t need more ‘receive’; we need a plan to ‘do.’ Thank you.”
If you only get one question in:
“Can we see a 1-page options matrix (LASD vs. DPW) next meeting—costs, staffing, equity outcomes, and who is accountable when complaints roll in?”
Closed session wraps with labor talks and department-head reviews, so the public part could be shorter than expected… but you never know with this crew.”
Rosh Hashanah Hangover: $104M a year!
Fri, Sept 26 should be a regular meeting (City Council is in recess Tue–Wed for Rosh Hashanah).
Assuming the standard Tues/Wed/Fri cadence, early October should look like:
Wed, Oct 1
Fri, Oct 3
Tue, Oct 7
(Recess for League of CA Cities: Oct 8–10, no meetings)
Hopefully we can match last year's robust attendance (zero attendees)
Tue, Oct 14 (business resumes)
Wed, Oct 15
Fri, Oct 17
The Young Doctor: 2000
As of September 22, 2025, the Ninth Circuit has not yet issued a decision in Case No. 23-2200. Oral arguments were held on November 21, 2024, in Pasadena, but no ruling has been recorded on the docket, per recent local coverage (Courthouse News, 2UrbanGirls, Aug 11, 2025). Briefs were fully filed in 2024, with the appellant’s team citing the Supreme Court’s Snyder decision as supplemental authority. The appellant (Dr. Mark Ridley-Thomas) remains out on bail pending the appeal’s outcome.
(Eric Preven is a Studio City-based television writer-producer, award-winning journalist, and longtime community activist. He is known for his sharp commentary on transparency and accountability in local government. Eric successfully brought and won two landmark open government cases in California, reinforcing the public’s right to know. A regular contributor to CityWatch, he combines investigative insight with grassroots advocacy to shine a light on civic issues across Los Angeles.)
