Hey CD11,
We’re back with your legislative update from City Hall, coming to you from my living room in Venice.
This week, we tackled consumer protections and housing affordability—ensuring that families, seniors, and businesses in CD11 continue to thrive.
- Price Gouging Protections (press release).
- Soil Safety & Remediation Motion.
- Temescal Canyon Road Repairs (motion).
- Motion advancing to update density bonus laws.
Price Gouging Protections
In response to the Palisades Fire, I introduced a new city law against price gouging to protect displaced residents from unfair price hikes on housing, lodging, and essential goods and services. This week, the Council approved new civil penalties of up to $30,000 per violation.
The message is clear: exploiting tragedy for profit will not be tolerated.
Residents can report instances of price gouging through 3-1-1, to the City Attorney’s office, or contact my office so we can connect you with the right department.
Soil Safety & Remediation Motion
The Palisades Fire destroyed thousands of structures and spewed ash and hazardous materials into the air and all over public spaces, like parks and medians, which has led to a lot of concern about soil contamination and testing.
Before returning these spaces to public use, we need to know the soil is safe. So, I introduced a motion this week to create a City work plan to test, and if needed, remediate the soil in our parks and other public spaces.
Temescal Canyon Road Repairs
Another ongoing concern has been Temescal Canyon road. With the hydrology study we approved in January now complete, I secured $1 M for roadway repairs, so now the Bureau of Engineering can move forward with stabilizing the road, which we need fully functioning to continue debris removal and emergency response efforts.
Updating Density Bonus Laws
Lastly, my motion calling on state lawmakers to amend density bonus laws to account for the impacts of increased density on evacuation routes in High Fire Severity Zones was approved by the Rules Committee and will now advance to the full Council. This is an important step in ensuring that housing policies reflect the unique safety needs of our wildfire-prone areas.