mayors

It’s the 30-story elephant on the Los Angeles skyline — and seemingly no one, including Mayor Karen Bass, has decided what to do about it. The Oceanwide Plaza luxury development has stood next to Crypto.com Arena vacant and half-finished since 2019, when its Chinese developer, having already spent $1.1 billion on it, ran out of money.   In December, three L.A. taggers — Akua, Sour and Castle — broke into the highest of Oceanwide’s three towers and spray-painted their names across its floor-to-ceiling…

Photo: Michael M. Santiago (Getty Images)The Federal Bureau of Investigations confiscated New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ two cell phones and his iPad this week in a federal corruption investigation into his 2021 campaign, according to The New York Times. Top Takeaways from the Apple EventThe FBI is reportedly investigating whether Eric Adams’ campaign conspired with the Turkish government and others to funnel donations into the NYC Mayor’s campaign. Agents approached Mayor Adams on the street and asked his security…

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Growing up in a small town in Brazil, my daily life was shaped by the rhythms of my family's working hours. My father has been a night shift worker for over three decades at a local factory. We got used to silent days and busy nights, noticing how our lives weren't in sync with those of our neighbors. …

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s David Zahniser, with much help from Julia Wick, giving you the latest on the machinations of L.A. city government.Not long after taking office, Mayor Karen Bass asked the City Council for a quick $50 million — a sum that was essentially seed money for her fight against homelessness, the No. 1 crisis gripping the city.Bass, in the wake of a decisive election victory, had already declared a citywide emergency on homelessness. She had also…

The rats don’t run this city—garbage rules do. New York City Mayor (and crypto enthusiast) Eric Adams proposed a new rule this week for the city’s composting program. It would require residents to set aside yard-related waste like leaves, branches, and grass aside for composting. The plan aims to get more garbage that would attract rodents off the streets. Misha Collins on What Made Supernatural Successful“This material, the most putrescible portion of New York City’s curbside waste stream, attracts rats and other…

Washington, D.C’s vibrant civil society means it is one of the national leaders in green construction in the U.S. Credit: Shutterstock A little over three months after the COP27 climate summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh drew to a close, the global community is no closer to finding a solution to the problem of climate change. The most-attended climate change conference to date has left observers frustrated and disillusioned. What…

It was the first major policy announcement from the new administration of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — a declaration of a state of emergency aimed at providing immediate relief to thousands of unhoused residents.That declaration needs a City Council vote on Tuesday before going into effect, a simple enough task in a quieter political moment. Except the council has one meeting left until mid-January, and has been struggling to conduct its business amid a scandal surrounding Councilmember Kevin de León.De León faces a…

It has been more than a week since the polls closed in the race for mayor of Los Angeles. We still don’t know for sure who won, but we do know a couple of things. First, Karen Bass is on track to become the first woman and second Black person to lead this great, but deeply troubled city. On Monday and again on Tuesday, the longtime congresswoman expanded her lead over billionaire developer Rick Caruso, with 52.5% to his 47.5%. Indeed, that she’s ahead at all, much less by 5%, is quite the political feat. Caruso dumped…

U.S. Rep. Karen Bass’ already substantial lead in the Los Angeles mayor’s race got even larger Tuesday, with the longtime Washington lawmaker pulling more than 5% ahead of businessman Rick Caruso, one week after election day.The results marked the fifth straight updated vote totals in which Bass has gained ground on Caruso, a trend that most election observers have said seems all but certain to make Bass the first woman elected mayor in Los Angeles.Bass now holds a 52.55%-47.45% lead — a 36,349-vote margin — according to…

Nearly 605,000 votes have been counted so far in the race for mayor of Los Angeles between Rep. Karen Bass and Rick Caruso. While Bass has the lead, there’s no final call on who won the race. What’s going on, why does it take so long, and how come we don’t yet know who won?What does it mean when news organizations “call” a race? Officially, nothing. Regardless of what we say, elections workers keep on counting ballots until every one has been tallied, and candidates don’t become elected officials until the returns are…