latimes--2020-08-31--Column: California could soon end its dumb policy on inmate firefighters. What took so long?

All it would take is one phone call from a fire department .
Any fire department .
Joshua McKinney assured me of this one recent morning , standing in the shade in his grandmother ’ s driveway in South Los Angeles as an LAPD helicopter circled overhead .
For weeks now , ever since the 26-year-old got out of prison in June , he has been trying to earn a paycheck in an economy that ’ s in shambles and dreaming of returning to the fire lines , where he worked to get months off his sentence , earning a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get out early , but as I was there , I actually fell in love with it , ” McKinney explained .
“ I was like , ‘ Dang , I never knew how much I loved hard work.
’ ” He and thousands of other Californians are barred from suiting up again because of their criminal records , and that is just stupid for a state that is woefully short on resources to fight fires .
In recent weeks , firefighters have been overrun in Northern California , slammed from all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least seven and scorched what ’ s already topped 1.4 million acres .
Thankfully , this could soon change .
After years of pushing , mostly by Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes ( D-Grand Terrace ) , the Legislature on Sunday night sent a bill to the governor ’ s desk that would help former prisoners — most of them Black and Latino — to earn the emergency medical technician license necessary to become full-time , year-round firefighters with the state , and numerous counties and cities .
Under AB 2147 , former prisoners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ’ s fire camps will be able to petition a judge to quickly expunge their records and waive parole time .
They then would be able to apply not only for an EMT license , but a host of other licenses required by other professions .
All it took was a bit of creative policymaking to please the firefighters ’ union , a pandemic that has emptied prisons and fire camps alike , an early wildfire season that has already destroyed scores of homes in Northern California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nonstop protests over the long-standing racial inequities of the criminal justice system .
That said , it shouldn ’ t have taken all of these compounding catastrophes to summon the political will to right one of California ’ s most notorious wrongs .
We use thousands of prisoners to do the grunt work of fighting fires , pay them a slave wage to do it and then , when they get out , we refuse to offer them a job doing the same thing for an actual living wage with benefits .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about our progressive values on criminal justice reform .
Meanwhile , the state ’ s recidivism rate remains “ stubbornly high , ” averaging 50 % in the last decade , according to a recent state audit .
Even the Los Angeles Lakers took California to task over this hypocrisy last week , issuing a rare tweet in support of then-pending legislation from Reyes .
“ We know that these incarcerated firefighters have already demonstrated a commitment and desire to turn their life around , ” Reyes said , noting that corrections officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serious offenses , such as rape , or have a history of escape with violence .
“ I would hope that most of us would agree that an individual willing to face down a fire and smoke is much more than the sum of their previous mistakes .
“ I don ’ t want a sentence that has been completed to become a life sentence .
And unfortunately , our criminal justice system has done just that .
Even after somebody has completed their sentence , they ’ re living a life sentence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to them.
” This is something McKinney is quickly coming to understand .
Now that he ’ s out of prison and on parole , he has applied for one of the few spots in the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection ’ s Firefighter Training and Certification Program , run out of the Ventura Conservation Camp .
Launched a couple of years ago , it helps people with criminal records compete for entry-level firefighting jobs with state , federal and local agencies .
In the meantime , though , McKinney is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what to do with himself .
“ I ’ m just , I don ’ t know , ” he said with a shrug .
“ Well , I ’ m not gon na say I don ’ t know .
I know what I want to do .
But I don ’ t have the proper certifications.
” McKinney ’ s friend , Eric Hunt , went through a similar experience when he was released from prison after a stint in a fire camp .
At first , Hunt tried to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to find out that he couldn ’ t , he said .
Then he landed a job doing recruitment for a jobs program for at-risk youth and veterans .
Then one of his bosses found out he was on parole and Hunt , who grew up in Pomona and now lives in Altadena , said he was let go .
So now Hunt has joined the ranks of Californians looking for steady employment in an economy turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic .
Nearly 4.8 million people in the state are collecting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to the U.S. Labor Department , showed 209,500 initial claims during the week ending Aug. 22 — a number that is going up , not down .
To make ends meet now , Hunt does a little of this and a little of that , he said .
A natural salesman with a quick wit and a tendency to talk in inspirational koans — “ Like my uncle told me , you ain ’ t had a best friend ‘ til you been one ” — he sells fruit cobblers at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ classes once he finds the right outdoor location .
But what he loves to do is talk about wildfires and about fighting them , usually with full-on reenactments and sound effects .
Like the time Hunt was ordered to help set a controlled burn .
It was the first real wildfire he had experienced .
“ I didn ’ t know fire grew so fast and could get so hot .
And I ’ m like , man , back of my neck is hot .
And I look and there ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 200 feet in the air , just fire .
All of this air starts to whip these trees around and I ’ m like , oh my God.
” “ I ’ m swinging my arms , and I ’ m flinging fuel all behind me on the bushes .
I finally burst through the other side .
And there ’ s everybody , and they all start falling out laughing because I look panicked .
My hard hat is on sideways , my goggles are down around my neck.
” Or the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had to help a member of the crew down Boney Mountain in Malibu .
“ He ’ s tired , his legs are wobbly .
I take his tool from him , which was a shovel .
And he grabs the top of my backpack , and I slowly start to descend.
” McKinney has plenty of stories , too .
Like the time he and his crew had been working for hours in the heat , hacking away at brush and trees with packs of heavy gear on their backs , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distance .
“ I ’ m just standing and I ’ m looking at it .
You can kind of see the smoke start to rise and rise .
I felt the wind start to pick up because , ” he said pausing for emphasis , “ you ’ ve got to be aware of the wind directions on you at any moment.
” Soon , McKinney said he was bent over once again , clearing clear brush with a chain saw — only this time , in the face of 30-foot flames @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in my life , ” he said .
Both McKinney and Hunt credit their time in fire camp with teaching them to be better human beings .
They speak with pride — and a bit of surprise — about the residents who have offered thanks and food and water for saving their mansions .
They brag about how they moved up the ranks of their respective fire crews .
For Hunt , in particular , who has been in and out of police custody for a variety of crimes since he was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life changing .
He said he became a person whom his mother could once again be proud of .
“ You become an entirely different person from who you were , ” he said .
“ So it ’ s difficult .
I ’ d love it if they just said , ‘ Hey , come on down and report.
’ ” All it would take is one phone call — and the promise of a salary that actually befits a firefighter .
Not even the risk of contracting COVID-19 is a deterrent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” McKinney said , as Hunt nodded .
“ We ’ ll make it happen.
” First Gov .
Gavin Newsom has to make it happen and sign AB 2147 .

Joshua McKinney, 26, left, and Eric Hunt, 41, at Joshua’s grandmother’s home in Los Angeles. The two are former inmate firefighters who want to go back to fighting fires, but can’t because of legal barriers.
All it would take is one phone call from a fire department. Any fire department.
Joshua McKinney assured me of this one recent morning, standing in the shade in his grandmother’s driveway in South Los Angeles as an LAPD helicopter circled overhead.
For weeks now, ever since the 26-year-old got out of prison in June, he has been trying to earn a paycheck in an economy that’s in shambles and dreaming of returning to the fire lines, where he worked to get months off his sentence, earning a pittance.
“I went in mainly to get out early, but as I was there, I actually fell in love with it,” McKinney explained. “I was like, ‘Dang, I never knew how much I loved hard work.’”
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He and thousands of other Californians are barred from suiting up again because of their criminal records, and that is just stupid for a state that is woefully short on resources to fight fires. In recent weeks, firefighters have been overrun in Northern California, slammed from all sides by wildfires that have killed at least seven and scorched what’s already topped 1.4 million acres.
Thankfully, this could soon change.
Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-Grand Terrace) during a hearing at the California state Capitol in 2017. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)
After years of pushing, mostly by Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-Grand Terrace), the Legislature on Sunday night sent a bill to the governor’s desk that would help former prisoners — most of them Black and Latino — to earn the emergency medical technician license necessary to become full-time, year-round firefighters with the state, and numerous counties and cities.
Under AB 2147, former prisoners who have successfully worked in one of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s fire camps will be able to petition a judge to quickly expunge their records and waive parole time. They then would be able to apply not only for an EMT license but a host of other licenses required by other professions.
Logical, right?
All it took was a bit of creative policymaking to please the firefighters’ union, a pandemic that has emptied prisons and fire camps alike, an early wildfire season that has already destroyed scores of homes in Northern California, an eye-popping unemployment rate, and nonstop protests over the long-standing racial inequities of the criminal justice system.
That said, it shouldn’t have taken all of these compounding catastrophes to summon the political will to right one of California’s most notorious wrongs.
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We use thousands of prisoners to do the grunt work of fighting fires, pay them a slave wage to do it and then, when they get out, we refuse to offer them a job doing the same thing for an actual living wage with benefits. And then we have the nerve to crow about our progressive values on criminal justice reform. Meanwhile, the state’s recidivism rate remains “stubbornly high,” averaging 50% in the last decade, according to a recent state audit.
Even the Los Angeles Lakers took California to task over this hypocrisy last week, issuing a rare tweet in support of then-pending legislation from Reyes.
Thank you to all of our firefighters and first responders, including our incarcerated men and women fighting the current California wildfires.
Human rights are everyone’s rights.
Create a pathway for former inmates who successfully completed fire camp while incarcerated. pic.twitter.com/U0j6TsfKBL — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 28, 2020
“We know that these incarcerated firefighters have already demonstrated a commitment and desire to turn their life around,” Reyes said, noting that corrections officials preemptively weed out prisoners who have committed serious offenses, such as rape, or have a history of escape with violence. “I would hope that most of us would agree that an individual willing to face down a fire and smoke is much more than the sum of their previous mistakes.
“I don’t want a sentence that has been completed to become a life sentence. And unfortunately, our criminal justice system has done just that. Even after somebody has completed their sentence, they’re living a life sentence, because so many doors are shut to them.”
This is something McKinney is quickly coming to understand. Now that he’s out of prison and on parole, he has applied for one of the few spots in the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Firefighter Training and Certification Program, run out of the Ventura Conservation Camp. Launched a couple of years ago, it helps people with criminal records compete for entry-level firefighting jobs with state, federal and local agencies.
In the meantime, though, McKinney is at a bit of a loss about what to do with himself.
“I’m just, I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “Well, I’m not gonna say I don’t know. I know what I want to do. But I don’t have the proper certifications.”
McKinney’s friend, Eric Hunt, went through a similar experience when he was released from prison after a stint in a fire camp.
At first, Hunt tried to get a job at fire departments, only to find out that he couldn’t, he said. Then he landed a job doing recruitment for a jobs program for at-risk youth and veterans. Then one of his bosses found out he was on parole and Hunt, who grew up in Pomona and now lives in Altadena, said he was let go.
So now Hunt has joined the ranks of Californians looking for steady employment in an economy turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 4.8 million people in the state are collecting unemployment benefits. The most recent figures, according to the U.S. Labor Department, showed 209,500 initial claims during the week ending Aug. 22 — a number that is going up, not down.
To make ends meet now, Hunt does a little of this and a little of that, he said. A natural salesman with a quick wit and a tendency to talk in inspirational koans — “Like my uncle told me, you ain’t had a best friend ‘til you been one” — he sells fruit cobblers at farmers markets and wants to teach paint-and-sip classes once he finds the right outdoor location.
But what he loves to do is talk about wildfires and about fighting them, usually with full-on reenactments and sound effects.
Like the time Hunt was ordered to help set a controlled burn. It was the first real wildfire he had experienced.
“I didn’t know fire grew so fast and could get so hot. And I’m like, man, back of my neck is hot. And I look and there’s just this wall of fire there — 200 feet in the air, just fire. All of this air starts to whip these trees around and I’m like, oh my God.”
He just started running.
“I’m swinging my arms, and I’m flinging fuel all behind me on the bushes. I finally burst through the other side. And there’s everybody, and they all start falling out laughing because I look panicked. My hard hat is on sideways, my goggles are down around my neck.”
Joshua McKinney, 26, left, and Eric Hunt, 41, worked as firefighters while in prison. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Or the time during the Woolsey fire that he had to help a member of the crew down Boney Mountain in Malibu.
“He’s tired, his legs are wobbly. I take his tool from him, which was a shovel. And he grabs the top of my backpack, and I slowly start to descend.”
McKinney has plenty of stories, too. Like the time he and his crew had been working for hours in the heat, hacking away at brush and trees with packs of heavy gear on their backs, when another wind-whipped blaze suddenly erupted in the distance.
“I’m just standing and I’m looking at it. You can kind of see the smoke start to rise and rise. I felt the wind start to pick up because,” he said pausing for emphasis, “you’ve got to be aware of the wind directions on you at any moment.”
Soon, McKinney said he was bent over once again, clearing brush with a chain saw — only this time, in the face of 30-foot flames.
“I never sweated that much in my life,” he said.
Both McKinney and Hunt credit their time in fire camp with teaching them to be better human beings. They speak with pride — and a bit of surprise — about the residents who have offered thanks and food and water for saving their mansions. They brag about how they moved up the ranks of their respective fire crews.
For Hunt, in particular, who has been in and out of police custody for a variety of crimes since he was a teenager, the fire camp experience was life changing. He said he became a person whom his mother could once again be proud of.
“You become an entirely different person from who you were,” he said. “So it’s difficult. I’d love it if they just said, ‘Hey, come on down and report.’”
All it would take is one phone call — and the promise of a salary that actually befits a firefighter. Not even the risk of contracting COVID-19 is a deterrent.
“Just give us two radios,” McKinney said, as Hunt nodded. “We’ll make it happen.”
First Gov. Gavin Newsom has to make it happen and sign AB 2147.


latimes--2020-08-31--LAUSD enrollment decline continues during online learning, with unexpected drop of 6,000 kindergarte

LAUSD enrollment decline continues during online learning, with unexpected drop of 6,000 kindergarteners

Enrollment at the Los Angeles Unified School District has continued its downward trend for the 2020-21 academic year , with the decline in kindergarten enrollment — especially in the school system ’ s lowest-income neighborhoods — about three times as large as in recent years .
“ Overall enrollment is down at about the same level as prior years , ” L.A. schools Supt .
Austin Beutner said in remarks broadcast Monday morning .
“ The main drivers of this are the lack of affordable housing in the communities served by our schools and the continued decline in birth rate.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ students are absent in the greatest numbers , a possible reflection of the hardships many families are grappling with during the COVID-19 pandemic and their inability to guide young children through the rigors of distance learning .
“ The most significant change in enrollment is at the kindergarten level , ” Beutner said .
“ The biggest drops in kindergarten enrollment are generally in neighborhoods with the lowest household incomes .
We suspect some of this is because families may lack the ability to provide full-time support at home for online learning , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Enrollment in kindergarten so far this year is 36,914 , according to figures released Monday by L.A. Unified — down about 6,000 students or 14 % from last year .
The two prior years , kindergarten enrollment had dropped about 2,000 students each year .
The Times requested the enrollment numbers last week when it reported growing concerns from some teachers and principals about the district ’ s attendance counting policy .
In addition to a drop in kindergarten enrollment , some principals also are reporting that attendance in live online transitional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ The average class size is approximately 12 to 15 students per grade level , ” said Juan Flecha , president of the union that represents principals , who said the low class tallies come from his members rather than L.A. Unified .
“ I think parents are finding it extraordinarily difficult to manage their personal and professional lives while somehow keeping the tykes engaged on a device.
” Flecha ’ s anecdotal numbers suggest that , in many cases , only 50 % to 75 % of kindergartners and first-graders are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Under state law , parents do not have to enroll their children in kindergarten .
Starting in first grade , however , schooling is mandatory , although parents are allowed to homeschool their children .
It ’ s difficult to gauge the meaningfulness or length of student engagement based on the district ’ s official attendance rates because the district ’ s liberal attendance policy allows a student to be counted as present by simple actions , including emailing or being in brief contact with their teacher before midnight each day .
Attending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ purposes , but some form of daily online contact is required .
The district policy is not at odds with state rules put in place during the pandemic , officials from other state agencies have said .
The district on Monday released an average daily attendance rate of 88.4 % , which compares to last year ’ s rate of 91.8 % , when different in-person attendance rules applied .
The district lists its overall K-12 enrollment at 461,105 , compared with 472,336 for last year .
As Beutner indicated , the enrollment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to that of previous recent years .

Gardner Elementary coordinator Lali Oustinovskaya, seated, talks with parent Byata Dikker at a technology and supply pickup event before the start of the school year at the Hollywood campus. Enrollment at the school is down, according to a parent leader.
Enrollment at the Los Angeles Unified School District has continued its downward trend for the 2020-21 academic year, with the decline in kindergarten enrollment — especially in the school system’s lowest-income neighborhoods — about three times as large as in recent years.
“Overall enrollment is down at about the same level as prior years,” L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner said in remarks broadcast Monday morning. “The main drivers of this are the lack of affordable housing in the communities served by our schools and the continued decline in birth rate.”
But the district’s youngest students are absent in the greatest numbers, a possible reflection of the hardships many families are grappling with during the COVID-19 pandemic and their inability to guide young children through the rigors of distance learning.
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“The most significant change in enrollment is at the kindergarten level,” Beutner said. “The biggest drops in kindergarten enrollment are generally in neighborhoods with the lowest household incomes. We suspect some of this is because families may lack the ability to provide full-time support at home for online learning, which is necessary for very young learners.”
Enrollment in kindergarten so far this year is 36,914, according to figures released Monday by L.A. Unified — down about 6,000 students or 14% from last year. The two prior years, kindergarten enrollment had dropped about 2,000 students each year.
The Times requested the enrollment numbers last week when it reported growing concerns from some teachers and principals about the district’s attendance counting policy.
In addition to a drop in kindergarten enrollment, some principals also are reporting that attendance in live online transitional kindergarten through first-grade classes is particularly low.
“The average class size is approximately 12 to 15 students per grade level,” said Juan Flecha, president of the union that represents principals, who said the low class tallies come from his members rather than L.A. Unified. “I think parents are finding it extraordinarily difficult to manage their personal and professional lives while somehow keeping the tykes engaged on a device.”
Flecha’s anecdotal numbers suggest that, in many cases, only 50% to 75% of kindergartners and first-graders are making it to live online sessions.
Under state law, parents do not have to enroll their children in kindergarten. Starting in first grade, however, schooling is mandatory, although parents are allowed to homeschool their children.
It’s difficult to gauge the meaningfulness or length of student engagement based on the district’s official attendance rates because the district’s liberal attendance policy allows a student to be counted as present by simple actions, including emailing or being in brief contact with their teacher before midnight each day. Attending online classes is not mandatory for attendance purposes, but some form of daily online contact is required. The district policy is not at odds with state rules put in place during the pandemic, officials from other state agencies have said.
The district on Monday released an average daily attendance rate of 88.4%, which compares to last year’s rate of 91.8%, when different in-person attendance rules applied.
The district lists its overall K-12 enrollment at 461,105, compared with 472,336 for last year. As Beutner indicated, the enrollment decline based on that count is similar to that of previous recent years.


latimes--2020-08-31--L.A. County sheriff's prisoner transport bus strikes and kills pedestrian on 5 Freeway

A stretch of the northbound 5 Freeway was closed for several hours in the Arleta area Monday morning after a @ @ @ @ @ by a Los Angeles County Sheriff ’ s Department prisoner transport bus , authorities said @ @ @ @ @ about 3:19 a.m. in the northbound lanes near Osborne Street , according to California Highway @ @ @ @ @ The victim has not yet been identified , and the circumstances leading up to the @ @ @ @ @ , authorities said .
Nicholson said the bus was not carrying prisoners at the time @ @ @ @ @ lanes of the 5 Freeway were closed at Osborne for hours because of the crash @ @ @ @ @ shortly before 8 a.m. , according to the CHP .

An investigation is underway after a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate transport hit a pedestrian on the 5 Freeway early Monday.
A stretch of the northbound 5 Freeway was closed for several hours in the Arleta area Monday morning after a pedestrian was struck and killed by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department prisoner transport bus, authorities said.
The crash was reported about 3:19 a.m. in the northbound lanes near Osborne Street, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Peter Nicholson.
The victim has not yet been identified, and the circumstances leading up to the crash were not immediately clear, authorities said.
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Nicholson said the bus was not carrying prisoners at the time of the crash.
Northbound lanes of the 5 Freeway were closed at Osborne for hours because of the crash investigation. All lanes reopened shortly before 8 a.m., according to the CHP.


latimes--2020-08-31--At Monterey Bay Aquarium, the sea animals are doing great, but business is tanking

A solitary African penguin waddled through an empty foyer at the famed Monterey Bay Aquarium , peeking curiously under an unoccupied bench .
As a glittery school of silver sardines glided through the 1-million-gallon Open Sea exhibit , soft atmospheric music played to an empty viewing room .
No families were there to watch the sharks get fed .
The jellyfish shimmered alone in the dark .
Crowds would normally be filling the aquarium corridors in these waning days of summer .
But the aquarium on Cannery Row has been closed to the public for five months now because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is quiet .
As he examined a sedated sea otter pup rescued from the kelp beds off Santa Cruz , Dr. Michael Murray , the aquarium ’ s director of veterinary services , wondered aloud if the animals noticed how much things had changed .
“ Part of me says , ‘ Oh , they don ’ t really care , ’ ” he said .
“ The other part says , ‘ These are not dumb animals .
They ’ re very aware of their surroundings .
They can see people through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people .
So why wouldn ’ t they notice ?
’ ” Life above the water has been fraught .
The aquarium missed its entire summer tourism season , and its finances are in such dire straits that more than a third of its staff has been laid off or furloughed .
“ The visitors are gone .
The revenue is gone , ” said Julie Packard , the aquarium ’ s executive director .
“ Meantime , the animals and exhibits are doing great.
” Outside , three wildfires have been burning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one staff member to lose a home and others to evacuate .
Animals sensitive to smoke and ash falling from the orange-tinged sky had to be pulled indoors .
The sea otters are susceptible to the coronavirus , forcing staffers to wear masks and gloves around them — and to try to maintain a good distance from the social mammals , who now perk up when they see the few humans there are walking past their exhibit .
“ It ’ s been frightening ; it ’ s been concerning , disconcerting , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president of animal care , who was evacuated from his home near Salinas because of the River fire .
“ We ’ ve had to navigate PPE [ personal protective equipment ] , social distancing , doing split shifts … but the real difficulty for the staff is not having people see the work they ’ re so passionate about.
” When it opened in 1984 , the aquarium — built in the former Hovden sardine cannery — helped revitalize gritty Cannery Row .
The waterfront stretch is now a tourist destination filled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Steinbeck , who , in his novel named after the place , described Cannery Row as “ a poem , a stink , a grating noise , a quality of light , a tone , a habit , a nostalgia , a dream.
” “ The Monterey Bay Aquarium is world famous , and it ’ s like a global beacon for us for travelers , ” said Rob O ’ Keefe , chief executive of the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau .
“ What they ’ re doing directly impacts tourism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March 13 .
A grand reopening was planned for July 9 , but it was scrapped a few days before because Monterey County had just been placed on the state ’ s coronavirus watchlist .
No opening date is currently planned .
Faced with a projected loss this year of some $ 45 million , the aquarium laid off or furloughed 220 of its 580 employees .
Others had their pay cut through the end of the year .
Because the nonprofit had more than 500 employees , it did not qualify for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal Paycheck Protection Program , Packard said .
It has been pleading with donors to give more and scaled back conservation programs .
It cut 70 % of the budget for its conservation and science department , which , among other things , works to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean and combat the negative effects of climate change .
The aquarium has kept a limited staff on-site to care for the more than 81,000 animals and maintain the complex system that pumps in some 2,000 gallons of seawater per minute .
Zoos @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sales , concessions , parking , events and gift shops — have been hit especially hard during the shutdowns , said Dan Ashe , president of the Assn .
of Zoos and Aquariums , an accrediting body that represents more than 200 facilities in the United States .
“ The pandemic has just been , in a word , devastating , ” Ashe said .
The group has been urging Congress to provide $ 30 million for zoos and aquariums in the next round of stimulus funding and to expand the eligibility for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nonprofits .
Virtually all of its members were shut down .
Though about 86 % have partly reopened , they are operating with heavily restricted capacity that is not sustainable in the long run , Ashe said .
The Los Angeles Zoo opened to the public Wednesday after a five-month closure in which it lost $ 11.7 million .
The San Diego and Santa Barbara zoos and the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert reopened in June .
After closing in March , the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capacity , with timed entry , guest temperature checks at the door and mask requirements .
Its indoor facilities were open 19 days before being shut down again amid rising coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County .
Its outdoor exhibits are open in a limited capacity .
That aquarium anticipates a $ 15-million shortfall out of a roughly $ 40-million operating budget , said chief financial officer Anthony Brown .
It has laid off 82 of its roughly 400 staff members and furloughed about 100 people , he said .
It is having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its $ 150-per-person penguin encounter sessions for small groups and considering virtual yoga classes recorded in the aquarium .
“ There ’ s no idea too small , ” Brown said .
“ We ’ re really nimble , we ’ re able to do just about anything , but this is by far the biggest challenge this organization has had.
” The closure of the Monterey Bay Aquarium , which draws 2 million visitors a year , has been keenly felt on the Central Coast .
Tourism to Monterey County took a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are typically 80 % or higher during the summer , O ’ Keefe said .
In June , that rate was 48 % .
Travel has started to pick up , but slowly , the CEO said .
“ It ’ s the ultimate double whammy , COVID plus the fires , ” O ’ Keefe said .
“ We ’ re stuck with a quandary of , people can ’ t go inside and people can ’ t go outdoors.
” At the aquarium , they ’ re trying to keep morale @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staff dance competition , which includes a choreographed number by scuba divers in the Kelp Forest exhibit .
They ’ ve also recorded “ MeditOcean ” videos , guided mindfulness meditations with footage of jellyfish and crashing waves .
Swimming among the anchovies and rockfish in the Kelp Forest exhibit on a recent morning , a scuba diver answered questions from his audience about what it ’ s like to feed the denizens of the deep .
“ Are there fish that prefer specific foods ?
” someone asked .
“ Ohhh , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his voice crackling on the underwater microphone .
The giant sea bass is “ always a little bit of a diva.
” Sometimes , he explained , he tosses out a piece of shrimp and she gobbles it up and spits it out .
Other times , he brings squid and she decides , “ I ’ m more of a prawn girl today.
” The questions would usually come from a live audience perched in stadium seating by the three-story open-air tank .
But the diver spoke instead to a dark , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ online audience , watching via livestream .
Wearing an aquarium-branded mask with her own sketches of sunstars and algae , Packard said the facility is ready to go as soon as it ’ s allowed to reopen .
It plans on instituting limited , timed entry and one-way paths .
Each guest will have to wear a mask and confirm twice that they are showing no symptoms of COVID-19 .
People are itching to come back , Packard said .
“ What each of us needs right now , every day , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us with something positive and happy , ” she said .
“ The beauty of nature here and enjoying something wonderful and curious with your family and loved ones — it ’ s just a reminder that as a human race we ’ ve done a lot to damage nature , and yet nature is going to endure .
”

A solitary African penguin waddled through an empty foyer at the famed Monterey Bay Aquarium, peeking curiously under an unoccupied bench.
As a glittery school of silver sardines glided through the 1-million-gallon Open Sea exhibit, soft atmospheric music played to an empty viewing room. No families were there to watch the sharks get fed. The jellyfish shimmered alone in the dark.
Crowds would normally be filling the aquarium corridors in these waning days of summer. But the aquarium on Cannery Row has been closed to the public for five months now because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inside, it is quiet.
As he examined a sedated sea otter pup rescued from the kelp beds off Santa Cruz, Dr. Michael Murray, the aquarium’s director of veterinary services, wondered aloud if the animals noticed how much things had changed.
“Part of me says, ‘Oh, they don’t really care,’” he said. “The other part says, ‘These are not dumb animals. They’re very aware of their surroundings. They can see people through the acrylic. They can react to people. So why wouldn’t they notice?’”
Life above the water has been fraught.
The aquarium missed its entire summer tourism season, and its finances are in such dire straits that more than a third of its staff has been laid off or furloughed.
“The visitors are gone. The revenue is gone,” said Julie Packard, the aquarium’s executive director. “Meantime, the animals and exhibits are doing great.”
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Outside, three wildfires have been burning in Monterey County, causing at least one staff member to lose a home and others to evacuate. Animals sensitive to smoke and ash falling from the orange-tinged sky had to be pulled indoors.
Social media content creator Patrick Webster livestreams from the Kelp Forest tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The Cannery Row landmark has been closed until further notice because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
The sea otters are susceptible to the coronavirus, forcing staffers to wear masks and gloves around them — and to try to maintain a good distance from the social mammals, who now perk up when they see the few humans there are walking past their exhibit.
“It’s been frightening; it’s been concerning, disconcerting,” said Jon Hoech, the vice president of animal care, who was evacuated from his home near Salinas because of the River fire. “We’ve had to navigate PPE [personal protective equipment], social distancing, doing split shifts … but the real difficulty for the staff is not having people see the work they’re so passionate about.”
When it opened in 1984, the aquarium — built in the former Hovden sardine cannery — helped revitalize gritty Cannery Row. The waterfront stretch is now a tourist destination filled with family-friendly restaurants and tributes to John Steinbeck, who, in his novel named after the place, described Cannery Row as “a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.”
“The Monterey Bay Aquarium is world famous, and it’s like a global beacon for us for travelers,” said Rob O’Keefe, chief executive of the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “What they’re doing directly impacts tourism for us.”
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The aquarium shut down March 13. A grand reopening was planned for July 9, but it was scrapped a few days before because Monterey County had just been placed on the state’s coronavirus watchlist. No opening date is currently planned.
“The visitors are gone. The revenue is gone. Meantime, the animals and exhibits are doing great.” — Julie Packard, executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Rey the penguin affectionally kisses aviculturist Madeline McCuen while taking a stroll outside of her enclosure at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Faced with a projected loss this year of some $45 million, the aquarium laid off or furloughed 220 of its 580 employees. Others had their pay cut through the end of the year.
Because the nonprofit had more than 500 employees, it did not qualify for a forgivable coronavirus aid loan through the federal Paycheck Protection Program, Packard said.
It has been pleading with donors to give more and scaled back conservation programs. It cut 70% of the budget for its conservation and science department, which, among other things, works to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean and combat the negative effects of climate change.
The aquarium has kept a limited staff on-site to care for the more than 81,000 animals and maintain the complex system that pumps in some 2,000 gallons of seawater per minute.
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Senior aviculturist Kim Fukuda, left, and aviculturist Madeline McCuen maintain the penguin enclosure at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Zoos and aquariums — which rely upon ticket sales, concessions, parking, events and gift shops — have been hit especially hard during the shutdowns, said Dan Ashe, president of the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums, an accrediting body that represents more than 200 facilities in the United States.
“The pandemic has just been, in a word, devastating,” Ashe said.
The group has been urging Congress to provide $30 million for zoos and aquariums in the next round of stimulus funding and to expand the eligibility for forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans for larger nonprofits.
Virtually all of its members were shut down. Though about 86% have partly reopened, they are operating with heavily restricted capacity that is not sustainable in the long run, Ashe said.
1 / 12 Meerkats look at visitors during the reopening of the Los Angeles Zoo on Wednesday. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 2 / 12 Angela, a 7-month-old western lowland gorilla, rides on mother N’djia’s back at L.A. Zoo. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 3 / 12 Melanie Olmeda and her 6-year-old son Mason Gutierrez came from Chino for the reopening. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 4 / 12 Some of the first visitors arrive for the reopening. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 5 / 12 Visitors stop by the gorilla enclosure. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 6 / 12 A western lowland gorilla family portrait with father Kelly, left, N’djia and 7-month-old Angela. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 7 / 12 Social distancing signs tell visitors to stay one zebra apart. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 8 / 12 Rapunzel, a western lowland gorilla, looks out at visitors. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 9 / 12 The Los Angeles Zoo flamingo area. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 10 / 12 Aleiyah Lindsey of Beaumont celebrates her 26th birthday at the zoo. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 11 / 12 The zoo opened with social distancing measures in place. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) 12 / 12 Visitors stop by the gorilla enclosure. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
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The Los Angeles Zoo opened to the public Wednesday after a five-month closure in which it lost $11.7 million. The San Diego and Santa Barbara zoos and the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert reopened in June.
After closing in March, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach opened in mid-June — at 25% capacity, with timed entry, guest temperature checks at the door and mask requirements. Its indoor facilities were open 19 days before being shut down again amid rising coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County. Its outdoor exhibits are open in a limited capacity.
That aquarium anticipates a $15-million shortfall out of a roughly $40-million operating budget, said chief financial officer Anthony Brown. It has laid off 82 of its roughly 400 staff members and furloughed about 100 people, he said.
It is having to get creative, including by relaunching its $150-per-person penguin encounter sessions for small groups and considering virtual yoga classes recorded in the aquarium.
“There’s no idea too small,” Brown said. “We’re really nimble, we’re able to do just about anything, but this is by far the biggest challenge this organization has had.”
The closure of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which draws 2 million visitors a year, has been keenly felt on the Central Coast.
An overcast day at the iconic Monterey Bay Aquarium, looking out over the Great Tide Pool in Monterey. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Tourism to Monterey County took a nosedive this year. Hotel occupancy rates are typically 80% or higher during the summer, O’Keefe said. In June, that rate was 48%. Travel has started to pick up, but slowly, the CEO said.
“It’s the ultimate double whammy, COVID plus the fires,” O’Keefe said. “We’re stuck with a quandary of, people can’t go inside and people can’t go outdoors.”
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At the aquarium, they’re trying to keep morale up. There’s an ongoing staff dance competition, which includes a choreographed number by scuba divers in the Kelp Forest exhibit. They’ve also recorded “MeditOcean” videos, guided mindfulness meditations with footage of jellyfish and crashing waves.
A sedated otter is examined by Dr. Michael Murray, director of veterinary services at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Swimming among the anchovies and rockfish in the Kelp Forest exhibit on a recent morning, a scuba diver answered questions from his audience about what it’s like to feed the denizens of the deep.
“Are there fish that prefer specific foods?” someone asked.
“Ohhh, yeah,” said Patrick Webster, his voice crackling on the underwater microphone. The giant sea bass is “always a little bit of a diva.” Sometimes, he explained, he tosses out a piece of shrimp and she gobbles it up and spits it out. Other times, he brings squid and she decides, “I’m more of a prawn girl today.”
The questions would usually come from a live audience perched in stadium seating by the three-story open-air tank. But the diver spoke instead to a dark, quiet room. Questions came from an online audience, watching via livestream.
Wearing an aquarium-branded mask with her own sketches of sunstars and algae, Packard said the facility is ready to go as soon as it’s allowed to reopen. It plans on instituting limited, timed entry and one-way paths. Each guest will have to wear a mask and confirm twice that they are showing no symptoms of COVID-19.
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People are itching to come back, Packard said.
“What each of us needs right now, every day, is something to calm us down and uplift us with something positive and happy,” she said. “The beauty of nature here and enjoying something wonderful and curious with your family and loved ones — it’s just a reminder that as a human race we’ve done a lot to damage nature, and yet nature is going to endure.”


latimes--2020-08-31--Can you trust the police to tell the truth? Reliability under scrutiny as cases tossed

Six Los Angeles County sheriff ’ s deputies reported hearing a single gunshot during a foot chase outside Golden Bird Chicken in Willowbrook .
One said he saw a revolver on the man they were after , then a bright muzzle flash .
Lyle Spruill was arrested that December night last year and charged with one of the most incendiary of felonies — attempted murder of a police officer — even though no gun was found .
He spent the next six months in jail .
Then , just before Spruill ’ s scheduled preliminary hearing in June , prosecutors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including surveillance footage of him running away and the absence of gunshot residue , didn ’ t support the charges , the district attorney ’ s office said .
Spruill claims in a lawsuit filed last week that the deputies from the Century Station fabricated the story and withheld evidence that contradicted their version of events .
A gunshot residue report was completed 15 days after Spruill ’ s December arrest but wasn ’ t turned over to prosecutors for six months , according to records and interviews .
( The L.A. County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of personnel changes related to COVID-19 , “ the handling detective was unaware of the GSR results until just before the pretrial ” hearing . )
The allegations come at a time when the reliability of police accounts increasingly is being questioned amid a push for criminal justice reform spurred by videotaped killings such as that of George Floyd in Minneapolis .
Spruill ’ s case is among others in Los Angeles that have been tossed out or rejected by prosecutors , or are under review , because the evidence and stories presented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Every day I walk around , and I think about why , ” Spruill , 45 , said in an interview with The Times .
“ Why me ?
What have I done wrong to make not one cop , not two cops , but several cops to make a statement that I tried to hurt them ?
” A Gallup poll after Floyd ’ s May 25 death found that confidence in police was at a record low , falling to less than half the U.S. population , 48 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years .
Experts say it appears people are more likely now to question what ’ s in police reports .
John S. Hollywood , a researcher who leads Rand Corp. ’ s Center for Quality Policing , says that in cities where a high-profile shooting or force incident triggers civil unrest , relations between police and the community suffer .
“ If a department comes under heavy investigation , ” he said , “ that tends to lead to decreases of community trust and increases in crime.
” Three Los Angeles Police Department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ labeling people they had stopped as gang members or associates on field interview cards .
Prosecutors are reviewing hundreds of criminal cases in which the three have been listed as potential witnesses , a move supported by LAPD Chief Michel Moore .
The Los Angeles County Sheriff ’ s Department is also facing questions after a whistleblower said that a gang of tattooed deputies called the “ Executioners ” essentially runs the Compton sheriff ’ s station .
The deputy testified recently that alleged members of the group regularly made false radio calls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suspect .
“ A lot of times they either have a hunch or they have information that that person has a gun , but in reality they ’ ve never seen the gun , ” Deputy Austreberto Gonzalez said in a deposition obtained by The Times in an excessive-force lawsuit filed by Sheldon Lockett .
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a statement that , if those allegations are true , “ it brings me great concern.
” “ Peace officers are trained to accurately report the facts at all times , to include @ @ @ @ @ @ @ type of behavior , if true , will not be tolerated , ” he said .
Lockett alleges he was targeted by deputies “ chasing ink ” when he was beaten and falsely arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in 2016 .
The deputies radioed that Lockett had a gun , which he said was a lie .
No gun was found .
Lockett spent about eight months in jail before prosecutors dropped the charges because of insufficient evidence .
Gonzalez ’ s allegations were alarming to Compton leaders who said they had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and retaliation for speaking out — from residents .
The city recently called on state and federal officials to investigate possible civil rights violations .
“ They terrorize the community , and then they cover their tracks , ” Compton Mayor Aja Brown said recently , recalling her own experience in which she said she was wrongfully stopped by deputies .
The Sheriff ’ s Department said it determined that the stop was a lawful detention .
City Councilwoman Michelle Chambers told The Times the validity of arrests made by any deputy with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I will not rest until rogue officers are removed out of this city , ” she said .
Lex Steppling , director of campaigns and policy at Dignity and Power Now , an organization that fights for the rights of incarcerated people and their families , says law enforcement accounts are being challenged more often now that cameras are ubiquitous .
“ Over and over again they say , ‘ He was reaching for a gun.
’ ‘ He had a gun.
’ ‘ A gun was later recovered at the scene.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s gun , ’ ” Steppling said .
“ These are things that they say that are not true.
” In the December case , Spruill said he was getting into his car in a parking lot where deputies had detained a separate group of men as part of a shooting investigation .
He had been waiting for his girlfriend to get off work nearby after he ’ d finished a welding job in downtown L.A. Two deputies pulled into the lot , stopped in front of Spruill ’ s car and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawsuit said .
“ Shortly after I saw the muzzle flash , I heard a loud gunshot , then I saw Spruill drop the firearm on the grassy area of the sidewalk , near a vehicle that was parked , ” one of the deputies said in a report obtained by The Times .
The deputy and his partner kept running after Spruill until he stopped and put his hands in the air , the report said .
The deputy wrote that when he went back to look for the gun , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ car .
In another report , a detective said the gun could have been whisked away by others in the area .
The charges leveled against Spruill two days later were among the most serious possible : two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and possession of a firearm by a felon , according to court records .
Spruill said he lost his job , car and home , where he had lived with his mother .
“ It ’ s not like they ’ re accusing me of stealing candy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ They were trying so hard to make sure I never come home again.
” If not for the physical evidence , Spruill and his attorney said , it would ’ ve been a “ he said , she said ” case — but it would be Spruill ’ s word against that of several law enforcement officers .
“ We ’ re not talking about one bad apple making a bad split-second decision , ” said his attorney , Greg Kirakosian .
“ This case involves a series of cooperative efforts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It ’ s the ultimate violation of the public ’ s trust.
” Villanueva said he was troubled by allegations of misconduct in the case , which is the subject of an ongoing administrative investigation that “ must be allowed to uncover the facts.
” “ If those findings uncover misconduct by a department member , ” he said , “ appropriate administrative action will be taken.
” Los Angeles County Dist .
Atty .
Jackie Lacey said in a statement that she was “ deeply troubled whenever the loss of someone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unjustified.
” She added : “ We as prosecutors have a legal and ethical duty to file only those charges supported by the evidence .
That requires us to dismiss charges when we lose faith that the totality of the evidence will not support a conviction.
” Another attorney , Thomas Beck , alleged that a Lakewood deputy last year fabricated a story about seeing his client , Shaun Marshall , conduct a narcotics transaction at his tire shop , which he said was refuted by surveillance footage .
A possession charge against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ January 2019 incident .
“ At the time of trial , the deputy sheriff was unable to identify ” Marshall , the district attorney ’ s office said .
Beck said the deputy changed his story after Marshall complained to the station about his false arrest , saying he had security footage of the incident .
“ Of course he knew who Shaun was , ” Beck said of the deputy .
The Sheriff ’ s Department said a criminal investigation was ongoing .
Beck said Marshall had been interviewed by the Internal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of criminal misconduct by department members .
In the case of Dalvin Price , whose May arrest and beating in Compton were captured in a 31-second video that sparked outrage in the community , sheriff ’ s investigators made no mention in their initial paperwork to prosecutors that deputies used force during the incident .
Prosecutors cited the omission in a memo in which they declined to file charges of evading and looting .
The memo said deputies responded to a report of thefts at a CVS pharmacy in Compton when they saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ According to the memo , officers said Price ran several red lights and stop signs before his SUV crashed into the center median and a tree .
The video of his arrest , taken by a bystander , begins with Price , 24 , lying face down on the pavement , two deputies on top of him .
Moments later , a third deputy runs up and begins striking Price with his knee .
After the incident , Price said at a news conference that he had complied with deputies .
“ They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the ground — I got on the ground on my own , ” Price said .
“ They told me to stop resisting , although I wasn ’ t resisting .
I was trying my best to comply with everything they were saying .
However , I was still treated like I didn ’ t have any rights.
” The Sheriff ’ s Department said an administrative investigation was ongoing and would not comment further .
The district attorney ’ s declination memo said there was no video of Price attempting to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no clear video of the reported thefts at the CVS .
It said no property in the SUV was linked to CVS .
“ Based on the totality of the evidence , ” the memo said , “ it does not appear that a jury would find the suspect guilty beyond a reasonable doubt .
”

Lyle Spruill is suing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, saying deputies fabricated a story that he shot at them, then falsely arrested him for attempted murder.
Six Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies reported hearing a single gunshot during a foot chase outside Golden Bird Chicken in Willowbrook. One said he saw a revolver on the man they were after, then a bright muzzle flash.
Lyle Spruill was arrested that December night last year and charged with one of the most incendiary of felonies — attempted murder of a police officer — even though no gun was found. He spent the next six months in jail.
Then, just before Spruill’s scheduled preliminary hearing in June, prosecutors dropped the case. The evidence, including surveillance footage of him running away and the absence of gunshot residue, didn’t support the charges, the district attorney’s office said.
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Spruill claims in a lawsuit filed last week that the deputies from the Century Station fabricated the story and withheld evidence that contradicted their version of events.
A gunshot residue report was completed 15 days after Spruill’s December arrest but wasn’t turned over to prosecutors for six months, according to records and interviews. (The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said that because of personnel changes related to COVID-19, “the handling detective was unaware of the GSR results until just before the pretrial” hearing.)
The allegations come at a time when the reliability of police accounts increasingly is being questioned amid a push for criminal justice reform spurred by videotaped killings such as that of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Spruill’s case is among others in Los Angeles that have been tossed out or rejected by prosecutors, or are under review, because the evidence and stories presented by police don’t hold up.
VIDEO | 01:40 L.A. man’s lawsuit alleges sheriff’s deputies fabricated story against him Security camera footage from December shows Lyle Spruill running away from L.A. County sheriff’s deputies in Willowbrook.
“Every day I walk around, and I think about why,” Spruill, 45, said in an interview with The Times. “Why me? What have I done wrong to make not one cop, not two cops, but several cops to make a statement that I tried to hurt them?”
A Gallup poll after Floyd’s May 25 death found that confidence in police was at a record low, falling to less than half the U.S. population, 48%, for the first time in 27 years. Experts say it appears people are more likely now to question what’s in police reports.
John S. Hollywood, a researcher who leads Rand Corp.’s Center for Quality Policing, says that in cities where a high-profile shooting or force incident triggers civil unrest, relations between police and the community suffer.
“If a department comes under heavy investigation,” he said, “that tends to lead to decreases of community trust and increases in crime.”
Advertisement
Three Los Angeles Police Department officers were charged in July with falsely labeling people they had stopped as gang members or associates on field interview cards. Prosecutors are reviewing hundreds of criminal cases in which the three have been listed as potential witnesses, a move supported by LAPD Chief Michel Moore.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is also facing questions after a whistleblower said that a gang of tattooed deputies called the “Executioners” essentially runs the Compton sheriff’s station. The deputy testified recently that alleged members of the group regularly made false radio calls saying they saw a gun on a suspect.
“A lot of times they either have a hunch or they have information that that person has a gun, but in reality they’ve never seen the gun,” Deputy Austreberto Gonzalez said in a deposition obtained by The Times in an excessive-force lawsuit filed by Sheldon Lockett.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a statement that, if those allegations are true, “it brings me great concern.”
“Peace officers are trained to accurately report the facts at all times, to include tactical situations and radio transmissions. This type of behavior, if true, will not be tolerated,” he said.
Lockett alleges he was targeted by deputies “chasing ink” when he was beaten and falsely arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in 2016. The deputies radioed that Lockett had a gun, which he said was a lie. No gun was found. Lockett spent about eight months in jail before prosecutors dropped the charges because of insufficient evidence.
Gonzalez’s allegations were alarming to Compton leaders who said they had long fielded complaints of racial profiling — and retaliation for speaking out — from residents. The city recently called on state and federal officials to investigate possible civil rights violations.
Compton Mayor Aja Brown discussed police harassment during a news briefing this month. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
“They terrorize the community, and then they cover their tracks,” Compton Mayor Aja Brown said recently, recalling her own experience in which she said she was wrongfully stopped by deputies. The Sheriff’s Department said it determined that the stop was a lawful detention.
City Councilwoman Michelle Chambers told The Times the validity of arrests made by any deputy with an Executioner tattoo should be examined. “I will not rest until rogue officers are removed out of this city,” she said.
Lex Steppling, director of campaigns and policy at Dignity and Power Now, an organization that fights for the rights of incarcerated people and their families, says law enforcement accounts are being challenged more often now that cameras are ubiquitous.
“Over and over again they say, ‘He was reaching for a gun.’ ‘He had a gun.’ ‘A gun was later recovered at the scene.’ ‘He reached for the officer’s gun,’” Steppling said. “These are things that they say that are not true.”
In the December case, Spruill said he was getting into his car in a parking lot where deputies had detained a separate group of men as part of a shooting investigation. He had been waiting for his girlfriend to get off work nearby after he’d finished a welding job in downtown L.A. Two deputies pulled into the lot, stopped in front of Spruill’s car and searched him for no reason, his lawsuit said.
Grainy surveillance video shows Spruill running away and deputies giving chase.
“Shortly after I saw the muzzle flash, I heard a loud gunshot, then I saw Spruill drop the firearm on the grassy area of the sidewalk, near a vehicle that was parked,” one of the deputies said in a report obtained by The Times.
The deputy and his partner kept running after Spruill until he stopped and put his hands in the air, the report said. The deputy wrote that when he went back to look for the gun, it was gone, as was the parked car. In another report, a detective said the gun could have been whisked away by others in the area.
The charges leveled against Spruill two days later were among the most serious possible: two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to court records. Spruill said he lost his job, car and home, where he had lived with his mother.
“It’s not like they’re accusing me of stealing candy from a store,” he said. “They were trying so hard to make sure I never come home again.”
If not for the physical evidence, Spruill and his attorney said, it would’ve been a “he said, she said” case — but it would be Spruill’s word against that of several law enforcement officers.
“We’re not talking about one bad apple making a bad split-second decision,” said his attorney, Greg Kirakosian. “This case involves a series of cooperative efforts to fabricate evidence and withhold exculpatory evidence. It’s the ultimate violation of the public’s trust.”
Villanueva said he was troubled by allegations of misconduct in the case, which is the subject of an ongoing administrative investigation that “must be allowed to uncover the facts.”
“If those findings uncover misconduct by a department member,” he said, “appropriate administrative action will be taken.”
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said in a statement that she was “deeply troubled whenever the loss of someone’s liberty is found to be unjustified.” She added: “We as prosecutors have a legal and ethical duty to file only those charges supported by the evidence. That requires us to dismiss charges when we lose faith that the totality of the evidence will not support a conviction.”
Another attorney, Thomas Beck, alleged that a Lakewood deputy last year fabricated a story about seeing his client, Shaun Marshall, conduct a narcotics transaction at his tire shop, which he said was refuted by surveillance footage. A possession charge against Marshall was dropped two months after the January 2019 incident.
“At the time of trial, the deputy sheriff was unable to identify” Marshall, the district attorney’s office said.
Beck said the deputy changed his story after Marshall complained to the station about his false arrest, saying he had security footage of the incident. “Of course he knew who Shaun was,” Beck said of the deputy.
The Sheriff’s Department said a criminal investigation was ongoing. Beck said Marshall had been interviewed by the Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, which reviews allegations of criminal misconduct by department members.
Compton resident Dalvin Price, 24, right, with his attorneys Emanuel Thomas, left, and Jamon R. Hicks at a news conference. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
In the case of Dalvin Price, whose May arrest and beating in Compton were captured in a 31-second video that sparked outrage in the community, sheriff’s investigators made no mention in their initial paperwork to prosecutors that deputies used force during the incident. Prosecutors cited the omission in a memo in which they declined to file charges of evading and looting.
The memo said deputies responded to a report of thefts at a CVS pharmacy in Compton when they saw Price driving “from the location.” According to the memo, officers said Price ran several red lights and stop signs before his SUV crashed into the center median and a tree.
The video of his arrest, taken by a bystander, begins with Price, 24, lying face down on the pavement, two deputies on top of him.
“On the ground!” a deputy yells.
“I’m on the ground!” Price responds.
Moments later, a third deputy runs up and begins striking Price with his knee.
After the incident, Price said at a news conference that he had complied with deputies.
“They didn’t force me to get on the ground — I got on the ground on my own,” Price said. “They told me to stop resisting, although I wasn’t resisting. I was trying my best to comply with everything they were saying. However, I was still treated like I didn’t have any rights.”
The Sheriff’s Department said an administrative investigation was ongoing and would not comment further.
The district attorney’s declination memo said there was no video of Price attempting to evade officers before the SUV crashed and no clear video of the reported thefts at the CVS. It said no property in the SUV was linked to CVS.
“Based on the totality of the evidence,” the memo said, “it does not appear that a jury would find the suspect guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”


latimes--2020-08-31--Skelton: In this year's atypical California fire season, politicians find the blame game won't work

This wildfire season is different .
And it must be frustrating for many politicians .
It certainly is for pundits .
That ’ s because there is no one really to blame .
A cardinal rule of politics and punditry is to clearly state the problem , point out who ’ s at fault and say what should be done about it .
But during the current wildfires , no human apparently is at fault .
It ’ s Mother Nature ’ s handiwork — mostly her lightning strikes .
No mortal can turn those fire bolts off .
OK @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and should .
But so far , it doesn ’ t seem to be Pacific Gas & Electric Co. ’ s fault .
Unlike in past fire seasons , the utility ’ s old power equipment isn ’ t tumbling down and igniting flammable brush or dead trees it should have cleared .
There haven ’ t been any nutty arsonists out there that we know about .
Nor careless campers who left their breakfast fires smoldering .
No smokers tossing lit cigarette butts from their cars .
Many scientists and public officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Gavin Newsom .
They may be right .
But lightning was around long before we started burning fossil fuel .
“ I ’ m not in denial about climate change , ” Newsom told reporters last week .
“ If you don ’ t believe in climate change , come to the state of California and we will educate you… .
“ Not just wildfires — droughts and floods .
Snowpack [ diminishing ] and the like .
I could go on.
” While inspecting devastation from Butte County ’ s cataclysmic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked by a reporter , “ How do we curb these fires ?
” “ You know , ” Brown answered , “ we ’ ve had fires for long before the Europeans showed up here .
And our Indigenous people had a different way of living with nature .
For 10,000 years , there were never more than 300,000 [ people in California ] .
Now we have 40 million and we have a totally different situation .
“ So it ’ s not one thing .
It ’ s people .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s where they live and it ’ s the changing climate… .
And the truth is … we ’ re going to have more difficulties , ” he said .
“ Things are not going to get better .
They ’ re going to get more challenging because of the continuing alternation in the climate … lack of moisture , early snowmelt and faster winds , the whole thing.
” Unquestionably we need to slow global warming .
But to do that we need a U.S. president who doesn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Whatever we Californians and all Americans do to wean ourselves off fossil fuel , however , it isn ’ t going to stop wildfires for the foreseeable future .
Stephen J. Pyne , a professor emeritus at Arizona State University who specializes in environmental history , put it this way in a recent Times opinion piece : “ Until we began binge-burning fossil fuels , we had managed to live with fire .
We need to relearn how to coexist with it because it isn ’ t going away — it can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no fire vaccine is possible .
“ At this point in our fire-powered warming world , even as we ratchet down fossil fuel burning , landscape fires will likely ratchet up… .
We can ready ourselves to truly manage fire or scramble in blustering incredulity , ” he wrote .
“ But the fires are coming.
” The August lightning strikes , however , were freakish and relatively rare .
Lightning like that doesn ’ t happen every season .
In one three-day span , there were 12,000 lightning strikes in California — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ That ’ s an unusual amount of lightning , ” says Nick Schuler , deputy chief at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection .
Other big lightning bursts came in 2008 and 1987 , Schuler says .
But this year ’ s was bigger than both of those .
And this summer , the vegetation is especially flammable because of an abnormally dry winter .
President Trump habitually accuses California Democrats of failing to clear the forests of dead trees and brush that fuel fires .
Newsom “ has done @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” the Republican president claims .
That ’ s typical Trump .
The federal government owns and manages 57 % of California ’ s 33 million acres of forests .
The state owns only 2.2 % and local governments less than 1 % .
Private landowners have about 40 % .
The feds should clean up their own mess .
No argument , California governments and private landowners all have been irresponsibly tardy in clearing out fire-fueling brush and dead timber .
The state government has been trying to catch up during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up 90,000 acres .
That ’ s a good start , but it ’ s just a small stick of kindling compared with what ’ s out there ready to burn .
Forest cleaning should be a top state priority and it apparently is .
There are plans to annually reduce fire fuel on 1 million acres in partnership with the federal government .
Newsom , Brown and legislators deserve credit for recently hopping to it on firefighting and prevention .
They ’ ve purchased 12 twin-engine Black Hawk helicopters retrofitted for firefighting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ birds .
The Black Hawks fly faster and can dump more water .
Cal Fire has added 13 new fire engines and 858 more firefighters — plus a lot of new technology such as wildfire alert cameras .
Since Newsom took office , the state has spent about $ 500 million beefing up Cal Fire .
As of Friday , 14,600 firefighters — state , local and federal — using 2,400 fire engines and more than 100 aircraft were battling more than two dozen major blazes .
The state ’ s long-term solution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doing — only much more of it .

Flames consumes both sides of a segment of Lake Berryessa during the Hennessey fire in the Spanish Flat area of Napa County on Aug. 18.
This wildfire season is different. And it must be frustrating for many politicians. It certainly is for pundits. That’s because there is no one really to blame.
A cardinal rule of politics and punditry is to clearly state the problem, point out who’s at fault and say what should be done about it.
But during the current wildfires, no human apparently is at fault. It’s Mother Nature’s handiwork — mostly her lightning strikes. No mortal can turn those fire bolts off.
OK, we could prepare better for them and should.
But so far, it doesn’t seem to be Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s fault. Unlike in past fire seasons, the utility’s old power equipment isn’t tumbling down and igniting flammable brush or dead trees it should have cleared.
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There haven’t been any nutty arsonists out there that we know about. Nor careless campers who left their breakfast fires smoldering. No smokers tossing lit cigarette butts from their cars.
No, this time it’s Mother Nature’s fault.
Many scientists and public officials also cite global warming, including Gov. Gavin Newsom. They may be right. But lightning was around long before we started burning fossil fuel.
“I’m not in denial about climate change,” Newsom told reporters last week. “If you don’t believe in climate change, come to the state of California and we will educate you….
“Not just wildfires — droughts and floods. Snowpack [diminishing] and the like. I could go on.”
Newsom’s predecessor, four-term Gov. Jerry Brown, was a fatalist about wildfires.
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While inspecting devastation from Butte County’s cataclysmic Camp fire in 2018, Brown was asked by a reporter, “How do we curb these fires?”
“You know,” Brown answered, “we’ve had fires for long before the Europeans showed up here. And our Indigenous people had a different way of living with nature. For 10,000 years, there were never more than 300,000 [people in California]. Now we have 40 million and we have a totally different situation.
“So it’s not one thing. It’s people. It’s how people live, it’s where they live and it’s the changing climate…. And the truth is … we’re going to have more difficulties,” he said. “Things are not going to get better. They’re going to get more challenging because of the continuing alternation in the climate … lack of moisture, early snowmelt and faster winds, the whole thing.”
Unquestionably we need to slow global warming. But to do that we need a U.S. president who doesn’t think climate change is a socialist hoax.
Whatever we Californians and all Americans do to wean ourselves off fossil fuel, however, it isn’t going to stop wildfires for the foreseeable future.
Stephen J. Pyne, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University who specializes in environmental history, put it this way in a recent Times opinion piece:
“Until we began binge-burning fossil fuels, we had managed to live with fire. We need to relearn how to coexist with it because it isn’t going away — it can’t. Unlike for COVID-19, no fire vaccine is possible.
“At this point in our fire-powered warming world, even as we ratchet down fossil fuel burning, landscape fires will likely ratchet up…. We can ready ourselves to truly manage fire or scramble in blustering incredulity,” he wrote. “But the fires are coming.”
The August lightning strikes, however, were freakish and relatively rare.
Lightning like that doesn’t happen every season. In one three-day span, there were 12,000 lightning strikes in California — an average of 167 an hour.
“That’s an unusual amount of lightning,” says Nick Schuler, deputy chief at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Climate & Environment Illegal campfires spark fear of wildfire in California forests As Southern Californians increasingly flock to the mountains for relief from a recent heat wave and months-long coronavirus restrictions, hundreds of illegal campfires have sprung up in dispersed campsites.
Other big lightning bursts came in 2008 and 1987, Schuler says. But this year’s was bigger than both of those. And this summer, the vegetation is especially flammable because of an abnormally dry winter.
President Trump habitually accuses California Democrats of failing to clear the forests of dead trees and brush that fuel fires. Newsom “has done a terrible job of forest management,” the Republican president claims.
That’s typical Trump. The federal government owns and manages 57% of California’s 33 million acres of forests. The state owns only 2.2% and local governments less than 1%. Private landowners have about 40%. The feds should clean up their own mess.
No argument, California governments and private landowners all have been irresponsibly tardy in clearing out fire-fueling brush and dead timber. The state government has been trying to catch up during the last three years. It has cleaned up 90,000 acres. That’s a good start, but it’s just a small stick of kindling compared with what’s out there ready to burn.
Forest cleaning should be a top state priority and it apparently is. There are plans to annually reduce fire fuel on 1 million acres in partnership with the federal government.
Newsom, Brown and legislators deserve credit for recently hopping to it on firefighting and prevention.
They’ve purchased 12 twin-engine Black Hawk helicopters retrofitted for firefighting, replacing old Vietnam War-era single-engine Huey birds. The Black Hawks fly faster and can dump more water.
Cal Fire has added 13 new fire engines and 858 more firefighters — plus a lot of new technology such as wildfire alert cameras.
Since Newsom took office, the state has spent about $500 million beefing up Cal Fire.
As of Friday, 14,600 firefighters — state, local and federal — using 2,400 fire engines and more than 100 aircraft were battling more than two dozen major blazes.
The state’s long-term solution: Keep doing what it’s doing — only much more of it.


latimes--2020-09-01--News Analysis: Amid coronavirus crisis, an unsatisfying end for California's Legislature

So many storylines could have prevailed as the California Legislature adjourned for the year on Monday — the response to a public health emergency , demands for racial justice , progress toward easing the state ’ s homelessness and housing crises .
But what was most notable as the final gavel fell in the two houses just before midnight was an unmistakable feeling of absence .
It went beyond the 10 senators forced to quarantine after possible COVID-19 exposure and the empty offices and hallways of the state Capitol , where lobbyists and advocates usually provide rhythm and tempo to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ absence that lingered on the last day of the legislative session was more about what didn ’ t happen , and the unshakable sense that lawmakers are headed home with accomplishments outmatched by the deep troubles facing communities across California .
“ I ’ m feeling unsatisfied , ” Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager ( D-Los Angeles ) said .
“ On the one hand , we ’ re having existential conversations about the work and the zeitgeist , the cultural zeitgeist .
On the other hand , we ’ re looking at very real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be solved.
” Some level of dissatisfaction seemed to be unavoidable , given the enormity of the crisis and the public health imperatives that limited the pace of activity in Sacramento .
But in conversations with elected officials , staff members and policy advocates , a portrait emerges of a legislative year in which even a deadly pandemic didn ’ t change the fundamentals of partisan politics .
Others pointed , too , to a Legislature twice relegated to the sidelines — in March and again in July — as Gov .
Gavin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not rise to the occasion of being a co-equal branch of government , ” Assemblyman Chad Mayes ( I-Yucca Valley ) said .
“ But you can ’ t blame the administration for that .
It ’ s our responsibility.
” Perhaps the most telling sign of a year that had come up short was the persistent chatter about whether Newsom should convene a special session of the Legislature between Labor Day and election day on Nov. 3 to cover some of the state ’ s most pressing topics .
Republicans went so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Monday to keep them in town , while Democratic leaders of the two houses stayed silent on the request .
Though the governor could still summon lawmakers back to Sacramento , there is no indication he will do so .
It was not , of course , the year anyone expected .
Newsom devoted his entire State of the State address in February to a call for swift and sweeping action to stem California ’ s homelessness crisis .
That same week , legislators introduced the last of 2,203 proposed laws .
Everything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a statewide emergency in response to the coronavirus .
By month ’ s end , the state Senate and Assembly took the advice of public health officials and suspended all in-person proceedings in Sacramento — but not before authorizing Newsom to spend $ 1 billion as he saw fit to combat the spread of the virus .
The governor ’ s wide-reaching actions soon became a source of friction with legislators .
Democrats and Republicans alike balked at his use of emergency powers .
They criticized Newsom for too little transparency in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks and gear from a Chinese electric car company retrofitted to manufacture pandemic supplies .
They bristled when Newsom asked for additional spending power , and they questioned dozens of executive orders issued while they were told to stay away from the state Capitol .
Lawmakers came back 45 days later , but the die was already cast .
Having lost weeks to vet ideas and gather public input , the vast majority of bills were abandoned .
New proposals to address the COVID-19 crisis were introduced , but then another emergency appeared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , unlike any financial crisis in state history , that had to be erased before the end of June .
“ When we did come back , the environment to get anything done was very challenging , ” Mayes said .
And they weren ’ t back for long .
After two members of the Assembly tested positive for COVID-19 in early July , both houses again suspended their Capitol activities .
Once legislators returned , with even less time to craft policy and under strict public health rules , lawmakers and advocates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under the new constraints .
“ We are in disarray , ” state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson ( D-Santa Barbara ) said in mid-August , weeks before term limits brought her 14 years in the Legislature to an end .
“ Complex legislation needs sunlight and needs to be reviewed multiple times , ” she said .
“ This [ year ] has a frantic feel to it.
” The frenzy seemed to work against broad-based efforts to offer economic assistance .
In May , Senate Democrats unveiled a $ 25-billion blueprint relying on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ failed to gain traction , and the full proposal never materialized as legislation .
The portion that did move forward — an effort to provide far-reaching protection to renters facing eviction — was quietly killed by the Assembly last month while a more modest renter assistance bill was sent to Newsom on Monday , the very last day before a court-ordered moratorium on evictions was set to expire .
Their idea of tax vouchers , meanwhile , was delayed for additional study .
In July , the Assembly touted its own plan , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by offering $ 100 billion in economic assistance .
But most of that proposal faded away , too .
Its call for extending the state ’ s earned income tax credit to more immigrants without legal status was adopted , but its most consequential promise , a state-funded expansion of unemployment benefits to replace the expired federal cash , quietly faded away .
While lawmakers frequently discussed the plight of workers out of a job , representatives of business owners wondered whether anyone cared about employers .
“ The Legislature loves to say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” said Jot Condie , president of the California Restaurant Assn .
“ But it becomes irksome after a while when you see no follow up.
” Condie said he found little appetite from legislative leaders to extend eviction protections to small businesses such as restaurants .
His organization ’ s recent survey of restaurant owners found most will run out of federal Paycheck Protection Program loan funds before the end of September .
“ They will absolutely see it ” in their legislative districts when they go home this week , Condie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spots .
“ There is an ecosystem around a restaurant .
You ’ re seeing this crisis cascade outward.
” Liberal activists also criticized the limits of what the Legislature was willing to do .
Last week , a group called Commit to Equity used lights to project “ Countdown to catastrophe ” on the outside of the state Capitol at night .
They had demanded , with little response , that lawmakers impose new taxes on California ’ s multi-millionaires .
Two bills on the subject never had a committee vote .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to do more on economic issues as well as more substantive social justice efforts and the need for significant work to ease California ’ s housing crisis .
And she noted how hard it is for lawmakers to step away from governing by “ owning ” an issue and reaping the political praise in favor of a more collaborative approach .
“ People want direction , ” she said .
“ And they want to know that we ’ re listening.
” Mayes , a former leader of the Republican caucus in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preference in 2019 , said the costs of inaction are often outweighed by the political consequences of taking the wrong action .
“ Fear is a powerful motivator , ” he said .
“ And what ends up happening is everybody falls back to the easiest thing .
”

So many storylines could have prevailed as the California Legislature adjourned for the year on Monday — the response to a public health emergency, demands for racial justice, progress toward easing the state’s homelessness and housing crises.
But what was most notable as the final gavel fell in the two houses just before midnight was an unmistakable feeling of absence.
It went beyond the 10 senators forced to quarantine after possible COVID-19 exposure and the empty offices and hallways of the state Capitol, where lobbyists and advocates usually provide rhythm and tempo to the governing process.
The feeling of absence that lingered on the last day of the legislative session was more about what didn’t happen, and the unshakable sense that lawmakers are headed home with accomplishments outmatched by the deep troubles facing communities across California.
“I’m feeling unsatisfied,” Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles) said. “On the one hand, we’re having existential conversations about the work and the zeitgeist, the cultural zeitgeist. On the other hand, we’re looking at very real and tangible issues that have yet to be solved.”
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Some level of dissatisfaction seemed to be unavoidable, given the enormity of the crisis and the public health imperatives that limited the pace of activity in Sacramento. But in conversations with elected officials, staff members and policy advocates, a portrait emerges of a legislative year in which even a deadly pandemic didn’t change the fundamentals of partisan politics. Others pointed, too, to a Legislature twice relegated to the sidelines — in March and again in July — as Gov. Gavin Newsom acted unilaterally.
“We did not rise to the occasion of being a co-equal branch of government,” Assemblyman Chad Mayes (I-Yucca Valley) said. “But you can’t blame the administration for that. It’s our responsibility.”
Perhaps the most telling sign of a year that had come up short was the persistent chatter about whether Newsom should convene a special session of the Legislature between Labor Day and election day on Nov. 3 to cover some of the state’s most pressing topics.
Republicans went so far as to formally ask Newsom on Monday to keep them in town, while Democratic leaders of the two houses stayed silent on the request. Though the governor could still summon lawmakers back to Sacramento, there is no indication he will do so.
It was not, of course, the year anyone expected. Newsom devoted his entire State of the State address in February to a call for swift and sweeping action to stem California’s homelessness crisis. That same week, legislators introduced the last of 2,203 proposed laws.
Everything changed two weeks later when Newsom declared a statewide emergency in response to the coronavirus. By month’s end, the state Senate and Assembly took the advice of public health officials and suspended all in-person proceedings in Sacramento — but not before authorizing Newsom to spend $1 billion as he saw fit to combat the spread of the virus.
The governor’s wide-reaching actions soon became a source of friction with legislators. Democrats and Republicans alike balked at his use of emergency powers. They criticized Newsom for too little transparency in a nearly $1-billion deal to purchase protective masks and gear from a Chinese electric car company retrofitted to manufacture pandemic supplies. They bristled when Newsom asked for additional spending power, and they questioned dozens of executive orders issued while they were told to stay away from the state Capitol.
Lawmakers came back 45 days later, but the die was already cast. Having lost weeks to vet ideas and gather public input, the vast majority of bills were abandoned. New proposals to address the COVID-19 crisis were introduced, but then another emergency appeared: a projected $54.3-billion budget deficit, unlike any financial crisis in state history, that had to be erased before the end of June.
“When we did come back, the environment to get anything done was very challenging,” Mayes said.
Advertisement
And they weren’t back for long. After two members of the Assembly tested positive for COVID-19 in early July, both houses again suspended their Capitol activities. Once legislators returned, with even less time to craft policy and under strict public health rules, lawmakers and advocates alike found it hard to make progress under the new constraints.
“We are in disarray,” state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said in mid-August, weeks before term limits brought her 14 years in the Legislature to an end. “Complex legislation needs sunlight and needs to be reviewed multiple times,” she said. “This [year] has a frantic feel to it.”
The frenzy seemed to work against broad-based efforts to offer economic assistance.
In May, Senate Democrats unveiled a $25-billion blueprint relying on tax vouchers and renter eviction relief that failed to gain traction, and the full proposal never materialized as legislation. The portion that did move forward — an effort to provide far-reaching protection to renters facing eviction — was quietly killed by the Assembly last month while a more modest renter assistance bill was sent to Newsom on Monday, the very last day before a court-ordered moratorium on evictions was set to expire. Their idea of tax vouchers, meanwhile, was delayed for additional study.
In July, the Assembly touted its own plan, building on the Senate’s effort by offering $100 billion in economic assistance. But most of that proposal faded away, too. Its call for extending the state’s earned income tax credit to more immigrants without legal status was adopted, but its most consequential promise, a state-funded expansion of unemployment benefits to replace the expired federal cash, quietly faded away.
While lawmakers frequently discussed the plight of workers out of a job, representatives of business owners wondered whether anyone cared about employers.
“The Legislature loves to say they want to help small business,” said Jot Condie, president of the California Restaurant Assn. “But it becomes irksome after a while when you see no follow up.”
Condie said he found little appetite from legislative leaders to extend eviction protections to small businesses such as restaurants. His organization’s recent survey of restaurant owners found most will run out of federal Paycheck Protection Program loan funds before the end of September.
“They will absolutely see it” in their legislative districts when they go home this week, Condie said of the looming collapse of dining spots. “There is an ecosystem around a restaurant. You’re seeing this crisis cascade outward.”
Liberal activists also criticized the limits of what the Legislature was willing to do. Last week, a group called Commit to Equity used lights to project “Countdown to catastrophe” on the outside of the state Capitol at night. They had demanded, with little response, that lawmakers impose new taxes on California’s multi-millionaires. Two bills on the subject never had a committee vote.
Kamlager counted among her own frustrations the need to do more on economic issues as well as more substantive social justice efforts and the need for significant work to ease California’s housing crisis. And she noted how hard it is for lawmakers to step away from governing by “owning” an issue and reaping the political praise in favor of a more collaborative approach.
“People want direction,” she said. “And they want to know that we’re listening.”
Mayes, a former leader of the Republican caucus in the Assembly who re-registered without a party preference in 2019, said the costs of inaction are often outweighed by the political consequences of taking the wrong action.
“Fear is a powerful motivator,” he said. “And what ends up happening is everybody falls back to the easiest thing.”