latimes--2020-12-23--A family's COVID-19 dilemma: Hope he lives or help him die

He told them he did not want to be placed on a ventilator .
He was at peace and ready to meet Jesus .
Then , when his family was just not prepared for him to stop the fight against COVID-19 , he agreed to be intubated .
For a week .
His wife , Marilou , had dropped him off at the emergency room on Oct. 29 with a hopeful , “ Sweetie , I ’ ll come and get you tomorrow morning.
” The 61-year-old motivational speaker had felt sick enough that day to seek a doctor ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail bills and his absentee ballot en route to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills .
One week on the ventilator turned into three , and in early December the Harris family faced a terrible decision .
If Bob were to continue on the ventilator , he would have to have a tracheostomy — a surgical procedure in which a hole would be cut into his neck .
That way , the ventilator could pump oxygen into his lungs through a tube in his airway instead of one down his throat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not seen their husband and father in person for 36 days .
They hadn ’ t held Bob ’ s hand or stroked his forehead .
There ’ d been phone calls and texts and video meetings .
But once he was placed on the ventilator , even his voice was silenced .
In the cruel calculus of COVID-19 , there was only one way they could be with him in the hospital .
If the ventilator was turned off .
If he was about to die .
“ Remember , this is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Dr. Marwa Kilani told the Harrises during a noon family conference .
She was on speaker phone , surrounded by the hospital ’ s palliative care team .
They were crammed into their tiny office on the hospital ’ s third floor .
“ We need to be Bob ’ s voice .
What ’ s the best thing for Bob ?
” asked Kilani , medical director for palliative care at Providence Holy Cross .
“ I know what you want for Dad .
I know what you want for your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tell me what Bob would be saying.
” Palliative care is the medical specialty that helps improve the quality of life for patients with serious illnesses — everything from the curable , such as trauma or certain cancers , to those that bring people to the end of their days .
It aims to support the whole patient and the whole family with nurses , social workers , chaplains and doctors .
It is difficult to find a circumstance that has hit Kilani ’ s team as hard the pandemic .
Before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , infecting more than 636,000 and killing nearly 9,000 people , Holy Cross ’ palliative care team averaged about 20 cases at any given time .
In early December that caseload hit 60 .
In one recent four-day period , 12 of the team ’ s patients died .
During the second week in December , the hospital ’ s COVID unit reached capacity , and there was no longer room for families to visit loved ones as they died of the virus .
On Monday , a member of the palliative care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cared for more than 1,350 people with COVID-19 since March .
The current surge has forced the hospital to turn basement lab space into patient rooms .
COVID-19 patients now take up the hospital ’ s entire recently expanded south tower .
Half of all palliative care patients have the virus .
Or , as in Bob ’ s case , their families do .
Hope he lives or help him die .
Kilani was a medical student in the 1990s , during the last health crisis that rocked the nation , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ similarities between that disaster and this one are glaring : The stigma .
The victim blaming .
The inequity .
Both diseases , she said , lay bare the wide chasm between the haves and have-nots , between who gets good care and who has little access to treatment .
In both crises , patients have been viewed , at least for a time , as “ untouchables.
” Which is why she does not wear gloves as she makes her rounds in the COVID unit .
Touch , she said , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ constant scrubbing and sanitizer , her nails , dry and split .
Because hospital visits are largely banned in the age of the coronavirus , the palliative care team often steps in , she said , as a kind of “ substitute family at the bedside of a patient.
” The core team includes two nurses , two chaplains , one nurse practitioner and a social worker .
They focus on pain and symptom management , on advance care planning , on helping patients and families navigate an alien and often frightening system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more complicated , for patients with COVID-19 and those without .
Family meetings are on phone or video .
Time with patients is cut short .
And along with everything else , the team must treat yet another terrible ailment .
Kilani checked in one recent Friday on a COVID-19 patient who — on paper at least — was steadily improving .
His vital signs were good .
He ’ d needed less and less oxygen as the days went by .
But when she asked him how he felt , his answer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you took too much blood out , ” he told her .
“ I feel so weak.
” His appetite was gone .
He hadn ’ t eaten breakfast .
She asked if he would like some coffee , brought him a cup and sat with him .
“ He looked at me like he wanted to cry , ” she said .
“ It was heart-wrenching .
… I feel it ’ s the loneliness and fear that overwhelms him.
” He has a lot of family members for support , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far away .
Kilani walked into Bob ’ s hospital room two weeks after he was admitted .
He was on 100 % high-flow oxygen delivered through a tube in his nose — the last step before intubation — but the oxygen level in his blood was “ horrible , ” she said .
Healthy people have an oxygen saturation level of around 98 % .
Bob ’ s was in the mid-80s — even with the supplemental oxygen .
Their first conversation came immediately to the point .
Kilani : “ You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re going to take good care of you.
” COVID-19 can cause blood clots , stroke and other maladies , but Bob had straight-up lung disease .
The virus had caused so much damage that his lungs were failing .
He had already told his attending physician , and anyone else who would listen , how he felt about ventilators .
“ He ’ s at peace , ‘ if Jesus says it ’ s my time , ’ ” Chaplain Kevin Deegan wrote in his consultation notes .
“ Robert says he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but of the dying part.
” Being on a ventilator hurts .
Patients often try to pull out the tube that goes down their throat and into their lungs , so they are given anti-anxiety medication , pain killers and sedatives .
In the most serious cases , like Bob ’ s , they are also given a drug that paralyzes them .
Bob also was strapped into a mechanical bed , which rotated him so that he was lying face down .
He was in that prone position for 18 hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , then two face up and on and on .
It allowed his lungs to function more effectively .
It also caused his face to swell .
That was the reality facing Marilou , Michelle and Michael on Dec. 4 , during their regular Friday family meeting with the palliative care team .
Kilani , Deegan and the rest of the team who had been caring for Bob since the middle of November gathered around the phone on Kilani ’ s desk .
The hospital ’ s ugly Christmas sweater contest was coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woolens was slumped nearby .
First there were updates on Bob ’ s deteriorating condition .
Then , the question .
What now ?
Michelle spoke first .
She is 25 , an actor .
While her father was in a medically induced coma , she would play guitar and sing to him via an iPad that Deegan would set up in his room .
In 2016 , Michelle ’ s friends were trying out for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios .
She decided to give it whirl , maybe get a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Since he was there anyway , Bob , a Messianic Jew who once gave stand-up comedy a try , auditioned too .
They were asked to do their best death scene .
Michelle “ did this big dramatic thing , ” she said , and fell to the ground as her grand finale .
Bob choked and grunted , swore , “ you ’ ll never take me alive , ” and died standing up .
And got the job .
“ He ’ s not even the actor in the family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ He also got to be Twisty the Clown in the Horror Nights commercial .
It was just a few seconds .
A girl screams , he dances away .
… He got residual checks.
” How do you say goodbye to a man like that in the middle of a pandemic ?
“ I just feel like my dad would want to keep fighting , ” Michelle told the palliative team .
“ I feel like we ’ ve got to give him more time.
” The team members , startled , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say , “ Oh , no , they ’ re going to want to continue , ” Deegan recounted .
“ It ’ s against his wishes .
What are we going to do ?
” When Michelle was done , the chaplain asked Marilou what she was thinking at that difficult moment .
“ I ’ m sorry , honey , ” she began .
“ I just have to say , I feel really differently than Michelle does.
” Michelle began to cry , her sobs carrying over the phone line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It was time to call the ethicist .
D.W. Donovan ’ s formal title is chief mission integration officer , which sounds more NASA than Holy Cross .
But the former Catholic chaplain ’ s task is a completely human one — among other duties , to help patients , families , doctors and the hospital as a whole answer a daunting question .
Just because we can do something , in this case , keep a patient alive for an unknowable amount of time , should we ?
The answer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There ’ s no realistic medical chance that the patient will be able to be weaned off the ventilator without undergoing a tracheostomy , ” Donovan wrote in Bob ’ s electronic file .
“ Given his prior statements , even as amended , it now seems most ethically and morally appropriate to honor the patient ’ s wish not to prolong the period of intubation , to extubate him and to allow natural death.
” Marilou , Michelle and Michael walk into room 1306 just after 11 a.m. Dec. 7 .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The two women wear double masks .
Michael , who is 19 , tall and grief-stricken , stands to his father ’ s left .
His gloves are cobalt blue .
His hands rest on Bob ’ s arm .
He will barely move for the next half-hour or so .
Marilou stands at her husband ’ s right shoulder .
She strokes his arm .
Michelle reaches over and places her hand on Bob ’ s forehead .
Bob lies , motionless , in the hospital bed .
He has grown a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hills home 39 days before .
The ventilator is strapped to his face by a slender band .
A clear tube comes out of his mouth and rests on his gray-gowned chest .
It is connected to an oxygen source by thick blue tubing .
His chest rises and falls with the machine ’ s rhythm .
His eyes are closed .
His loved ones look and look and look at the peaceful face before them .
In the hallway of the COVID ward , Deegan holds an iPad , monitoring Bob ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ call in to say goodbye via Zoom .
Even before the session begins , nearly 80 people have joined .
A disembodied voice asks the chaplain to pray with them .
“ Loving and merciful God , we come before you yet again , ” Deegan begins .
`` ... You know the prayers of our heart .
You know how we cry out to you .
We ’ ve sung songs to you in worship .
We are here yet again on a difficult day.
” A nurse removes her face shield @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her masks , a teal N95 number beneath a yellow surgical covering .
Deegan enters 1306 , places the iPad on a table at the foot of the bed and a stream of loving voices warms the room .
They laugh .
They choke up .
A little girl calls out : “ I love you , Uncle Bobby.
” The chaplain places his gloved hand over his heart .
Kilani stands beside Deegan at the foot of the bed .
She nods as the sweet words pour into the room .
Her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She hates goodbyes .
She walks to the door , bows her head , stands silent .
And listens .
I don ’ t want to say goodbye to you , Bob .
I don ’ t want to .
You were our first neighbor .
We shared the Northridge earthquake ... watching our kids grow .
We love you , good and faithful servant .
Hey , Bob , this is Pastor Neal from the Church at Rocky Peak ...
The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at 13 .
You made such a positive impact on my life .
I will never forget it .
I will always talk about you , forever .
The call is over .
The room goes quiet .
The family prays , says goodbye , files out and into the rest of their lives .
The respiratory therapist turns off the ventilator .
A nurse turns the light down .
Kilani strokes Bob ’ s brow .
Deegan holds his feet .
Bob is breathing on his own .
His heart rate slows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The monitor flashes the number of times his heart beats in a minute :

Bob Harris gave his family one final gift.
He told them he did not want to be placed on a ventilator. He was at peace and ready to meet Jesus. Then, when his family was just not prepared for him to stop the fight against COVID-19, he agreed to be intubated. For a week.
A week wasn’t enough.
His wife, Marilou, had dropped him off at the emergency room on Oct. 29 with a hopeful, “Sweetie, I’ll come and get you tomorrow morning.” The 61-year-old motivational speaker had felt sick enough that day to seek a doctor’s care — but well enough to mail bills and his absentee ballot en route to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.
One week on the ventilator turned into three, and in early December the Harris family faced a terrible decision.
Wearing blue isolation gowns, Bob Harris’ daughter Michelle Harris, from left, wife Marilou Harris and son Michael Harris, 19, are greeted by registered nurses Nikki Hollinger, Laura Geronga and Maria Garcia, outside Bob’s room in the COVID unit. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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If Bob were to continue on the ventilator, he would have to have a tracheostomy — a surgical procedure in which a hole would be cut into his neck. That way, the ventilator could pump oxygen into his lungs through a tube in his airway instead of one down his throat.
Marilou, Michelle and Michael had not seen their husband and father in person for 36 days. They hadn’t held Bob’s hand or stroked his forehead. There’d been phone calls and texts and video meetings. But once he was placed on the ventilator, even his voice was silenced. In the cruel calculus of COVID-19, there was only one way they could be with him in the hospital.
Marilou Harris, left, and Michael Harris, 19, right, reach out to Bob Harris. The COVID-19 patient had agreed to be placed on a ventilator for a week, but one week became three. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
If the ventilator was turned off. If he was about to die.
“Remember, this is Bob and Bob’s wishes,” Dr. Marwa Kilani told the Harrises during a noon family conference. She was on speaker phone, surrounded by the hospital’s palliative care team. They were crammed into their tiny office on the hospital’s third floor.
“We need to be Bob’s voice. What’s the best thing for Bob?” asked Kilani, medical director for palliative care at Providence Holy Cross. “I know what you want for Dad. I know what you want for your husband. But you’ve got to tell me what Bob would be saying.”
Palliative care is the medical specialty that helps improve the quality of life for patients with serious illnesses — everything from the curable, such as trauma or certain cancers, to those that bring people to the end of their days. It aims to support the whole patient and the whole family with nurses, social workers, chaplains and doctors.
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Dr. Marwa Kilani, right, listens to a nurse in the COVID unit at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. Kilani, who is the medical director for palliative care at the Mission Hills facility, is working closely with the Harris family. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
It is difficult to find a circumstance that has hit Kilani’s team as hard as the pandemic. Before the coronavirus swept through Los Angeles County, infecting more than 636,000 and killing nearly 9,000 people, Holy Cross’ palliative care team averaged about 20 cases at any given time. In early December that caseload hit 60. In one recent four-day period, 12 of the team’s patients died.
During the second week in December, the hospital’s COVID unit reached capacity, and there was no longer room for families to visit loved ones as they died of the virus. On Monday, a member of the palliative care team tested positive.
Holy Cross has cared for more than 1,350 people with COVID-19 since March. The current surge has forced the hospital to turn basement lab space into patient rooms. COVID-19 patients now take up the hospital’s entire recently expanded south tower. Half of all palliative care patients have the virus.
Many face harrowing choices.
Or, as in Bob’s case, their families do.
Hope he lives or help him die.
::
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Marilou Harris, from left, and her children Michelle and Michael stand by Bob’s bedside. The patient’s lungs were failing from the effects of the virus. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Kilani was a medical student in the 1990s, during the last health crisis that rocked the nation, when HIV/AIDs spread pain and panic. The similarities between that disaster and this one are glaring: The stigma. The victim blaming. The inequity.
Both diseases, she said, lay bare the wide chasm between the haves and have-nots, between who gets good care and who has little access to treatment. In both crises, patients have been viewed, at least for a time, as “untouchables.”
Which is why she does not wear gloves as she makes her rounds in the COVID unit. Touch, she said, is healing. Her hands are raw from constant scrubbing and sanitizer, her nails, dry and split.
Because hospital visits are largely banned in the age of the coronavirus, the palliative care team often steps in as a kind of “substitute family at the bedside of a patient,” said Dr. Marwa Kilani, medical director for palliative care. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Because hospital visits are largely banned in the age of the coronavirus, the palliative care team often steps in, she said, as a kind of “substitute family at the bedside of a patient.”
The core team includes two nurses, two chaplains, one nurse practitioner and a social worker. They focus on pain and symptom management, on advance care planning, on helping patients and families navigate an alien and often frightening system.
The pandemic has made that work more complicated, for patients with COVID-19 and those without. Family meetings are on phone or video. Time with patients is cut short. And along with everything else, the team must treat yet another terrible ailment.
Loneliness.
Kilani checked in one recent Friday on a COVID-19 patient who — on paper at least — was steadily improving. His vital signs were good. He’d needed less and less oxygen as the days went by. But when she asked him how he felt, his answer was dire.
Left: Michael Harris, 19, rests his gloved hands on his father’s arm. He will barely move for the next half-hour or so. Right: Chaplain Kevin Deegan holds a tube containing the paper image of Bob Harris’ heartbeat. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
“I feel like you took too much blood out,” he told her. “I feel so weak.”
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His appetite was gone. He hadn’t eaten breakfast. She asked if he would like some coffee, brought him a cup and sat with him.
“He looked at me like he wanted to cry,” she said. “It was heart-wrenching. … I feel it’s the loneliness and fear that overwhelms him.”
He has a lot of family members for support, she said,
But they feel so very far away.
::
Dr. Marwa Kilani and Chaplain Kevin Deegan look at an iPad that allows Bob Harris’ family to see him since he was diagnosed with COVID-19 in October. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Kilani walked into Bob’s hospital room two weeks after he was admitted. He was on 100% high-flow oxygen delivered through a tube in his nose — the last step before intubation — but the oxygen level in his blood was “horrible,” she said. Healthy people have an oxygen saturation level of around 98%. Bob’s was in the mid-80s — even with the supplemental oxygen.
Their first conversation came immediately to the point.
Bob: ”I’m dying.”
Kilani: “You’re not dying. We’re going to take good care of you.”
COVID-19 can cause blood clots, stroke and other maladies, but Bob had straight-up lung disease. The virus had caused so much damage that his lungs were failing. He had already told his attending physician, and anyone else who would listen, how he felt about ventilators.
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Chaplain Kevin Deegan, left, holds an iPad over Bob Harris so his family can see him. Harris is strapped into a mechanical bed that rotates him to allow his lungs to function more effectively. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
“He’s at peace, ‘if Jesus says it’s my time,’” Chaplain Kevin Deegan wrote in his consultation notes. “Robert says he’s not afraid of being dead, but of the dying part.”
Being on a ventilator hurts. Patients often try to pull out the tube that goes down their throat and into their lungs, so they are given anti-anxiety medication, pain killers and sedatives. In the most serious cases, like Bob’s, they are also given a drug that paralyzes them.
‘I just feel like my dad would want to keep fighting. I feel like we’ve got to give him more time.’ — Michelle Harris, daughter
Bob also was strapped into a mechanical bed, which rotated him so that he was lying face down. He was in that prone position for 18 hours each day — six hours face down, then two face up and on and on. It allowed his lungs to function more effectively. It also caused his face to swell.
That was the reality facing Marilou, Michelle and Michael on Dec. 4, during their regular Friday family meeting with the palliative care team.
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Kilani, Deegan and the rest of the team who had been caring for Bob since the middle of November gathered around the phone on Kilani’s desk. The hospital’s ugly Christmas sweater contest was coming up, and a stack of garish woolens was slumped nearby.
First there were updates on Bob’s deteriorating condition. Then, the question. What now?
The chaplain prays over Bob Harris, whose wife Marilou, left, and daughter Michelle join virtually via iPhone. The women were conflicted about the decision, so an ethicist was called in for consultation. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Michelle spoke first. She is 25, an actor. While her father was in a medically induced coma, she would play guitar and sing to him via an iPad that Deegan would set up in his room.
In 2016, Michelle’s friends were trying out for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. She decided to give it whirl, maybe get a part as a victim in a maze. Since he was there anyway, Bob, a Messianic Jew who once gave stand-up comedy a try, auditioned too.
Column One A showcase for compelling storytelling from the Los Angeles Times. More stories
They were asked to do their best death scene. Michelle “did this big dramatic thing,” she said, and fell to the ground as her grand finale. Bob choked and grunted, swore, “you’ll never take me alive,” and died standing up.
And got the job.
“He’s not even the actor in the family,” Michelle said, laughing. “He also got to be Twisty the Clown in the Horror Nights commercial. It was just a few seconds. A girl screams, he dances away. … He got residual checks.”
How do you say goodbye to a man like that in the middle of a pandemic?
“I just feel like my dad would want to keep fighting,” Michelle told the palliative team. “I feel like we’ve got to give him more time.”
Bob Harris, who is receiving prayer from Chaplain Kevin Deegan, standing, had been clear about his view of ventilators. “He’s at peace, ‘if Jesus says it’s my time,’” Deegan wrote in his consultation notes about Harris. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Dr. Marwa Kilani prays beside Bob Harris. “We need to be Bob’s voice. What’s the best thing for Bob?” Kilani asked Harris’ family, who had to decide whether to perform surgery to keep him on the ventilator to live. Or to let him die. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
The team members, startled, looked at each other as if to say, “Oh, no, they’re going to want to continue,” Deegan recounted. “It’s against his wishes. What are we going to do?”
When Michelle was done, the chaplain asked Marilou what she was thinking at that difficult moment.
“I’m sorry, honey,” she began. “I just have to say, I feel really differently than Michelle does.”
Michelle began to cry, her sobs carrying over the phone line.
Clear patient wishes. Conflicted family. It was time to call the ethicist.
D.W. Donovan’s formal title is chief mission integration officer, which sounds more NASA than Holy Cross. But the former Catholic chaplain’s task is a completely human one — among other duties, to help patients, families, doctors and the hospital as a whole answer a daunting question.
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Just because we can do something, in this case, keep a patient alive for an unknowable amount of time, should we?
The answer, for Bob, was no.
“There’s no realistic medical chance that the patient will be able to be weaned off the ventilator without undergoing a tracheostomy,” Donovan wrote in Bob’s electronic file.
“Given his prior statements, even as amended, it now seems most ethically and morally appropriate to honor the patient’s wish not to prolong the period of intubation, to extubate him and to allow natural death.”
::
Marilou, Michelle and Michael walk into room 1306 just after 11 a.m. Dec. 7. They have donned protective gowns and gloves. The two women wear double masks.
Chaplain Kevin Deegan helps members of the Harris family — Michael, left, Michelle, center, and Marilou — put on their protective gear before they say their final goodbye to Bob Harris. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Michael, who is 19, tall and grief-stricken, stands to his father’s left. His gloves are cobalt blue. His hands rest on Bob’s arm. He will barely move for the next half-hour or so. Marilou stands at her husband’s right shoulder. She strokes his arm. Michelle reaches over and places her hand on Bob’s forehead.
Bob lies, motionless, in the hospital bed. He has grown a salt-and-pepper beard since he left his West Hills home 39 days before. The ventilator is strapped to his face by a slender band. A clear tube comes out of his mouth and rests on his gray-gowned chest. It is connected to an oxygen source by thick blue tubing.
Dr. Marwa Kilani, left, and Kevin Deegan, the chaplain, observe Michelle Harris, foreground left, and her mother Marilou in Bob Harris’ room. The family could see Bob in the hospital only if the ventilator was turned off. If he was about to die. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
His chest rises and falls with the machine’s rhythm. His eyes are closed. His loved ones look and look and look at the peaceful face before them.
In the hallway of the COVID ward, Deegan holds an iPad, monitoring Bob’s friends and family members as they call in to say goodbye via Zoom. Even before the session begins, nearly 80 people have joined. A disembodied voice asks the chaplain to pray with them.
“Loving and merciful God, we come before you yet again,” Deegan begins. “... You know the prayers of our heart. You know how we cry out to you. We’ve sung songs to you in worship. We are here yet again on a difficult day.”
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A nurse removes her face shield, wipes tears from her eyes above her masks, a teal N95 number beneath a yellow surgical covering.
Registered nurse Maria Garcia removes her face shield to wipe tears from her eyes as Bob Harris’ family say their goodbyes. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Deegan enters 1306, places the iPad on a table at the foot of the bed and a stream of loving voices warms the room. They laugh. They choke up. A little girl calls out: “I love you, Uncle Bobby.” The chaplain places his gloved hand over his heart.
Kilani stands beside Deegan at the foot of the bed. She nods as the sweet words pour into the room. Her arms are wrapped tightly around her midsection. She hates goodbyes. She walks to the door, bows her head, stands silent. And listens.
I don’t want to say goodbye to you, Bob. I don’t want to.
You were our first neighbor. We shared the Northridge earthquake ... watching our kids grow. We love you, good and faithful servant.
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Hey, Bob, this is Pastor Neal from the Church at Rocky Peak ... The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace, Bob.
You let me drive at 13. You made such a positive impact on my life. I will never forget it. I will always talk about you, forever.
Chaplain Kevin Deegan, left, and registered nurses Nikki Hollinger, center, and Laura Geronga stand at the bedside of Bob Harris, who drew his final breath. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
The call is over. The room goes quiet. The family prays, says goodbye, files out and into the rest of their lives.
The respiratory therapist turns off the ventilator. A nurse turns the light down. Kilani strokes Bob’s brow. Deegan holds his feet.
Bob is breathing on his own. His heart rate slows, bounces around and slows again. The monitor flashes the number of times his heart beats in a minute:
Forty.
Six.
Zero.
Times staff photographer Francine Orr contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-12-23--Congress approves hospice care reforms to improve oversight, transparency

Hefty fines , the suspension of Medicare payments and other new measures to increase oversight and transparency in the fast-growing hospice industry are set to become law as part of the omnibus spending bill approved by Congress this week .
The reforms had been included in the bipartisan HOSPICE Act co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Jimmy Panetta ( D-Carmel Valley ) and Tom Reed ( R-N.Y. ) .
That bill was passed by the House earlier this month and then folded into the $ 1.4-trillion spending package sent to President Trump for his signature .
The new measures will address some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ highlighted by a recent Los Angeles Times investigation that found widespread fraud and hundreds of instances in which California patients were harmed , neglected or put at risk , their mistreatment sometimes made worse by major gaps in government oversight .
Quality-of-care failures ranged from mismanaged medications to neglected wounds infested with maggots , to nurses and home health aides repeatedly missing appointments or sleeping on the job as patients lay writhing in pain .
Even in the face of such failures , hospices — which are certified by Medicare and overseen by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have rarely been penalized , largely because they are regulated far less rigorously than other healthcare providers , The Times found .
While nursing homes and hospitals are subject to a number of fines and civil enforcement actions , current hospice regulations do not provide for those penalties .
Except when criminal charges are filed , most violations are resolved by state regulators when hospices submit corrective action plans , which are little more than promises to do better .
At the federal level , the only available sanction is cutting off Medicare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ program , a rarely imposed penalty .
The bill passed this week would rectify some of those shortcomings .
Its provisions include potential fines of up to $ 10,000 a day for hospice providers who do not comply with regulations .
It also provides for improvements to inspections , including the establishment of a program that would put a “ special focus ” on poor performers .
The bill also increases transparency by requiring the public disclosure of all inspection results .
Currently , inspections performed by accreditation organizations , which are hired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
More than 80 % of California hospices choose accreditation , compared with about half nationwide .
Until 2015 , Medicare mandated hospices to be inspected only once every six years .
That time frame has been shortened to once every three years , but inspections remain less frequent than those required annually for nursing homes .
Panetta ’ s original bill would have shortened the time to two years , but the provision was dropped amid pushback from the industry .
Edo Banach , who heads the National Hospice and Palliative Care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supports smart oversight when it does not hinder access to high-quality care for patients and their families , ” but added that it should not overreach .
“ Hospice providers that are following the rules should not be subjected to excessive administrative burden and forced to needlessly divert resources from patient care , ” he said .
A spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the agency is reviewing the legislation and had no comment .
Longtime critics and patient advocates welcomed passage of the bill but said it did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three-year survey process is completely inadequate — it should be one year or two at the most , ” said Charlene Harrington , a UC San Francisco nursing professor emeritus who formerly worked for the state Department of Public Health .
Harrington applauded other provisions , however , including beefing up enforcement actions to make them more consistent with those for nursing homes .
She also said more needs to be done to tighten ownership requirements for hospices , which have boomed in numbers nationwide , but especially in California .
In Los @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the last decade , many of them operated by owners with no healthcare background .
“ The problem is that there is no criteria for who can own and operate a hospice , so ... anyone without regard to background or expertise is allowed to establish a hospice , ” she said .
Michael Connors , a patient-care advocate with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform , also called for better vetting of prospective operators and ending the practice of hired accreditation agencies “ deeming ” their client providers to be in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a good initial step , ” he said , “ but much more needs to be done to improve oversight of hospices and prevent the rampant fraud and abuse that exists today .
”

A well-worn office building on Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys is home to more than a dozen hospice providers. Los Angeles County hospices have multiplied sixfold in the last decade, many of them operated by owners with no healthcare background.
Hefty fines, the suspension of Medicare payments and other new measures to increase oversight and transparency in the fast-growing hospice industry are set to become law as part of the omnibus spending bill approved by Congress this week.
The reforms had been included in the bipartisan HOSPICE Act co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) and Tom Reed (R-N.Y.). That bill was passed by the House earlier this month and then folded into the $1.4-trillion spending package sent to President Trump for his signature.
The new measures will address some of the serious flaws in hospice care highlighted by a recent Los Angeles Times investigation that found widespread fraud and hundreds of instances in which California patients were harmed, neglected or put at risk, their mistreatment sometimes made worse by major gaps in government oversight.
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Quality-of-care failures ranged from mismanaged medications to neglected wounds infested with maggots, to nurses and home health aides repeatedly missing appointments or sleeping on the job as patients lay writhing in pain.
Even in the face of such failures, hospices — which are certified by Medicare and overseen by the California Department of Public Health — have rarely been penalized, largely because they are regulated far less rigorously than other healthcare providers, The Times found.
While nursing homes and hospitals are subject to a number of fines and civil enforcement actions, current hospice regulations do not provide for those penalties. Except when criminal charges are filed, most violations are resolved by state regulators when hospices submit corrective action plans, which are little more than promises to do better.
At the federal level, the only available sanction is cutting off Medicare funding and excluding bad actors from the program, a rarely imposed penalty.
The bill passed this week would rectify some of those shortcomings. Its provisions include potential fines of up to $10,000 a day for hospice providers who do not comply with regulations. It also provides for improvements to inspections, including the establishment of a program that would put a “special focus” on poor performers.
The bill also increases transparency by requiring the public disclosure of all inspection results. Currently, inspections performed by accreditation organizations, which are hired by the hospices, are kept confidential. More than 80% of California hospices choose accreditation, compared with about half nationwide.
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Until 2015, Medicare mandated hospices to be inspected only once every six years. That time frame has been shortened to once every three years, but inspections remain less frequent than those required annually for nursing homes.
Panetta’s original bill would have shortened the time to two years, but the provision was dropped amid pushback from the industry.
Edo Banach, who heads the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, said his industry group “supports smart oversight when it does not hinder access to high-quality care for patients and their families,” but added that it should not overreach.
“Hospice providers that are following the rules should not be subjected to excessive administrative burden and forced to needlessly divert resources from patient care,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the agency is reviewing the legislation and had no comment.
Longtime critics and patient advocates welcomed passage of the bill but said it did not go far enough.
“The three-year survey process is completely inadequate — it should be one year or two at the most,” said Charlene Harrington, a UC San Francisco nursing professor emeritus who formerly worked for the state Department of Public Health.
Harrington applauded other provisions, however, including beefing up enforcement actions to make them more consistent with those for nursing homes.
She also said more needs to be done to tighten ownership requirements for hospices, which have boomed in numbers nationwide, but especially in California. In Los Angeles County, providers have multiplied sixfold in the last decade, many of them operated by owners with no healthcare background.
“The problem is that there is no criteria for who can own and operate a hospice, so ... anyone without regard to background or expertise is allowed to establish a hospice,” she said.
Michael Connors, a patient-care advocate with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, also called for better vetting of prospective operators and ending the practice of hired accreditation agencies “deeming” their client providers to be in compliance with regulations.
“The bill is a good initial step,” he said, “but much more needs to be done to improve oversight of hospices and prevent the rampant fraud and abuse that exists today.”


latimes--2020-12-23--Column: Alex Padilla's Senate appointment marks a new chapter in California politics. It's about tim

Column: Alex Padilla's Senate appointment marks a new chapter in California politics. It's about time

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla is an excellent choice for U.S. senator .
He ’ s actually the only choice Gov .
Gavin Newsom could have made — intellectually and politically .
It was a historic appointment for a governor who takes pride in recording “ firsts.
” Padilla , 47 , will be the first Latino senator from California .
And that should be embarrassing for a state with such deep Mexican roots — where the largest ethnic group is now Latino , representing 40 % of the population .
It ’ s about time we had a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something Newsom couldn ’ t ignore .
Moreover , Padilla is a loyal political pal of Newsom ’ s .
The governor and he go way back — to when Newsom was the San Francisco mayor trying to run for governor the first time in 2009 .
He dropped out when Jerry Brown entered the race and ran for lieutenant governor instead .
But Padilla was there from the start as Newsom ’ s campaign chairman , often traveling with him to hustle for votes .
Padilla supported Newsom again in 2014 when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s main challenger was fellow Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa , the Los Angeles mayor when Padilla was president of the LA .
City Council — the first Latino to hold that post .
“ We ’ ve known each other a long time — 20 years , ” Padilla told me Tuesday , referring to Newsom .
“ We ’ ve talked to each other about our future opportunities over the years.
” Like good friends do .
Padilla ’ s dream was to be a U.S. senator .
So if Newsom had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unexpired term of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris , what kind of message would that have sent to other politicians the governor might ask for a favor in the future ?
The message would be : “ You scratch my back — but go find someone else to scratch yours.
” Newsom ’ s not that kind of guy .
And all politicians know that after Padilla ’ s selection .
Newsom immediately got heat from a coalition of Black women who had urged that the Senate seat be given to one of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ senator from California .
“ I am disappointed that the governor didn ’ t see value in the opportunity that was presented to him to guarantee fair representation for Black women in the U.S. Senate , ” said L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell , who once served in the Legislature with Padilla .
Padilla was a state senator for eight years — he authored the legislation outlawing single-use plastic bags at grocery stores — then was elected California secretary of state .
Again , he was the first Latino to hold that office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Padilla to the Senate , he nominated Assemblywoman Shirley Weber , 72 , of San Diego , chair of the Legislative Black Caucus , to be secretary of state .
She ’ ll need to be confirmed by the Legislature , but that will be a snap .
Weber is another “ first ” for Newsom .
She ’ ll be the first Black secretary of state in California .
Like Padilla , Weber is an American Dream story .
She ’ s the daughter of an Arkansas sharecropper who fled to Los @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a white farmer over a dispute .
Padilla ’ s parents were Mexican immigrants who met in Los Angeles .
His dad was a short-order cook ; his mom cleaned affluent people ’ s houses .
Padilla earned a mechanical engineering degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .
The engineering grad returned to the San Fernando Valley , where he caught the political bug during the 1994 campaign to pass Proposition 187 .
The measure ’ s purpose was to deny most public services to immigrants living here illegally .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a generation of Latino politicians who championed immigrant rights .
“ It ’ s way past time to pass comprehensive immigration reform , ” Padilla told me .
“ For starters , Dreamers should be brought out of the shadows and their status stabilized .
… And there should be a true path to citizenship.
” “ Dreamers ” are the young adults who were brought across the border as children by their undocumented parents .
They ’ ve known no other country than this one .
President Trump was eyeing them for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his priorities would be as a senator , he replied : “ There ’ ll be three — COVID , COVID , COVID .
“ The first thing I want to do is get my arms around the pandemic and help the working families that have been devastated from both health and economic standpoints .
These families are going to need a lot more support.
” Padilla is not a spellbinding orator .
In fact , he could be a cure for insomnia .
But he ’ s bright , focused and energetic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like running a clean election process with an enormous voter turnout .
On Monday , the governor sent word to Padilla that he wanted to chat via Zoom in the evening .
On Tuesday , a link of the brief conversation was shared by a Padilla staffer .
Newsom asked about Padilla ’ s immigrant parents and they bantered a bit .
Then the governor said : “ What would your mom think now as I ask if you want to be the next U.S. senator from California ?
” Padilla talked emotionally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cleaning — and was interrupted by the governor .
“ You ’ ve got to say ‘ yes.
’ ” “ It would have been political malpractice if Newsom didn ’ t appoint a Latino or Latina , ” says political consultant Mike Madrid , a disenchanted Republican who ’ s about to reregister as an independent .
“ The Senate seat from California — the state with the largest Latino population — will provide a platform for an emerging America .
Padilla ’ s voice will write history.
” He ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full term in 2022 .
But he ’ ll have an incumbent ’ s edge and the governor ’ s strong support .
Padilla represents a new chapter in California politics .
Hopefully it ’ ll be a page turner .

California Gov. Gavin Newsom selected Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Tuesday as the state’s next U.S. senator, a historic pick that sends a Latino to represent California in the Senate for the first time.
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla is an excellent choice for U.S. senator. He’s actually the only choice Gov. Gavin Newsom could have made — intellectually and politically.
It was a historic appointment for a governor who takes pride in recording “firsts.”
For the record: An earlier version of this article said that Padilla supported Newsom’s candidacy for governor in 2014. He supported his candidacy for governor in 2018.
Padilla, 47, will be the first Latino senator from California. And that should be embarrassing for a state with such deep Mexican roots — where the largest ethnic group is now Latino, representing 40% of the population.
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It’s about time we had a Latino senator. And it’s something Newsom couldn’t ignore.
Moreover, Padilla is a loyal political pal of Newsom’s.
The governor and he go way back — to when Newsom was the San Francisco mayor trying to run for governor the first time in 2009. He dropped out when Jerry Brown entered the race and ran for lieutenant governor instead. But Padilla was there from the start as Newsom’s campaign chairman, often traveling with him to hustle for votes.
Padilla supported Newsom again in 2018. Newsom’s main challenger was fellow Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles mayor when Padilla was president of the LA. City Council — the first Latino to hold that post.
“We’ve known each other a long time — 20 years,” Padilla told me Tuesday, referring to Newsom. “We’ve talked to each other about our future opportunities over the years.”
Like good friends do. Padilla’s dream was to be a U.S. senator.
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So if Newsom had selected someone else to fill out the unexpired term of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, what kind of message would that have sent to other politicians the governor might ask for a favor in the future? The message would be: “You scratch my back — but go find someone else to scratch yours.”
Newsom’s not that kind of guy. And all politicians know that after Padilla’s selection.
Newsom immediately got heat from a coalition of Black women who had urged that the Senate seat be given to one of their community. Harris was the first Black senator from California.
“I am disappointed that the governor didn’t see value in the opportunity that was presented to him to guarantee fair representation for Black women in the U.S. Senate,” said L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who once served in the Legislature with Padilla.
Padilla was a state senator for eight years — he authored the legislation outlawing single-use plastic bags at grocery stores — then was elected California secretary of state. Again, he was the first Latino to hold that office.
California Newsom names Assemblywoman Shirley Weber to succeed Padilla as California secretary of state Shirley Weber would be only the fourth woman to ever hold the position of California secretary of state and the first Black woman to do so in state history.
A few hours after Newsom appointed Padilla to the Senate, he nominated Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, 72, of San Diego, chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, to be secretary of state. She’ll need to be confirmed by the Legislature, but that will be a snap.
Weber is another “first” for Newsom. She’ll be the first Black secretary of state in California.
Like Padilla, Weber is an American Dream story. She’s the daughter of an Arkansas sharecropper who fled to Los Angeles when his life was threatened by a white farmer over a dispute.
Padilla’s parents were Mexican immigrants who met in Los Angeles. His dad was a short-order cook; his mom cleaned affluent people’s houses. Padilla earned a mechanical engineering degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The engineering grad returned to the San Fernando Valley, where he caught the political bug during the 1994 campaign to pass Proposition 187. The measure’s purpose was to deny most public services to immigrants living here illegally. It was tossed out by a judge but inspired a generation of Latino politicians who championed immigrant rights.
“It’s way past time to pass comprehensive immigration reform,” Padilla told me. “For starters, Dreamers should be brought out of the shadows and their status stabilized. … And there should be a true path to citizenship.”
“Dreamers” are the young adults who were brought across the border as children by their undocumented parents. They’ve known no other country than this one. President Trump was eyeing them for deportation.
When I asked Padilla what his priorities would be as a senator, he replied: “There’ll be three — COVID, COVID, COVID.
“The first thing I want to do is get my arms around the pandemic and help the working families that have been devastated from both health and economic standpoints. These families are going to need a lot more support.”
Padilla is not a spellbinding orator. In fact, he could be a cure for insomnia. But he’s bright, focused and energetic. He goes about his business, like running a clean election process with an enormous voter turnout.
On Monday, the governor sent word to Padilla that he wanted to chat via Zoom in the evening. On Tuesday, a link of the brief conversation was shared by a Padilla staffer.
Newsom asked about Padilla’s immigrant parents and they bantered a bit. Then the governor said: “What would your mom think now as I ask if you want to be the next U.S. senator from California?”
“You serious?” Padilla replied, his eyes tearing up. “I’m honored, man. I’m humbled.”
Padilla talked emotionally about his dad cooking and his mom cleaning — and was interrupted by the governor.
“You’ve got to say ‘yes.’”
“Absolutely. I will make you proud.”
“It would have been political malpractice if Newsom didn’t appoint a Latino or Latina,” says political consultant Mike Madrid, a disenchanted Republican who’s about to reregister as an independent.
“The Senate seat from California — the state with the largest Latino population — will provide a platform for an emerging America. Padilla’s voice will write history.”
He’ll first need to get elected to a full term in 2022. But he’ll have an incumbent’s edge and the governor’s strong support.
Padilla represents a new chapter in California politics. Hopefully it’ll be a page turner.


latimes--2020-12-23--L.A. fire departments prepare to receive COVID-19 vaccine

Fire departments across Los Angeles County will soon receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine , bringing relief to agencies whose ranks have been hit by the spread of the virus in the community .
Emergency medical services personnel will be vaccinated in the first distribution phase , according to county health officials .
The Los Angeles Fire Department expects to receive its first shipment of the Moderna vaccine Wednesday , then will begin vaccinating its sworn personnel , according to Capt .
Erik Scott .
The vaccine will be stored in refrigerators at a department facility .
Scott said a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the coronavirus , including 58 since Thursday .
More than 100 personnel are isolating at home .
Similarly , the Los Angeles County Fire Department expects to receive doses of the Moderna vaccine either later this week or early next week to begin vaccinating its paramedics and emergency medical technicians .
Jon O ’ Brien , deputy chief of the county department ’ s Emergency Medical Services bureau , said the department should receive enough doses to vaccinate its approximately 3,800 sworn employees with the first shipment .
He said the vaccinations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much safer position ” but won ’ t mean that employees will stop taking precautions to prevent the spread of the virus .
Currently , 296 personnel are in quarantine or isolation at home .
“ Obviously , everyone will have to wear the appropriate [ personal protective equipment ] ; we ’ ll still have to do physical distancing , ” he said .
The L.A. County Sheriff ’ s Department also expects to have some employees vaccinated soon .
Spokesman Lt. John Satterfield said about 286 personnel who are considered emergency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the first distribution wave .
As of Tuesday , 689 non-sworn and 1,251 sworn personnel were in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus or having had a confirmed exposure — more than 10 % of total employees .
On Tuesday , officials announced that deputy Timothy Tellez , a 20-year veteran of the sheriff ’ s department who worked in its Parks Bureau , had died after contracting the virus .
“ I ’ m in shock & heartbroken over the loss of one of our dedicated # LASD family members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Twitter .

The Los Angeles Fire Department expects to receive its first shipment of the Moderna vaccine by Wednesday.
Fire departments across Los Angeles County will soon receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, bringing relief to agencies whose ranks have been hit by the spread of the virus in the community.
Emergency medical services personnel will be vaccinated in the first distribution phase, according to county health officials.
The Los Angeles Fire Department expects to receive its first shipment of the Moderna vaccine Wednesday, then will begin vaccinating its sworn personnel, according to Capt. Erik Scott. The vaccine will be stored in refrigerators at a department facility.
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Scott said a total of 552 employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, including 58 since Thursday. More than 100 personnel are isolating at home.
Similarly, the Los Angeles County Fire Department expects to receive doses of the Moderna vaccine either later this week or early next week to begin vaccinating its paramedics and emergency medical technicians.
Jon O’Brien, deputy chief of the county department’s Emergency Medical Services bureau, said the department should receive enough doses to vaccinate its approximately 3,800 sworn employees with the first shipment.
He said the vaccinations will “put our folks in a much safer position” but won’t mean that employees will stop taking precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. Currently, 296 personnel are in quarantine or isolation at home.
“Obviously, everyone will have to wear the appropriate [personal protective equipment]; we’ll still have to do physical distancing,” he said.
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department also expects to have some employees vaccinated soon. Spokesman Lt. John Satterfield said about 286 personnel who are considered emergency medical services workers will receive the vaccine during the first distribution wave.
As of Tuesday, 689 non-sworn and 1,251 sworn personnel were in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus or having had a confirmed exposure — more than 10% of total employees.
On Tuesday, officials announced that deputy Timothy Tellez, a 20-year veteran of the sheriff’s department who worked in its Parks Bureau, had died after contracting the virus.
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“I’m in shock & heartbroken over the loss of one of our dedicated #LASD family members,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva wrote on Twitter.


latimes--2020-12-22--California's high-risk inmates to get COVID-19 vaccines

A state prison medical facility in the Central Valley has received some of the first coronavirus vaccines , which will be administered to inmates and employees .
The California Health Care Facility , Stockton houses inmates with special medical needs .
At least 150 of its 2,400 inmates are positive for COVID-19 .
Steve Crouch , director of public employees for the International Union of Operating Engineers , which represents prison maintenance and systems employees , said 65 inmates and employees volunteered to receive the vaccine Tuesday .
Crouch said the employees who were vaccinated are in high-risk positions dealing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prisons — the Central California Women ’ s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Medical Facility , Vacaville — will also begin to vaccinate employees and high-risk inmates , according to the California Correctional Health Care Services , which provides medical care to inmates .
“ Supply of the vaccine is limited and will be distributed according to state and federal guidelines , ” the agency said in a statement .
“ Our first focus will be people at high risk of becoming infected or severely ill from COVID-19.
” The state ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are earmarked for frontline healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities .
Next , the state plans to vaccinate essential workers — an expansive category of potentially 12 million people .
According to a correctional source familiar with the distribution process , prison medical facilities have received 18,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 3,259 of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine thus far .
California ’ s first allocation of Pfizer BioNTech totaled about 327,000 doses .
The governor has said he expects to get an additional 393,000 doses of that vaccine and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the near future .
More than 10,000 inmates are listed as infected out of the roughly 91,000 incarcerated .
More than 34,000 have tested positive since March and 112 inmates have died , according to the CDCR data .
Some 3,366 employees are infected with more than 10,000 sickened this year .
The California State Prison in Lancaster has the highest case load , with 938 inmates and 225 staff testing positive .
Robert Davis , who leads the correctional union there , said officers are still guarding inmates with severe COVID-19 symptoms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rules , he said , require a guard in the room .
Davis said the union has been informed that all employees who want the vaccine will receive a dose by the end of January .
The CDCR is also cracking down on testing for staff as the virus has surged throughout the state .
As of Monday , any employee who refuses to undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing will be sent home without pay .
In addition , an employee who refuses testing will be subject to formal discipline .

A state prison medical facility in the Central Valley has received some of the first coronavirus vaccines, which will be administered to inmates and employees.
The California Health Care Facility, Stockton houses inmates with special medical needs. At least 150 of its 2,400 inmates are positive for COVID-19.
Steve Crouch, director of public employees for the International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents prison maintenance and systems employees, said 65 inmates and employees volunteered to receive the vaccine Tuesday. Crouch said the employees who were vaccinated are in high-risk positions dealing with potentially infected inmates.
Two other prisons — the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Medical Facility, Vacaville — will also begin to vaccinate employees and high-risk inmates, according to the California Correctional Health Care Services, which provides medical care to inmates.
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“Supply of the vaccine is limited and will be distributed according to state and federal guidelines,” the agency said in a statement. “Our first focus will be people at high risk of becoming infected or severely ill from COVID-19.”
The state’s initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are earmarked for frontline healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities. Next, the state plans to vaccinate essential workers — an expansive category of potentially 12 million people.
According to a correctional source familiar with the distribution process, prison medical facilities have received 18,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 3,259 of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine thus far. California’s first allocation of Pfizer BioNTech totaled about 327,000 doses. The governor has said he expects to get an additional 393,000 doses of that vaccine and 672,000 doses of the Moderna one in the near future.
More than 10,000 inmates are listed as infected out of the roughly 91,000 incarcerated. More than 34,000 have tested positive since March and 112 inmates have died, according to the CDCR data. Some 3,366 employees are infected with more than 10,000 sickened this year.
The California State Prison in Lancaster has the highest case load, with 938 inmates and 225 staff testing positive.
Robert Davis, who leads the correctional union there, said officers are still guarding inmates with severe COVID-19 symptoms inside the same hospital rooms. The rules, he said, require a guard in the room. Davis said the union has been informed that all employees who want the vaccine will receive a dose by the end of January.
The CDCR is also cracking down on testing for staff as the virus has surged throughout the state. As of Monday, any employee who refuses to undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing will be sent home without pay. In addition, an employee who refuses testing will be subject to formal discipline.


latimes--2020-12-22--Woman killed in Whittier mall shooting

Woman killed in Whittier mall shooting

A gunman opened fire inside a department store in Whittier on Tuesday night , killing a woman , police said @ @ @ @ @ responded to reports of a shooting at a Kohl ’ s at the Whittwood Town @ @ @ @ @ according to a watch commander .
The commander , who would not disclose his full @ @ @ @ @ one is actively shooting but added that the gunman is not in custody .
“ @ @ @ @ @ he is [ inside the mall ] but are acting as if he may be @ @ @ @ @ The watch commander said the woman who was shot was pronounced dead at the scene @ @ @ @ @ no other injuries .
He said officials were told there was a domestic relationship between @ @ @ @ @ .
On Facebook , the department urged people to stay away from the area .

Police officers outside a Kohl’s department store in Whittier, where a shooting left one woman dead Tuesday night.
A gunman opened fire inside a department store in Whittier on Tuesday night, killing a woman, police said.
The Whittier Police Department responded to reports of a shooting at a Kohl’s at the Whittwood Town Center at 5:30 p.m., according to a watch commander.
The commander, who would not disclose his full name, said that no one is actively shooting but added that the gunman is not in custody.
Store employees stand outside the Kohl’s in Whittier, where a shooting resulted in a fatality Tuesday night. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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“We don’t believe he is [inside the mall] but are acting as if he may be,” he said.
The watch commander said the woman who was shot was pronounced dead at the scene. He believed there were no other injuries.
He said officials were told there was a domestic relationship between the victim and the gunman.
On Facebook, the department urged people to stay away from the area.


latimes--2020-12-22--Law enforcement broke up three 'super-spreader' events in L.A. County last weekend

Despite a surge in coronavirus cases and government orders to stay home as much as possible , people are still gathering for large parties .
Last weekend , a man was fatally shot at an underground party in downtown Los Angeles , 67 people were arrested at a party in Compton and a third party in Los Angeles was shut down after a shooting , according to law enforcement officials .
The shooting at the downtown party happened a little before 10:45 p.m. Saturday in the 400 block of South Hewitt Avenue , said Officer Melissa Podany , a spokeswoman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When police arrived , they found a 25-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman with gunshot wounds .
The man died at a hospital , and the woman was in stable condition , Podany said .
Podany described the party as “ large.
” No one was arrested , and the shooter or shooters are still at large .
About two hours later , deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’ s Department broke up the Compton gathering in the 1900 block of East Rosecrans Avenue .
Among the 67 people arrested , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , were six juveniles .
One person was arrested for possession of an illegal firearm , and there was evidence of illegal nitrous oxide use at the party , said Deputy Trina Schrader .
Photos released by the Sheriff ’ s Department Monday showed dozens of masked partygoers sitting on a sidewalk while waiting to be processed .
A third party last weekend in the 3600 block of West Pico Boulevard in Arlington Heights was shut down by the LAPD , sheriff ’ s officials said in a news release .
The Sheriff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time and date for the party , and LAPD officials could not provide additional information .
So far in December , sheriff ’ s deputies have arrested 253 people in connection with “ super-spreader ” events , officials said .
With few exceptions , all public and private gatherings of people from more than one household are prohibited under health orders issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Health .
In a news release Monday , the sheriff ’ s department said it will continue to take action against people that violate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was the fact these incidents violated the Los Angeles County Health officer orders regarding COVID protocols , also known as a ‘ super-spreader event , ’ ” the department said .
“ The goal of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations.
” In the city of L.A. , violations of the Safer At Home Order issued by Mayor Eric Garcetti are also a misdemeanor that can result in fines or jail time .
But the LAPD has generally taken a gentler approach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Podany said the LAPD ’ s primary goal is to obtain voluntary compliance .
In recent months , large gatherings have been linked to the spread of COVID-19 in several instances , including a 55-person wedding in Maine that led to the infection of , at least seven of whom died .
Gatherings around the Thanksgiving holiday have been cited as a catalyst for the ongoing COVID-19 surge in Southern California .
Law enforcement agencies are not immune to risky gatherings : An outbreak of COVID-19 at the Long Beach Police Department has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indoors without face masks .
L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva also for allowing a 150-person party to take place in Palmdale earlier in December , despite having advance knowledge of the event .
Villanueva said deputies watched the party commence so they could arrest the people who organized it .
At the scene , they also rescued a teenage girl from sex trafficking .
Nearly 160 people , including 35 minors , were arrested in connection with the party .
“ This is something that is worth spending our resources to clamp down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if we get rid of them , we ’ re going to improve our ability to fight the pandemic , ” Villaneuva said at a news conference about the Palmdale party .

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arrested 67 people for coronavirus violations at an underground party in Compton on Saturday.
Despite a surge in coronavirus cases and government orders to stay home as much as possible, people are still gathering for large parties.
Last weekend, a man was fatally shot at an underground party in downtown Los Angeles, 67 people were arrested at a party in Compton and a third party in Los Angeles was shut down after a shooting, according to law enforcement officials.
The shooting at the downtown party happened a little before 10:45 p.m. Saturday in the 400 block of South Hewitt Avenue, said Officer Melissa Podany, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
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When police arrived, they found a 25-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman with gunshot wounds. The man died at a hospital, and the woman was in stable condition, Podany said.
Podany described the party as “large.” No one was arrested, and the shooter or shooters are still at large.
About two hours later, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department broke up the Compton gathering in the 1900 block of East Rosecrans Avenue.
Among the 67 people arrested, mostly for misdemeanor violations of coronavirus regulations, were six juveniles. One person was arrested for possession of an illegal firearm, and there was evidence of illegal nitrous oxide use at the party, said Deputy Trina Schrader.
Photos released by the Sheriff’s Department Monday showed dozens of masked partygoers sitting on a sidewalk while waiting to be processed.
A third party last weekend in the 3600 block of West Pico Boulevard in Arlington Heights was shut down by the LAPD, sheriff’s officials said in a news release.
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The Sheriff’s Department could not provide a time and date for the party, and LAPD officials could not provide additional information.
So far in December, sheriff’s deputies have arrested 253 people in connection with “super-spreader” events, officials said.
(1/2) During the month of December, @LASDHQ has targeted the underground party scene for health order “super-spreader” enforcement. The results are:
- 235 Arrests
- 7 illegal firearms recovered
- 1 “at-risk” juvenile rescued pic.twitter.com/C5iEJ4RHkg — LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) December 22, 2020
With few exceptions, all public and private gatherings of people from more than one household are prohibited under health orders issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Health.
In a news release Monday, the sheriff’s department said it will continue to take action against people that violate those orders.
“The driving concern was the fact these incidents violated the Los Angeles County Health officer orders regarding COVID protocols, also known as a ‘super-spreader event,’” the department said. “The goal of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations.”
In the city of L.A., violations of the Safer At Home Order issued by Mayor Eric Garcetti are also a misdemeanor that can result in fines or jail time. But the LAPD has generally taken a gentler approach than the Sheriff’s Department. Podany said the LAPD’s primary goal is to obtain voluntary compliance.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. book people at party in the 1900 block of East Rosecrans Avenue in Compton. (L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept.)
In recent months, large gatherings have been linked to the spread of COVID-19 in several instances, including a 55-person wedding in Maine that led to the infection of 176 other people , at least seven of whom died. Gatherings around the Thanksgiving holiday have been cited as a catalyst for the ongoing COVID-19 surge in Southern California.
Law enforcement agencies are not immune to risky gatherings: An outbreak of COVID-19 at the Long Beach Police Department has been linked to a training session that brought hundreds of officers together indoors without face masks.
L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva also came under fire for allowing a 150-person party to take place in Palmdale earlier in December, despite having advance knowledge of the event.
Villanueva said deputies watched the party commence so they could arrest the people who organized it. At the scene, they also rescued a teenage girl from sex trafficking. Nearly 160 people, including 35 minors, were arrested in connection with the party.
“This is something that is worth spending our resources to clamp down on, because these super-spreader events, if we get rid of them, we’re going to improve our ability to fight the pandemic,” Villaneuva said at a news conference about the Palmdale party.
Times staff writer Alene Tchekmedyian contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-12-22--Q&A: Alex Padilla, who will become California's first Latino senator, discusses his historic appoint

Q&A: Alex Padilla, who will become California's first Latino senator, discusses his historic appointment

Gov .
Gavin Newsom on Tuesday made history by appointing fellow Democrat Alex Padilla to the U.S. Senate , making him the first Latino to represent California as senator .
Padilla , California ’ s two-term secretary of state , will replace Sen. Kamala Harris , who in November became the first woman elected vice president of the United States .
Padilla , 47 , has a political career that spans more than two decades and began when he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1999 when he was just 26 .
He went on to become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a state senator and secretary of State .
Padilla , who has been working from his home in the San Fernando Valley throughout most of the pandemic , spoke with The Times by telephone shortly after his appointment was announced .
The interview has been edited for length and clarity .
THE TIMES : You will become California ’ s first Latino U.S. senator .
Why do you think it took so long and how do you think you ’ ll reshape a Senate that for centuries has been dominated by white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s an historic opportunity .
Personally , I ’ m just tremendously honored and humbled and look forward to bringing my story , and my journey , as an important perspective to the deliberations of the United States Senate .
I know there ’ s a lot of big-picture issues , but the COVID response is front and center .
A relief package was done last weekend , but much more is going to be necessary .
This pandemic is far from over and there ’ s still a tremendous amount of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health perspective , an economic perspective , on so many working families .
No state has more at stake in getting this right than the state of California .
The Times : What will be your top priorities in the U.S. Senate and how will you be different than Sen. Dianne Feinstein or Sen. Kamala Harris ?
Padilla : I look forward to working with both of them , obviously with Sen. Harris in her soon-to-be-new capacity .
But front and center continues to be the COVID response .
I ’ ve seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the health and economic perspective .
It breaks my heart to see the lines , whether it ’ s at COVID testing sites or at food distribution sites .
You know that ’ s the real human impact that far too many people have endured throughout this year .
So we ’ re gon na continue to keep that as a top priority .
At the end of the day , it ’ s real simple : Just like my parents had to do for me , you work hard , try to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide the next generation a better opportunity .
All that has been significantly disrupted because of this pandemic .
The Times : It ’ s likely that the Republicans will hold a majority in the Senate .
What do you expect to accomplish if you ’ re in the minority and will you work with Republicans on legislation and policy even in these partisan times ?
Padilla : Absolutely .
I know what I ’ m going to the Senate to fight for — to continue to fight for the American dream , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country , increased access to healthcare , to battle climate change , improve educational opportunity and make our economy more inclusive .
I ’ ll work with anybody to help get those things done .
The Times : You will become the first California senator from Southern California in almost 30 years .
The last one was Pete Wilson .
How will you serve differently because of this ?
Padilla : It ’ s a matter of bringing my experience and perspective to the table in the United States Senate , whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and raised in Pacoima , California , or because of my degree in mechanical engineering , my years of service in municipal government , obviously in state government , state Legislature , this job [ as secretary of State ] .
The Times : Gov .
Gavin Newsom received a lot of pressure to appoint a Black woman to replace Sen. Kamala Harris , who was only the second Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate .
What do you say to those who advocated for a Black woman to be appointed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be the best senator I can be for all Californians .
The Times : There ’ s been increasing pressure for Sen. Dianne Feinstein , one of your political mentors , to step aside to make way for a younger or more progressive senator .
What do you think about that ?
Padilla : I respect Sen. Feinstein and her years of service and leadership , from her championing the assault weapons ban to in more recent years holding the CIA accountable for the use of force , and a whole lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s blazed a significant trail .
We may not agree on 100 % of the issues , but I look forward to working with her on behalf of all Californians .
The Times : You ’ ll likely face a fierce challenge from both Democrats and Republicans in the 2022 Senate race .
How difficult will it be to hold onto your seat when facing off , potentially , against well-funded challengers ?
Padilla : I think I ’ ve demonstrated throughout the course of my public service career that if you do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing , the right way , for the right reasons , the politics tends to work out .
Nobody ’ s gon na work harder than I will .
The Times : You came back home from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to work as an engineer in the 1990s .
What would you say to that young man now ?
Padilla : Buckle your seatbelt because you may think you have a plan , but life ’ s gon na happen .
Despite my upbringing , despite watching my parents work so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to study at one of the best universities in the world , [ I came ] home to be told California is going downhill and that it ’ s the fault of people like my parents , families like mine .
I knew I had to do something about that .
The Times : There ’ s also been some recent criticism about a $ 35-million voter-outreach contract by your agency .
What do you say to people who say that the contract was improper ?
[ The contract was to increase turnout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a national political strategy company with ties to President-elect Joe Biden .
Republicans have criticized the awarding of the contract as politically motivated and California Controller Betty Yee has refused to pay the initial invoice over concerns about the rules governing the election funds in question . ]
Padilla : Nothing about what we did was improper .
At the end of the day , it ’ s pretty clear we had an enormously successful and secure election in California , with record registration and record turnout despite the COVID-19 pandemic .
Educating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what their options were to vote and vote safely was critical and that ’ s exactly what we did with this voter education program .
Ultimately , the only question that remains is which account [ to use ] to pay for those services .
I ’ m sure the Department of Finance and the Controller and others will determine which is the best account and the matter will be resolved .
I have no doubt .

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday made history by appointing fellow Democrat Alex Padilla to the U.S. Senate, making him the first Latino to represent California as senator. Padilla, California’s two-term secretary of state, will replace Sen. Kamala Harris, who in November became the first woman elected vice president of the United States.
Padilla, 47, has a political career that spans more than two decades and began when he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1999 when he was just 26. He went on to become the city’s youngest Council president, a state senator and secretary of State.
Padilla, who has been working from his home in the San Fernando Valley throughout most of the pandemic, spoke with The Times by telephone shortly after his appointment was announced. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
THE TIMES: You will become California’s first Latino U.S. senator. Why do you think it took so long and how do you think you’ll reshape a Senate that for centuries has been dominated by white men?
PADILLA: I know it’s an historic opportunity. Personally, I’m just tremendously honored and humbled and look forward to bringing my story, and my journey, as an important perspective to the deliberations of the United States Senate. I know there’s a lot of big-picture issues, but the COVID response is front and center. A relief package was done last weekend, but much more is going to be necessary. This pandemic is far from over and there’s still a tremendous amount of pain and suffering out there from a health perspective, an economic perspective, on so many working families. No state has more at stake in getting this right than the state of California.
The Times: What will be your top priorities in the U.S. Senate and how will you be different than Sen. Dianne Feinstein or Sen. Kamala Harris?
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Padilla: I look forward to working with both of them, obviously with Sen. Harris in her soon-to-be-new capacity. But front and center continues to be the COVID response. I’ve seen firsthand the impact of COVID from both the health and economic perspective. It breaks my heart to see the lines, whether it’s at COVID testing sites or at food distribution sites. You know that’s the real human impact that far too many people have endured throughout this year. So we’re gonna continue to keep that as a top priority. At the end of the day, it’s real simple: Just like my parents had to do for me, you work hard, try to provide for your family and try to provide the next generation a better opportunity. All that has been significantly disrupted because of this pandemic.
The Times: It’s likely that the Republicans will hold a majority in the Senate. What do you expect to accomplish if you’re in the minority and will you work with Republicans on legislation and policy even in these partisan times?
Padilla: Absolutely. I know what I’m going to the Senate to fight for — to continue to fight for the American dream, for working families across California and across the country, increased access to healthcare, to battle climate change, improve educational opportunity and make our economy more inclusive. I’ll work with anybody to help get those things done.
The Times: You will become the first California senator from Southern California in almost 30 years. The last one was Pete Wilson. How will you serve differently because of this?
Padilla: It’s a matter of bringing my experience and perspective to the table in the United States Senate, whether it’s because I was born and raised in Pacoima, California, or because of my degree in mechanical engineering, my years of service in municipal government, obviously in state government, state Legislature, this job [as secretary of State].
The Times: Gov. Gavin Newsom received a lot of pressure to appoint a Black woman to replace Sen. Kamala Harris, who was only the second Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate. What do you say to those who advocated for a Black woman to be appointed?
Padilla: I’m going to be the best senator I can be for all Californians.
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The Times: There’s been increasing pressure for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, one of your political mentors, to step aside to make way for a younger or more progressive senator. What do you think about that?
Padilla: I respect Sen. Feinstein and her years of service and leadership, from her championing the assault weapons ban to in more recent years holding the CIA accountable for the use of force, and a whole lot of things in between. She’s blazed a significant trail. We may not agree on 100% of the issues, but I look forward to working with her on behalf of all Californians.
The Times: You’ll likely face a fierce challenge from both Democrats and Republicans in the 2022 Senate race. How difficult will it be to hold onto your seat when facing off, potentially, against well-funded challengers?
Padilla: I think I’ve demonstrated throughout the course of my public service career that if you do a good job, do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons, the politics tends to work out. Nobody’s gonna work harder than I will.
The Times: You came back home from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to work as an engineer in the 1990s. What would you say to that young man now?
Padilla: Buckle your seatbelt because you may think you have a plan, but life’s gonna happen. Despite my upbringing, despite watching my parents work so hard to sacrifice, despite an opportunity to study at one of the best universities in the world, [I came] home to be told California is going downhill and that it’s the fault of people like my parents, families like mine. I knew I had to do something about that.
The Times: There’s also been some recent criticism about a $35-million voter-outreach contract by your agency. What do you say to people who say that the contract was improper? [The contract was to increase turnout during the November election and awarded to a national political strategy company with ties to President-elect Joe Biden. Republicans have criticized the awarding of the contract as politically motivated and California Controller Betty Yee has refused to pay the initial invoice over concerns about the rules governing the election funds in question.]
Padilla: Nothing about what we did was improper. At the end of the day, it’s pretty clear we had an enormously successful and secure election in California, with record registration and record turnout despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Educating voters in a nonpartisan fashion as to what their options were to vote and vote safely was critical and that’s exactly what we did with this voter education program. Ultimately, the only question that remains is which account [to use] to pay for those services. I’m sure the Department of Finance and the Controller and others will determine which is the best account and the matter will be resolved. I have no doubt.


latimes--2020-12-22--Garcetti vetoes plan to use reallocated LAPD money for disadvantaged communities

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has vetoed a proposal backed by the City Council to spend money diverted from the Los Angeles Police Department ’ s budget on an array of services , including sidewalk repairs .
Employing a veto power that he rarely uses , Garcetti called for the money to be focused on addressing racial justice and income inequality , avoiding layoffs and more .
“ Far too many of the proposed expenditures do not meet the demands of the moment or the call of history , ” Garcetti wrote in a letter to the council late Monday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criticized Garcetti ’ s action , saying the mayor didn ’ t give any feedback on the spending plan before Monday .
Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson , who represents a district that stretches from Baldwin Hills to the edge of Watts , said he would seek to override Garcetti ’ s veto .
That would require 10 council votes .
The council earlier this month backed a spending plan for tens of millions of dollars that was originally budgeted for the LAPD , but reprogrammed in response to protests this summer over policing and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a 13-2 vote , set aside $ 88 million for youth and recreation programs , neighborhood beautification initiatives , job and business programs , nonprofit services and more .
The spending list wasn ’ t final and was expected to come back before the council in February .
Still , it drew fire from LAPD Chief Michel Moore and the police union , who criticized it for including funding for public works projects at a time of rising homicides and shootings .
The union also accused council members of creating a slush @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the money was slated to be spent in South L.A. in three districts , but still allowed council members to fund tree trimming , for instance .
Harris-Dawson ’ s district , which would receive $ 16.6 million under the proposal , put hiring programs on his potential spending list , as well as park improvements , street and alley resurfacing , tree trimming , and other initiatives , according to the council report .
Garcetti , in an interview Tuesday , said the proposed list included “ a lot of stuff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as usual.
” “ Don ’ t get me wrong , it ’ s critically important to someone ’ s quality of life , but I don ’ t think people hit the streets for us to fix the sidewalks , ” he added .
“ They hit the streets for us to get out there and make some lasting change.
” Garcetti , in his letter , said he would support a revised spending plan that focuses on community engagement on issues such as racial justice and income inequality ; protects jobs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employees hired through a program that targets individuals from underserved populations ; antiviolence programs and a pilot program that has mental health workers respond to nonviolent 911 calls .
Harris-Dawson said he wants to use the reallocated money in his district for gang intervention workers , reentry services , sidewalk repairs and tree trimming .
Sidewalk repairs could be done by outside groups , providing jobs in the district , he said .
Garcetti ’ s letter has a lot of “ progressive gobbledygook that doesn ’ t mean anything , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the letter that he is questioning the knowledge of low-income people and their representatives about what they need in the community , ” Harris-Dawson said .
“ He ’ s saying he knows better.
” Council President Nury Martinez said she was shocked by Garcetti ’ s veto , saying the spending proposal came after months of discussions with city leaders and community members .
“ Residents from Black and brown communities told us they needed more from their city , and this package is one step forward in that process , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ San Fernando Valley .
“ The City Council will continue to lead and honor our commitments to our communities as we find a path forward . ''
Councilman Joe Buscaino , who represents a Watts-to-San Pedro district , backed Garcetti ’ s move , saying , “ I support the mayor ’ s veto because I did not support these [ LAPD ] cuts in the first place.
” With the city on pace to have more than 300 homicides this year , “ it ’ s time to reestablish our priorities and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resources , ” Buscaino said .
Following massive protests during the summer over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota , Martinez and her colleagues said they would cut $ 150 million from the LAPD to help “ disenfranchised ” communities .
Some of the money went to help address the city ’ s financial crisis , including $ 40 million to delay furloughs and $ 10 million for the city ’ s reserve .
Another $ 10 million was earmarked for jobs programs .
That left about $ 90 million for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Craig Lally , president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League , accused the council earlier this month of laying off hundreds of police officer to fund curb cuts , landscaping and other initiatives .
The council is weighing layoffs for city employees , including hundreds of police officers , to help manage the City Hall fiscal crisis brought about by the pandemic .
On Tuesday , Lally said that Garcetti ’ s veto “ validates our concern that the $ 90 million City Council slush fund does nothing to reduce the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our neighborhoods and reeks of old-school political patronage.
” “ We ’ re pleased that the mayor is placing a priority on protecting employees of color from disproportionate layoffs , ” he added , noting that the vast majority of police officers targeted for layoffs are people of color .

Mayor Eric Garcetti said the plan backed by the council for how to spend $88 million in redirected police funds did not meet “the call of history.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has vetoed a proposal backed by the City Council to spend money diverted from the Los Angeles Police Department’s budget on an array of services, including sidewalk repairs.
Employing a veto power that he rarely uses, Garcetti called for the money to be focused on addressing racial justice and income inequality, avoiding layoffs and more.
“Far too many of the proposed expenditures do not meet the demands of the moment or the call of history,” Garcetti wrote in a letter to the council late Monday about its proposal.
Some council members criticized Garcetti’s action, saying the mayor didn’t give any feedback on the spending plan before Monday.
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Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents a district that stretches from Baldwin Hills to the edge of Watts, said he would seek to override Garcetti’s veto. That would require 10 council votes.
The council earlier this month backed a spending plan for tens of millions of dollars that was originally budgeted for the LAPD, but reprogrammed in response to protests this summer over policing and racial injustice.
That plan, passed on a 13-2 vote, set aside $88 million for youth and recreation programs, neighborhood beautification initiatives, job and business programs, nonprofit services and more.
The spending list wasn’t final and was expected to come back before the council in February. Still, it drew fire from LAPD Chief Michel Moore and the police union, who criticized it for including funding for public works projects at a time of rising homicides and shootings. The union also accused council members of creating a slush fund for their districts.
The bulk of the money was slated to be spent in South L.A. in three districts, but still allowed council members to fund tree trimming, for instance.
Harris-Dawson’s district, which would receive $16.6 million under the proposal, put hiring programs on his potential spending list, as well as park improvements, street and alley resurfacing, tree trimming, and other initiatives, according to the council report.
Garcetti, in an interview Tuesday, said the proposed list included “a lot of stuff that’s just kind of business as usual.”
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“Don’t get me wrong, it’s critically important to someone’s quality of life, but I don’t think people hit the streets for us to fix the sidewalks,” he added. “They hit the streets for us to get out there and make some lasting change.”
Garcetti, in his letter, said he would support a revised spending plan that focuses on community engagement on issues such as racial justice and income inequality; protects jobs for city employees facing layoffs, particularly employees hired through a program that targets individuals from underserved populations; antiviolence programs and a pilot program that has mental health workers respond to nonviolent 911 calls.
California Coronavirus wave pushes California to brink of 2 million cases The numbers show the coronavirus circulating statewide; behaviors thought to be relatively safe weeks ago now carry a higher risk of infection.
Harris-Dawson said he wants to use the reallocated money in his district for gang intervention workers, reentry services, sidewalk repairs and tree trimming. Sidewalk repairs could be done by outside groups, providing jobs in the district, he said.
Garcetti’s letter has a lot of “progressive gobbledygook that doesn’t mean anything,” he said.
“It sounds like from the letter that he is questioning the knowledge of low-income people and their representatives about what they need in the community,” Harris-Dawson said. “He’s saying he knows better.”
Council President Nury Martinez said she was shocked by Garcetti’s veto, saying the spending proposal came after months of discussions with city leaders and community members.
“Residents from Black and brown communities told us they needed more from their city, and this package is one step forward in that process,” said Martinez, who represents the eastern San Fernando Valley. “The City Council will continue to lead and honor our commitments to our communities as we find a path forward.”
Councilman Joe Buscaino, who represents a Watts-to-San Pedro district, backed Garcetti’s move, saying, “I support the mayor’s veto because I did not support these [LAPD] cuts in the first place.”
With the city on pace to have more than 300 homicides this year, “it’s time to reestablish our priorities and focus on delivering critical police and fire resources,” Buscaino said.
Following massive protests during the summer over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, Martinez and her colleagues said they would cut $150 million from the LAPD to help “disenfranchised” communities.
Some of the money went to help address the city’s financial crisis, including $40 million to delay furloughs and $10 million for the city’s reserve. Another $10 million was earmarked for jobs programs.
That left about $90 million for the council to earmark towards community needs.
Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, accused the council earlier this month of laying off hundreds of police officer to fund curb cuts, landscaping and other initiatives.
The council is weighing layoffs for city employees, including hundreds of police officers, to help manage the City Hall fiscal crisis brought about by the pandemic.
On Tuesday, Lally said that Garcetti’s veto “validates our concern that the $90 million City Council slush fund does nothing to reduce the dramatic increase in shootings and murders in our neighborhoods and reeks of old-school political patronage.”
“We’re pleased that the mayor is placing a priority on protecting employees of color from disproportionate layoffs,” he added, noting that the vast majority of police officers targeted for layoffs are people of color.
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.