The Brief

With a little more than two months to go until the general election, the two mayoral candidates running to lead the city of Los Angeles fielded questions about the environment at a Thursday night forum hosted by LAist.

Incumbent Karen Bass and her challenger, L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman, each answered questions separately about how they would approach many environmental challenges facing the city, including emergency preparedness, water resiliency and transportation policy.

These and other environmental and climate issues are top of mind for many Angelenos during a summer marked by extreme heat, humidity and the Lineage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights that affected surrounding neighborhoods for months. Communities are also still rebuilding from last year’s destructive Eaton and Palisades fires.

The forum, held at Los Angeles Trade Technical-College, was organized by the L.A. League of Conservation Voters, SCOPE-LA, Sierra Club, Clean and Healthy California, Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance and Communities for a Better Environment, and was moderated by LAist climate and environment Reporter Erin Stone.

Here are three takeaways from the event:

Differing visions of LA

Bass, who was elected mayor in 2022, painted a picture of an L.A. that’s made significant progress on environmental issues during that time, while Raman said the city has stalled under Bass’ leadership.

Bass referenced her work transitioning the city off of coal-generated energy and expanding the city’s electric bus fleets and clean-energy jobs. She said she wants to build on that momentum, particularly with a focus on helping communities impacted by environmental and industrial pollution.

She pointed to many communities of color that bear the brunt of industrial pollution, including in South L.A. neighborhoods dotted with oil wells and residents who live in close proximity to the Lineage warehouse in Boyle Heights.

“Where we need to go now in the future is focusing on environmental justice, focusing on the communities that are disproportionately impacted by greenhouse gases and by the environment,” she said.

Raman also talked about a need to focus on environmental justice, but she said environmental programs are underfunded and understaffed, and that she would invest more in them if she becomes mayor.

She said Bass’ administration has not prioritized environmental climate issues enough, and that there should be a more aggressive policy around them.

“Too much of that work remains unfinished,” she said. “Our transition to clean energy has slowed. Efforts to build a resilient water supply, close neighborhood drilling sites, make our streets safer, all of these have slowed over the last four years.”

Raman specifically called out Bass for her proposal to cut funding for the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office as the city faced a billion-dollar budget shortfall last year.

Bass defended the proposal, arguing the program had not developed a climate action plan as directed and needed to be revamped.

The office has shrunk under Bass’ leadership, and she removed the city’s chief heat officer and quietly appointed a new one earlier this year.

Emergency response failures

Both Bass and Raman said L.A. has room for improvement when it comes to preparing for fires, earthquakes and other disasters.

Raman criticized the city’s response to last year’s Palisades Fire, saying there was no clear leadership to guide the community through the recovery effort. She pointed to Bass' appointment of Steve Soboroff to head the recovery. He left the post after his three-month term and was not replaced.

 ”What we saw in the Palisades, I think, was an example of what shouldn't happen,” Raman said. “ A lot of residents in the Palisades have been feeling like they don't know who to reach out to, who is the person that they need to connect with in order to make sure that recovery really happens.”

But she defended her administration’s response, and said confusion over city and state land made it more difficult.

 ”Part of the brush was the city, part of the brush was the state. There was a reluctance to go into state territory because our folks were told they couldn't do that,” Bass said. “As far as I'm concerned, that's not gonna happen again.”

Bass said the biggest impediments to the recovery process — and to people moving back into their homes — are insurance companies and banks. She called for legislative reforms to the insurance process.

Raman also criticized the response to the Lineage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights this summer, calling out Bass directly for sharing misleading information about air quality.

Bass said she relied on inaccurate information from public health and air quality management officials.

Both candidates said there’s a need for stronger enforcement and higher fines that could be levied against corporations like Lineage, the warehouse owner, and better planning for emergencies around industrial buildings.

Shared goals

Although the candidates leaned into their differences, the reality is that they align on many climate and environmental policies.

Unhoused Angelenos are especially at risk from extreme heat, and Bass said the city needs to provide more places for them to cool off.

“My plan, priority one, is to get people off the streets,” Bass said, adding that during heat emergencies that needs to include providing emergency shelters and other ways to cool off.

Raman talked about similar solutions.

“ Responding to people who are experiencing homelessness to ensure that they're actually able to get indoors and off the streets, so that they're not dying from exposure to heat, because that is a very, very high risk that people who are experiencing homelessness face,” she said.

They had other shared goals.

Both said incentives and rebates that keep down the cost of utility bills need to be more accessible, especially in low-income communities.

Both called for more severe penalties for owners of industrial sites like the Boyle Heights warehouse.

And they both said they want to grow the city’s electric vehicle fleet, and decrease car use by building more public transit ridership and expanding biking infrastructure.

Topline:

The details: State water officials confirmed a harmful algal bloom in Lake Hemet that’s showing up as green, cloudy discolored water, scum and algae.

Why it matters: The bloom can produce toxins that could cause you and your furry friends to get sick. People and pets are being urged to stay out of the water and away from any scum or algae along the shore. Dogs and children are especially vulnerable because they’re more likely to swallow water while playing and swimming, according to the State Water Resources Control Board. You can learn more about healthy water habits here.

Why now: The warning for the Riverside County lake comes about a week after a similar alert was issued for Big Bear Lake. Lake Hemet is under an advisory until further notice, state officials said.

The backstory: Harmful algal blooms are most common in California between the warmer months of late May through October, although they can pop up year round, according to the board.

What's next: You can check California’s map to see if any harmful algal blooms have been reported in the area.

Go deeper: What's the green sheen on Big Bear Lake? What you need to know about harmful algal blooms

Yama Sushi Marketplace is a local chain that helps set the standard for quality sushi and Japanese cuisine in Los Angeles — all while trying to keep prices more affordable than you might expect.

About the owners

Kenzo Yamada opened the business in 1984 after working as a local fish broker. He eventually sold the business in 2021 to Scott Kohno and his family. Kohno sat down with Austin Cross, who hosts AirTalk every Friday, to explain how they've continued to deliver quality sushi and expand the business.

Making Japanese culture accessible and affordable

Yama Sushi Marketplace's Koreatown grand opening.

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Courtesy Alysia Rodriguez

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Yama Sushi Marketplace looks to provide the best of both worlds — high-quality sushi lower costs — in serving customers.

How do they do it? They've benefited from Yamada's connections, sourcing quality fish through trusted suppliers like Bluefiná. It also helps that it's not a restaurant, minimizing the overhead costs that come with staffing.

Restaurant details

• The Kohno family has expanded to West L.A. and Koreatown. A fourth location is set to open in Sherman Oaks, although its official opening date hasn’t been announced.
• Co-owner Wendy Kohno has a background as a kikisake-shi — sake sommelier — and has helped build out the market’s selection of more than 200 sakes, most of which you can find at their San Gabriel and West L.A. locations.
• They also have classes on sushi, sake and miso.

What we tried

• California Roll (their most popular menu item)
• Bara Chirashi
• Yama Deluxe Platter
• Narumi Sake (Yama's own craft sake)

Yama Sushi Marketplace is co-hosting American Craft Sake Fest on Saturday, Sept. 10. Click here for more details.

What should we try next?

This story first appeared on Long Beach Post.

After months of fear about dwindling federal funding for a pandemic-era housing assistance program, Long Beach housing officials say they have secured enough money to keep nearly 500 households from potentially falling back into homelessness.

The last-minute announcement saves the city from what would have been the worst-case scenario: having to kick hundreds of formerly homeless people off of federal housing assistance. The situation illustrates just how dependent Long Beach’s homelessness and health services are on state and federal funding, which has stagnated or been cut in recent years.

Long Beach officials thought they would run out of money to pay rental subsidies for the 480 households currently on Emergency Housing Vouchers as early as this month, but they now say they have the time — and money — to transition all of those households to other rental assistance programs by November.

An estimated $480,000 increase in federal funding for Long Beach, cost-saving measures and help from a neighboring housing authority made that possible, according to a city memo.

The Emergency Housing Voucher program was a one-of-a-kind opportunity for people defined as “chronically homeless” or at risk of losing their housing to have a slew of services paid for to get them housing. That included security deposits, moving costs and paying past utility debt.

Long Beach quickly used all 582 vouchers allocated to it.

The swift spending gave people like Clark Inglish, a new mother living on the Los Angeles River, a streamlined and effective way to get back on their feet, according to local health officials. The program “really changed my life,” said Inglish, who was able to start working as a counselor and put her son in preschool after getting a roof over her head.

The vouchers were supposed to be good through 2030, but when rent rates increased more quickly than anticipated, the program ran out of money years ahead of schedule, and in April last year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development notified housing officials that Congress did not allocate new funding for it.

Instead, a last-second increase in federal dollars to a different housing program will allow the Long Beach Housing Authority to transfer 400 households from EHVs to Housing Choice Vouchers – also known as Section 8.

HUD will also give Long Beach’s housing authority an additional $1,000 for each EHV voucher that they convert to Section 8.

The 80 remaining households on EHVs will receive assistance from the Housing Authority of the city of Los Angeles.

Over the next few months, housing officials will assist each household with completing the paperwork necessary to make the transition.

If you’re on an Emergency Housing Voucher and have a question, you can email the city at HA-EHV@longbeach.gov.

Since joining the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s governing commission nearly two years ago, Justin Szlasa has pushed — often uphill — for stronger auditing, transparency and oversight of the troubled agency.

He visited an approved camping site for unhoused people — and discovered the agency, known as LAHSA, had spent more than a year paying a nonprofit to serve twice as many camping spots than actually existed.

He organized a day-long summit focused on how L.A. could shift its funding of homeless services so that contractors are paid for positive results. And for the past year he served as chair of LAHSA’s audit committee, where he pushed for more independence for internal auditors and pressed LAHSA to finish a years-long audit into its failure to spend $7 million in federal grants.

Last week, Szlasa was removed as chair of the three-member committee, without explanation. The move has generated criticism at a time when LAHSA remains under strict scrutiny — and the threat of losing federal and city funding — just two months before the general election.

“Justin has been the lifeline for any viable future for LAHSA,” said Rick Cole, a former top deputy in the L.A. City Controller’s office, which audits city tax dollars.

“He’s pushed for the kind of transparency and accountability that everyone has wanted from that agency for 30 years,” Cole added. “And the absence of it is what has led to its imminent downfall.”

Although he is no longer its chair, Szlasa remains a member of the three-person audit committee. Losing the position means he no longer has authority to decide when and whether proposals will be scheduled for discussion and action. Szlasa said the chair also takes the lead in overseeing LAHSA’s internal audit staff in between the monthly committee meetings.

In an interview, Szlasa said he asked to stay on as audit chair, and was denied without being given a reason.

“I’m disappointed,” he said. “ I really took a very athletic approach to my work as chair. If we did a good job on that committee, we would be stepping towards the transparency, the accountability, the operational excellence that LAHSA really needs and the citizens of Los Angeles really deserve — whether they're housed or unhoused.”

No explanation for the removal

Szlasa was removed from his post as audit chair at the request of Stephanie Graves, an appointee of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.

Graves is the new chair of LAHSA Commission, whose 10 members govern the agency. The audit committee is a subset of the larger commission, and its members are tasked with overseeing an annual federally-required audit, as well as internal audits meant to root out oversight problems.

Graves recommended Szlasa’s removal as audit chair last week as part of her request for new committee assignments. The full commission approved her recommendations Friday.

LAist asked Graves why she recommended removing Szlasa. She said it was her “prerogative” as chair of the full commission. She has not explained her reasoning.

“Szlasa continues to be on the Audit Committee and his insights are valuable,” Graves said in a text message.

Stephanie Graves, the newly-selected chair of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Commission, speaks at the press briefing for the 2026 homeless count results in Los Angeles on July 24, 2026.

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Nick Gerda/LAist

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A spokesperson for Bass echoed Graves’ response, saying the appointments in question “are determined by the LAHSA Commission Chair and subject to the confirmation of the full Commission.”

Neither the Mayor’s Office nor Graves have answered whether Bass directed Szlasa’s removal or discussed it with Graves before she made her recommendation.

Bass has directed LAHSA outside of public view in the past, including by ordering it to contract with one of her mayoral transition advisors — Va Lecia Adams Kellum — as a $40,000-per-month consultant to design the mayor’s homelessness program Inside Safe.

Adams Kellum became LAHSA’s CEO just after the consulting contract ended in 2023. She left LAHSA last summer.

Graves also was on the mayor’s transition team and attended a meeting of Bass’ re-election campaign’s finance committee last year, according to a campaign disclosure. Graves runs a PR firm that has taxpayer-funded contracts overseen by Bass and her appointees.

Cole, who also serves as a Pasadena City Council member, said Szlasa’s removal is part of a “cover-up” of dysfunction at LAHSA.

“Mayor Bass hand-picked her choice to head LAHSA, who led directly to its downward tailspin,” Cole said, referring to Adams Kellum. “So it’s not surprising that her appointee [Graves] would be continuing the ongoing cover-up of dysfunction at the agency.”

LAist reached out to both Bass and Graves for reaction to Cole’s comments, but has not received a response.

In an email sent Friday after this article was published, LAHSA Chief of Staff Paul Rubenstein said it is normal for committee chairs to change year to year.

According to data he provided, at least one committee chair has previously remained for a second year in a row.

Fixing 'dysfunction' at LAHSA

Cole said Szlasa has been trying to fix the dysfunction that has led to problems at LAHSA.

Among those problems was $10 million in LAHSA funds alleged to have been illegally pocketed by the leader of a service provider, according to federal prosecutors.

Last week, LAist reported that LAHSA approved at least $3.5 million in taxpayer contracts to that group — Abundant Blessings — even after LAHSA’s compliance team flagged it as “High-Risk” for failing to do its job.

“The failures that [LAist has] been exposing…Justin [Szlasa] has been trying to fix those things since he got appointed,” said Cole, who was high up at the City Controller’s Office when it launched a fraud investigation into a tip that Abundant Blessings was failing to provide the required three nutritious meals per day in Bass’ Inside Safe program.

The Controller’s Office investigators found that “the only food items at these sites were things like Ramen noodles, cans of beans, and breakfast bars,” according to the federal criminal complaint filed this year.

“He’s not a grandstander,” Cole said of Szlasa. “He’s not holding press conferences.  He’s not exposing individual people to ridicule. He’s trying to implement basic systems of data and financial management that a billion-dollar agency desperately needed, and which were grossly lacking.

“To isolate, ignore or punish Justin is so short-sighted."

Commissioner Justin Szlasa at a LAHSA Commission meeting on Friday, April 25, 2025.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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Szlasa said there’s a big difference between being chair of the audit committee and being just a member.

“The chair sets the agenda. And the responsibility and the power to set the agenda sets the tone of the committee activity,” he added.

 “If you're a member of a committee you can make recommendations for what you'd like to see on the next agenda,” he said. “But it's at the chair's prerogative to decide whether or not to put those items on the agenda. So it makes a big difference.”

Szlasa was appointed to the LAHSA Commission by L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. His replacement as audit committee chair is Charles Stringer, a Bass appointee.

Stringer has not responded to a request for comment.

Pushing for accountability

One habit that has set Szlasa apart: checking things out for himself.

Last year, the commission was asked to renew a contract with a nonprofit to provide meals, security and other services for people at an approved camping site in a parking lot. The morning of the vote, Szlasa visited the site and discovered that for over a year it had only half the capacity LAHSA was paying for.

Federal Judge David O. Carter later called the situation “obvious fraud.”

Szlasa said he asked multiple times for a full commission discussion of what happened with those payments, and that LAHSA’s last two commission chairs did not schedule it.

The two prior chairs — Wendy Greuel and Amber Sheikh — have not responded to requests for comment.

 "We have to really make sure that we're getting what we're paying for, and I want to see more accountability in that area,” Szlasa told LAist. “When it doesn't work, I want to look at it carefully to understand why it's not working.”

Szlasa also raised concerns last summer about "master leasing," which Bass championed as an approach to help move unhoused people inside quickly. It involves leasing an entire apartment building — making LAHSA the lease-holder — and then subleasing those units to people who have lived on the streets.

Szlasa said he visited a newly-built site where he was told disabled residents were carried up and down stairs because of broken elevators, with no clear responsibility for who should fix them. He said he asked LAHSA executives for an accounting of the program, but they never provided one.

It later emerged that more than 250 taxpayer funded units — a third of the total — were sitting empty.

When he hasn’t gotten answers to his questions from LAHSA’s management, Szlasa filed public records requests.

A February request — into whether LAHSA has been improperly using one funder’s money to cover another’s bills — got no real answer, he said. Six months later, LAHSA said it was still checking whether records exist about the practice, which auditors flagged in 2024 as “misuse” of funds.

LAHSA can’t “produce what I would consider basic financial statements,” Szlasa said.

LAist asked LAHSA management why the records haven’t been provided, and has not received a response to that question.

A spokesperson said LAHSA checks if funds “are available from an appropriate funding source" before paying bills.

Questions continue

At a meeting last week, Szlasa asked LAHSA Interim CEO Gita O’Neill why he hadn’t been told of a $1.2 million settlement last fall with Abundant Blessings — until LAist reported it last week.

O’Neill responded that she’d answer later. She and her chief of staff have not responded to LAist’s questions about whether commissioners authorized the deal.

Separately, outside reviewers from the accounting firm KPMG told commissioners last week that LAHSA can’t easily track its own vendor payments.