The Brief

It’s finally feeling like Fall in Southern California, but we just sweated through the hottest summer on record. The recent hotter, longer heat waves caused power outages across the region.

But some people avoided them — and even helped prevent more widespread outages across the power grid.

In a place of relatively frequent power outages: A power island

Joe and Teresa Tortomasi were one of those households whose power never went off during an extended extreme heat wave in early September. They live in Sierra Madre, a small city nestled against the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains.

“We're in what they call the Upper Canyon,” Joe told me when I visited them at their quaint, light blue painted home with white shutters. “This is very un-L.A. No offense to L.A., it's just very rural.”

“He's saying that because we live right next to the mountains, so as we sit here outside, we feel like we're in the mountains,” added his wife Teresa. “And every time people visit us from anywhere in the L.A. area, they say ‘is this L.A.?’”

Joe and Teresa Tortomasi outside their home in Sierra Madre. Solar panels that connect to a battery are on their roof.

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The house is in a neighborhood full of whimsical cabins along winding canyon roads. Bobcats, coyotes, bears and other critters are frequent visitors.

The retired teachers have lived here for nearly 40 years. This area has long had relatively frequent power outages because of where it’s located on the broader grid — when circuit breakers or distribution lines are overloaded, there aren’t options for Southern California Edison (SCE) to reroute power here through other lines. Basically, the canyon is at the end of the line.

While doing their part to cut pollution was a big factor in the Tortomasis' decision to install solar panels and battery storage, the power outages plus rising energy costs were also major reasons.

“We tend to have blackouts up in the canyon and we were just getting tired of it,” said Joe.

In their years living here, despite the work SCE has done to fortify the lines serving the canyon, the Tortomasis said power outages have gotten more frequent.

“Mostly because of the warming temperatures,” Teresa said. “30 years ago, it wasn't like this. We can really see the difference and the climate change. When we had that excruciating weather a couple of weeks ago, we were the only ones in our little corner of the canyon [who] still had power.”

That’s because they now have solar panels and a battery. In early September, temperatures here reached as high as 110 degrees and much of the canyon lost power for hours.

“All our neighbors always check with each other, so we were getting texts saying, 'do you have power? Do you have power?’ And we just told everybody, ‘If you need anything, just come over here, because we have power,’” Teresa said.

Teresa and Joe Tortomasi stand beside their 13 kilowatt hour battery, which stores energy from their solar panels to support their whole home, and can also offload excess power to the broader power grid.

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More energy use, lower bills

This summer was also the first time the Tortomasis can remember having to keep their air conditioning going at night.

“We had no cool air at night — our night time was still 85 degrees outside, and it was the first time in our almost 40 years here that we actually did not open our windows at night,” said Teresa.

Rising nighttime temperatures are one of the clearest fingerprints of how fossil fuel pollution is changing our climate. To be able to sleep, they turned on the A/C, using power from their battery, which stored energy that their solar panels had absorbed during the day.

The Tortomasis have a smartphone app to monitor their solar panels and battery storage.

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Even though the Tortomasis had to use more electricity, that increased use didn't further strain the power grid we all rely on because they were using power from their battery.

And instead of their costs going up because they have to use more energy due to hotter days and nights, the Tortomasis' electricity bill is in the negatives.

They had to dig into their savings to pay for the solar and battery — as well as install a new roof for the panels and upgrade their electric panel — but they’re now saving money because of the excess power they sell back to the grid.

“We're really making our money back," Joe said. "I mean, we don't have to pay any electric bills."

Plus, living in a high-risk fire area, they don't have to worry about SCE shutting off their power to prevent fires during high-risk weather.

“We feel safer,” said Joe.

“I don't have that stress of always being worried that the power might go out,” said Teresa.

Policy changes have slowed solar-plus-battery market

The Tortomasis have essentially negative electric bills because they got their solar panels before cuts to state rooftop solar incentives went into effect last year.

Under the new rules, the state cut how much solar users get paid back for the excess energy they generate. Instead, people who install solar and battery storage will get a better deal when they sell excess energy from their batteries during high-demand times of the evening.

The white Tesla box is the battery gateway, which orchestrates the home's energy sources and loads, including automatically switching to offload power to the grid during critical times.

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In the decision, which only applies to investor-owned utilities, the California Public Utilities Commission argued the previous incentives for rooftop solar were leading to higher costs for people without solar — a claim that solar advocates and some economic models refute — and that it was time to instead incentivize solar-plus-battery storage.

That’s because we now have more solar power during the day than we can use, so we need to be able to store more of that power for when the sun goes down.

But batteries are still really expensive. Vic Aguilar, who installed the Tortomasis' system, said the cost for a solar-plus-battery system ranges from about $15,000 to more than $120,000.

Vic Aguilar has been in the solar business for 18 years.

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“The upfront capital expenditure with the new rules is significantly greater because it involves the batteries,” Aguilar said. “The batteries generally double the cost of an average project.”

And, under the new rules, the timeline for breaking even on that investment is now eight to 12 years, instead of six to eight years.

Solar panels on a home in Ladera Heights, a community southeast of Los Angeles.

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Aguilar — better known as Solar Vic by Sierra Madre locals — has been in the business for 18 years and owns the company Sustainergy Advisors. While his clients in new housing developments and large households have grown, Aguilar said he’s seen a big decline in his middle and lower-income customers since the new state rules went into effect last April.

“There’s still a compelling economic argument that can be made, especially with the larger households — they use so much energy that even under [the new rules] they’re saving ginormous amounts of money,” Aguilar said.

Industry decline outpaces growth of battery installs

Since the new rules went into effect last year, the solar market has dropped 60% and about 17,000 solar jobs have been cut, said Bernadette Del Chiaro, director of solar industry trade group California Solar and Storage Association.

Ken Wells founded O&M Solar Services, a small residential solar company in South Los Angeles.

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“More people that are going solar today are adding a battery, which is good, but the overall decline in the market does not make up for the growth in storage,” said Del Chiaro. “So we've actually set ourselves back with energy storage, contrary to what the policymakers say their intentions were.”

Del Chiaro said fewer people are now installing solar, let alone batteries too. That's hurt local businesses.

Ken Wells founded South L.A.-based O&M Solar Services in 2018, and had both solar and solar-plus-storage clients. But after the new rules went into effect he had to close his business and lay off his 30 employees.

“There was just this huge drop and I went from doing 20 to 30 projects a month to just seven or one a week,” Wells said. “I was already facing barriers financing my company and getting the capital to scale, so most of what I was doing was bootstrapping. I was taking my money and putting it right back into my business.”

“So when this happened,” Wells added. “I was unable to sustain any longer and I unfortunately had to close my doors, let all my guys go.”

Wells said he’s working to build back his company, but has since shifted into consulting.

Ken Wells walks outside a home with solar panels in Ladera Heights.

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Why more "distributed energy" matters for the whole power grid

Many solar advocates say the change in policy hurts the grid overall.

Rooftop solar-plus-battery storage systems — called "distributed energy" — have already helped the grid avoid widespread blackouts despite recent summers being the hottest in more than 150 years.

The Tortomasis, for example, are part of what’s called a virtual power plant. It’s made up of their home, along with nearly 3,000 other homes that also have solar and batteries.

The app connected to the Tortomasis solar and storage system also shows the virtual power plant they're part of with other Southern California Edison customers.

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“You're aggregating them into a fleet so they can all work in concert, like a flock of birds, on demand,” Aguilar explained.

Southern California Edison can pull energy from this residential battery fleet to support the grid when it’s most strained, particularly during hot summer evenings.

That not only helps the utility avoid widespread power outages, but it also reduces the need to power up highly polluting backup generators when extreme, prolonged heat risks brownouts or blackouts.

Joe Tortomasi looks at the 13 kilowatt hour battery that is installed on his home in Sierra Madre.

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In 2022, that’s exactly what happened: The state’s grid operator sent out flex alerts — those urgent texts to conserve energy — after a gas-fired peaker power plant generator unexpectedly went offline. To avoid massive blackouts, the state pulled energy from batteries attached to homes, schools and businesses across the state.

“If you take these millions of small systems — they're all highly coordinated, highly technical systems that we're putting up in our garages — they can act like a coordinated power plant and turn on a dime to provide value to the state,” Del Chiaro said.

How much distributed energy storage does the state have?

Currently, the state has more than 2,000 megawatts of distributed battery storage on homes, schools, businesses and government buildings, according to the California Public Utilities Commission. That's about as much energy generated by two typical nuclear reactors.

More than half of that battery storage is from homes with solar and batteries, and most of it is coming from L.A. County.

Batteries played a huge role in the grid’s resilience this past summer: Despite it being the hottest summer on record, we didn't experience flex alerts or major rolling blackouts.

“This last summer they were a big part of our resiliency,” said Aguilar. “They really were what saved the grid. And not just on the big utility scale where there are container fields of these giant batteries. A lot of it is happening on a distributed basis.”

A map of where distributed battery storage is across the state. The majority is in Southern California.

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And it’s all automated. The Tortomasis don’t have to do anything — they just know where their power’s going via a smartphone app.

“People say, ‘oh the technology is not ready yet,’ Aguilar said. “And they have no idea the robustness, the incredibleness of what we have right now. The renewable revolution is just in time. We are at the stage to implement, implement, implement.”

A graph showing how California's distributed battery storage has increased over time. Most of the growth is in the residential sector.

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Most of the distributed battery storage in California is on people's homes.

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Tips if you're considering solar-plus-battery storage

Solar panels are made to last at least 25 years, so you want to make sure you’re making a good investment.

Here are some tips from installer Vic Aguilar of Sustainergy Advisors:

• Talk to friends and neighbors who have solar about what they wish they’d known and their experience
• Talk to at least two or three installers before choosing one
• Have your roof checked out before going all in because you may need to re-roof
• Consider your total electric use and future use — you will likely need to upgrade your electric panel (a contractor can help with this)
• Find a contractor who knows the rules for the specific electric utility you pay your bills to, as well as the financial incentives available for the install
  
  • On that note, also do your own research on the rules for solar and storage from your electricity provider. For example, Pasadena Water and Power has different rules from Southern California Edison.
  • Check out our guide on financial incentives for going electric
• Consider if you want your whole home to be backed up, or just critical functions
• Consider your main reasons for going solar because no single system can do it all: do you want to save on bills? Do you want to maximize resiliency? Do you want to eliminate your carbon pollution? 
• Consider a contractor who values ethical and sustainable sourcing of panels and batteries 

Additional resources:

• Find a certified contractor here 
• Find financial incentives here
• Find trusted financing options here 

Days after the polls closed in Los Angeles County, Measure ER — a proposed half-percent local sales tax increase aimed at generating healthcare funds to offset massive federal cuts — appears to be losing.

If that happens, it will be the first time in more than a decade that county voters said no to a sales tax measure.

“It’s been almost like any tax measure will pass," said Fernando Guerra, Loyola Marymount University political science professor.

Not anymore. Experts say affordability concerns may be eroding support even among L.A. County's traditionally tax-friendly voters.

“Number one, we're spent,” Guerra said. "Number two, we don't trust the general decision-making. Number three, when we've given you specific dollars for specific issues, you haven't done it.”

The votes are still being counted, but as of Friday evening Measure ER was losing 48.5% to 51.5%.

It requires a simple majority to pass.

Measure ER would raise county sales tax from 9.75% to 10.25% for five years, generating an estimated $1 billion a year for the county’s general fund. County supervisors approved a spending plan directing those dollars to offset cuts to Medi-Cal under the Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill.

But that plan is not legally binding — a detail that critics of Measure ER hammered throughout the campaign.

The Yes on ER campaign committee, called Restore Healthcare for Angelenos, was backed largely by nonprofit health clinics and led by St. John's Community Health, a nonprofit that operates a large network of health clinics in Southern California. The campaign raised nearly $10 million to spread its message in TV ads that told voters, “Trump’s cuts are threatening hospitals and ERs,” and in mailers that urged them to raise the tax a “temporary half a penny to save healthcare access.”

The No on ER campaign committee, No Blank Checks LA County, was led by the L.A. County Taxpayers Association. It raised less than $10,000, according to L.A. County campaign finance filings. Aidan Chao, chairman of the taxpayers group, said he’s confident the No campaign’s narrow lead will hold.

“LA County voters are sending a clear message,” Chao told LAist. “They reject another bait and switch sales tax increase on top of the cost-of-living pressures families are already shouldering.”

As of Friday, Measure ER was behind by about 44,000 votes. L.A. County has processed and counted more than 1.6 million ballots, according to election officials who estimate more than 540,000 ballots are yet to be counted.

Measure ER has been able to narrow its deficit since initial Election Day results, as later mail ballots tend to skew toward Democratic voters, according to poll-watchers.

“If that trend continues, it's possible that ER could pass,” said Zev Yaroslavsky,  director of the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Tax fatigue?

Guerra said he figured L.A. County voters would have approved Measure ER by a margin of 5 percentage points or more.

"So I am a little taken aback,” he said. “It shows that there is something that's going on with a very progressive voter in L.A. about, ‘OK, maybe enough taxes.’”

The No on ER campaign said it heard the same thing from voters.

“We knew there was an abnormal aversion to taxation right now, which is completely off from the precedent,” Chao told LAist. “Voters were frustrated with taxes in general. They were frustrated with the way counties spend the money.”

L.A. County residents already pay some of the highest sales tax rates in the country. The county’s base sales tax rate is 9.75%, while the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale have sales tax rates above 11%.

In 2017, about 69% of county voters approved Measure H, a temporary quarter-percent special sales tax to fund services for homeless people.

Then in 2024, a narrower 57% voted to double the homelessness sales tax and make it permanent though Measure A, which now generates an estimated $1 billion a year for L.A. County’s homeless services and affordable housing efforts.

Yaroslavsky, a former L.A. County supervisor, said L.A. County voters are feeling the pinch of inflation and cost of living increases. In a UCLA survey he oversees, the number of people concerned about taxes as part of their cost of living ticked up this year, according to Yarovslavsky

"The less you earn, the more painful it is," he said. “And that's why I think this is gonna be closer than the measures that were passed with 70%. This one is not gonna get much more than 51% or 52%, if it passes.”

The coalition against Measure ER included dozens of representatives from cities that argued another sales tax increase was the wrong answer to the county’s budget problems.

The tax measure’s most prominent opponent was Kathryn Barger. She was the sole L.A. County Supervisor to vote against putting the measure before voters, while the other four backed it.

Barger appeared in a video ad for the No on ER campaign urging voters to reject it. The ad was recorded on the supervisor’s personal time, her office told LAist.

“We all support quality healthcare, but Sacramento should step up before asking taxpayers to pay more,” Barger says in the video. “And despite what supporters claim, the money goes straight into the county’s general fund with no guarantee where it will end up.”

Supervisor Holly Mitchell and Measure ER backers at rally for supporters.

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Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who backed putting the bill on the primary ballot, has said a sales tax increase wasn’t ideal, but she was out of options.

“As the county government, we are required by statute to be the safety net level provider of last resort for healthcare services, and yet the federal government pulled the funding rug out from under us,” Mitchell told LAist.

Yarovslavsky said he understands why the County Supervisors put the measure on the ballot. L.A. County is looking to save crucial healthcare programs.

“This is not a transit program or bikeways — things you can live with or live without,” he said. “This is a matter of life and death.”

What’s next?

A spokesperson for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a statewide anti-tax group, told LAist the organization is hopeful a movement against higher taxes is gaining momentum throughout California.

“It's clear from the election results in Los Angeles and statewide that voters are frustrated and even angry that the taxes they already pay are apparently disappearing, while every urgent need, from firefighting to hospitals, somehow can't be funded without more tax increases,” Susan Shelley, a Howard Jarvis spokesperson, told LAist.

Voters in Palos Verdes Estates are poised to defeat a parcel tax. San Diego shot down a tax on vacant homes. Contra Costa County voters rejected a sales tax increase.

In the city of Los Angeles, voters appear to be on track to reject Measure TT, a hotel bed tax increase. And, yet, several tax measures are expected to land on the November ballot.

Firefighters with the Los Angeles Fire Department have gathered enough signatures to qualify a proposal for another half-percent sales tax to provide additional funding for the department. A committee backing the measure has raised more than $1.4 million, with major funding from the firefighters’ union, the California Community Foundation, a personal injury law firm representing firefighters, Airbnb and Rick Caruso.

Meanwhile, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has collected enough signatures to qualify a statewide ballot measure in California that, if passed, would effectively repeal the city of L.A.’s so-called “mansion tax” and make it harder for voters to pass local tax increases like Measure A or Measure ER in the future.

It would change the law to require a two-thirds supermajority of voter support to approve tax increases that land on the ballot through citizens’ initiatives — instead of a simple majority.

“We're confident that voters will approve it,” Shelley said. “We think this trend will continue in the November election.”

And the so-called “billionaire’s tax” is on California’s November ballot. The proposed one-time 5% tax on Californians worth over $1 billion aims to fund Medi-Cal programs.

Guerra says any proposed sales tax measures will face scrutiny in November.

"I think they're gonna have a little bit tougher time, and the strategy has to be much better developed,” he said.

The campaigns for and against Measure ER told LAist Friday it’s still too early to know which side won.

L.A. County election officials said they plan to release new vote count results every day until June 12, followed by regular updates until June 26.

They are required to complete and certify the county’s final official results by July 2.

Los Angeles is known for its bustling city landscape and even the beaches, but don’t miss out on what our coast has to offer. Here are a few ways to enjoy what’s beyond the sand.

Whale watching

Set sail to see whales, dolphins and more on a whale watching cruise. Harbor Breeze Cruises is just off the coast of Long Beach and the Los Angeles Harbor. Tours run throughout the day and start at $30 or $45 per person. Another option, Newport Whales, is further south in Orange County. Prices for those tours range from $38 to $84.50 per person. Good news, whale watching season never ends, so there’s always something to see.

People wanting to get out on the ocean can give sportsfishing a try

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Sports fishing 

For a little more action, give sports fishing a try. Marina del Rey Sportsfishing offers 4.5-hour and 7-hour fishing trips every day. You can rent a tackle kit, which includes a rod and reel. Valid fishing licenses are required for people ages 15 and up. You can get one at most local sports stores.

Learning to surf at one of L.A.'s beaches is a great way to enjoy the ocean.

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Surfing lessons

If you’ve been meaning to take up a new hobby or sport, why not give surfing a chance? L.A. has no shortage of surf spots, meaning it also has no shortage of surf schools. Down at Santa Monica Surf Tours, $185 per adult or $165 per child gets you a 5.5-hour lesson that includes gear and lunch. Malibu Makos has “Surf Saturdays” where for $99 a person, you can get a 4-hour surf instruction with gear included.

As you drive up the high peaks of Catalina Island’s rural communities, endless views of the Pacific Ocean can be seen.

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Catalina Island 

From snorkeling to submarine tours, Catalina Island has excursions for everyone to enjoy. One-way tickets from Long Beach or San Pedro to Avalon cost about $45. Once you land, there’s no shortage of daytime adventures, including kayaking and fly fishing. You can find more information on activities here.

The Point Vicente Lighthouse trail in Rancho Palos Verdes is a breezy 1.6 miles and a great stop for ocean views.

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Beach Hikes 

Beach hikes might not count as an ocean exploration, but they can give you some of the best views of the Pacific. Here are a few (of many) coastal hikes for every skill level:

• Point Mugu Scenic and Overlook Trails Loop in Malibu - 2.6 miles
• Solstice Canyon Trail in Malibu - 2.9 miles
• Los Leones Trail in the Pacific Palisades - 4.2 miles

This story was originally published by CalMatters.

Democrat Xavier Becerra will advance to the November general election in the race for California governor, capping a sudden and dramatic ascent for a career politician who is running on his experience and his willingness to take on President Donald Trump.

Becerra, the former state attorney general, has secured nearly 27% of the vote in the June 2 primary, with about two-thirds of votes counted as of Friday afternoon. If elected in November, he would be the first Latino to serve as California governor in more than a century.

It’s still unclear who his opponent will be: Returns so far show Republican Steve Hilton most likely to advance with more than 26% of votes counted, though the trailing Democrat Tom Steyer has not conceded and could make up ground in the nearly three million votes that remain to be counted.

California uses a top-two primary system; the two candidates with the most votes advance to the November ballot regardless of party.

The November race could differ dramatically depending on the opponent. If it’s Hilton, Becerra would be heavily favored to win: Democrats in California outnumber Republicans nearly two-to-one, and Hilton is endorsed by Trump, whom Californians disapprove of in high numbers.

If it’s Steyer, California can expect an all-out slugfest between opposing wings of the Democratic Party, supercharged by the hundreds of millions of dollars Steyer has spent from his personal fortune on the primary alone.

While the hedge fund manager-turned-Democratic donor and climate activist has run a progressive campaign and garnered the support of Bernie Sanders surrogates, Becerra is favored by more of the Democratic establishment.

Becerra, who had lingered in the single-digits in polling, surged in popularity following the political implosion of former frontrunner Eric Swalwell, with establishment Democrats favoring the former Health and Human Services secretary and former state attorney general over former Rep. Katie Porter and the outsider Steyer.

It was a surprising and swift ascent for the mild-mannered career politician who was previously part of a crop of lower-polling Democratic candidates that party chair Rusty Hicks was publicly pressuring to drop out of the race.

“Guess what? The underdog stayed in the fight,” Becerra said at an election night rally Tuesday in Los Angeles, calling his near-victory “the everyday miracle of living in a state that regularly makes the improbable seem inevitable.”

The decision comes at a particularly consequential time for California. Residents face a crushing cost of living, nation-topping gas prices made worse by the war in Iran, wildfire risks that have driven insurance companies out of state, an unstable state budget, impending federal cuts to the state’s expansive health system and an economy dampened by immigration enforcement.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Nearly three months ago, the Los Angeles City Council voted to fund homelessness prevention programs to the tune of $177 million. Despite approval by Mayor Karen Bass, the funding still has not been cleared by City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto.

Now, city leaders want answers about the delay.

A motion introduced earlier this week by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said the “contracts remain unexecuted without explanation.” The motion goes on to say the setback has caused “$17 million ... in emergency rental assistance to sit unused” and has put “services for those at risk of homelessness in jeopardy.”

If passed by the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee and later approved by the full council, Jurado’s motion would call on Feldstein Soto to report back to the council within 30 days about the reasons for the delay.

Representatives with the City Attorney’s Office did not respond to LAist’s repeated requests for comment.

Tenant aid providers said they’ve entered their third month without funding from the city. They said without an executed contract, legal aid organizations may soon have to lay off staff and stop taking eviction cases.

“The people who are providing the services are all in nonprofit organizations that don't have a great deal of extra funding to cover this contract that isn't being paid,” said Barbara Schultz, housing director at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

How we got here

Feldstein Soto has held up the tenant aid funding since April 2025, when she refused to sign a previously approved five-year funding deal with the Legal Aid Foundation. At the time, she argued the contract should have gone through a competitive bidding process.

City officials responded by putting out a request for proposals. They ultimately selected the Legal Aid Foundation, along with several other tenant rights groups, to receive funding set aside for rent relief, tenant education, enforcement of the city’s tenant anti-harassment ordinance and programs that provide free attorneys to tenants facing eviction.

Much of the funding for these homelessness prevention programs comes from the city’s Measure ULA, also known as the L.A. “Mansion Tax.” That tax is now facing potential elimination from a statewide November ballot measure from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

The city attorney’s tenant rights track record 

Feldstein Soto has frequently clashed with tenant rights advocates.

She previously attempted to remove the word “right” from the city’s “Right To Counsel” ordinance, which supplies free eviction defense attorneys to qualified tenants.

Feldstein Soto also has faced criticism for not prosecuting more landlords accused of rent gouging in the wake of the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires.

She also was accused of failing to defend the rights of tenants at the high-rise apartment complex Barrington Plaza, who went to court to successfully fight wrongful evictions from landlord company Douglas Emmett, which donated to a campaign opposing Feldstein Soto’s opponent in the 2022 election.

Feldstein Soto launched an audit of the Legal Aid Foundation last year. So far, no findings have been released.

Schultz said the organization has provided all the financial and administrative documentation requested by the L.A. Housing Department related to the contracts.

Why it matters for renters

The Legal Aid Foundation is the lead contractor for the city’s eviction defense funding, but the money is shared with other legal aid organizations as well.

Elena Popp, who leads the Eviction Defense Network, said her small team of lawyers can’t continue to take on tenant cases until funding is approved.

“We're contemplating layoffs effective June 15 unless we can raise the part of the money that is our budget from the city,” Popp said. “If we lay people off, then tenants won't be served.”

Anna Urena, a paralegal with the Eviction Defense Network, says her organization would normally do intake for about 300 tenants per month.

“We're not taking on new cases. We're not representing new people right now because we don't know what's going to happen,” she said. “We really cannot leave our tenants behind.”

What’s next?

Jurado’s motion has not yet been scheduled for a vote in the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee.

Based on her third-place showing so far in the June primary election results, it appears Feldstein Soto will not be L.A.’s city attorney much longer. Popp said Feldstein Soto’s lame duck status doesn’t bode well for the contract getting signed soon.

“She now has no incentive to sign, and pressure on her will not get her to sign,” Popp said. “If that happens and the City Council doesn't take charge of this, maybe hire outside counsel to get the approval, then we won't see any money until the new city attorney comes in.”