The Brief

Despite concerns about growing costs at the cash register, a majority of voters in Los Angeles County have opted to increase a sales tax that funds homelessness response efforts.

The Yes on Measure A claimed victory Wednesday afternoon with with nearly 56% of the vote. The initiative will turn a current quarter-cent sales tax in L.A. County into a half-cent tax, raising an estimated $1.1 billion per year for homeless services and affordable housing development.

Elise Buik, president of the United Way of Greater L.A., said in a written statement: “L.A. County voters have clearly said they want to go forward, not backwards, and the way to do that is to increase investment in homelessness prevention and housing affordability."

L.A. voters have continuously ranked homelessness as a top concern in recent elections. Advocates for the unhoused have seen boosted funding under Measure A as crucial for helping county elected leaders and city officials like L.A. Mayor Karen Bass in their efforts to reduce homelessness.

The measure needed a simple majority (50% + 1) to pass.

A critical vote for homeless service system

For local homeless services providers, Measure A's passage will keep funds flowing to get unhoused Angelenos into shelters and connect them with help finding permanent housing. Proponents also said the measure will put more money toward preventing homelessness through rent relief programs and eviction defense aid, as well as subsidizing new low-income housing developments.

In the lead up to election day, county officials said the existing quarter-cent sales tax helped place more than 42,000 people into permanent housing, and more than 80,000 into interim housing. But that tax had a built-in sunset date of 2027.

If L.A. voters had rejected Measure A, homeless service providers said, an estimated 57,000 people would have lost housing subsidies and services.

Opponents pledge to track increased spending 

Opponents of Measure A argued the county couldn’t be trusted to effectively spend more homelessness funds after L.A.’s unhoused population rose 37% since voters first established the quarter-cent sales tax with Measure H in 2017.

Paul Webster, executive director of the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, endorsed a no vote on Measure A due to what he sees as a lack of accountability on local spending. But he said he wasn’t surprised to see L.A. voters favoring increased funding.

“I totally understand how this could pass, because of the desperation on the streets of residents and businesses and even people experiencing homelessness,” Webster said. “Everybody wants to see the same solutions, but we know that there are just real challenges to how these solutions get brought out, and how effective some of these programs are.”

The L.A. Alliance won a legal settlement with the city and county of L.A. to provide more shelter and treatment beds for unhoused people. The case has also led to an ongoing audit of local government spending on homelessness. With Measure A's passage, Webster said, his organization will continue its focus on holding L.A.’s homeless services system accountable for results from the boost in funding.

For the last three years, the record store and music venue Healing Force of the Universe has been operating on a sleepy street corner not far from Pasadena City College. Nearby businesses include a shoe repair store, a nail salon and several auto shops.

“We're kind of in a dead corner,” owner Austin Manuel said. “No offense if anybody lives here, but not a very foot-trafficked area, kind of a hard place to have a store.”

In spite of the location, Manuel said Healing Force has become a home away from home for musicians and music fans. One of them is Bobby Bradford, a jazz trumpet legend who lost his house and personal archive in the Eaton Fire. He performs regularly at the venue. (Healing Force has also partnered with LAist on fire recovery events.)

Its current location is set to close this month, but Manuel and his team are already raising funds to cover a move to another space: G-Son Studios in Atwater Village. The repurposed ballroom was the Beastie Boys' home base when they recorded their classic albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Run-DMC and Biz Markie stopped by at one point, and Beck also laid down tracks for his album Odelay there.

Inside Healing Force's space in Pasadena.

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The vibe

Healing Force sells records, of course, but these days it’s more of a nighttime performance space. Manuel said he wants people to feel comfortable striking up conversations after a show.

“I grew up in the church in the South, and I was like, ‘How do I design this so that it feels like a Southern church lady could come in here and feel welcome?’" Manuel said. “ I didn't want it to be too cool.  I wanted it to feel kind of suburban in a way.”

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Though the name might call to mind a cult slogan — and Manuel said they lean into that aesthetic on purpose — it’s actually a reference to the 1970 album Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe by saxophonist Albert Ayler.

At the venue, “people can kind of get … into a meditative zone,” Manuel said. “After the [January 2025] fires, it felt so good to come back together in this room and feel the healing of community.”

Healing Force's stage setup.

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The performances

The shows Healing Force puts on share a common thread: They’re meant to promote peace and relaxation, as well as deep, careful listening on the hi-fi sound system. But they’re an eclectic mix of genres. On one night, you might see L.A. spiritual jazz band Phi-Psonics, who turned a residency at the venue into a live album, Expanding to One.

On another night, you might catch a spaced-out electronic set, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter or a group of session musicians who’ve played with the likes of Paul Simon, Elton John and Lucinda Williams.

About the fundraiser

With the new space on Glendale Boulevard, Manuel said, Healing Force would triple its capacity for concerts, get a bar space and be closer to other venues in Northeast L.A.

“If 1,000 people gave $25, we would get there,” Manuel said – though he also said most people have been giving more.

You can read more about the fundraiser and donate at Healing Force’s GoFundMe.

See the Pasadena space before it closes

The venue is still open at 1200 E. Walnut Street and is holding events through this Halloween weekend. You can see their events calendar on their website.

The racist DNA of Jim Crow discrimination may be embedded in your housing documents.

The language in housing documents that restricts sale or use of a property only to a person of the white race is called a “restrictive covenant,” and in California the practice goes back to the 19th century and continued into the mid-20th century. While housing discrimination persists, the practice was found unconstitutional in 1948.

California counties are reporting mixed progress in meeting the demands of a 2021 law to excise the language from property records.

According to Sylvia Manzo, deputy recorder in the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s office, the county finished the job in March of this year, removing racist language from more than 27,000 property documents with the help of computer software.

This 1924 property document from Bakersfield includes racist language limiting use of the property in question to people of "the white or Caucasian race."

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L.A. County is far from done. It says that with the help of an outside company hired in 2024, 50 million pages will be examined yearly, which would take about 10 years to finish the job.

Public agencies could use the public’s help.

Language examples

Here’s a 1924 example from a property in Bakersfield. The text reads, “That the lands herein conveyed shall never, at any time, be sold to or rented to or occupied by any person not of the white or Caucasian race.”

Or this language from a 1936 document relating to a Costa Mesa property: “That said premises shall not be sold, conveyed, rented, or leased to, or occupied by any person of African, Mexican, or Asiatic descent.”

How to get it taken out

The Restrictive Covenant Modification Form is at the heart of the effort to remove the racist language from housing documents. Each county has its own process. Some charge a fee; others don’t. Some require a notary certification for the signature; others don’t.

L.A. County:

Registrar-Recorder officials recommend these steps:

• Highlight or underline the unlawful provision on the recorded document
• Complete the Restrictive Covenant Modification Form
• Submit the form and the recorded document by email: RCM@rrcc.lacounty.gov or in person at the Norwalk headquarters at 12400 Imperial Highway in Norwalk
• Mail instructions are here.

Orange County:

The Orange County spokesperson says there may be some properties not caught by its software and urges the public to report them. Here’s the form

Riverside County:

Here’s the Riverside County form

San Bernardino County:

Here’s the San Bernardino County form

San Diego County:

Here’s the San Diego County form

Santa Barbara County:

Here’s the Santa Barbara County form

Ignoring the racist language in property documents, some say, reinforces the legacy of segregation, while taking steps to remove restrictive covenant language is a way individuals and organizations can repudiate policies that sought to discriminate.