The Brief

Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday in favor of creating a plan to provide free attorneys to low income renters facing eviction.

The policy — which still needs a final vote before it is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025 — would be the first of its kind in Southern California.

It comes at a time when lapsed pandemic renter protections have caused a spike in eviction filings leading to thousands losing housing.

“Housing is a fundamental human right,” said Sup. Holly Mitchell, who first introduced the idea for a “Right To Counsel” program last year. “I believe that our county’s Right To Counsel ordinance is an important part of fulfilling that vision. And we’ll have an L.A. County where, regardless of income, every Angeleno will have access to affordable, accessible legal services.”

Who would be eligible for a lawyer? 

The program will only serve renters in unincorporated parts of L.A. County. That includes areas such as East Los Angeles, City Terrace and South L.A. neighborhoods like Florence-Graham.

Why just the unincorporated areas?

Supervisors have limited influence over the 88 incorporated cities within L.A. County. But if you live in an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County, such as Altadena, Castaic, East L.A., Ladera Heights, Rowland Heights, South San Gabriel or Willowbrook, the Board of Supervisors is basically your city council.

• You can find a list of all 125 unincorporated communities here.

The plan also sets income limits on who can receive an attorney. Tenants will need to have a household income of 80% or less of the area’s median income. Under current guidelines, that comes out to $77,700 for an individual or $110,950 for a family of four.

County officials estimate it will cost $24.5 million to launch the program. Initially, the legal aid will be funded using federal pandemic relief money. But when that dries up, the county will need to find a new funding stream.

Pablo Estupiñan, director of the Right To Counsel campaign with Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, said future funding could come from a November ballot measure to raise sales tax for homelessness and housing programs. If L.A. County voters approve the measure, he said, some of the revenue could be set aside for the county’s Right To Counsel program.

“Studies that have been done have shown that Right To Counsel saves money, because there's less of a burden on the county to pay for homeless services,” Estupiñan said, pointing to results showing cost savings from a similar program in Cleveland.

What landlords think of the plan

Landlord groups have opposed plans to pay for tenant-side lawyers, saying that money would be better spent providing rental subsidies to struggling renters.

“When permanent funding is identified, we urge the county to use the funds to pay the rent for low-income renters to completely avoid eviction, rather than attorneys’ fees to merely delay eviction,” said Janet Gagnon with the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles.

Data from inside L.A. courtrooms show that the vast majority of landlords have attorneys, but the vast majority of tenants do not. Unlike in criminal court, defendants don’t have the right to an attorney in civil eviction proceedings if they can’t afford one on their own.

A 2019 report by the consulting firm Stout found that 97% of L.A. County renters lacked an attorney in unsealed eviction proceedings, while 88% of landlords had legal representation. The report was commissioned by the L.A. Right To Counsel Coalition.

Why tenants say the playing field is uneven

Tenants who’ve represented themselves in court describe feeling like they’re fighting on an uneven playing field.

At a rally ahead of Tuesday’s vote, a tenant who goes by Nela said she was evicted from her apartment in Highland Park over a dispute with her landlord over how much rent she owed. She said she is now unhoused and does not want to use her full name because it could jeopardize her search for new housing.

Nela alleges that her landlord illegally raised her rent multiple times despite the city’s ban on increases in rent-controlled apartments during the pandemic. She said she tried to find a pro bono attorney, but none were available. She felt confident in her case, but said the judge kept telling her to get a lawyer.

“The court rules are very esoteric, and they're hidden on purpose,” Nela said. “You can be very smart. You can be highly intellectual. When you walk into that courthouse, you're not an equal to someone who's that familiar with the court rules.”

L.A. would follow in other cities’ footsteps

Right to counsel programs already exist in cities such as San Francisco, Philadelphia and New York. Advocates point to results from New York showing that since the policy took effect, eviction filings have dropped and the vast majority of tenants connected with an attorney stay housed. However, the city has also struggled to connect tenants with attorneys because demand often exceeds the number of lawyers available.

L.A. County’s ordinance states qualified tenants would receive help “subject to the availability of funding.” If demand outstrips resources, the L.A. County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs would have the authority to prioritize legal aid based on criteria such as a tenant’s income level and whether they live in a neighborhood with higher risk of displacement.

Currently, tenants needing legal assistance with an eviction can reach out to Stay Housed L.A., a consortium of legal aid providers funded by the county and city of L.A. Due to limited resources, that program primarily serves tenants within certain priority zip codes.

The city of L.A. is also considering a right to counsel ordinance, potentially funded by the ULA tax on real estate selling for more than $5 million. That proposal has yet to be scheduled for a vote.

Resources for renters facing eviction

Tenants who need help or advice can contact local legal aid organizations through StayHousedLA.org. However, local eviction attorneys say they’re being inundated with requests. If you can’t find an attorney, there are other resources that may help.

• TenantPowerToolkit.org can help you quickly respond to a filing in eviction court, as described earlier in this guide.
• L.A. County runs Self-Help Legal Access Centers, where tenants representing themselves in eviction court can seek legal information from trained attorneys.
• The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles hosts regular eviction trial workshops. You can sign up through StayHousedLA.org/workshops or by calling 888-694-0040.
• The Eviction Defense Network also holds workshops regularly. You can join those workshops via Zoom or by calling 214-485-8112.

LAX officials are considering a proposal Tuesday to increase the fees rideshare companies are charged to access the airport.

Currently, rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft generally pass a $4 to $5 airport fee along to their customers. You might see this listed as a line item on your receipt as an “LAX Airport Surcharge.”

But the Los Angeles World Airports Board of Commissioners could vote to increase that fee by as much as $2 to $8 depending on where the rideshare picks you up or drops you off.

The idea behind the proposal is to encourage the use of the long-awaited, much-delayed and over-budget Automated People Mover once it opens and decrease congestion in the central terminal area, the area of the airport that’s also known as the horseshoe.

David Reich, a deputy executive director for the city agency that manages the airport, told LAist that if the proposal is approved, LAX doesn’t plan on increasing the fee until after the Automated People Mover opens, which could be later this year.

The proposed increases

When the Automated People Mover opens, there will be new curb space for drop-off and pick-up. Known as the “ground transport center,” this new curb space will be a 4-minute trip from the terminal area via the Automated People Mover, according to Reich.

LAX-it will shut down as a rideshare and taxi lot once the train opens, Reich said.

If the proposal is approved, getting an Uber or Lyft to and from the ground transport center will come with a $6 airport fee.

Even once the Automated People Mover opens, you will still be able to get rides directly to and from the curbs along the horseshoe, but they will come with a $12 fee.

The proposed increases would also apply to taxi and limousine services, which currently operate under a slightly different fee structure than rideshare companies.

The increased fees are expected to generate as much as $100 million in the first year the Automated People Mover is usable, according to a report to the board.

Why the different fees for the different locations?

In a report to the board, Reich said the Automated People Mover represents a "significant investment” that aims to “fundamentally reshape how vehicles move through the airport.”

The idea behind having a higher fee for direct access to the curbs along the horseshoe is to encourage “use of new, high-capacity infrastructure” and preserve central terminal access for trips “that most require it.”

Uber is trying to fight the increases

Uber is trying to mobilize the public to fight the proposed fee increases.

“Raising the LAX rideshare fee from $5 to $12 at the curb would punish travelers, working families, and seniors who depend on affordable, reliable transportation,” Danielle Lam, the head of local California policy for Uber, said in a statement.

On Monday, Uber sent an email to passengers who recently used the rideshare service, urging them to write to city officials to “stop this massive fee hike.”

Lyft has not responded to a request for comment.

Ten state lawmakers who are members of the L.A. County delegation sent a letter on Monday to the board expressing their “strong opposition” to the proposed increases.

“Many Angelenos rely on a mix of options, including rideshare services and friends or family dropping off loved ones,” the legislators wrote in the letter. “Managing congestion cannot realistically rely on steep fee increases for certain transportation options.”

Eight of the 10 legislators who signed the letter have received campaign contributions from Uber or Lyft, according to an LAist analysis of state campaign contribution data.

Other ways to access the airport

Now is probably a good time to remind folks that there are other ways to get to the airport that don’t involve rideshares, taxis or even lifts from families and friends.

The FlyAway bus offers regularly scheduled rides from the airport to Union Station in downtown L.A. and Van Nuys. You can see the schedules here. 

Last year, the countywide transportation agency unveiled the LAX/Metro Transit center, which is accessible from the C and K rail lines and several bus routes. For now, an LAX shuttle is bringing travelers from the station to the airport. It will be one of the stops on the Automated People Mover once it opens.

The Newport Beach City Council is considering demolishing part of its quirky, beloved sculpture garden in Civic Center Park to make way for a new police station.

The city has been trying to figure out how to replace its aging police headquarters for years. It bought a property in 2022 with that intent. But an ad hoc City Council committee decided, controversially, it might be better to instead build a new station on the parkland next to city hall.

What’s so great about the sculpture garden?

The sculpture garden is a “museum without walls” treasured by art and nature lovers alike. It houses the quirky and once-controversial “Bunnyhenge,” included on the popular Atlas Obscura travel guide. Opponents of putting a new police headquarters on park grounds say it would compromise the environment, and decimate the sculpture garden.

What do supporters of the new station idea say?

Supporters say the current police station, built in 1973, is long overdue for an upgrade, and that the police force needs more space for things like servers to store digital evidence. The council ad hoc committee that studied the issue says the Civic Center parkland makes the most sense for a new building because the city already owns the land, and it would consolidate the city’s main services in one place.

Is it a done deal?

Far from it. The City Council is holding a study session Tuesday to present the plan publicly and gather input. If the council decides to go forward, the next step would be to hire a consultant to design the building and get started on an environmental impact report.

Here’s how to learn more and weigh in:

A new exhibit in L.A. — Vehicles of Expression: The Craft of the Skateboard — arrives this weekend, highlighting the cultural impact, history and artistry of handmade skateboards.

It’s the latest exhibit at Craft in America Center, a museum and library that highlights handcrafted artwork.

Todd Huber, skateboard historian and founder of the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, said before 1962, it wasn’t possible to buy a skateboard in a store.

“Skateboarding started as a craft,” Huber said on AirTalk, LAst 89.3’s daily news program. “Somewhere in the 50s until 1962, if you wanted to sidewalk surf, as they called it, you had to make your own out of roller skates.”

What to expect

Emily Zaiden, the director and lead curator of the Craft in America Center based in Los Angeles, told LAist’s AirTalk the exhibit was tricky to curate.

“What we wanted to do was focus on both the history and then expand into how this has been an object that people have interpreted in so many different ways since the very beginning,” Zaiden said.

Artists who craft skateboards not only think of design, but also of the features that give riders the ability to do tricks, such as wheelies and kickflips.

“The ways that people have constructed boards, engineered boards, design boards … people are really renegade, which I think is really the spirit of skateboarding overall,” Zaiden said. “This very independent, out-of-the-box approach and making boards that allow them to do all kinds of wacky tricks and do all kinds of things that no one imagined possible physically with their body, but through the object of the board.”

Know before you go

The exhibit at Craft in America Center opens to the public on Saturday. Admission is free. The museum is open from noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.