The Brief

State conflict of interest laws ban public officials from any involvement in contracts in which they have a financial interest, including agreements that financially benefit their spouse or groups that pay their spouse.

Los Angeles’ top homeless services executive told LAist in December that she stuck to those rules, saying she had been walled off and “completely recused” from business relating to her husband’s employer.

Through a public records request, LAist later discovered records that contradict her assertion.

The documents show that Va Lecia Adams Kellum, chief executive of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), signed a $2.1 million contract and two other contract amendments with Upward Bound House, the Santa Monica-based nonprofit where her husband Edward Kellum works in senior leadership. The contract names Adams Kellum as the LAHSA official authorized to administer it.

A LAHSA spokesperson told LAist the contracts had inadvertently ended up in front of Adams Kellum to sign.

LAist’s findings come amid mounting questions about oversight at LAHSA, the public agency tasked by the city and county with administering more than $700 million in annual contracts with nonprofits to provide homeless services. It is a creation of the city and county and jointly funded and overseen by both.

Upward Bound House is a longtime vendor of LAHSA that focuses on housing and services for unhoused families, as well as young adults. It began receiving public money from LAHSA years prior to Adams Kellum joining the agency in March 2023.

When employees sign LAHSA’s code of ethics they agree to avoid any activities that could be, or appear to be, conflicts of interest, according to a copy posted on LAHSA’s website. One of the examples given is immediate family relationships with the agency’s vendors.

The $2.1 million contract signed by Adams Kellum authorized federal taxpayer funds for Upward Bound House to pay rent for unhoused people in the region and help them find homes. The money also covered case management and administration costs at the nonprofit.

The records show Adams Kellum signed the three documents directly above the names of her husband’s employer and his boss.

The signature sections of two contract amendments (dated the same day) and a $2.1 million contract Va Lecia Adams Kellum signed between the government agency she leads and her husband’s employer. LAist obtained the documents through a public records request.

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LAist

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LAist found that Adams Kellum’s interactions with Upward Bound House extended beyond signing contracts.

She also spoke with her husband's employer last year regarding complaints made during public comments alleging failures in Upward Bound House’s performance, according to the nonprofit’s chief executive.

Government ethics experts say conflict of interest laws forbid a wide range of involvement, including signing contracts.

“The laws are pretty specific that you can't have any participation whatsoever,” said Sean McMorris, who manages the ethics program for California Common Cause. “You should not be putting your signature on any such contract. You have to completely recuse yourself from the matter.”

McMorris said in the eyes of the law, a conflict of interest violation can take place even if the breach was unintentional. He told LAist that Adams Kellum’s signatures appear to violate California’s Political Reform Act and the state’s Government Code Section 1090.

Following ethics expectations, he added, is "extremely important because it speaks to the integrity and character of our representatives."

Adams Kellum said her conflict was disclosed

Adams Kellum previously told LAist she had steered clear of anything to do with her husband’s employer.

“This issue was disclosed when I was hired,” Adams Kellum wrote in a Dec. 9 email, prior to LAist requesting public records that showed she had signed LAHSA contracts with her husband’s employer.

“LAHSA's [legal] counsel has put procedures in place that have been followed and these procedures ‘walled me off’ from any involvement in matters concerning Upward Bound House,” she added. “I am completely recused from matters that involve or impact Upward Bound House.”

Adams Kellum has not responded to follow-up questions and interview requests from LAist about the contracts she signed, including questions about whether conflict of interest laws may have been violated.

Edward Kellum, her husband, did not respond to LAist’s requests for comment. He is featured as one of six people on the “senior staff” section of Upward Bound House’s website, where his title is director of operations and compliance.

Also listed is the organization’s president and CEO, Christine Mirasy-Glasco. She acknowledged to LAist that Adams Kellum, in her role as LAHSA’s top executive, spoke with her once regarding complaints from public commenters alleging Upward Bound House failed to provide required services and falsified documents.

In an email, Mirasy-Glasco wrote that Adams Kellum “shared that LAHSA would follow up with UBH,” and said a subordinate of Adams Kellum was assigned to work with the vendor to get the complainants into permanent housing. Mirasy-Glasco provided LAist with written responses to several of the complaints.

Paul Rubenstein, a spokesperson for LAHSA, also said follow-up on the complaints was handled by a subordinate of Adams Kellum.

Spokesperson says signatures were an ‘oversight’

As for the three agreements with her husband’s employer, Rubenstein said Adams Kellum “mistakenly signed” them after staffers inadvertently sent them to her. When the CEO has a conflict of interest, LAHSA’s standard practice is for contracts to instead be signed by the agency’s top programs officer, Rubenstein wrote.

“Dr. Adams Kellum has not been involved in any discussions regarding Upward Bound House contracts,” Rubenstein wrote in an email to LAist. He added that Adams Kellum “has never been involved in overseeing any programs or agreements with UBH."

“LAHSA is taking steps to further ensure this does not happen again, including requiring additional staff training,” he added, noting that all contracts go through multiple reviews and require “three staff signatures before being sent to the CEO or her designee.”

Rubenstein did not respond to an email asking how Adams Kellum’s signatures could be a mistake, given their close proximity to Upward Bound House’s name.

He also did not answer why, if Adams Kellum was completely recused, she was named in the $2.1 million contract with Upward Bound House as LAHSA's representative "authorized to administer" the agreements.

What the oversight commission knew

The 10-member LAHSA Commission is responsible for overseeing the agency and its CEO. Half of the commission is appointed by county supervisors, and half are appointed by L.A.’s mayor with confirmation by the City Council.

“The LAHSA Commission was fully informed and consulted with legal counsel about potential conflicts prior to Dr. Adams Kellum being offered the position,” Rubenstein said.

But LAist found that members of the LAHSA Commission had varying degrees of awareness of Adams Kellum’s conflict — and gave different instructions over time at the recommendation of staff.

In August 2023, LAHSA’s governing commission specifically excluded Adams Kellum from signing the $2.1 million contract when it came up for a vote, according to the meeting’s minutes. Instead, the commission authorized its chair to enter into the agreement. The meeting record shows Adams Kellum recused herself and stepped out of the room during the vote.

Despite the prohibition, she signed that contract months later.

In other instances later on, the LAHSA Commission apparently changed course. Despite Adams Kellum’s conflict of interest disclosure forms, commissioners voted to follow staff’s recommendation to authorize her to enter into contracts with Upward Bound House.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass was among the commissioners who voted unanimously last year to allow Adams Kellum to sign other contracts with the service provider, according to meeting minutes and agendas. (Bass was not yet on the commission for the August 2023 vote.)

Asked for comment about the conflict of interest, Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Bass, said work is underway to “make LAHSA more transparent and accountable,” including “initiating additional protocols to prevent future issues.”

Va Lecia Adams Kellum, CEO of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), with current chair of the agency’s governing commission Wendy Greuel (left) and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass (right).

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Office of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass

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Two other commission members who joined the LAHSA Commission after Adams Kellum was hired — L.A. County Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath — were not formally notified of the conflict prior to voting to allow her to enter agreements with Upward Bound House, according to their spokespeople.

Barger didn’t find out about the family tie until after she left the LAHSA Commission in October 2024, according to her spokesperson. Horvath was not officially notified about the conflict, though it was known among many who work in homeless services, according to Horvath’s spokesperson.

LAist reviewed those later contracts, and found Adams Kellum did not ultimately sign them. Instead, subordinates signed with Adams Kellum’s name printed below most of the signature lines.

What’s next

Questions about transparency and how LAHSA is handling hundreds of millions in public dollars have been a growing concern for local lawmakers.

Adams Kellum faced controversy recently over her hiring of Lilly Simmering for a top-level LAHSA leadership position that oversees all homelessness programs. Simmering oversaw an Orange County government department that paid out millions of dollars to an out-of-compliance nonprofit now embroiled in a fraud scandal involving former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do. Simmering left after less than two weeks on the job, following questions about her history in Orange County.

LAHSA officials have removed the agency’s list of leaders and organization chart from its website. For at least two weeks, those pages have been replaced with a graphic labeled “under construction.”

The webpage that once showed the LAHSA organization chart has been replaced with a graphic labeled "Under Construction." The graphic remained on the page at the time of publication.

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LAHSA website

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In response to a request from LAist, Rubenstein provided a copy of the organization’s organization chart, dated Feb. 1. He said the website will be updated soon with the new info. The site was not updated as of Tuesday.

In November, Horvath called for the county to pull its funding from LAHSA after an audit found failures in the agency’s oversight of service providers. The county provides about half of LAHSA’s $875 million annual budget. The Board of Supervisors approved Horvath’s call for county staff to create a plan to have the county manage the spending directly.

Before she left the LAHSA Commission at the end of last month, Horvath planned to schedule a discussion on conflict of interest procedures at an upcoming commission meeting, her spokesperson told LAist.

L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who chairs the council’s housing and homelessness committee, said in an email to LAist: “At a time when there is a great deal of distrust in government and in the homeless services system, I think it is particularly important to ensure that we avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

In response to LAist’s reporting, Raman said she contacted Wendy Greuel — L.A.’s former controller and current chair of the LAHSA Commission — who assured Raman that conflict of interest policies would be rigorously enforced to prevent future lapses.

Greuel did not address concerns about the conflict when asked for comment by LAist.

L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, a frequent critic of LAHSA’s oversight practices, called Adams Kellum’s signing of contracts with Upward Bound House “really problematic” and “absolutely unacceptable.”

Adams Kellum was hired at a base salary of $430,000 a year — nearly double the pay of elected City Council members and about 42% more than the mayor of L.A.

With such a high salary and responsibility over taxpayer dollars, Rodriguez said, LAHSA’s CEO should be adhering to high ethical standards.

“There need to be greater guardrails,” Rodriguez said.

How to watchdog local government

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.

Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.

• Read tips on how to get involved.
• The next scheduled LAHSA Commission meeting is Friday, Feb. 28, at 9 a.m. You can check out the commission’s full calendar here. 
• You can find the address to attend in person or attend the meeting virtually here. 
• You can speak to the LAHSA Commission during any agenda item, or at the end of the meeting during general public comments, by submitting a “Request to Speak Form” to the commission’s secretary before the agenda item starts. 
• You can see the list of all  LAHSA commissioners here (note one of the seats is currently vacant). LAHSA’s website for the commission does not include a way to contact the commissioners.

LAist reporter Aaron Schrank contributed to this story.

The federal government has drastically scaled back the number of recommended childhood immunizations, sidelining six routine vaccines that have safeguarded millions from serious diseases, long-term disability and death.

Just three of the six immunizations the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it will no longer routinely recommend — against hepatitis A, hepatitis B and rotavirus — have prevented nearly 2 million hospitalizations and more than 90,000 deaths in the past 30 years, according to the CDC's own publications.

Vaccines against the three diseases, as well as those against respiratory syncytial virus, meningococcal disease, flu, and COVID, are now recommended only for children at high risk of serious illness or after "shared clinical decision-making," or consultation between doctors and parents.

The CDC maintained its recommendations for 11 childhood vaccines: measles, mumps, and rubella; whooping cough, tetanus, and diphtheria; the bacterial disease known as Hib; pneumonia; polio; chickenpox; and human papillomavirus, or HPV.

Federal and private insurance will still cover vaccines for the diseases the CDC no longer recommends universally, according to a Department of Health and Human Services fact sheet; parents who want to vaccinate their children against those diseases will not have to pay out-of-pocket.

Experts on childhood disease were baffled by the change in guidance. HHS said the changes followed "a scientific review of the underlying science" and were in line with vaccination programs in other developed nations.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist, pointed to Denmark as a model. But the schedules of most European countries are closer to the U.S. standard upended by the new guidance.

For example, Denmark, which does not vaccinate against rotavirus, registers around 1,200 infant and toddler rotavirus hospitalizations a year. That rate, in a country of 6 million, is about the same as it was in the United States before vaccination.

"They're OK with having 1,200 or 1,300 hospitalized kids, which is the tip of the iceberg in terms of childhood suffering," said Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a co-inventor of a licensed rotavirus vaccine. "We weren't. They should be trying to emulate us, not the other way around."

Public health officials say the new guidance puts the onus on parents to research and understand each childhood vaccine and why it is important.

Here's a rundown of the diseases the sidelined vaccines prevent:

RSV. Respiratory syncytial virus is the most common cause of hospitalization for infants in the U.S.

The respiratory virus usually spreads in fall and winter and produces cold-like symptoms, though it can be deadly for young children, causing tens of thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths a year. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, roughly 80% of children younger than 2 who are hospitalized with RSV have no identifiable risk factors. Long-awaited vaccines against the disease were introduced in 2023.

Hepatitis A. Hepatitis A vaccination, which was phased in beginning in the late 1990s and recommended for all toddlers starting in 2006, has led to a more than 90% drop in the disease since 1996. The foodborne virus, which causes a wretched illness, continues to plague adults, particularly people who are homeless or who abuse drugs or alcohol, with a total of 1,648 cases and 85 deaths reported in 2023.

Hepatitis B. The disease causes liver cancer, cirrhosis, and other serious illnesses and is particularly dangerous when contracted by babies and young children. The hepatitis B virus is transmitted through blood and other bodily fluids, even in microscopic amounts, and can survive on surfaces for a week. From 1990 to 2019, vaccination resulted in a 99% decline in reported cases of acute hepatitis B among children and teens. Liver cancer among American children has also plummeted as a result of universal childhood vaccination. But the hepatitis B virus is still around, with 2,000-3,000 acute cases reported annually among unvaccinated adults. More than 17,000 chronic hepatitis B diagnoses were reported in 2023. The CDC estimates about half of people infected don't know they have it.

Rotavirus. Before routine administration of the current rotavirus vaccines began in 2006, about 70,000 young children were hospitalized and 50 died every year from the virus. It was known as "winter vomiting syndrome," said Sean O'Leary, a pediatrician at the University of Colorado. "It was a miserable disease that we hardly see anymore."

The virus is still common on surfaces that babies touch, however, and "if you lower immunization rates it will once again hospitalize children," Offit said.

Meningococcal vaccines. These have been required mainly for teenagers and college students, who are notably vulnerable to critical illness caused by the bacteria. About 600 to 1,000 cases of meningococcal disease are reported in the U.S. each year, but it kills more than 10% of those it sickens, and 1 in 5 survivors have permanent disabilities.

Flu and covid. The two respiratory viruses have each killed hundreds of children in recent years — though both tend to be much more severe in older adults. Flu is currently on the upswing in the United States, and last flu season the virus killed 289 children.

What is shared clinical decision-making?

Under the changes, decisions about vaccinating children against influenza, covid, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, and hepatitis A and B will now rely on what officials call "shared clinical decision-making," meaning families will have to consult with a health care provider to determine whether a vaccine is appropriate.

"It means a provider should have a conversation with the patient to lay out the risks and the benefits and make a decision for that individual person," said Lori Handy, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

In the past, the CDC used that term only in reference to narrow circumstances, like whether a person in a monogamous relationship needed the HPV vaccine, which prevents a sexually transmitted infection and certain cancers.

The CDC's new approach doesn't line up with the science because of the proven protective benefit the vaccines have for the vast majority of the population, Handy said.

In their report justifying the changes, HHS officials Tracy Beth Høeg and Martin Kulldorff said the U.S. vaccination system requires more safety research and more parental choice. Eroding trust in public health caused in part by an overly large vaccine schedule had led more parents to shun vaccination against major threats like measles, they said.

The vaccines on the schedule that the CDC has altered were backed up by extensive safety research when they were evaluated and approved by the FDA.

"They're held to a safety standard higher than any other medical intervention that we have," Handy said. "The value of routine recommendations is that it really helps the public understand that this has been vetted upside down and backwards in every which way."

Eric Ball, a pediatrician in Orange County, Calif., said the change in guidance will cause more confusion among parents who think it means a vaccine's safety is in question.

"It is critical for public health that recommendations for vaccines are very clear and concise," Ball said. "Anything to muddy the water is just going to lead to more children getting sick."

Ball said that instead of focusing on a child's individual health needs, he often has to spend limited clinic time reassuring parents that vaccines are safe. A "shared clinical decision-making" status for a vaccine has no relationship to safety concerns, but parents may think it does.

HHS' changes do not affect state vaccination laws and therefore should allow prudent medical practitioners to carry on as before, said Richard Hughes IV, an attorney and a George Washington University lecturer who is leading litigation against Kennedy over vaccine changes.

"You could expect that any pediatrician is going to follow sound evidence and recommend that their patients be vaccinated," he said. The law protects providers who follow professional care guidelines, he said, and "RSV, meningococcal, and hepatitis remain serious health threats for children in this country."

This story comes from NPR's health reporting partnership with KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. KFF Health News is one of the core operating programs at KFF, the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

The National Park Service has updated its policy to discourage visitors from defacing a picture of President Donald Trump on this year's pass.

The use of an image of Trump on the 2026 pass — rather than the usual picture of nature — has sparked a backlash, sticker protests, and a lawsuit from a conservation group.

The $80 annual America the Beautiful pass gives visitors access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites. Since 2004, the pass has typically showcased sweeping landscapes or iconic wildlife, selected through a public photo contest. Past winners have featured places like Arches National Park in Utah and images of bison roaming the plains.

Instead, of a picture of nature, this year's design shows side-by-side portraits of Presidents George Washington and Trump. The new design has drawn criticism from parkgoers and ignited a wave of "do-it-yourself" resistance.

Photos circulating online show that many national park cardholders have covered the image of Trump's face with stickers of wildlife, landscapes, and yellow smiley faces, while some have completely blocked out the whole card. The backlash has also inspired a growing sticker campaign.

Jenny McCarty, a longtime park volunteer and graphic designer, began selling custom stickers meant to fit directly over Trump's face — with 100% of proceeds going to conservation nonprofits.

"We made our first donation of $16,000 in December," McCarty said. "The power of community is incredible."

McCarty says the sticker movement is less about politics and more about preserving the neutrality of public lands. "The Interior's new guidance only shows they continue to disregard how strongly people feel about keeping politics out of national parks," she said.

The National Park Service card policy was updated this week to say that passes may no longer be valid if they've been "defaced or altered." The change, which was revealed in an internal email to National Park Service staff obtained by SFGATE, comes just as the sticker movement has gained traction across social media.

In a statement to NPR, the Interior Department said there was no new policy. Interagency passes have always been void if altered, as stated on the card itself. The agency said the recent update was meant to clarify that rule and help staff deal with confusion from visitors.

The Park Service has long said passes can be voided if the signature strip is altered, but the updated guidance now explicitly includes stickers or markings on the front of the card.

It will be left to the discretion of park service officials to determine whether a pass has been "defaced" or not. The update means park officials now have the leeway to reject a pass if a sticker leaves behind residue, even if the image underneath is intact.

In December, conservation group the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., opposing the new pass design.

The group argues that the image violates a federal requirement that the annual America the Beautiful pass display a winning photograph from a national parks photo contest. The 2026 winning image was a picture of Glacier National Park.

"This is part of a larger pattern of Trump branding government materials with his name and image," Kierán Suckling, the executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told NPR. "But this kind of cartoonish authoritarianism won't fly in the United States."

The lawsuit asks a federal court to pull the current pass design and replace it with the original contest winner — the Glacier National Park image. It also seeks to block the government from featuring a president's face on future passes.

Not everyone sees a problem with the new design. Vince Vanata, the GOP chairman of Park County, Wyoming, told the Cowboy State Daily that Trump detractors should "suck it up" and accept the park passes, saying they are a fitting tribute to America's 250th birthday this July 4.

"The 250th anniversary of our country only comes once. This pass is showing the first president of the United States and the current president of the United States," Vanata said.

But for many longtime visitors, the backlash goes beyond design.

Erin Quinn Gery, who buys an annual pass each year, compared the image to "a mug shot slapped onto natural beauty."

She also likened the decision to self-glorification.

"It's akin to throwing yourself a parade or putting yourself on currency," she said. "Let someone else tell you you're great — or worth celebrating and commemorating."

When asked if she plans to remove her protest sticker, Gery replied: "I'll take the sticker off my pass after Trump takes his name off the Kennedy Center."

The 83rd annual Golden Globe Awards take place Sunday evening beginning at 5 p.m. at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and that means parking restrictions and street closures in the city.

Here are places to avoid, as well as some alternative routes:

North Santa Monica Boulevard:

• Westbound lane closures: Complete lane closures, from Wilshire Boulevard to Century Park East through 6 a.m. Monday.
  
• Eastbound lane closures: Complete lane closures, from Century Park East to Wilshire Boulevard from 2 p.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Monday. 

The city suggests using South Santa Monica Boulevard, which will remain open in both directions. There also are alternative east-west routes such as Olympic, Sunset and Pico boulevards.

Wilshire Boulevard:

• Eastbound/Westbound lane reduction: Lane reductions are in effect and will last through 9 p.m. Wednesday.
  
• Eastbound/Westbound full closure: All of Wilshire Boulevard between Comstock Avenue and North Santa Monica Boulevard will be closed from 10 p.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Monday.
  
• Eastbound lanes of Wilshire Boulevard: An eastbound closure from Comstock to North Santa Monica Boulevard will occur between 10 p.m. Monday through 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Other streets:

Several other streets like Whittier Drive, Carmelita Avenue, Elevado Avenue and Lomitas Avenue, as well as Trenton Drive and adjacent alleys will have limited closures with local access available only to residents. Closures begin at 10 p.m. Saturday and last through 6 a.m. Monday.

Parking notices:

Residential streets surrounding the venue will be completely restricted, no exceptions made, from 6 a.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday on the following streets:

• Whittier Drive — from Wilshire Boulevard to Elevado Avenue
• Carmelita Avenue — from Wilshire Boulevard to Walden Drive
• Elevado Avenue — from Wilshire Boulevard to Walden Drive
• Trenton Drive — from Whittier Drive to Wilshire Boulevard
• Walden Drive — from Santa Monica Boulevard to Elevado Avenue
• Lomitas Avenue — from Wilshire Boulevard to Walden Drive

Residents without permit parking can obtain parking exemptions by contacting the city of Beverly Hills’ parking exemption line at (310) 285-2548 or online at beverlyhills.org/parkingexemptions.

Demonstrations against this week’s deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis are planned this weekend across Los Angeles. The protests are being organized by the “ICE Out For Good Coalition” — a network of several groups including the ACLU and 50501.

Here are a some of the planned actions across the city:

Saturday

• Pasadena: Noon to 2 p.m. at Garfield and Colorado Boulevard, across from the Paseo Mall
• Eagle Rock: 1 to 2 p.m. at Colorado and Eagle Rock boulevards
• City of Los Angeles: 2 to 4:30 p.m. in Pershing Square

Sunday

• West Hollywood: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 647 N. San Vicente Blvd., across from the Pacific Design Center.
• City of Los Angeles: Noon to 2 p.m. at The Home Depot on 2055 N. Figueroa St.
• Beverly Hills: 2 and 4 p.m. at 9439 Santa Monica Blvd., between Beverly and Canon drives