The Brief

Less than two days after state lawmakers unveiled plans to put new limits on a controversial real estate tax in the city of Los Angeles, they now have withdrawn the bill.

The decision means efforts in Sacramento to reform L.A.’s voter-approved “mansion tax” will not advance by the end of the state legislative session Friday.

California senators Lena Gonzalez and Tina McKinnor released a joint news statement Thursday saying their bill “required additional clarifying amendments that were not possible due to end of session deadlines.”

They said the city’s tax “is an important tool to address Los Angeles’ housing and homelessness crisis.” But they vowed to re-introduce legislation in January to rein in parts of the policy critics say are causing development to plummet at a time when the city is falling far short of its housing production goals.

Mayor Karen Bass, who until now has avoided commenting on efforts to alter the tax, said she had asked lawmakers to delay passage of the bill, leaving time for more technical changes.

“My goal is to build more housing and make it more affordable while fixing unintended consequences of policies impacting families trying to rebuild after January’s fires. … I look forward to collaborating with local and state partners to continue this momentum,” Bass said in a statement to LAist.

Supporters of the city’s policy, which puts tax revenue toward tenant aid programs and affordable housing construction, said the bill’s proposals should be permanently dismissed.

“The voters have made themselves clear, and they should not lose their voice,” said tax supporters with the group United to House L.A. in a news release Thursday. “Tens of millions of dollars to fight displacement and homelessness must not be erased.”

What was in the now-stalled bill 

Often referred to as the city’s “mansion tax,” Measure ULA was enacted in April 2023 after nearly 58% of city voters approved it in November 2022.

Over nearly 2 1/2 years, the policy has collected $830 million by taxing the sale of real estate priced at $5 million or more. The tax rate tops out at 5.5%. It applies not just to palatial single-family homes but also to apartment buildings and other commercial properties.

Several recent economic studies have concluded the tax is decreasing development activity in the city relative to other parts of L.A. County, including the development of many affordable apartments.

A competing group of researchers has argued those conclusions are premature.

The bill introduced this week would have capped the tax rate at 1.5% for apartment buildings and other commercial properties built within the last 15 years. It also would have included carve-outs for single-family homes being rebuilt within five years of natural disasters such as January’s Palisades Fire.

Another part of the bill would have loosened financing restrictions that critics say make ULA-funded projects too risky to attract investment from banks and other lenders.

Advocates for increased housing development were frustrated with the bill’s failure to advance.

Dave Rand, a land-use attorney with Rand Paster & Nelson LLP., said the kinds of housing developers he works with will likely remain on the sidelines until the tax is reformed.

He said the policy “has been simply catastrophic for the production of new housing.”

“We're left with a lot of uncertainty about whether there's a fix in the future,” Rand said. “But it desperately needs to happen. Because until it does, we will not be achieving the level and degree of housing production that everybody in the city — regardless of their view about Measure ULA — believes is needed.”

Effort to kill every CA ‘mansion tax’ still looms

The state bill was introduced just as Measure ULA opponents had begun gathering signatures to put a measure on the November 2026 ballot asking voters to invalidate the city’s “mansion tax” and other, similar policies across California.

Gonzalez and McKinnor’s bill would have provisioned changes on the 2026 initiative being withdrawn, or failing to qualify for the ballot. The initiative’s backers, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, vowed to move ahead with their efforts regardless of legislative actions.

Susan Shelley, a spokesperson for the taxpayers association, said the group is still working to collect the 875,000 signatures they’ll need by late February 2026 to qualify for the ballot.

She said of the now-stalled state bill: “Tying Pacific Palisades tax relief to the failure of this initiative was depraved.”

I spent last Saturday night in a time machine to the '90s, reliving my high school days at the Hollywood Bowl, where I realized I knew nearly every note of the Gin Blossoms, Spin Doctors and Blues Traveler lineup. If you also donned Doc Martens and flannel once upon a time (or still do!), you’re in luck with this weekend’s music picks, too.

Lyndsey Parker at Licorice Pizza recommends the Totally Tubular '80’s festival at the Hollywood Palladium on Friday if you want to swap the Docs for Day-Glo, or you can catch early aughts favorites the Fray and Dashboard Confessional at the YouTube Theater.

On Saturday, legends Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight are at the Hollywood Bowl, Walk Off the Earth plays the United Theater, and KCRW Summer Nights features Tijuana Panthers, Mariachi El Bronx and more at Grand Performances, free with RSVP.

Sunday has Summer Sounds with Nikka Costa, free at West Hollywood’s Plummer Park; Teddy Thompson at McCabe’s; or the Pacific Amphitheatre is back to the ‘90s with Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth and Tonic. And of course, the Vans Warped Tour is on, with 3OH!3, All Time Low, Bowling For Soup, Jimmy Eat World, Third Eye Blind and dozens more all weekend long at Long Beach’s Shoreline Waterfront.

Elsewhere on LAist, you can check out all the new treats at the Orange County Fair, on through Aug. 16; learn how to fight back against mosquitoes this summer; and relive our 10 favorite moments of the World Cup.

Events

Sounds of L.A. County

Through Saturday, Aug. 29 
Multiple locations
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

This weekend, Sounds of L.A. County features three great concerts across the area. All summer long, you can catch local and international sounds at parks and unique venues around L.A. This Saturday, George Lane Park hosts Country Nights with Breakin' Boots, DJ Maxey, Gilbert Louie Ray Band; East Rancho Domínguez Park in East Compton features the Utopia One Love Summer Fest: Awdiv Band, KG Superstar, DJ Adé, Jerry Flores, DJ UnieQ and Joy Christos; and San Angelo Park in La Puente has the Gabby Tamez Corazón Norteño Tour, featuring Gabby Tamez, Jessica Ballesteros and Grupo La Virtud.

ReCoding the Codex: Cultural Heritage through Language

Through Oct. 10; Opening reception Saturday, July 25, 6:30 p.m.
ReflectSpace 
Glendale Central Library
222 E. Harvard St., Glendale 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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Courtesy ReflectSpace

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At Frieze in 2023, Narsiso Martinez blew me away with his images of agricultural workers on CSA farm boxes. He’s one of the featured artists at the new exhibit, ReCoding the Codex, at ReflectSpace, which opens Saturday. The show features artists from the U.S. and Korea addressing “colonization, Japanese American incarceration, and exploitation of agricultural workers, creating an international dialogue about harnessing the power of text and word in innovative ways.”

Disco Vino

Friday, July 24, 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Little Dom's
2128 Hillhurst Ave., Los Feliz
COST: FROM $25; MORE INFO

The ever-popular Barnsdall Friday night wine events are getting the extra special treatment this week, as WONDERWERK takes over the event with Silver Lake Wine (tickets here) and then hosts an after-party at the delish Los Feliz standby Little Dom’s. From 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., guests will enjoy WONDERWERK pours with the purchase of a $25 glass you can keep, light bites and an all-vinyl DJ set from Chelsea Dean, who will be spinning house, funk and disco records in the Little Dom’s deli.

Los Angeles Indie Book Crawl

Through Sunday, July 26
Various locations 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

A map of the LA region and all the Indie Book Crawl locations.

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LA Indie Book Crawl

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You might spend more time driving than reading, but whoever says L.A. isn’t a book town has it all wrong. Visit 13 independent booksellers from Venice to Ventura, and Pasadena to the Palisades, at this first-of-its-kind small-business celebration. Dañiel Andres Martinez spoke to some of the folks organizing it; read up on the event here and head out to find your next read this weekend.

Introductory Welding Workshop

Saturday, July 25, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Lincoln Electric
12979 Sandoval St., Santa Fe Springs
COST: $125; MORE INFO 

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Women Who Weld

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Eventbrite

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Women Who Weld is a Detroit-based nonprofit that teaches women how to weld and find employment in the welding industry. Their one-day L.A. workshop on Saturday is already sold out, but it’s worth getting on the waitlist if your 2026 bucket list includes learning metalwork in a safe, inclusive environment.

Pretzel Fest 

Saturday and Sunday, July 25-26; Saturday, August 1
Old World Biergarten 
7561 Center Ave. #49, Huntington Beach 
COST: FROM $5; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Old World Biergarten

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We may be a few months away from Oktoberfest, but get a head start by celebrating everyone’s favorite twisty treat at Pretzel Fest. With tons of pretzels, plus other food, beer, family-friendly events and free parking, there’s no need to get salty.

The Legacy of Jesse Ed Davis

Saturday, July 25, 6 p.m.
Venice Heritage Museum
1234 Pacific Ave., Venice 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Jesse Ed Davis was an indigenous rock star and Venice resident who died in 1988; now he’s the focus of a new book, Washita Love Child: The Rise of Indigenous Rock Star Jesse Ed Davis. Learn more about him during a special presentation in partnership with Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Bob Dylan Center by author Dr. Douglas Miller and a Q&A with legendary musicians Jim Keltner, Elliot Easton, Bob Glaub and Mark Shark. Plus, there will be a live musical performance by Scott McCaughey.

A Montessori school in Santa Monica founded in 1960 closed its doors last Friday. Now, a new AI-powered school plans to move in and open this fall.

Parents with children at Santa Monica Montessori School, which served kids from preschool through elementary, said they learned about the abrupt closure of the school with a little over a week’s notice.

“We were surprised, like everyone else — it was a pretty established place … a lot of great community, teachers, students,” said Michael Ho, a parent of a 4-year-old that attended the school for about two years. He had planned to keep his 4-year-old there for the following school year and had put in a deposit.

Parents said they received a letter dated July 5 in which the school’s director, Pamela Crisman wrote that "the decision was not made lightly."

“Due to family circumstances that now require my full attention, I have made the difficult decision to prioritize those responsibilities after much reflection and consideration,” the letter said. “Beginning in August, a new school will assume occupancy of the facility as they prepare for the upcoming academic year.”

Crisman, who became the school’s director in 2003 according to the school’s website, has not responded to LAist’s repeated requests for comment.

The school is among a growing number of preschools that have closed in recent years in L.A. County and across the state. A report by UC Berkeley researchers found that between 2020 and 2024, at least 167 pre-K centers across L.A. county have closed. That’s as enrollment in universal transitional kindergarten — the new grade for 4-year-olds in public schools — has grown.

“ It's so heartbreaking that, we won't have that community resource to teach kids in such a humanistic way,” said Alex Mulvaney, a parent of two who attended the school, and had planned to send his third child there. He said he understands businesses close, but was upset by the short notice. “You don’t just kick kids, toddlers, out on the street with a week’s notice.”

Jocelyn Ranne  said she’s scrambling now to find a place to send her 3-year-old daughter, and said the Montessori school, which she was paying about $21,000 a school year for, was a special place for her children.

“The teachers there were just so phenomenal. They were so good with the kids, and the Montessori approach — it's just really special. Like, everything's at their eye level, and they just have the freedom to just go into the class and just find something and start working on it.”

What is Alpha School?

Alpha School, an “AI-powered private school" based in Texas plans to open up its second Santa Monica location at the site of the old Montessori school this fall, said MacKenzie Price, the school's co-founder. The private school has about a dozen locations across the country, and is expanding.

She said eight new schools are set to open this fall across California, including in Malibu, Palo Alto, and Piedmont. They already have established programs in San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Orange County.

Alpha’s growth comes as communities are debating the role of AI and technology in schools. Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Unified School District board voted to ban one-to-one devices for children from preschool through 1st grade, and set time limits to screen time for upper grades.

Price said Alpha began looking for a second location in Santa Monica because of the demand they saw for the first location they announced earlier this year, which quickly filled up.

“As a result, we're always interested in making sure that there's more availability for families that are interested in Alpha,” she said.

At the K-8 school in Santa Monica, which lists tuition at $65,000, students learn subjects like math on a computer for 2 hours a day using AI-powered software that customizes curriculum. She said the rest of the time is off a screen.

 ”Most importantly, we're giving kids back their most valuable resource, which is time, to be able to go and develop the life skills in the afternoon and work in workshops together and get outside and do activities and connect not only with each other, but also with their teachers, who we call guides,” Price said.

Price said there’s a lot of overlap that Alpha has with Montessori principles.

“Montessori has always had a really good focus on helping students have sort of a self-driven, proactive engagement with learning and develop life skills, and Alpha does so much of that, but we have made the technology component of our experience really be able to result in phenomenal learning," Price said.

A California State University president who stepped down following a multi-million dollar settlement in a case accusing him of gender-based discrimination and harassment will earn a six-figure salary this coming year while he’s in between Cal State jobs.

During the transition period, former Cal State San Bernardino President Tomás Morales will provide international consulting for Cal State and work on strengthening the university’s international initiatives and global partnerships.

Morales announced his plans for departure last August and officially left the university at the end of this school year, joining an executive transition program in which he will be paid $343,920 over a year-long period starting this August. This salary is typical for Cal State executives in this program, said Cal State Chancellor Mildred Garcia, who announced Morales’ interim role at a board of trustees committee meeting Wednesday.

The board of trustees also unanimously granted Morales president emeritus status Wednesday afternoon, a title given as a gesture of appreciation for his service to the university.

Morales, and a former dean at San Bernardino’s Palm Desert campus, Jake Zhu, were accused of gender-based discrimination, harassment and retaliation in a 2023 lawsuit that Cal State recently settled for $12 million. Clare Weber and Anissa Rogers, both former San Bernardino administrators, alleged they were instructed to resign after reporting a gender pay gap and discriminatory bullying to higher-ups.

Cal State continues to deny any wrongdoing and determined Morales to be in good standing, which renders him eligible for the transition program. Executives may become ineligible if the chancellor finds they violated university policy or engaged in serious misconduct.

Weber, who alleged she was fired weeks after asking Morales for a raise over email to bridge what she called a gender-based pay gap, said the ex-president should not remain in good standing.

Male Cal State employees “are protected when they behave badly, when they mistreat women, when they harass women, when they retaliate against them,” Weber said. “The tendency is to protect the university.”

Morales’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

Morales, new campus president still high earners

During the year-long transition period, Morales will be required to submit a monthly report to the chancellor chronicling “activities and milestones completed,” according to a board document.

“President Tomás Morales has served Cal State San Bernardino with distinction for 14 years, demonstrating exceptional leadership on behalf of the university and his students,” Garcia said at the meeting.

Morales will also provide guidance and support to incoming Cal State San Bernardino president S. Terri Gomez, Garcia said at the meeting. Gomez, the current provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at Cal Poly Pomona, will assume the role on Aug. 3.

The committee approved a $426,916 annual salary, $60,000 annual housing allowance, and additional auto allowance of $1,000 per month for Gomez when she takes office.

Gomez made $338,255 in base pay in 2024, per the latest available data from Transparent California.

In 2024, 69 out of Cal State’s 118,843 employees earned a salary higher than $343,920, according to the State Controller’s Office. Morales’ salary was $527,834 in 2024 — the sixth-highest earning salary in the Cal State system, behind the chancellor and four other campus presidents. The average university salary in 2024 was $39,870, according to the office.

San Bernardino’s chapter of the California Faculty Association labor union asked Cal State to open an investigation into university administrators perpetuating gender discrimination and deny Morales executive transition benefits in a social media post yesterday.

Morales’ transition assignment will last from Aug. 3, 2026, to Aug. 2, 2027. During this period, Morales will transfer to the Management Personnel Plan, granting him the employment rights and benefits of university managers and supervisors, Cal State spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith said.

Bentley-Smith did not respond to a request for comment on what job Morales will take after the transition period, which should have been previously decided, according to a 2022 Board of Trustees agenda item outlining the policy.

“We are deeply grateful for President Morales’ outstanding leadership at Cal State San Bernardino and systemwide,” Garcia said at Wednesday's meeting.

No members of the board of trustees committee made any comments or asked any questions after Garcia’s announcement.

Phoebe Huss is a contributor with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.

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

Possibly the chicest and most indulgent way to unwind after a long day of work is with a perfectly-chilled martini in hand. Still, it’s usually a treat: martinis are famously high-brow beverages, and finding one that won’t break the bank in L.A. can prove difficult.

But if you know where to look, you’ll find that the city has plenty of martini deals. These five spots all stir up a delicious martini, and all of them offer generous happy hours where each ‘tini is $10 a pop.

Cento Raw Bar (West Adams) 

There are many reasons to love Cento Raw Bar, the sister restaurant to Cento Pasta Bar next door, and one of L.A.’s dining scene’s newest darlings. For starters, it looks like a mermaid’s cave, but looks aren’t all this sweet oceanic outpost has to offer. Martinis and oysters, obviously, are a match made in heaven, and diving into Cento’s $10 “golden hour” (from 5-6 p.m.) martini-oyster is as delightful as it sounds. The martinis are made with gin or vodka and arrive in fun, color-blocked glassware. If you order yours dirty, you’ll get your olives on a little dish on the side. They’re well-balanced, perfectly chilled, and wonderful to wash down oysters with.

Dante (Beverly Hills)

The dirty and Dante martinis play nice together.

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Cecilia Seiter

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I’ve never had a bad martini in New York City, which is why Dante — a classic New York joint with a stunning location in Beverly Hills — is a must for a martini happy hour in my book. It’s famous for the tricolor olives in its signature ‘tini (a powerful blend of Ford’s gin, Ketel One vodka, Noilly Prat vermouth, Dolin Blanc vermouth, Nardini Cedro liqueur, olive and lemon bitters), but the dirty here never disappoints.

Like all good things, Dante’s dirty martini is deceivingly simple: Reyka vodka, olive oil, olive bitters and a pinch of salt with a dose of olive brine mist. Olives come chilled on the side. Martini hour is 3-5 p.m. daily.

Found Oyster (East Hollywood)

Olive lovers will find Found Oyster’s martini delightful.

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The folks behind Found Oyster knew what they were doing when they married excellent seafood, wine and martinis in their bustling neighborhood bistro.

You’ll find $10 martinis everyday from 4-6 p.m. here, and you can order your martini with olives, onion or a twist. The dirty martini is generous, with fat, blue cheese-stuffed olives served on the lip of a chilled Nick and Nora. There’s plenty to sample from the raw bar — seafood platters, scallop tostadas and sea urchin service — and the large plates, like the wedge salad and the pork caesar schnitzel, are not to be missed.

Maydan (West Adams) 

Don’t miss out on Maydan’s happy hour snacks.

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Courtesy Maydan

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There’s something beautiful about a martini that subtly departs from tradition, and Maydan, the acclaimed Lebanese-inspired restaurant inside its eponymous food hall, delivers on this front.

The Za’atar martini brings together olive oil washed vodka, dry vermouth and sumac-sesame oil for a savory spin on a classic cocktail. Happy hour is Tuesday through Thursday 5-7 p.m. You’ll also find discounted snacks on the happy hour menu, like charcoal-grilled kebabs and housemade dips.

The Nice Guy (West Hollywood) 

Jazz and martinis were made for each other.

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Courtesy The Nice Guy

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Martini Mondays are a great excuse to leave the house on a weeknight. West Hollywood’s The Nice Guy offers a generous range of $10 martinis, including dry, dirty and espresso martinis paired with live Italian jazz. You can also order a $30 martini meal to the tune of a burger, fries and martini (the Classic) or a Caesar salad, rigatoni Bolognese and a martini (the Mr. Nice Guy.)