Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn from kindergarten to high school.
Published August 22, 2025 5:00 AM
Since 1996, Pokémon has reportedly produced more than 75 billion trading cards in 16 languages.
(
Mariana Dale
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Nostalgia, curiosity or the desire for a screen-free hobby for your kid are all reasons people might want to learn how to play the Pokémon trading card game. But where to begin? We’ve rounded recommendations from local enthusiasts.
The backstory: Thirty years ago today, Pokémon released a trading card game that, along with the video games, evolved into one of the most-expansive media franchises ever.
Why you might want to go: “ Everyone feels that they are surrounded by friends,” said Scott Leslie, who coordinates Pokémon events for kids — and adults — at Burbank’s Geeky Teas and Games. “They can make mistakes. They don't have to be playing perfectly. They can just be learning the game.”
Read on... for places to play Pokémon across L.A.! We have recommendations for beginners and aspiring competitors alike.
Thirty years ago, Pokémon released a trading card game that along with the video games, evolved into one of the most expansive media franchises ever.
Nostalgia, curiosity, or the desire for a screen-free hobby for your kid are all reasons people might want to learn how to play the Pokémon trading card game.
Some shops emphasize casual gameplay.
“ Everyone feels that they are surrounded by friends,” said Scott Leslie, who coordinates Pokémon events for kids — and adults — at Burbank’s Geeky Teas and Games. “They can make mistakes. They don't have to be playing perfectly. They can just be learning the game.”
While at others, you might find players with their sights set on the annual World Championships debating the nuances of the game.
“We don't all agree with each other, we bicker a little bit, but that makes us grow from it,” said Crossing Collectibles store manager Ben Nackman.
Want to suggest a place to play Pokémon?
Email reporter Mariana Dale at mdale@laist.com. Please include the name of the place, the vibe and why you like it.
Here are three places to learn how to play the game in Los Angeles and a few organizations focused on preparing the next generation of trainers.
A Pokédex of sorts
But first, here’s some lingo you might run into on your journey.
Locals: Casual play, often at local card or game stores. "You don't accrue anything besides bragging rights, maybe some store credit,” says Next-Gen Games Pokémon organizer Eddie Sagastume. Players may get promotional (promo) cards for playing or winning. Pokémon maintains a map of places that offer locals and more competitive play.
League Challenge and League Cup: Pokémon-sanctioned local tournaments where players can begin to earn points toward more advanced competitions.
Pokémon Professor: The Pokémon Company bestows this title on enthusiasts who complete an application, which includes passing a test on basic gameplay and a background check. Professors may help host events and judge competitions.
Pre-release party/tournament: An opportunity for players to play with and purchase new sets of cards in the two weeks before the official release. The professors LAist interviewed say the cost usually ranges from $30 to $40 and includes a deck and several booster packs of cards.
The vibe: This is a store, but it’s also so much more — a tea shop, a cat rescue, and an 800-board-game library. There are themed gaming rooms with a “ nerdy, cozy feel” to reserve. The motifs include a ship at sea, a wooded faery glen, Hobbiton, and a Pokécenter decorated in the style of the Red and Blue video games.
Regular hours:
Monday-Friday: Noon to 10 p.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m. to midnight
Sunday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
When to play Pokémon:
Monday at 6:30 p.m. Pokémon hangs and casual tournament play for players 17+.
Tuesday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Pokémon hangs for players 16 and under. A casual tournament starts at 4 p.m. All participants get a pack of promo cards and winners earn another. All youth card trading is overseen to ensure fairness and there’s a professor on staff to help kids learn to play.
There is an $8 entry fee ($5 before 5:00 p.m.) for both evenings.
Schedule varies: Pre-release events.
Good to know:
There are decks of cards that beginning players can borrow in-store to learn how to play.
The shop also features memorabilia from other beloved franchises. For example, a recently restored TARDIS, a replica from the long-running and beloved Doctor Who TV series.
The vibe: The shop hosts a variety of activities from board games to Magic and Warhammer. ”Our whole vibe is just come on in, play some games,” says Pokémon organizer Eddie Sagastume.
When to play Pokémon:
Thursdays 7 to 10 p.m. AKA “come in and hang out and talk about Pokémon night,” says Sagastume. There’s a local tournament and other people come to watch, trade cards, or play the Pokémon video game with community.
Sagastume says he’s happy to provide a tutorial to newer players. ”There’s no wrong way to enjoy Pokémon,” Sagastume says. “I always tell people, give the game a chance.”
Sharath Cherian and daughter Asha at the 2024 Pokémon World Championship in Honolulu.
(
Courtesy Sharath Cherian
)
Trainers Guild
What it is: An organization that offers Pokémon after-school programs, summer camps, coaching, and intensives. Sharath Cherian, a Hollywood father of a competitive player, founded the Trainers Guild with coach Ciaran Farah, who’s based in Toronto.
“[Pokémon is] a great way for kids to learn math, strategic thinking,” Cherian says. “This is a way for them to interact with each other that involves a little bit of negotiation skills.”
St. Vincent Medical Center in the Westlake neighborhood has sat vacant for several years. Developers plan to reopen the medical campus in June 2026.
(
Courtesy SVBHC
)
Topline:
The long-shuttered St. Vincent Medical Center is set to reopen next month as part of a sprawling behavioral health and housing campus.
More details: The center, just a few blocks away from MacArthur Park, is aimed at addressing homelessness, mental illness and addiction in the area. The first phase of the project, a 205-bed interim housing program for people struggling with mental illness and substance use disorders, is scheduled to open in June. The program will be housed at Seaton Hall on South Lake Street, according to developers.
Why it matters: The opening marks the first major milestone in an ambitious redevelopment effort that aims to transform the former St. Vincent campus into a centralized hub for social services.
The long-shuttered St. Vincent Medical Center is set to reopen next month as part of a sprawling behavioral health and housing campus.
The center, just a few blocks away from MacArthur Park is aimed at addressing homelessness, mental illness and addiction in the area.
The first phase of the project, a 205-bed interim housing program for people struggling with mental illness and substance use disorders, is scheduled to open in June. The program will be housed at Seaton Hall on South Lake Street, according to developers.
The opening marks the first major milestone in an ambitious redevelopment effort that aims to transform the former St. Vincent campus into a centralized hub for social services.
“We try our best to do this on the streets,” said Victor Narro, project director at the UCLA Labor Center and a longtime organizer in the MacArthur Park area. “But it’s much easier when you have a physical location. This building may offer us an opportunity to provide services for the category of unhoused people who are chronically ill, who have suffered major mental health issues and also people who are really deeply addicted.”
“I think it’s something that’s been long overdue,” Narro added.
Additional phases of the redevelopment are expected to open through 2027, with the full campus projected to be up and running before the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, developer Shay Yadin said.
Yadin said the project is moving fast partly because developers are reusing the existing hospital campus rather than building entirely new facilities.
“We’re not adding a single square foot to this whole place,” Yadin said. “Everything we’re doing is internal renovation.”
The 7.7-acre property has a long history in LA. Founded in 1856 by the Daughters of Charity, St. Vincent is widely considered the city’s first hospital. But after years of financial struggles, the hospital’s previous owner declared bankruptcy and the facility closed in 2020.
Later that year, the property was acquired by Los Angeles Times Patrick Soon-Shiong through his company NantWorks, though most of the campus remained shuttered. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Soon-Shiong sought to use the campus as a coronavirus treatment and research center, according to the LA Times.
At the end of last year, Yadin’s firm, St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus LLC, purchased the property for $66.5 million, according to the LA Times.
Reviving St. Vincent’s hospital
The full redevelopment is expected to cost roughly $300 million, Yadin said, and include more than 800 beds, including interim housing, permanent supportive housing, recuperative care and addiction treatment programs.
The project has rapidly gained support from the state and private sector at a time when California is investing billions into behavioral health infrastructure. The statewide measure Proposition 1 intends to expand treatment facilities, housing and services for people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders.
In a recent social media post, LA Mayor Karen Bass said St. Vincent is “what I’ve wanted to see happen for a long time: a place where people can get treatment, support, and build real, independent lives in permanent housing.”
In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the St. Vincent campus would receive $135.8 million through Proposition 1’s funding to support new mental health and substance use treatment facilities planned for the site.
In April, Health Net and the Centene Foundation, private healthcare partners, also announced a $6 million investment in the campus.
Yadin said the project is designed around what he describes as a “continuum of care” model — bringing housing, treatment and support services together in one place rather than spreading them across different providers and locations.
“A lot of individuals, especially within the unsheltered population, fall between the cracks between one level of care and the next,” Yadin said. “For them to finish a program and then say, ‘Go to the other side of town to organization X to get the next level of care,’ oftentimes these individuals don’t make it.”
The St. Vincent campus is intended to centralize services in one location, something he says is desperately needed when considering unhoused residents.
Some unhoused residents, Narro said, are full-time workers who simply cannot afford rent. Others have been chronically homeless for years and need long-term support. Others struggle with severe addiction or mental illness.
“That’s the more complicated one,” Narro said. “So you have to have a special type of wraparound services for them, which I think this building has the potential for.”
What to expect: For most of SoCal, a pleasant and mild weekend, with highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s. That will be in stark contrast to Coachella Valley, temperatures will reach 95 to 100 degrees.
Read on ... to learn more.
QUICK FACTS
Today’s weather: Partly cloudy then sunny
Beaches: 66 to 71 degrees
Mountains: Mid-70s to 80s
Inland: 80 to 89 degrees
Warnings and advisories: None today
We're in for a nice, cool Memorial Day weekend with cloudy mornings and sunny afternoons.
Taking a look at the Inland Empire, temperatures have dipped slightly with highs today sticking around the 80s, and up to 89 degrees in the warmest areas.
For Orange County, temperatures there will hover in the mid to upper 70s. Also expect clouds and patchy fog in the morning followed by afternoon sun.
In L.A. County valleys, temperatures will stick around the upper 70s to around 86 degrees. L.A County beaches will see highs from 66 to 71 degrees.
In Coachella Valley, temperatures will reach 95 to 100 degrees.
Looking ahead to the weekend temperatures will stick around in the mid 70s to mid 80s.
Keep up with LAist.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
Suzanne Levy
is a senior editor on the Explore LA team, where she oversees food, LA Explained and other feature stories.
Published May 22, 2026 5:00 AM
Wilde's fish and chips, made with skate.
(
Kort Havens
/
Courtesy Wilde's
)
Topline:
Two restaurants in L.A., Tomat and Wilde’s, are offering California versions of classic British dishes — high quality, local ingredients and chef-driven innovations. LAist senior editor Suzanne Levy wanted to try elevated British food. Would it lose its soul?
What’s on the menu: Fish and chips, welsh rarebit, sticky toffee pudding. Oh, and a deconstructed Jaffa cake.
What’s the verdict: While some innovations go too far for Levy’s sensibilities, she says both restaurants hit the spot in terms of nostalgia and taste.
Hands up. What is the most well-known British food? You probably guessed fish and chips, which can easily be found in Los Angeles, in British pubs and restaurants, as well as more home-grown venues.
But what happens when top-notch L.A. chefs play with British influences, melding tradition with California’s diverse, sustainably grown approach to create new flavors and textures?
That’s what’s happening at two L.A. restaurants, Tomat and Wilde's. And as a Brit who’s lived in L.A. for 13 years, I was intrigued to find out exactly what it was like. Can British food be easily spruced up? Would I want it to be?
Tomat
Tomat's modernist exterior in Westchester.
(
jimsimmonsphotography.com
/
Courtesy Tomat
)
I first headed to the Westside to try Tomat, a beautiful, serene haven in the center of a Westchester shopping complex. Few hints of Britishness here — more warm Scandinavian modernism. While its seasonal, ever-changing menu also includes Mexican, Japanese and Persian dishes, sprinkled throughout are offerings which reflect Chef Harry Posner’s London upbringing. (He’s half-British and half-Persian; co-owner and wife Natalie Dial is from L.A.)
Co-owners Harry Posner and Natalie Dial of Tomat.
(
Danielle G. Adams
/
Courtesy Tomat
)
Posner says he “tried to be playful,” when creating the dishes, while incorporating top-notch, fresh local produce, (much grown in their own garden a few blocks away), and the approach has apparently succeeded, with the restaurant being included in the prestigious Michelin guide just months after it opened last year.
Tomat's warm, inviting dining room.
(
ashleyrandallphoto
/
Courtesy Tomat
)
He says the restaurant has elements of London’s vibrant food scene. “I'd say the thing that is happening in London more and more is the sourcing of ingredients, really high quality ingredients,” he explains. “There's been some amazing food all over the UK… And the food has gotten way, way better. I mean, the food in London is fantastic.”
Looking at the menu’s starters, I immediately spotted a snap pea salad which included roasted parsnips, a British Sunday roast favorite. Then I saw the Welsh rarebit.
Tomat's Welsh rarebit, a British delicacy.
(
Natalie Dial
/
Courtesy Tomat
)
Welsh rarebit is a traditional British version of a grilled cheese sandwich, except the cheese is replaced with a savory cheese sauce which usually includes worcestershire sauce, mustard and beer. Tomat’s version had been cooked into a dark rich brown color, using a Porter beer from Inglewood. I took a bite and was immediately transported home — well, home if my mother had baked her own bread (which she didn't) and had been a top class chef (which she wasn’t). It was phenomenal.
Then on to the fish and chips. A quick note. Fish and chips in the U.K. usually come in the form of cod or haddock, fried in batter. Here, Posner uses rainbow trout (California steelhead) covered in tempura, which comes with a homemade tartare sauce. Audacious! Did it work? Yes, and then some. The fish was fresh and creamy and the tempura wonderfully crunchy.
“Loads of people would say, "oh no, you never fry salmon or trout, because it's too fatty or oily,” says Posner. “And I was like, ‘well, that's why it tastes so good."
Fish and chips Tomat-style: rainbow trout and sweet potatoes, fried in tempura batter.
(
Natalie Dial
/
Courtesy Tomat
)
The chips… were another experience. Instead of the usual thick fried chunks of potato, Tomat offers sweet potato, again fried in tempura batter. Delicious? Certainly. Were they the chips from my childhood? Um, no. (Pause for sad face). It was too far off the beaten track for me. But for Americans without the taste memory, they’ll likely receive rave reviews. (My American husband certainly loved them).
For dessert — British options included banoffee pie and bakewell tart (watch Great British Bake-off if you don’t know what I’m talking about). I, however, ordered the deconstructed Jaffa cake. Jaffa cakes are a popular British cookie, spongey and orangey. My family loves them — when we score a packet we parade it around the house like Simba.
The deconstructed Jaffa cake, miracle upon miracles.
(
Steve Holtzman
/
Courtesy Suzanne Levy
)
Here it came as layers of sponge, passion fruit jelly and chocolate mousse, with tempered chocolate on top and an orange cream around the base. I scooped up all the elements in one spoonful and tentatively tasted it. Perfection. If I was looking for an elevated British experience, this was it. I closed my eyes and was swept away in dreams of London — or maybe it was just my London Fog cocktail (gin, campari, sweet vermouth and earl grey tea) going to my head.
Location: 6261 W. 87th St., Westchester. Hours: Cafe: Wed to Sun 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Dinner: 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Wilde’s
The rustic interior of Wilde's in Los Feliz.
(
Kort Havens
/
Courtesy Wilde's
)
A few weeks later I headed to Wilde’s in Los Feliz, which has been packed since it opened last October. As I walked down Hillhurst, with the sun just beginning to set, I was definitely in L.A. But as I went through the door I was transported into the dining area of a cosy British country pub. Wood panelling, antique mirror, vintage sconces. Nailed it. Well done.
Natasha Price, the executive chef and co-owner with beverage director Tatiana Ettensberger, says they lucked out by finding an old building with character. But they were mindful of making the British vibe feel authentic.“You can easily fall into something that feels sort of Disneylandesque,” she said.
Wilde's co-owners Natasha Price (left) and Tatiana Ettensberger.
(
Kort Havens
/
Courtesy Wilde's
)
Price’s parents are British, and while she grew up in L.A., she spent most summers with her grandparents in the British countryside, so has a good sense of what makes for an excellent country pub. “Places that really are just using good ingredients and cooking simple rustic food. I think that’s inherently British, and it’s maybe the element of British food that’s not necessarily widely regarded, especially here in L.A.”
For the first course I plumped for Shropshire Blue cheese, home-made marmalade using California oranges and a fantastic fresh house bread, a mash-up of Irish soda bread and traditional bread that’s a unique Price creation. (The combo of cheese and marmalade, Price says, came from “snacking in the kitchen”). The mixture of the smooth cheese, the bittersweet marmalade and the bread was a revelation. I couldn’t get enough.
Wilde's salt and (malt) vinegar chips.
(
Kort Havens
/
Courtesy Wilde's
)
Wilde’s also offers fish and chips. Here the fish is skate, an unusual fish even for American palates. Price says she chose it because she loves its “sweet, buttery flavor”, but for me, encased in batter, it was somehow too rich.
The chips, however, scratched all the itches. Sumptuous, fried chunky potato pieces, which came with malt vinegar, a must for classic British fish and chips, and ketchup for dipping. (The accompanying aioli was a tad too European, I felt). The British friend I went with and I fell upon them, oohing and aahing as we ate our way through to the bottom of the dish. (You get a lot. Believe me. I shouldn’t have eaten all that bread).
Wilde's sticky toffee pudding
(
Courtesy Wilde's
)
The minimalist menu changes often, with simple but inventive dishes. Fish and chips are a staple, however, as is the lone dessert, sticky toffee pudding, something they developed with care. “We wanted it to feel very British in its texture, truly pudding-like rather than cake,” said Price. Sticky toffee pudding is a popular British dessert, a sponge mixed with dates and doused in a caramel toffee sauce. Here there were some innovations — it’s served with creme fraiche instead of custard, but as my friend said, the dish was perfectly sticky and creamy in itself, so it didn’t need a custard dunking.
Location: 1850 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Feliz Hours: Cafe: Thursday to Sunday 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.; Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday 5:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.
In some ways I felt like Goldilocks in both places, searching for the perfect British taste sensation, which seems a little unfair given we’re a) in America and b) I’m far from home and am probably operating a little too much on nostalgia. Tomat and Wilde’s are both excellent restaurants, and for Americans who want to taste test some British dishes, you won’t be disappointed.
David Wagner
covers housing in Southern California, a place where the lack of affordable housing contributes to homelessness.
Published May 22, 2026 5:00 AM
Los Angeles City Hall
(
Chava Sanchez for LAist
)
Topline:
Survey after survey shows that the cost of housing is a top concern for Los Angeles voters. And the issue sharply divides candidates vying for mayor in the June 2 primary.
The incumbent: Mayor Karen Bass says her efforts to fast-track affordable housing are working. But few apartments have been built so far. She has fought to keep new apartments out of most of the city’s residential neighborhoods, pleasing homeowners but angering some housing advocates.
The City Hall challenger: Citing unaffordable rents and home prices as pivotal in her decision to run, City Councilmember Nithya Raman has promised to accelerate building in more of the city. Many in the Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) movement support her. But critics say her support of density could drastically transform some single-family neighborhoods.
The reality TV star: Political outsider Spencer Pratt has promised a Downtown L.A. housing boom once he “gets rid of” tens of thousands of unhoused people. But he has been called out for spreading false information about state housing legislation.
Read more… to learn where the three frontrunners stand on housing in L.A.
Survey after survey shows that the cost of housing is a top concern for Los Angeles voters. And the issue sharply divides candidates vying for mayor in the June 2 primary.
Mayor Karen Bass says her efforts to fast-track affordable housing are working. But few apartments have been built so far. She has fought to keep new apartments out of most of the city’s residential neighborhoods, pleasing homeowners but angering some housing advocates.
City Councilmember Nithya Raman has said her different vision for tackling housing affordability was pivotal in her decision to run against Bass. Citing unaffordable rents and home prices, Raman has promised to accelerate building in more parts of the city.
Raman’s housing platform has won her the backing of many in the Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) movement. But critics say her support of density could drastically transform some single-family neighborhoods.
Political outsider Spencer Pratt has promised a downtown L.A. housing boom once he “gets rid of” tens of thousands of unhoused people. But he has been called out for spreading false information about state housing legislation.
Other candidates have presented their own ideas about the city’s housing affordability issues, but they’re behind in the polls.
Here are where the top three candidates stand on housing in L.A.
What Bass says she’s accomplished so far
When asked what she has done to bring down rents, Bass has pointed to a program she created in her first week in office: Executive Directive One. It speeds up city approvals of 100% affordable apartment projects.
By some metrics, ED1 has been a major success. After the program launched, developers flooded the city with applications.
L.A.’s Planning Department has received plans for 43,360 apartments since ED1 launched in December 2022 and has approved 34,298 of them. Under the directive, developers must agree to keep all units in these buildings affordable to low and moderate-income Angelenos.
Karen Bass
(
Courtesy of the campaign
)
But few of those units are actually getting built. The city’s Building and Safety Department says 8,058 apartments have been issued building permits. Only 298 have received certificates of occupancy, the last step in getting an apartment ready to rent to tenants.
In a recent mayoral debate, Bass said some variables are out of her control.
“Some of the factors are the price of construction materials, just the general economy,” Bass said. “We are doing everything we can to make sure we are able to fast-track that housing.”
Bass has also said the city’s adaptive reuse program, which allows office buildings to be converted into housing, has enabled the creation of more than 43,000 potential units.
The Building and Safety Department told LAist it could only find two units that have received certificates of occupancy since she took office. However, the city-wide expansion of this program, building off an older program limited to downtown L.A. and some other urban cores, only took effect in February 2026.
Do apartments belong in single-family neighborhoods?
Bass has scaled back ED1 from its original design. She banned projects in historic zones and on many lots with existing rent-controlled apartments. She also blocked projects in the nearly three-quarters of residential land reserved for single-family homes.
Bass says new housing belongs on commercial main streets, so homeowners in single-family zones don’t have to see apartments going up next to their lots. That’s one of the reasons she asked Governor Gavin Newsom to veto Senate Bill 79, a major new state housing law allowing taller, denser apartment buildings near transit stops, including in some single-family zones.
Raman has said she views this issue differently. She has said all kinds of neighborhoods need to accept denser housing. She defended an ED1 project in a single-family neighborhood in her district, even as city leaders tried to kill it. Courts eventually ruled the city fought that project illegally.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman announced Saturday that she is running for mayor.
(
Raman Campaign
)
Joining a minority of City Council members, Raman voted not to oppose SB 79. She has said young families are leaving L.A. because they can’t afford housing, and the city should do more to plan for increased density throughout the city, including in some single-family neighborhoods.
“We desperately need this housing,” Raman said in a recent debate. “What I want to do is go out here and not lie to you that we can keep everything the same, and Sacramento will not intervene. That is not possible.”
Raman has said that as mayor, she’ll make departments respond to zoning-compliant housing applications within 60 days.
Pratt’s plan for a downtown building boom
On his Substack, Pratt has said that L.A.’s housing supply shortage is “a myth.” But the former reality TV star also promised on a recent podcast to “speed up building” and work with architects to “bring Art Deco back.”
In a recent debate, Pratt said as mayor he’d get up to 20,000 apartments built in downtown L.A. by removing unhoused people.
“I’m gonna have 40 blocks when I get rid of all the drug addicts that are sleeping on the sides of all these empty buildings,” Pratt said. “We will have so much high-density… We have plenty of places to build. We don’t need to put a seven-story cement structure in a single-family neighborhood with no parking.”
Spencer Pratt
(
Courtesy of the campaign
)
Last year, Pratt drew attention on social media for opposing SB 79. He said the law would bring high-rises to the Pacific Palisades, where his home burned down.
Critics pointed out that was never true, because there are no qualifying transit stops in the Palisades.
What about the city’s controversial 'mansion tax'?
In 2022, L.A. voters passed Measure ULA, perhaps better known as the city’s “mansion tax.” It has taxed the sale of real estate valued at $5 million or more. It applies not just to single-family mansions, but also to apartment buildings and other commercial real estate.
Economists argue the tax has led to a slow-down in apartment construction at a time when L.A. needs more housing. Defenders say it has raised more than $1 billion for affordable housing construction and tenant aid programs.
Raman surprised many of her colleagues earlier this year when she proposed putting a measure on the June ballot to ask voters to exempt apartments built within the last 15 years. That effort failed, but Raman has continued to push for changes to Measure ULA.
Last year, Bass asked state lawmakers to pull a last-minute bill aimed at similar reforms, saying more tweaks were needed to get the policy right.
Pratt has said he would push for a full repeal of Measure ULA. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has qualified a measure for the November ballot that, if passed, would do just that.
Where do the candidates stand on rent hikes and tenant protections?
Bass also supported the city’s new, lower rent hike limits. She says she’s been working with the Mayors Fund, an outside nonprofit, to provide eviction defense services to many tenants.
Pratt has said that state and city tenant protections amount to “squatter’s rights.” He has said he will work with the city attorney to streamline evictions and remove tenants within 72 hours.
