The Brief

Editor’s note: This story includes descriptions of sexual harassment and racist language.

In June 2017, Eric Garcetti gathered with a group of his staffers, advisers and lobbyists on a hotel rooftop in Miami Beach, Florida.

At the time, Garcetti was a rising star in the Democratic Party. He had just been reelected mayor of Los Angeles, the second-biggest city in the U.S., and he was actively laying the foundation for a potential presidential campaign.

Garcetti’s staff was in Miami Beach for a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. On the final night of the conference, with the sunset fading over the hotel pool, the group posed for pictures.

One of those photos would go on to haunt Garcetti’s political career, from his time as mayor of Los Angeles to his current post as U.S. ambassador to India.

In the middle of the photo, Garcetti is smiling, giving two thumbs-ups.

Garcetti is flanked by people he knew well: a pair of lobbyists, a business executive and a city official.

On the left is one of Garcetti’s closest political allies at the time, a man named Rick Jacobs. Jacobs is a powerful and well-connected figure in LA politics and was part of Garcetti’s inner circle. He had been a political consultant, fundraiser, deputy chief of staff, trusted adviser and friend to Garcetti for years.

In the photo, Jacobs is standing just a couple of feet from Garcetti, posing with his outstretched hand placed deliberately in front of a lobbyist’s crotch.

Garcetti (center with his thumbs up) poses for a photo with staffers, advisers and lobbyists on a hotel rooftop in Miami Beach, Florida.

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Photo obtained via California Public Records Act request

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That lobbyist would later testify that he found the situation upsetting and embarrassing.

“I thought Rick Jacobs should be ashamed,” he said. (NPR is not naming him as a victim of sexual misconduct.)

For years, the photo circulated among Garcetti’s City Hall staff, the kind of photo that people gossiped about and showed at after-work happy hours.

For some, the photo of Garcetti, with his eyes looking toward the camera, functioned as a kind of visual metaphor.

When the photo was taken on that hotel rooftop, Garcetti said, he was looking the other way.

Just a few years later, in 2020, an LAPD officer on Garcetti’s protective detail sued the city of Los Angeles and alleged that Jacobs sexually harassed him over the course of 2014 to 2019 and that Garcetti witnessed the behavior and failed to act. That lawsuit led to the release of the photo, along with a cascade of accusations from people in and around the Garcetti administration.

Multiple city employees testified in depositions that Jacobs subjected them to unwanted massages and hugs, crude sexual comments and racist language without facing any consequences.

Jacobs denied all wrongdoing, calling the allegations against him “pure fiction.” Under oath, Jacobs denied sexually harassing anyone. He admitted, however, that he referred to his Asian American assistant at City Hall as a “Chinaman.” He acknowledged that he posed for the photo next to Garcetti as part of a “really stupid joke.” Asked whether he made “comments of a sexual nature” in front of Garcetti, Jacobs testified it was “possible.”

A screenshot of Rick Jacobs testifying at his videotaped deposition.

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Matthew Garza v. City of Los Angeles

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Garcetti said he never saw inappropriate behavior from Jacobs, in public or private, at any time. He testified he could not even recall Jacobs telling a joke, let alone an off-color comment.

After the lawsuit was filed, Garcetti initially stood by Jacobs and said they would continue to work together while a city-commissioned sexual harassment investigation was ongoing.

“Fundamentally, this is something that should take a process forward, but shouldn’t keep somebody who has been a committed public servant from being able to serve our community and our world,” Garcetti told reporters in July 2020. Garcetti stopped working with Jacobs months later, when additional accusations became public.

Despite the allegations, Garcetti fought to keep his political career on track while maintaining that he was completely unaware of any inappropriate behavior. Ultimately, he narrowly won confirmation in the U.S. Senate as ambassador to India amid questions about what he knew about the harassment allegations and when.

Vice President Harris shakes hands with Eric Garcetti, the U.S. ambassador to India, during his swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2023.

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Andrew Harrer

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Bloomberg via Getty Images

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Months after Garcetti was sworn in, city leaders approved a $1.8 million settlement to resolve the lawsuit.

Like most settlements, this one did not include any admission of wrongdoing.

Garcetti told NPR, “I was surprised by the settlement. I wish it had gone to trial.”

Dueling investigative reports — one commissioned by the city of Los Angeles and the other by Senate Republicans — came to opposite conclusions. As a result, the truth of LAPD officer Matthew Garza’s allegations remains legally unresolved.

The closure of the case allowed NPR to use the California Public Records Act to obtain more than a thousand pages of unredacted transcripts of depositions of Garcetti’s inner circle.

NPR has also obtained, and is publishing for the first time, excerpts of the video of Garcetti’s deposition, showing his body language, facial expressions and demeanor as he responds to tough questions about the harassment allegations.

The evidence includes new allegations of workplace misconduct and retaliation against those who spoke out against Jacobs and Garcetti. In total, the records raise concern about Garcetti’s truthfulness, as well as the Biden-Harris administration’s decision to fully support Garcetti’s nomination as ambassador to India. NPR’s investigation also reveals the tension at the heart of a Democratic political scandal in the #MeToo era, between political ambition and a commitment to addressing sexual harassment.

The White House declined to answer NPR’s questions for this story.

Jacobs also did not respond to emails and text messages seeking comment. When an NPR journalist reached Jacobs by phone and identified himself as a reporter, Jacobs responded, “Oh,” and immediately ended the call.

Suzi Emmerling (left), Jeremy Bernard and Naomi Seligman, who all previously worked under then-Mayor Eric Garcetti in Los Angeles, have come forward and called into question whether he lied under oath.

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Jessica Pons for NPR

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Multiple former members of the Garcetti administration say that the evidence refutes Garcetti’s consistent denials.

“To watch him lie like that is such a betrayal,” said Naomi Seligman, who served as Garcetti’s communications director from 2015 to 2017 and who has accused Garcetti of committing perjury.

“There are a lot of lives and people he left behind him that have been hurt, because of his inability to own his responsibility in this situation,” said Suzi Emmerling, who served as Garcetti’s communications director from 2017 to 2019.

Here are four key takeaways from NPR’s investigation:

1. Concerns about Jacobs’ alleged misconduct at work spanned more than a decade

By the time LAPD officer Garza went public with sexual harassment allegations against Jacobs in July 2020, Garcetti and Jacobs had been friends for nearly two decades. In a 2016 email, Garcetti called Jacobs “a dear friend, as well as one of my most trusted advisors.”

A screenshot of LAPD officer Matthew Garza testifying against Rick Jacobs.

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Matthew Garza v. City of Los Angeles

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Throughout much of that time, people who knew and worked for Jacobs had concerns about his conduct, according to deposition testimony. Multiple employees testified that such concerns were widely known.

Jacobs met Garcetti in 2003, when Jacobs was working on former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, and Garcetti endorsed Dean. Garcetti’s wife, Amy Wakeland, also worked on the campaign and was also friends with Jacobs.

In politics, Jacobs was known as a formidable, and even ruthless, fundraiser. After Dean’s campaign ended, Jacobs created a liberal group called the Courage Campaign, which is best known for its advocacy in support of same-sex marriage. Jacobs is gay.

The organization was small. Jacobs, who led the organization from 2005 to 2013, estimated in his deposition testimony that it had roughly eight employees at any given time.

NPR spoke to six former employees of the group. These former employees asked to speak anonymously, because they said they fear retaliation from Jacobs, who is still influential in LA politics as a consultant and lobbyist.

In interviews, these former employees said that Jacobs frequently made crude sexual comments at work and that he frequently hugged, squeezed and kissed the employees he managed.

“I haven’t seen any other leader I’ve worked for have that level of physical contact in the workplace,” said one former employee.

Another former employee, a gay man, said that Jacobs forcibly kissed him on the lips, touched and “aggressively” hugged him without his consent, and subjected him to “lewd and sexually graphic comments,” according to a summary of his complaint later provided to investigators for the city.

The organization was virtual and did not have a formal office. As a result, former employees said, work meetings often took place at Jacobs’ home and sometimes over alcoholic drinks, blurring the line between personal and professional. Evening fundraisers, which also frequently involved alcohol, made those lines even fuzzier. Jeremy Bernard, who did not work for the Courage Campaign but knew Jacobs socially during that time, agreed that Jacobs could be “handsy” and “aggressive” when drinking alcohol, according to his testimony.

In his deposition, Jacobs denied ever sexually harassing any employee of the Courage Campaign.

When asked whether he had kissed an employee without his consent, Jacobs replied, “I don’t recall doing so. Not without his consent.”

Jacobs is no longer formally associated with the Courage Campaign, which renamed itself Courage California and is now led by Executive Director Irene Kao.

NPR contacted Kao for comment about the former employees’ allegations.

“The allegations you shared happened some time ago, so I don’t think it would serve any purpose to send them to me at this time,” Kao wrote in an email. “Any allegations of any kind of discrimination or harassment is taken very seriously by Courage California, and we believe all parties should be afforded a just legal process.”

Kao declined to comment on Jacobs’ role with the organization, citing concerns about privacy.

During that same era, before Jacobs was hired at City Hall in 2013, Yashar Ali, a freelance journalist and former political fundraiser, said that Jacobs grabbed his face with two hands, forcibly kissed him on the lips at a party and said, “God your lips are so soft.” Ali, who is gay, said the kisses were not consensual and made him uncomfortable. He said he did not push Jacobs away.

“And once he did that, and I didn’t object to it, he continued,” Ali told NPR in an interview. “But not objecting to something is not consent. It’s just not objecting.” He estimates that Jacobs kissed him about a dozen times over the years and that Garcetti was sometimes present at these parties.

Jacobs spoke about this allegation with investigators for the city. “In Mr. Jacobs’ experience growing up and as a gay man, kissing on the mouth was a common way to greet others,” the investigators wrote in their report. Jacobs said that he believed the kisses with Ali were consensual and part of a “cutesy little game.” Ali told NPR that Jacobs’ statement was “absurd” and false.

NPR spoke to multiple sources who said that Ali’s story is consistent with their own experience and that Jacobs was widely known to touch people at parties in ways that made them uncomfortable. The Los Angeles Times and New York magazine both reported additional accounts of men who said Jacobs groped them at parties.

Garcetti’s own description of Jacobs’ behavior at parties has changed over time.

In his deposition, Garcetti testified, “I have no memory of ever meeting” Ali. But he said he witnessed Jacobs kissing people on the lips as a greeting in social environments.

“I think he might have been receiving it as much as somebody giving it,” Garcetti testified.

In an interview with city investigators, Garcetti said the contact he witnessed was appropriate, because Jacobs is gay and Jewish and, as Garcetti put it, Jews are an affectionate “hugging kind of people.”

But in his response to NPR’s questions for this story, Garcetti had a different answer.

“I don’t recall ever seeing Rick Jacobs kiss anybody, aside from social kisses on the cheek to say hello,” Garcetti wrote in an email.

NPR sought clarification of Garcetti’s answer, given that he had previously testified seeing Jacobs kiss people on the lips.

“There’s no contradiction,” Garcetti wrote in a follow-up email. “I only ever saw Rick kiss others during the normal course of social greetings, and I never witnessed any inappropriate behavior. I’ve given this testimony consistently.”

2. At LA City Hall, allegations of unwanted massages, kisses, sexual innuendo and racist comments

When Garcetti began running for LA mayor in 2013, Jacobs raised more than $2 million to support Garcetti’s campaign and attack his opponent.

Shortly thereafter, Garcetti hired Jacobs as his deputy chief of staff and gave him a special title, “executive vice mayor.” Together, Garcetti and Jacobs helped create a nonprofit called the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles. The organization raises private, tax-deductible donations from individuals, corporations and charities to help pay for initiatives in the city. Since its founding, the organization has faced questions about whether corporations, wealthy donors and even the government of Qatar, which is known for censorship and repression, were using contributions to win favor with Garcetti. And while the Mayor’s Fund is technically independent from the city government, it had an office at LA City Hall. (After Karen Bass became LA mayor, the organization moved its office out of City Hall and embraced new ethics guidelines regarding donations.)

In addition to the Mayor’s Fund, Jacobs also worked with Garcetti to create a nonprofit called Accelerator for America, which helped boost Garcetti’s presidential ambitions, as well as a political action committee called the Democratic Midterm Victory Fund, which raised money from big donors in Hollywood and business. Among the PAC’s donors were the tech billionaires Elon Musk and David Sacks.

“Rick Jacobs brought Eric Garcetti to the ball,” said Seligman, the former Garcetti communications director. “Rick Jacobs introduced him to the biggest donors he has. Rick Jacobs was his ticket.”

Naomi Seligman, who was Garcetti's communications director from 2015 to 2017, has come forward to say she believes he lied under oath.

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Jessica Pons for NPR

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In Garcetti’s world, Jacobs “had more power than any other adviser,” said Emmerling, the other former Garcetti communications director.

In a 2019 email to some of his top advisers, Garcetti wrote, “I have led a new culture at City Hall that has been recognized as the best in the country.”

Behind the scenes, the picture was much darker, and often beset by internal rivalries.

Jacobs himself told city investigators that City Hall was an environment of “literal hatred.”

Five city employees testified that Jacobs subjected them to unwanted, inappropriate or otherwise discomfiting physical contact at work, including a forcible kiss, massages, squeezes and tight hugs.

Other City Hall employees testified that they witnessed physical contact between Jacobs and other employees. Former Chief of Staff Ana Guerrero, who remains close to Garcetti, told city investigators that Jacobs used hugs to “assert his dominance” with lower-level employees, though she did not describe the contact as sexual harassment. A former press secretary for Garcetti testified that Jacobs sexually harassed her fiancé at a dinner party.

Julie Ciardullo, then chief legal counsel in the mayor’s office, testified about an incident that she said Garcetti personally witnessed, in which Jacobs allegedly cornered her in a cramped elevator and pushed against her body, joking about the “tight fit.” He was “joking around” and “invading my personal space,” even after she told him to “cut it out,” Ciardullo testified. Jacobs stopped only after Garcetti intervened, she said. Ciardullo said that she did not consider the incident sexual harassment. Garcetti’s spokesperson told the LA Times that he did not remember the incident, but Ciardullo’s “description is consistent with how [Garcetti] would handle any situation where he witnesses someone behaving unprofessionally.”

Multiple witnesses testified that Jacobs regularly made sexual comments and jokes to employees.

In addition to Jacobs’ racist reference to his Asian American assistant — which three witnesses testified to — investigators for Senate Republicans reported that Jacobs used the term “yellow people” to describe participants at a U.S.-China summit. Paul Kadzielski, a former digital director in the Garcetti administration, testified that “occasionally [Jacobs] would make jokes of a racial nature that would make me uncomfortable.”

The testimony and other evidence in the case suggest that concern about Jacobs’ workplace behavior was widely known.

“My impression was that Rick’s behavior was common knowledge among people who were my superiors,” testified Anna Bahr, a former Garcetti press secretary, “and my expectation of any repercussions for him was zero.”

Emmerling told NPR that Jacobs was seen as “beyond untouchable,” so people were reluctant to speak out. “Everyone would just say, ‘Well, he’s always gonna win. You’re never gonna push back against him or any of his behavior and prevail. So you truly don’t have a choice but to just accept it,’” Emmerling said.

Garcetti testified — and reiterated to NPR — that he never witnessed any inappropriate behavior of any kind from Jacobs.

“As someone who has spent years advocating for victims of sexual harassment, I was deeply saddened to learn about these allegations during the course of the litigation,” Garcetti told NPR in an email. “What frustrates me most is that I was only made aware of these allegations years later, in [a] lawsuit and through the press during a campaign to damage my political career. I wish these individuals — and their supervisors — had come forward while this behavior was allegedly taking place. Had that happened, I would have taken immediate action to stop it.”

3. A hush agreement kept an allegation of workplace misconduct and retaliation secret

One revelation from the records obtained by NPR is that the sexual harassment lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles was not the first time Jacobs faced a formal claim of workplace misconduct.

Because of a confidentiality agreement, the details of the accusation were hidden from the public. NPR is reporting them now for the first time.

While at City Hall, Jacobs served as the board treasurer of the Mayor’s Fund and also as a kind of liaison between the fund and Garcetti. After he left his city position, Garcetti wrote in an email that Jacobs “will continue to keep me apprised of and engaged in the excellent work the Fund is doing.”

In 2018, Jeremy Bernard, a former social secretary in the Obama White House, took on the role of CEO of the Mayor’s Fund. Bernard had been a close friend of Jacobs. But that relationship changed when Bernard became alarmed by Jacobs’ treatment of Mayor’s Fund employees.

Jeremy Bernard, the former CEO of the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, said he found part of Garcetti’s testimony “hard to believe.”

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Jessica Pons for NPR

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Bernard testified that Jacobs “could be quite rude” to female employees and treated them poorly in comparison with male employees.

According to testimony from the case obtained by NPR, this was not an isolated concern for women in and around the Garcetti administration. Multiple people who worked in and around City Hall said under oath that Jacobs bullied and abused female colleagues.

Jacobs was “mean spirited and condescending,” was “very disrespectful and very demeaning” and “created a hostile work environment,” testified one senior adviser to Garcetti. He was “dismissive of women in general” and was “generally disliked among women at City Hall,” said a fundraiser for Garcetti. “He was belittling, demeaning, at times, cruel,” said a former press secretary for Garcetti. He was “short-tempered, very snappy and snide,” testified one former administration official. He was “controlling” and “made my life more difficult,” said another former official.

Bernard testified that he reported concerns about Jacobs’ treatment of female employees to the chair of the board of the Mayor’s Fund, Kathleen Brown, in April 2020. (Brown is a former California state treasurer, and her father, Pat Brown, and her brother, Jerry Brown, both served as governor of the state.)

A few days later, Bernard participated in a conference call with Brown and Jacobs. On that call, Bernard said, he was fired.

Bernard testified that he was “shocked and dismayed” by what took place and that he believes his firing was an act of retaliation for reporting workplace misconduct.

“Did you form an impression that Rick Jacobs retaliates against people that complain about him?” Bernard was asked in his deposition.

“Yeah. I think that is a fair assumption,” he replied.

There’s a reason this complaint has not been publicly reported before.

Bernard and Jacobs were bound by a “bilateral confidentiality” agreement surrounding the circumstances of Bernard’s firing, deposition testimony indicates. Bernard declined to comment to NPR in any way about the circumstances of his departure from the organization.

An attorney representing the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, Lisa Von Eschen, told NPR in an email, “It is the policy of the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles not to comment on personnel matters,” and said that because of changes in the board membership, no current board members were involved in the decision. She did not answer a question about whether the organization still intends to enforce any confidentiality agreement about Bernard’s dismissal.

Brown, the former board chair, did not respond to multiple messages from NPR seeking comment.

Bernard testified that “I assume [Garcetti] knows” about the reason for his firing, but he was not certain.

Garcetti told NPR that he was not involved in personnel decisions of the Mayor’s Fund and was not aware of the circumstances of Bernard’s exit.

“Aside from one instance of a colleague complaining that Rick had taken credit for their work, and Rick calling that person territorial — a professional conflict which I helped resolve — no complaints about Rick were ever raised with me,” Garcetti told NPR. “As I’ve said too many times to count over the years — if anyone had ever made me aware of any inappropriate behavior, I would have acted to stop it.”

4. Multiple allegations that Garcetti lied under oath

Two eyewitnesses testified that they heard Garcetti personally express concern about Jacobs’ behavior before the lawsuit made allegations of misconduct public.

“The mayor and his wife had a conversation in the car about Rick Jacobs’ inappropriate behavior,” testified LAPD officer Matthew Garza, who often drove with Garcetti around the city. “I believe they used the wording that it was going to eventually ‘bite them in the ass.’”

Garcetti and his wife testified that they did not have this conversation.

Bernard, the former CEO of the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, testified that Garcetti told him something to the effect of, “I can’t believe Rick worked out at City Hall and that we got through it without a lawsuit.”

“I have never said that to anybody, publicly or privately,” Garcetti testified in his own deposition.

“And were you ever concerned that while Rick Jacobs worked at City Hall, that he might cause a lawsuit somehow?” asked Greg Smith, the attorney for Garza.

“No, I was not,” Garcetti replied.

NPR showed Garcetti’s testimony to Bernard.

“I’m surprised that he denied it. I heard it. And I heard him say it numerous times,” he said. “I find it hard to believe that he doesn’t remember it.”

Garcetti told NPR that he stands by his testimony.

He was also asked in his deposition whether he could recall Jacobs telling jokes at work.

When asked in his deposition whether he made “jokes of a sexual nature” in front of Garcetti’s LAPD protective detail, Jacobs replied, “Oh, it is possible.”

“Have you ever done it in front of the mayor as well?” Smith asked Jacobs.

“I don’t recall,” Jacobs responded.

Garcetti was more definitive.

“I can recall him laughing at jokes, but I can’t recall him telling a joke,” Garcetti testified.

“Did he ever tell any jokes dealing with men’s body parts that you recall?” Smith asked Garcetti.

“In my presence, no,” he replied.

“And you would have never laughed at — never laughed at anything. If you never heard it, you never laughed, right?” Smith added.

“I would’ve — not only did I not laugh, I did not hear it, I did not laugh. Had I heard it, I would not have laughed, and I would’ve taken action,” said Garcetti.

Emmerling told NPR that in her position as communications director, she attended a meeting with both Garcetti and Jacobs in which Jacobs made a joke “about snorting cocaine off of a man’s penis.”

“I think we all laughed,” Emmerling said, including Garcetti.

Garcetti denied Emmerling’s account to NPR.

Suzi Emmerling, who was Garcetti’s communications director from 2017 to 2019, has come forward to say she believes he lied under oath.

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Jessica Pons for NPR

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“Absolutely not. This didn’t happen,” Garcetti wrote in his email to NPR. “I can say with certainty that I would remember a grotesque joke like that, and there’s simply no world in which I would allow that kind of a comment in a professional setting.”

Garcetti maintains that he honestly addressed all questions about the harassment allegations. He told NPR that any criticism that he failed to properly respond to harassment allegations as LA mayor was “silly.”

“I have personally supported victims of harassment my entire life and will continue to do so until the day I die,” Garcetti told NPR in an email. “I have been very honest even as this touched my own office that every one who has made an accusation deserves to be heard and investigated. What I cannot do is lie about my experience — what I have witnessed, what I have heard, what I have known.”

Emmerling told NPR that she “absolutely” believes Garcetti is lying.

“Once you tell your first lie, then you’re dug in,” she said. “And he has no choice now but to continue lying.”

Barrie Hardymon edited this story, and Monika Evstatieva produced it. Research from Barbara Van Woerkom, with art direction and photo editing by Virginia Lozano and graphic by Juweek Adolphe. Copy editing by Preeti Aroon with help from Desiree Hicks. Audience engagement support from Danielle Nett and Ameera Butt.
Copyright 2024 NPR

The city of Long Beach has proposed cutting library hours and laying off librarians to help balance its budget. In response, educators, the local library foundation and union leaders are pushing back, saying the city can’t afford to lose a vital service for kids and families.

Under the budget proposal, five of the city’s 12 libraries — Bay Shore, Burnett, El Dorado, Harte and Michelle Obama — would drop from six days of service back to five, losing their Monday hours just a few years after those hours were added. (The city’s other libraries were already closed on Mondays, and all are closed Sundays.)

On an average Monday, those branches see a total of more than 1,000 visitors, according to city data.

“In a city the size of Long Beach, and with our population, we could be seeing a 2027 where there are no libraries open on Monday. I think that’s pretty crazy,” said Kristen Hernandez with the Long Beach Public Library Foundation. The nonprofit, which raises money for the local library system, is gathering signatures on a petition protesting the cuts. As of Friday, it had more than 1,800 signatures.

Changes to the city library system are a sliver of the cuts unveiled last week by Long Beach City Manager Tom Modica as part of a citywide winnowing in programs and services to close next year’s expected $58 million deficit.

Beyond cuts to programs and facility hours, Modica proposed laying off more than 260 city workers and cutting more than 200 additional vacant positions — about 4% of the city’s roughly 6,000-person workforce.

The proposed library cuts

Local libraries would lose 14 positions, 11 of them currently filled, including five library clerks, four library assistants, a vacant general librarian position at the Billie Jean King Main Library, and a mental health associate who serves as the library’s teen specialist. The plan also cuts funding for library pages who stock books and funding for security services, as well as nearly all print and digital newspaper subscriptions.

The combined cuts would save the department a little more than $1.4 million.

Elizabeth Cespuglio, a librarian at Billie Jean King Library, said that the library assistants at risk of being cut are responsible for planning and running workshops and programs at the branches, pulling materials, tracking which books and genres are most in demand and staffing the information desk. Clerks handle check-outs, check-ins and library cards, while pages keep the shelves organized.

Perhaps most at risk, Cespuglio said, is the library’s mental health associate, Jasmin Flores, who spends her days building rapport with teens in need. Losing that specialist, she said, leaves her “quite fearful” for the patrons and staff alike, since the library’s other social worker focuses on unhoused adults and doesn’t have the time and energy to build the same relationships with youth.

Each day, Flores is the calming face for more than a dozen kids. Many of them are in and out of homelessness; some have been in juvenile detention. Others are LGBTQIA and struggle to find friends; others struggle to find food. She’s already told some that she may not be showing up anymore. It’s a difficult conversation, she said, having to console others for the loss of her job.

“It honestly breaks my heart that I probably will not be in that position anymore,” she said.

Flores’ main worry is that some of them will stop showing up. “We’ve built that rapport, and it hasn’t been easy to build,” she said. “It’s taken a while to get there, and I just hate to see all that go to waste.”

Librarians say they’re already stretched thin

The real problem, Cespuglio said, is that libraries are losing funding even as they’re increasingly in demand — more than 2,800 patrons visit daily across Long Beach’s 12 branches, an 8% rise since last year. The number of programs offered has increased by 50% in the past year, with more than 1,000 adult participants.

Annually, city libraries have continually climbed in foot traffic since the onset of the pandemic, though averages are still lower than in 2018 and 2019.

Branches have been understaffed for more than a decade, Cespuglio said, at least since the last time the city announced library layoffs in 2012.

“There’s still an expectation on the system for us to be doing all of these things and continue the same level of service as we’ve done,” she said. “Cutting those hours, or those Mondays, not only does it impact the public’s access to the library all over the city, but it has these other ramifications in the rest of the five days that the rest of us are working.”

The looming cuts have created an “undercurrent of anxiety” among staff who still don’t know which of them may lose their jobs, according to Cespuglio. Her own position is not at risk, but her partner’s is, and she said the possibility of losing half her household income is real. She said that rent in Long Beach has outpaced her pay raises for the 12 years she’s lived and worked in the city.

The bigger budget picture

The library cuts are part of a far larger fiscal reckoning for Long Beach.

The proposed layoffs stretch across more than a dozen departments and offices, hitting fire, police, homeless services, parks and libraries alike, as the city grapples with rising personnel costs, mounting legal payouts, the loss of federal grants and a local economic slowdown that has weighed on tax revenue.

City officials have said the strategy of previous years — pulling from cash reserves to delay layoffs — is no longer sustainable; the city drained tens of millions of dollars from its reserves, including its emergency fund, just to close out the current fiscal year.

Sashi Muralidharan, a labor representative with the city’s largest union, IAM Local 1930, said they will “fight for every job,” even as labor negotiations — which coincide with the budget talks — are looking grim.

Eighty percent of the positions proposed to be cut are represented by IAM, including 209 filled positions.

“Anything that does result in a layoff, we will be bargaining over those impacts to make sure that we lessen the negative impacts,” Muralidharan said.

At a Long Beach City Council meeting this week, nurses, union shop stewards, library staff and other city workers turned out to protest the cuts, arguing they would bring greater ramifications to the public’s quality of life and further enervate its remaining staff, pushing them to look for work elsewhere.

Nate Kim, a city nurse and negotiator with IAM Local 1930, told the council that while his own position had been renewed, many of his colleagues had not been so fortunate. “Many have been laid off already,” he added. Emily Quest, a resident who uses the library’s free craftspace, begged council members through tears not to cut the hours or the staff who run it.

Mayor Rex Richardson has proposed restoring 70 of the positions slated for elimination and said the city remains on track for its first structural budget surplus by 2028, even as another deficit, projected at $27.3 million, looms for the following year.

The City Council is expected to hold public hearings on the budget through the summer before a final vote in late September. You can find a schedule of hearings to attend here or fill out an online survey to share your priorities with the City Council, which must debate and pass the budget by Oct. 1.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Two months after an oil spill shut down streets in East Los Angeles and disrupted businesses along the Cesar E. Chavez Avenue corridor, many owners are still waiting for reimbursement.

The May spill forced street closures after crews punctured an underground pipeline, sending more than 25,000 gallons of crude oil onto nearby streets and into storm drains. Along the commercial corridor, owners of restaurants, barbershops and bike shops had to cancel appointments, delay deliveries or close their doors for a week as cleanup crews worked in the area.

What the spill cost businesses

In the days following the spill, a survey of nearly 50 businesses near the intersection of East Cesar E. Chavez and Eastern avenues found a 70% to 75% loss in revenue, according to Kelly LoBianco, director of the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity.

“You know how the barbershop gets on a Friday. … We lost a lot of business that week,” said Barber Avila, owner of Brooklyn Lab Barbershop. Avila preferred not to share his first name for this story.

For the past month, Avila has been working with LA County and pipeline operator Pacific Pipeline System (PPS) to submit documents – including tax records, sales reports and expenses – to show how the spill affected his business and file a claim for reimbursement.

Avila said his claim was approved this week and he is now awaiting payment.

Reimbursement has been slow

Many other businesses are seeking reimbursement from PPS, but the process has been slow, LoBianco said.

As of Tuesday, 19 businesses had filed claims. Only one had been approved, while three others were close to approval, LoBianco said. She did not have details on the amount reimbursed.

Veronica Ramos, co-owner of Ramos Industries, a commercial and residential glass and aluminum contractor, said she was reimbursed by PPS a week after submitting a claim. The spill caused contracted jobs to be canceled and deliveries to be rescheduled for a fee because trucks could not access the shop.

Ramos said her business had a bookkeeper who was able to quickly gather the required documents but she worries her neighbors may struggle to provide the needed records for a claim.

A PPS spokesperson said claims are still being accepted and processed. A third-party claims administrator has been helping businesses with the filing process in English and Spanish, the company said.

“We understand how important a timely resolution is for those affected and remain committed to working through each claim as efficiently as possible,” PPS said.

Cleanup could stretch into 2027

What lies ahead are months of soil testing and excavation to remove contaminated soil from the site of the spill, which county officials say could continue into January 2027. Neither Avila nor Ramos knew about the remaining work and worried about how additional street closures could affect their business again.

“It’s good to keep it in mind,” Ramos said.

Was your business affected by the oil spill?

Anyone who believes they were impacted by the oil spill can still contact the PPS claims line at 1-877-817-5465 to be connected to a third-party administrator who can guide them through the process in English and Spanish, PPS said. There is currently no deadline to submit a claim.

The Department of Economic Opportunity’s Office of Small Business (OSB) is continuing to provide guidance on claim preparation, documentation requirements, and submission for affected businesses. To book a one-on-one appointment, businesses can:

• Call OSB at (844) 432-4900,
• Visit OSB’s East LA Entrepreneurship Center located at 4716 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., or; 
• Email osb@opportunity.lacounty.gov. 

All impacted businesses seeking assistance should indicate that their request is related to the East LA oil spill.

How to avoid scams:

Rafael Carbajal, director of the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) said bad actors may prey upon communities during environmental disasters like the oil spill including contractors and legal services providers.

Carbajal said the DCBA office is helping residents verify contractors, legal services providers and is providing information on their website on how to recognize scams.

Residents who have concerns or questions can call the DCBA hotline at (800) 593-8222.

Composer Charles-Henri Avelange has wanted to find a way to honor firefighters with music since the 9/11 attacks.

Last month, that longtime dream started to take shape when over 85 orchestral musicians working in Hollywood gathered at a Sony Pictures Studio soundstage to record the “Fireman's Prayer.”

The poem, written by Alvin William “Smokey” Linn, was inspired by an apartment fire in 1958 in which three children died. It’s something every firefighter learns to recite.

Not long after moving to the U.S., Avelange found the Fireman’s Prayer inscribed on the wall of a firehouse in 2006 — and began singing a melody.

Avelange asked the firefighters whether the piece was already set to music. “Because to me, this is not just a prayer, it's an anthem,” he said.

Twenty-four hours later, he had written the first draft of the anthem.

Charles-Henri Avelange.

(

Slava Pedan

/

Courtesy The Fireman's Prayer project

)

A $100,000 vision, and no idea how to pull it off 

Avelange’s vision was to have 200 to 250 musicians, including a children's choir, full adult choir, full orchestra and a 56-piece drum and bagpipe corps for the recording, which costs nearly $100,000. All proceeds from the song would go to firefighters.

 “Everybody who knows me eventually always heard about the Fireman's Prayer,” he said. “I have no idea how or when it will get done.”

Composer Charles-Henri Avelange has set the poem, The Fireman's Prayer, to music.

(

Slava Pedan

/

The Fireman's Prayer project

)

Then the January 2025  fires hit Los Angeles. Avelange and his wife found themselves just blocks from a Palisades Fire evacuation zone. They could see the firefighters protecting homes on their street.

“My wife, Jennifer … looked at me and she said, ‘Well, if this is not a sign, Charles, this thing is needed. It is really time.’”

Thanks to private donations, Avelange recorded with the Los Angeles Children’s Choir and the Los Angeles Master Chorale in May. He is still fundraising to record  the Pipes and Drums of California Professional Firefighters performing.

Last month, he was joined by Grammy-winning conductor Grant Gershon and many of Hollywood’s best musicians — some are survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires — to record the orchestral portion of an anthem he had heard only as digital samples for nearly 20 years.

Joining them in the audience were members of the firefighting community.

 “When I heard them playing, it sounded exactly the way it's supposed to and actually even better,” he said. “It was quite a magical moment.”

This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:

• CalFire incident page
• City of Burbank
  

Evacuation orders for DeBell Restaurant and Golf Course and Stough Canyon Nature Center remain in place for a fire burning in Wildwood Canyon above Burbank.

Evacuation warnings for Churches Ct. and Country Club Drive were lifted at 6:20 p.m.

As of 5:55 p.m., the fire had burned 40 acres and 70% contained, according to Burbank.

The Walnut Fire broke out Saturday afternoon near the intersection East Harvard Road and Wildwood Canyon Road.

Hiking trails around the area are closed. The Starlight Bowl concert scheduled for tonight has been canceled.

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Fire resources and tips

Check out LAist's wildfire recovery guide

If you have to evacuate:

• Why fire officials don't want you to stay and defend your home
• How to get packed up
• How to leave your house
• What evacuation terms mean and how to sign up for alerts

Navigating fire conditions:

• How to drive in high winds and fire danger
• How to prep for power outages
• How to navigate poor air quality

How to help yourself and others:

• Resources for fire victims, evacuees and first responders
• If you want to help fire victims, resist the urge to volunteer
• How to help find lost pets

How to start the recovery process:

• What to do — and not do — when you get home after a wildfire
• How to make an insurance claim
• How to safely clean up wildfire ash

What to do for your kids:

• How to talk to children about wildfires and losing a home
• What parents should know about wildfire air quality

Prepare for the next disaster:

• Fire season is here. Make sure you're signed up for these alerts
• Every day is now fire season. Let's get you ready for the next wildfire
• Yes, wildfires are getting worse. The history that got us to this moment