Nick Gerda
is an accountability reporter who has covered local government in Southern California for more than a decade.
Published April 17, 2024 5:00 AM
Rhiannon Do in a YouTube video posted in August 2021 by the Steinberg Institute, a mental health policy advocacy group, where she was a legislative intern.
The backstory: Rhiannon Do is the 22-year-old daughter of O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do. LAist uncovered that he directed more than $13 million to a nonprofit that records show Rhiannon Do helped lead over the last two years. The vast majority of the money was directed outside of the public’s view and did not appear on public agendas. Andrew Do did not publicly disclose his family ties before awarding the funds.
What she said: In a brief email exchange with LAist, Rhiannon Do said her role was limited to mental health services and a different meals program from the one under scrutiny. She said she was not a director or officer of the overall nonprofit, and never had any role in its finances. She also says she no longer works for Viet America Society. The comments were her first public statements since LAist’s investigation began in November.
Records show otherwise: LAist has obtained nine different public records that show her in top-level leadership positions at the nonprofit during the timeframe under scrutiny, including president, officer and director. Some were signed by Rhiannon Do herself. In her replies to LAist, she didn’t explain those records after LAist asked about them.
Viet America Society’s lawyer cites “sloppiness” and negligence": There [were] a lot of things that were screwed up,” the nonprofit's attorney said when asked about the documents showing Rhiannon Do leading the group. “It doesn’t make them true,” he said. “It just makes them negligent.”
Do previously did not respond to LAist, but answered some questions by email early this month. She told LAist: “It has been amply shown that I was never an officer or director for VAS.”
She did not provide information showing that was the case.
Do did not answer follow-up questions asking how she explains those records.
Do is a second year law student at UC Irvine, and the daughter of O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do and Cheri Pham, the assistant presiding judge of O.C. Superior Court.
The responses to LAist — signed “Rhiannon Do” — were from an email address that, according to records LAist obtained from the county, Rhiannon Do used to communicate with county staff. In one of those emails, from February 2022, Rhiannon Do represented herself as Viet America Society’s executive director.
The funding being questioned by county staff was tied to COVID-relief funded meals earmarked for residents in need during the pandemic.
Rhiannon Do says her role was limited
Rhiannon Do said that at Viet America Society she worked on mental health services — and was not connected to millions in coronavirus relief dollars that her father directed to the group.
Catch up on the investigation
In November 2023, LAist began investigating how millions in public taxpayer dollars were spent. In total, LAist has uncovered over $13 million in public money that went to a little-known nonprofit that records state was led on and off by Rhiannon Do, the now 22-year-old daughter of O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do. Most of that money was directed to the group by Supervisor Do outside of the public’s view and never appeared on public meeting agendas. He did not publicly disclose his family ties.
Much of the known funding came from federal coronavirus relief money.
Since we started reporting, we’ve also uncovered the group is nearly two years overdue in completing a required audit into whether the meal funds were spent appropriately. A second required audit is 10-months overdue.
And we found the amount of taxpayer money directed to the nonprofit was much larger than initially known. It totals at least $13.5 million in county funding — tallied from government records obtained and published by LAist.
After our reporting, O.C. officials wrote demand letters to the nonprofit saying millions in funding were unaccounted for. They warned it could be forced to repay the funds.
And, last month, we found the nonprofit missed a deadline set by county officials to provide proof about how funding for meals were spent.
“I have worked for the past 3 years to help them stand up a mental health clinic, which was the first of its kind for the Vietnamese American community in Orange County,” she wrote.
The clinic — Warner Wellness Center — received authorizations for up to $3.1 million in county-funded subcontracts, which her father voted to fund without publicly disclosing his close family connection.
County records show Rhiannon Do signed $375,000 of those subcontracts as president of Viet America Society, which does business under the Warner Wellness name. Amid questions about her qualifications to lead a mental health clinic, Rhiannon Do’s father has pointed to her undergraduate internship working on mental health legislation at the Steinberg Institute as her experience.
As for her role at Viet America Society, Rhiannon Do wrote to LAist that she “was later hired to work on a proposal for the Elderly Nutrition Program, a food service program for seniors, which was completely unrelated to Covid and any Covid funding.”
“I was never involved in any of the Covid meal gap programs or have ever played any role in the back office or financial side of VAS,” she added.
Millions have gone unaccounted for
At Supervisor Do’s direction, Viet America Society has received more than $9 million from the county to feed needy residents, plus $1 million to build a Vietnam War memorial. He also joined votes to fund up to $3.1 million in mental health subcontracts for the group, all without disclosing his close family connection.
Supervisor Do has not responded to multiple interview requests from LAist over the past six months. In a November interview with another news outlet, he defended his decisions to award money to his daughter’s group without public disclosure, saying he wasn’t required to disclose his family connection.
At issue, as county officials warned in a series of letters in February: the group has failed to document what happened with the first year-and-a-half of meal funding it directly received from the county, totaling $2.7 million in 2021 and the first half of 2022.
County officials set mid-March deadlines for Viet America Society to provide long overdue proof of how that money was used. The nonprofit missed the first deadline, which covered funding for the first half of 2021.
Then, the day after the March 14 deadline, a lawyer for the group said it was working to provide the county what it’s looking for.
Nearly a month later, the group has not yet provided any more documents, according to county spokesperson Jennifer Ayari. She responded via email late last week to questions from LAist.
The county’s extended deadline for Viet America Society to submit overdue documents is now April 24 at 5 p.m., Ayari wrote.
Those documents include accounting records, a list of who received meals, the dates meals were delivered, delivery addresses and contact info for the people who received meals.
Bridgecreek Plaza strip mall, which has offices for Viet America Society and Warner Wellness in Huntington Beach.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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The timeframe for the meals funding that’s under scrutiny overlaps with Rhiannon Do representing herself as the nonprofit’s executive director, in the February 2022 email to a county executive.
What records show about Rhiannon Do's role
LAist has obtained nine different public records listing Rhiannon Do as one of the group’s top leaders, including instances of her signatures as VAS’s president on county-funded subcontracts. Among the records:
The nonprofit’s original public tax filing for 2022, which marked Rhiannon Do as the only officer and only director during calendar year 2022. It states it was signed under penalty of perjury in October 2023 by Peter Pham, the group’s founder.
October 2023 board meeting minutes for Viet America Society, which showed Rhiannon Do as one of the group’s three directors and officers, and participating in decisions at the meeting. They show her joining a vote with the two other directors — Peter Pham and Dinh Mai – in authorizing Pham and Mai to sign checks from the nonprofit’s bank account.
Rhiannon Do signed as Viet America Society’s president on two county-fundedsubcontracts for mental health outreach services, totaling $375,000.
In her recent email exchange with LAist, Rhiannon Do said she’s parted ways with Viet America Society.
“I am also no longer with VAS or the Warner Wellness Center,” she said, referring to the name the nonprofit has used for its mental health work.
She didn’t respond to a follow-up email asking why she left.
In February, Viet America Society was informed it would no longer be allowed to perform its county-funded mental health work. That work was funded through subcontracts with the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community (OCAPICA) and the OC chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI OC).
Nonprofit attorney: ‘A lot of things that were screwed up’
In a phone interview with LAist this week, Sterling Scott Winchell, Viet America Society’s lawyer, told LAist that Rhiannon Do “was basically just a caseworker.” He attributed the paper trail showing otherwise to “sloppiness” and negligence.
“Contracts were written with the wrong name on them. She never held that title. Things happen,” Winchell said last week in his first interview with LAist.
“I can speculate for you,” he added. “There was a previous entity, and she may have been an officer in that before the funding started. But I don’t know why the contracts and so forth were drafted that way. I think it was just sloppiness."
He didn’t specify what that entity was. But Rhiannon Do and two other VAS leaders were listed as officers starting in mid 2021 for a private company — Behavioral Health Solutions — that operated under the Warner Wellness name before Viet America Society took on the name in late 2022, according to state and county registration records.
Many of the records showing Rhiannon Do in leadership at Viet America Society — including the subcontracts and directors meeting minutes — are dated many months after Behavioral Health Solutions informed the state in early January 2023 that it had shut down.
LAist asked Winchell about the paper trail showing Rhiannon Do in top leadership positions at the group, including president, vice president, director and officer.
“Yeah, I would agree with you. There [were] a lot of things that were screwed up. It doesn’t make them true, it just makes them negligent,” Winchell said.
Winchell was Supervisor Do’s appointee to the county ethics commission from 2018 to 2023. He told the county he was hired in late February to represent the nonprofit.
Winchell recently told the OC Register that the nonprofit has refiled its 2022 tax filing without Rhiannon Do’s name as an officer. An amended version of the filing, marked as received by the state Attorney General’s charity registry on March 25, no longer lists her as an officer. It has a note at the end stating it was amended to “Remove Rhiannon Do out” and that “She is not an officer of Viet America Society.”
Attorney also says answers will come in audit
Winchell said the county’s questions would be straightened out in an upcoming audit commissioned by the nonprofit. That audit was required under its county contract, and is nearly two years overdue.
In its demand letters in February, the county warned that it could make the nonprofit repay the money if it doesn’t prove what happened with it.
Winchell said the nonprofit and the county are working closely.
“We’re working together toward a common goal. Our success is their success. It’s not adversarial,” he said. “I understand that controversy gets clicks. But there’s no adversarial relationship between these parties. We’re working together."
“They fell behind on some administrative issues, so they hired me,” he added of the nonprofit.
Winchell said the audit will provide answers about how the money was spent.
Asked if all of the dollars provided to the group for meals went to providing meals, Winchell said: “That’s my understanding.”
“If it’s not the case, the audit will reveal that,” he continued. “My understanding is that all the money — whatever money’s been used, has gone to where it should go.”
Winchell said he thinks the audit will be completed by the end of June.
A county spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that the county is currently working with Viet America Society on compliance requirements.
In her emailed responses to LAist, Rhiannon Do said there was nothing improper about how Viet America Society’s funding was used.
The “insinuation that there was something untoward with the use of VAS funds is fabricated” and a “false narrative,” wrote Do.
In a follow-up email, she said she never “played any role in the back office or financial side of VAS.”
How to watchdog local government
One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.
Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.
David Wagner
covers housing in Southern California, a place where the lack of affordable housing contributes to homelessness.
Published June 18, 2026 4:53 PM
L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto is seen at a news conference.
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Carlin Stiehl
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
Los Angeles city housing officials are pushing back on allegations from the outgoing city attorney, who claims that a legal aid provider has failed to comply with its taxpayer-funded contract to help tenants avoid eviction.
Why it matters: At stake in the dispute is $177 million — approved months ago by the mayor and City Council but still awaiting the city attorney’s signature — to help renters stay housed.
The dispute: For more than a year, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto has refused to authorize new long-term funding for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, or LAFLA. On Thursday, she told LAist the delay was due to the nonprofit’s alleged failure to account for how it spends city funds. LAFLA leaders strongly disputed those claims, saying they have provided detailed accountings of their caseloads and tenant outcomes. Officials with the L.A. Housing Department sent LAist their own statement, saying contract monitoring and reporting requirements have been upheld.
Read on … to learn more about the backstory to this fight and what could happen next.
Los Angeles city housing officials are pushing back on allegations from the outgoing city attorney, who claims that a legal aid provider has failed to comply with its taxpayer-funded contract to help tenants avoid eviction.
For more than a year, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto has refused to authorize new long-term funding for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, or LAFLA. On Thursday, she told LAist the delay was due to the nonprofit’s alleged failure to account for how it spends city funds.
“They didn't comply with the monthly reporting that they were supposed to do,” Feldstein Soto said. “They still haven't done so.”
LAFLA leaders strongly disputed those claims, saying they have provided detailed accountings of their caseloads and tenant outcomes. Barbara Schultz, LAFLA’s housing director, told LAist her organization has fully complied with the terms of its contract.
“After months of highly unusual investigations, document requests and audits that extend well beyond the scope of [the city attorney’s] office, she has failed to identify any misconduct — because there isn't any,” Schultz said.
Officials with the L.A. Housing Department also told LAist the contract monitoring and reporting requirements have been upheld.
“LAFLA has complied with every request for information put forth by LAHD,” said department spokesperson Sharon Sandow. “Like all new programs, tracking and information systems have been improved as the program has matured over the past five years. LAFLA provided the information requested.”
City attorney’s dispute with legal aid group runs deeps
Feldstein Soto has frequently clashed with LAFLA. Separate from its tenant defense work, the organization has joined lawsuits against the city over its homelessness policies.
Feldstein Soto has objected to giving LAFLA city funds, telling council members in a confidential memo earlier this year that the city should “reconsider the award of such a large contract to a frequent litigant against the city.”
Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, LAFLA has led Stay Housed L.A., a city- and county-funded effort to provide eviction defense, rent relief and other aid to tenants at risk of losing their housing.
The city has also tasked LAFLA with scaling up the city’s “Right To Counsel” ordinance, which provides free attorneys to qualified low-income renters facing eviction. Statistics show that landlords almost always have attorneys in eviction proceedings, but renters rarely come to court with lawyers of their own.
Last year, Feldstein Soto rejected a new five-year contract with the organization, saying any further funding should have gone through a competitive bidding process. The city responded by opening up a new call for submissions. Officials ultimately selected the Legal Aid Foundation to continue eviction defense services. The City Council and mayor approved that contract in April.
But Feldstein Soto has continued to withhold her signature. On Monday, she issued a report detailing why she has delayed the contract with LAFLA, as well as contracts with other tenant aid groups slated to receive funding for rent relief programs, enforcement of the city’s ordinance against tenant harassment and tenant rights education programs.
Feldstein Soto’s report included a series of audits of LAFLA from the Harrington Group, an independent accounting firm. When LAist asked if she had identified any evidence of impropriety in those audits, representatives for her office did not respond.
Data on tenant outcomes
Feldstein Soto said she believes information provided by LAFLA is insufficient to determine how many eviction cases involving city funding went to court, what the outcomes were or the average cost per case.
“The funds that we provided have not been accounted for properly in any way, shape or form,” Feldstein Soto said.
On Wednesday, the city’s housing department published a report saying Stay Housed L.A. has assisted tenants in 27,273 eviction cases, including 6,522 cases in which tenants were fully represented by a lawyer throughout their legal proceedings.
Over the last four years, 53% of fully represented tenants stayed in their homes, according to the report. Another 41% were able to negotiate agreements in which their landlords gave them more time to move out, forgave their overdue rent or sealed their eviction record. Less than 3% of tenants lost their case in court.
Much of the funding for the tenant aid contracts comes from the city’s so-called “mansion tax,” which could soon be scaled back by the city’s voters in a potential November ballot measure.
What comes next?
Schultz said if city leaders are not satisfied with the accounting, they could ask for a formal audit through the City Controller’s Office. Feldstein Soto launched an audit of LAFLA last year, but has not released any findings so far. She told LAist more information could be coming soon.
“I am likely to file both a public report and a confidential report with my client, because you can't just gift away public funds without an audit trail and without transparency and accountability,” Feldstein Soto said.
Meanwhile, tenant advocates say smaller legal aid nonprofits that receive city funding as subcontractors are in danger of running out of money soon. Lawyers could be laid off and tenants could become homeless if funding is not approved quickly, they argue.
Schultz said the City Council may need to look for ways to approve the funding without the involvement of Feldstein Soto, who recently came in third place in the June primary election. She will not advance to the general election for a second term.
“I think that the council should definitely look at — if they had a rogue city attorney that refused to follow their directions — what other avenues they could explore,” Schultz said.
City Council members have introduced a motion calling on the city attorney’s office to explain the delay. That request was supposed to come up for a vote in a housing committee meeting this week, but it was ultimately canceled due to an earlier meeting of the full City Council that ran hours over schedule.
Yusra Farzan
thinks Orange County has a better food scene that LA County.
Published June 18, 2026 4:00 PM
Rafael De Anda (center) with his sons Raphael De Anda and Christian De Anda.
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Yusra Farzan
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LAist
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Topline:
Raphael De Anda and Christian De Anda inherited a taqueria from their father, Rafael De Anda, Taqueria Hoy in Orange County. An immigrant from Mexico, he stills work there with them. They also say they inherited his work ethic and learned other life principles from him. In honor of Father’s Day, we’re celebrating those lessons here.
Taco truck life lessons: Many, including "Keep it simple, do it well," "Life isn't complicated, we are the ones who complicate it," and "Do what you can with what you're given."
Parting wisdom: "How do you eat a big burrito? One bite at a time." A mantra to live by.
When I visited Taqueria Hoy in Orange, owner Rafael De Anda couldn’t wait to get home to watch Mexico kick off its World Cup stint. After decades at the helm of his taco shop — he first started it as a food truck and now has brick-and-mortar locations in Orange, Santa Ana and Anaheim — he could put his feet up and relax. The business was in good hands.
His sons, Raphael V. De Anda, 34, and Christian De Anda, 30, had been working at the taqueria since childhood. But when Rafael De Anda was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2011 and battling the disease, the young men took over the complete running of the business — with their father still an integral part.
While I get a lot of emails pitching stories for LAist, rarely does a story materialize from one of them. But when Raphael De Anda emailed me about Taqueria Hoy, including a video that captured the warmth of his and his brother’s relationship with their father, it quickly piqued my interest.
In it they are quick to praise him for his work ethic and the lessons he’s imparted to them. In honor of Father’s Day, we’re celebrating those lessons here.
Rafael De Anda makes tacos at his taqueria in Orange.
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Yusra Farzan
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LAist
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Lesson No. 1: Keep it simple and do it well
Rafael De Anda is from Arandas in Jalisco, and crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 1974. A few years into life in the Santa Ana area, he realized there was no good taqueria around, unless you drove to Los Angeles or San Diego. And so Taqueria De Anda was born in the 80s, before it was rebranded to Taqueria Hoy in 2020.
He says he wanted the tacos to taste just like the ones he used to have every day. ”If you eat my tacos here, if you go to any part of Mexico, it will have to be the same,” he explained.
Taqueria Hoy has a straightforward menu, offering the usual carne asada, al pastor, pollo, chorizo and carnitas, along with cabeza (cheek) and lengua (tongue), the most tender cuts of beef.
Cabeza and carne asada tacos adorned with the Taqueria Hoy's green and red salsas.
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Cooking the meats to perfection, he says, and keeping the quality consistently good keeps people keep coming back — sometimes spanning generations.
It's one of his first lessons for his sons: Keep it simple but do it well. “ If you're not gonna eat them, don't sell it.”
That philosophy even extends to their red and green Hoysioso salsas, made in-house with high quality ingredients.
Only three people in the world know the recipe — Rafael De Anda and his two sons. And the sons have promised to make the condiment just the way he taught them.
Lesson No. 2: Honor your customers and staff
“ We just started making tacos and that's it,” Rafael De Anda said, never expecting for the business to last more than forty years. "We were busy and then we just kept going and going.”
He and his sons credit that to their customer base. Some of them are the great grandsons of those first customers, according to Raphael De Anda.
”We're very grateful to the community that has accepted us and that has allowed us to continue to serve tacos for all these years,” he said.
Some of the workers at Taqueria Hoy have been with Rafael De Anda for decades.
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Yusra Farzan
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That love for their customer base also extends to their workers. Some have been at the taco shop for decades. Raphael De Anda said his father was a father figure to many, including those who crossed the border when they were young. He’d nurture them and help them get settled in the United States.
“He didn't only have two boys. He had many, many children,” Raphael De Anda said.
Lesson No. 3: Trust your kids
Now I love my father, but I cannot imagine working directly alongside him. I'm open and friendly at work, the type of person who would bake cupcakes for my colleagues' kids. My dad, on the other hand, would never hang out with someone outside of the office. Two different generations, two very different upbringings. One was raised in a strict all-boys Catholic school in Sri Lanka, another in an international school in Sharjah, UAE.
But while Rafael De Anda had a very different upbringing to his sons — him in Jalisco, his sons as American-born citizens who went to Chapman University — he's been open to their ideas and approaches.
They have taken to social media, using Instagram to explain how taqueros make carne asada, show off their heart shaped takeout containers for Valentine’s Day, and share collaborative posts with influencers.
“ Their way of approaching the business has been a little switching to the modern culture,” Rafael De Anda said. “I like it, that's something that I would not be able to do, to be honest.”
He adds that he keeps a close eye on what they are doing. “And to be honest, I'm proud of them,” Rafael De Anda said, uttering the magical words every kid wants to hear from their immigrant parents.
Lesson No. 4: Life isn't complicated. We're the ones who complicate it
Raphael De Anda said his father has instilled in his brother and him the importance of focusing on the task at hand rather than worrying too much about the future.
"Sometimes my brother and I will talk with my Dad. "Hey, what do the projections look like for this year?" he said. "My Dad's like "well, it doesn't really matter. As long as we take care of what we're doing now, things will work out."
And Raphael De Anda said it always does end up working out.
Lesson No. 5: I do what I can with what I am given
Their father was not one to live in the future, and neither did he spend time worrying, his sons said.
"Instead of saying, "Oh, woe is me. I wish I had more customers", Raphael De Anda said, his father would focus on the customers he had.
Growth happened organically. Their father found the Santa Ana location through a conversation with a regular customer who was selling his billiards shop.
"The owner said, "We care for you so much and your presence, you've meant so much to the community. We want to offer you to buy the building first," recounted Raphael De Anda.
And he did.
Lesson No. 6: Be honest with yourself before you can be honest with others
The sons grew up hearing their father reiterate the message of staying true and authentic.
" Don't change who you are for others and that mantra is also carried through in everything we do here at the restaurant," said Raphael De Anda.
Birria, for example, is a popular offering at taquerias across Southern California. But, it's not something on offer at Taqueria Hoy.
"That's not who we are. We have to be honest that we are a taco and burrito makers first," Raphael De Anda said.
And the burritos at Taqueria Hoy are massive.
And for some parting wisdom from Rafael De Anda, "How do you eat a big burrito? One bite at a time."
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Manny Valladares
is an associate producer for LAist's flagship live news show AirTalk, booking guests and researching stories.
Published June 18, 2026 2:55 PM
Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, speaks to the media during a FIFA World Cup 2026 Opening Press Conference at Mexico City Stadium.
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Carl Recine
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Getty Images
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The topline:
Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, is instrumental in how fans in Los Angeles and beyond are experiencing soccer, from ticket prices to the flow of the matches. Here's what to know about his tenure as president and how he's responded to controversies.
His prior experience: Before leading the international governing body for professional soccer, he had worked with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), most notably as the secretary general.
Entertainment-related reforms: In 2023, he helped finalize the number of teams in this year’s World Cup, from 32 to 48. The number of total games played also increased to 104, up from 64 in the 2022 World Cup.
Read more... to better understand how he entered the presidency following a massive corruption scandal.
The World Cup has officially taken over Los Angeles, and not without controversy.
Fans have voiced frustration over ticket pricing and questions linger over whether the Iranian football team should be playing in the tournament.
The man at the center of these decisions and how fans in Southern California are experiencing the World Cup is FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Here's why he's the most influential voice in soccer right now.
How he got elected
The election of Infantino followed one of the worst corruption scandals in sports history. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted more than a dozen FIFA officials and executives on charges of bribery, money laundering and wire fraud.
Swiss authorities launched an additional investigation, which led to former FIFA President Sepp Blatter's resignation. He had held the position since 1998.
Following the corruption scandal, Congress passed a reform package, but criticism remains over lack of follow through.
Part of Infantino's success has been built on his ability to boost revenue for FIFA over the years.
Ticket pricing, human rights and other critiques
Getting in on the World Cup games here in L.A. has likely been... expensive.
And that's been one of the biggest critiques of Infantino as matches approached and FIFA announced ticket pricing would adjust based on demand. Infantino has defended the pricing method, comparing it to other major American sporting events.
Coaches, players and fans are also split on FIFA's decision to add three-minute mandated hydration breaks to matches, according to Reuters.
Infantino has also been criticized for downplaying concerns over human rights. For example, the Guardian reported in 2021 that more than 6,500 migrant workers died in Qatar during the 10-year lead up to it hosting the World Cup in 2022.
Oliver Kay, The Athletic's senior soccer writer, said during a conversation on LAist 89.3's AirTalk that Infantino's legacy is complicated and leaves true soccer fans with questions.
" How many of these decisions are being made for the good of the game, and how many of them are being made for whichever world leaders Infantino is cozying up to at that time?" Kay said.
Faheem Khan
is an Associate Producer for AirTalk and FilmWeek, assisting with live radio production and in-person events.
Published June 18, 2026 2:42 PM
Public restrooms are hard to access in a place like Southern California.
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James A. Harris
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Shutterstock
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Topline:
Los Angeles, like other major cities in the U.S., doesn’t have the most robust stock of accessible restrooms and although that’s nothing new, it wasn’t always like this.
Why it matters: With the World Cup fully underway and the LA28 Olympics on the horizon, bathroom access is bound to cause a stir for fans visiting from all around the world.
History: Temple University professor Bryant Simon, who is the author of the forthcoming book For Customers Only: Public Bathrooms and the Making of American Inequality, says cities used to compete with each other to build the most lavish public bathrooms, including L.A.
“In 1911 in L.A., the mayor held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and bragged about how ornate the bathroom was,” he said.
Now what? Read more to learn when things shifted and what Simon thinks is necessary to improve access.
Listen
20:42
Why are public bathrooms so hard to find?
With the World Cup fully underway and the LA28 Olympics on the horizon, bathroom access is bound to cause a stir for fans visiting from all around the world.
Los Angeles, like other major cities in the U.S., doesn’t have the most robust stock of accessible restrooms, and although that’s nothing new, it wasn’t always like this.
As it turns out, L.A. was one of the epicenters of the early 20th century bathroom boom (no pun intended).
Temple University professor Bryant Simon, who is the author of the forthcoming book For Customers Only: Public Bathrooms and the Making of American Inequality, joined AirTalk, LAist’s daily news program, to talk about the history of public bathrooms and how we got to where we are today.
“Cities would compete with each other to build the most lavish public bathrooms,” Simon said. “In 1911 in L.A., the mayor held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and bragged about how ornate the bathroom was.”
When things started to go down the toilet
The goal was simple: encourage the public to feel safe and confident leaving their homes by creating convenient spaces for people to relieve themselves.
Instead, these public bathrooms attracted a different type of crowd.
“Drinkers and smokers, people using drugs and most ominously for city leaders, people seeking sex,” Simon said, adding that almost immediately authorities throughout Southern California started arresting men who were seeking sex with other men.
“We have pay toilets now. It's called Starbucks."
— Bryant Simon, Temple University professor and author
So, cities felt they had no choice but to close public bathrooms all together.
“Jim Crow laws fall down and cities closed public bathrooms,” Simon added.
Simon said this trend continued into the 1980s, with stricter policies around homelessness.
Toilet anxiety
United Sites is one of the companies that supplies portable toilets to the city of L.A.
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theeastsiderla.com
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Today, you can see from this map how many bathrooms there are in the city and county, which has put some LAist listeners in a tough spot and on both sides of the issue.
“ I was skateboarding in downtown Los Angeles. It was a dire situation. I saw a construction site that was nearby, and they had a porta potty, so I had to hop this fence. It was probably 8 or 9 feet tall.” –Derek in Rancho Cucamonga
“There wasn't anything on this particular stretch of [the 91], and some of the places that I went to were actually closed. Things just got so terrible, I had to find the most remote neighborhood, get in the back of my SUV and urinate in a cup.” –Susan in Huntington Beach
“I've been someone who urgently needed a public restroom, and I run hospitality businesses. We're generally pretty supportive of it, but … we've had people cause massive damage or even had to call the police because people wouldn't leave.” – Steve in Long Beach
Where do we go from here?
Similar to European models — big U.S. cities previously instituted for-pay toilets, but by 1974, they were outlawed after a gender equity campaign argued they discriminated against women who were forced to pay, while men could use urinals for free.
“ We have pay toilets now. It's called Starbucks,” Simon said.
Starbucks is trying to stem the loss of customers by simplifying its menu, reintroducing ceramic mugs and making other changes to be more like a local coffee house.
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Godofredo A. Vásquez
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Simon added that when private companies are essentially operating public toilets, they tend to become inherently unfair because the focus is on profits.
He says if public bathrooms are to come back at scale, they need to be maintained, including proper cleaning — and this likely means human attendants are involved.
“Public bathrooms have been closed over decades in order to keep other people away to the point that now we're all in the same boat of having no public bathrooms,” Simon said.
