The Brief

It’s not unusual to see the word “disgraced” prefacing the former City Councilman José Huízar’s name in news headlines, blog posts, or op-eds.

After a lengthy FBI investigation, arrest, and an eventual 2023 guilty plea, Huízar, 55, will face a judge and a long prison sentence on Friday in regards to his historic city corruption trial that involved bribes from Chinese developers, tax evasion, extortion, and conspiracy.

Angelenos protested outside of his Boyle Heights home when he was arrested in 2020, calling him an enemy of the people, a sellout. But, things weren’t always this way.

Before the bribes, back-room deals, affairs, sexual harassment lawsuits, and before the FBI raid of his Eastside home and district office, his constituents considered the Mexican-born immigrant to embody the true values of the community.

Humble beginnings 

Born in 1968 in a rural town in Zacatecas, a mountainous state in central Mexico, José Huízar was the son of working-class parents. His mother, Isidra, worked at a meat packing plant, and his father, Simón, was a bracero, a farmworker who would work temporarily in the United States from Mexico.

Huízar’s paternal grandfather even had ties to Los Angeles; he, and many other temporary laborers from Mexico, were brought into the United States to help build the foundation of City Hall in the 1920s.

Huízar’s family brought him to the Eastside as a toddler to achieve their vision of the American dream, he said during a graduation speech at Princeton, his alma mater.

His coming of age in Boyle Heights wasn’t an uncommon one. He played baseball, got into fights in middle school, was a newspaper delivery boy while attending Salesian High School, and eventually turned his life around through the guidance of a mentor.

Huízar was accepted into the University of California Berkeley and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree 1991. His education then continued at Princeton, where he earned a masters degree in Public Affairs and Urban Planning in 1994, then at UCLA where the kid from the barrio attained a law doctorate in 1997.

Political strategy and a little bit of luck

Shortly after finishing law school, Huízar began to make political moves in Los Angeles. He was elected onto the Los Angeles Unified School District’s school board in 2001 and soon became president. His role had him expanding college preparatory courses district-wide and implementing a plan to construct over 130 schools in the city.

When sitting District 14 Councilmember Antonio Villariagosa was elected Los Angeles mayor and left an empty seat in his wake in 2005, Huízar saw an opportunity to make a bigger imprint on his city: to represent the neighborhoods on the Eastside and Downtown LA, the way he wanted to.

Huízar made history that special election year by defeating Nick Pacheco, the first Mexican-born politician to sit on the Los Angeles City Council, who was vying for his seat back after Villaraigosa trumped him at the polls in 2003.

His work in the communities he represented, and yes, even his appearances riding a horse in charro gear, caught the eye of his people. He would go out to events that mattered to his community. Huízar even had a statue erected near Olvera St. to honor the sacrifice and history of the braceros in 2019, a group that encapsulated his father’s identity. Huízar really seemed to care about his people in his district.

Councilman José Huizar and artist Dan Medina at unveiling ceremony of a bracero monument in downtown Los Angeles.

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His unapologetic Mexicanism was appreciated, especially by his constituents on the Eastside. So much so that when Huízar ran again in 2007, he was re-elected. He was re-elected again in 2011, and once more in 2015, that time in a landslide victory.

During his term, Huízar spearheaded plastic bag bans, fought for more pedestrian and cyclist representation, led solutions to address homelessness, and argued for more Metro service.

The recently enacted LA City Council term limit laws had benefited Huízar and allowed him to stay in office for fifteen years, giving him ample time to work towards passing legislation that benefited working-class neighborhoods, the unhoused, immigrant families, and to support education for all. Instead, shady business dealings were brewing behind closed doors and even in private bathrooms.

Bribery, scandals, and Huízar’s true colors

Downtown Los Angeles’ economy proved a challenge to any council member who was elected to oversee it. Huízar had his sights set on the historic neighborhood. Where many saw rundown theaters on Broadway, he saw potential to revitalize the historic stretch of downtown with high-end shops and countless Umami Burgers.

To better flesh out his vision, Huízar felt that development in downtown needed to accelerate. So when developers came knocking on his office door asking to “grease the wheels” of development in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars, Huízar quietly obliged. After all, his position on the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, situated him in the perfect place to make these shady deals a reality.

His secret dealings quickly became a criminal enterprise, where developers could pay-to-play to get their downtown real estate projects in motion, as long as he and his people were taken care of. Evidence of hundreds of thousands of dollars in casino chips, fancy hotel stays, private flights, and escort services were all detailed in the FBI’s investigation into Huízar beginning in 2018.

His longtime assistant and partner in crime, George Esparza, played the middleman in his developer bribe scheme. Esparza delivered hundreds of thousands of dollars in developer bribe money, tucked away in liquor boxes, to Huízar’s Boyle Heights home, in exchange for breaks in the development legal process that Huízar oversaw.

Huízar’s family was also caught up in the webs he had been spinning for so long. His mother and brother both laundered bribe money for the pol, exchanging blank checks for cash between 2014 and 2017, the investigation showed.

The family man image that Huízar peddled to Angelenos faded fast. Allegations of misconduct, including sexual harassment and extramarital affairs became public. And in 2022, an L.A. Taco investigation showed Eastside youth he granted college scholarships to weren’t getting the funds they were promised.

Amidst the misconduct, the fraud, and schemes, his constituents in working class communities like Boyle Heights were fighting tooth and nail for more affordable housing, for better representation, and for the leader they thought they knew.

The cumulative history of his upbringing, his political squandering, his deceit and unwillingness to serve those most in need of an honest leader, have led Angelenos to this point.

The story is as tragic as it is appalling. To consider the potential of an immigrant leader in LA politics who fell flat, didn’t just disappoint people, it infuriated them, too.

It seems fair to say the slow-descent from grace, that Huízar was himself responsible for, eroded trust in local government and further widened the gap between political leaders and the people they were elected to serve.

“Huízar was a powerful career politician who swore an oath to defend the Constitution, faithfully discharge the duties of his office, and serve the interests of his constituents,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “Instead, time and time again, [the] defendant violated that oath and duty, choosing instead to place his own lust for money and power above the rights and interests of the people he was elected to serve.”

Several CD 14 candidates who are primed to take over Kevin de León’s City Council seat in November acknowledge that a lot of work needs to be done to fix the climate that Huízar set while in office. Nadine Diaz, a local activist, doctor, and CD 14 candidate, said that when she ran against him in 2015, she ran for equality and transparency. But now, she runs to address the corruption that Huízar embodied.

“I’m running again because the corruption hasn’t stopped,” Diaz said. “It’s gotten bigger.”

Huízar’s sentence hearing will take place on Friday, January 26, at the United States Courthouse on 1st St.. Along with a prison term, the court seeks more than $1.3 million in fines and restitution.

The man who used to be a young, dimple-faced kid from Boyle Heights, and who used to make the Eastside proud, is facing a nine to 13-year sentence in federal prison.

As Los Angeles homeowners grapple with the expense of rebuilding after last year’s devastating fires, an L.A. City Councilmember is putting forward an idea that could lower some costs.

Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, has introduced a motion to explore waiving part of the city’s portion of the local sales tax for fire victims who purchase rebuilding materials in the city.

The 1% of the local 9.75% sales tax that goes into the city’s general fund would be given back to consumers under the proposal. The waiver could apply to lumber, appliances and other rebuilding goods purchased within the city.

The motion, introduced Friday by Park and seconded by Councilmember John Lee, says: “The City should do everything within its power to alleviate the financial burden for these residents and businesses in order to facilitate their return and stabilize the Pacific Palisades community.”

Would it make much of a difference? 

Economists told LAist the proposal could help many homeowners mitigate the high cost of rebuilding, but likely wouldn’t tip the scales for under-insured, under-resourced property owners.

“It wouldn't hurt if it's very well designed and easy to use,” said Alexander Meeks, a director at the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. “But I'm not sure if it's really going to tackle the scale of the financial challenge that survivors are facing.”

Meeks noted that the tax waiver wouldn’t lower up-front costs such as environmental testing, architectural design and permitting. And it may not help homeowners sourcing raw materials from outside the city.

Zhiyun Li, a UCLA Anderson School of Management economist, said the waiver could help some homeowners justify the additional cost of rebuilding more fire-safe structures.

“Homeowners must typically pay out of pocket to upgrade to IBHS+ standards, which are more stringent,” Li said. “The tax waiver could encourage upgrading to IBHS+ standards or investing more in mitigation, thereby reducing future risk and improving the likelihood of maintaining insurance coverage.”

What’s next for the proposal? 

The proposed tax relief would not be available to properties that have been sold since the fires started in January 2025.

The motion has been sent to the City Council’s budget and fire recovery committees. If approved by the full council, it would require the city administrative officer, the Office of Finance and the city attorney to report back to the council within 60 days on options for crafting a tax relief plan.

The motion calls for the report to consider factors such as how to minimize the burden of administering the tax relief, what documentation homeowners would have to submit and what it would cost the city to oversee the program.

Senate and House Republican leadership have resurrected a stalled plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security after a record 47-day funding lapse.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a joint statement on Wednesday that the House will take up a measure passed by the Senate last week to fund most of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the end of September.

Republicans would then attempt to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years using a party-line budget reconciliation bill that would not require support from Democrats.

"In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited," Thune and Johnson wrote.

The agreement comes nearly a week after House Republicans dismissed an identical plan, refusing to take up the Senate-passed measure and instead passing a 60-day short term funding bill for all of DHS that had little chance of overcoming Democratic opposition in the Senate.

Johnson called the agreement a "joke" and President Donald Trump declined to publicly endorse the deal. Trump had previously resisted any package that did not include his push to overhaul federal elections known as the Save America Act.

"I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it," Trump told reporters last week.

Democrats welcomed the agreement as in line with their pledge not to give ICE any more money without reforms after immigration enforcement agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. But the deal does not include any of the policy demands Democrats are pressing for, such as a ban on masks for immigration enforcement officers and requiring warrants issued by a judge, not just the agency, to enter homes.

"For days, Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a statement Wednesday. "Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered."

Trump seemed to bless the revived plan earlier Wednesday, writing on social media that he wants a party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement on his desk by June 1.

"We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won't be able to stop us," Trump wrote.

Despite the shutdown, ICE has been minimally impacted because Republican lawmakers approved $75 billion for ICE through another party-line budget reconciliation bill last year.

Congress is on a two-week recess, but the Senate and House could move to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP as early as Thursday using a procedure known as unanimous consent that allows the chambers to circumvent formal voting as long as no member objects.

Even during a recess when most members are not in Washington, this could be unpredictable, especially in the House, where many hard-line conservatives oppose a deal that does not fully fund DHS.

"Let's make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, wrote on X. "If that's the vote, I'm a NO."

If a member does object, that could require waiting for another vote when all members are back from recess.

Claudia Grisales contributed reporting.
Copyright 2026 NPR

California clocked its second-worst snowpack on record Wednesday, a potentially troubling signal ahead for fire season.

It’s an alarming end to a winter that saw abnormally dry conditions briefly wiped from California’s drought map in January, for the first time in a quarter-century.

Though precipitation to date has been near average, much of it fell as rain rather than snow. Then March’s record-breaking heat melted most of the snow that remains. The state’s major reservoirs are nevertheless brimming above historic averages and are flirting with capacity, and a smattering of snow, rain and thunderstorms are dousing last month’s heat wave.

But experts now warn that California’s case of the missing snowpack could herald an early fire season in the mountains.

On Wednesday, state engineers conducting the symbolic April 1 snowpack measurement at Phillips Station south of Lake Tahoe found no measurable snow in patches of white dotting the grassy field.

“I want to welcome you call to probably one of the quickest snow surveys we’ve had — maybe one where people could actually use an umbrella,” joked Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources. “We’re getting a lot of questions about are we heading into a hydrologic drought? The answer is, I don’t know.”

State data reports that California’s snowpack is closing out the season at an alarming 18% of average statewide, and an even more abysmal 6% of average in the northern mountains that feed California’s major reservoirs.

Only the extreme drought year of 2015 beat this year’s snowpack for the worst on record, measuring in at just 5% of average on April 1st, when the snow historically is at its deepest.

“I think everyone's anticipating that it will be a long, busy fire season,” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network.

“Without a snowpack, and with an early spring, it just means that there’s much more time for something like that to happen.”

‘It’s pretty bizarre up here’ 

In the city of South Lake Tahoe, which survived the massive Caldor Fire in the fall of 2021 without losing any structures, fire chief Jim Drennan said his department is already ramping up prevention efforts.

“It's pretty bizarre up here right now. It really seems like June conditions more than March,” Drennan said. “People are already turning the sprinklers on for their lawns.”

Without more precipitation, an early spring may complicate prescribed burning efforts. But Drennan said fire agencies in the Tahoe basin can start mechanically clearing fuels from forest areas earlier than usual.

“That means we can get more work done,” he said.

It also means homeowners need to start hardening their homes now, said Martin Goldberg, battalion chief and fuels management officer for the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, which protects unincorporated communities in the Lake Tahoe Basin’s south shore.

Goldberg urges residents to scour their yards for burnable materials, create defensible space and reach out to local fire departments with questions. The risks are widespread — from firewood, wooden fences, gas cans, plants, pine needles — even lawn furniture stacked against a house.

“In years past, I wouldn't even think of raking and clearing until May,” Goldberg said. “But my yard's completely cleared of snowpack, and it has been for a couple weeks now.”

‘A haystack fire’

Battalion chief David Acuña, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said fire season is shaped by more than just one year’s snowpack.

Climate change has been remaking California’s fire seasons into fire years. And California’s recent average to abundant water years have fueled what Acuña called “bumper crops of vegetation and brush.”

“Most of California is like a haystack. And if you’ve ever seen a haystack fire, they burn very intensely because there's layers of fuel,” Acuña said.

Like Quinn-Davidson, Acuña wasn’t ready to make specific predictions about fires to come.

But John Abatzoglou, a professor of climatology at UC Merced, said the temperatures and snowpack conditions this year offer a glimpse of California in the latter decades of this century, as fossil fuel use continues to drive global temperatures higher.

How this year’s fires will play out will depend on when, where and how wind, heat, fuel and ignitions combine. But it foreshadows the consequences of a warmer California for water and fire under climate change.

“This,” Abatzoglou said, “is yet another stress test for the future in the state.”

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