The Brief

Los Angeles City Council District 14 will soon have a new representative in Ysabel Jurado.

She defeated incumbent Kevin de León earlier this month after a tense race, scooping up 57% of the vote in the district that includes parts of Boyle Heights, Highland Park and downtown L.A.

Jurado — a tenant rights attorney, daughter of undocumented Filipino immigrants, and single mother — spoke with LAist's Morning Edition host Austin Cross about her top priorities as the newly-elected councilmember. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Housing issues in CD14

LAist: Let's talk about housing because your background as a tenant, your background as a tenant rights attorney gives you a unique perspective. What are the most urgent housing issues that you're seeing in your district right now?

Jurado: We have to stop the eviction to homelessness pipeline, strengthen our renter protections, actually fund the departments that can enforce it to make sure that folks like our seniors can stay in the housing that they've stayed in for the majority of their lives.

That is a huge issue for us. So making sure that renters have a place to stay, using the ULA funds that we all voted for to make sure that seniors can still stay in these low income affordable units for the duration of their livelihood, right? Making sure that folks can age well in the neighborhoods in which they're choosing.

And when it comes to homelessness, this district is home to Skid Row and we haven't had a City Council leader that's been able to corral all of the agencies, non profits, mutual aid groups that are coordinating in that area. And so wanting to work hand in glove with Supervisor Hilda Solis to really attack Skid Row's homelessness problem and try out new things.

They may not always work out, but we can't keep doing the same things and expecting different results.

Public land for more housing

LAist: In the past, you've pointed to Hilda Solis' Care First Village as an effective, more affordable model for housing. You've also spoken about community land trusts. That was a part of your housing platform. What kind of housing solutions will you prioritize? What do you think is going to bring the most change the most quickly?

Jurado: I mean, one of them is the Care First Villages, right? Supervisor Solis was able to use public lands to build transitional and interim housing for unhoused people, whether it's women, whether it's seniors, whether it's young folks who are just newly unhoused, and able to stand that up in less than six months using rehabbed shipping containers, and that's something that we can be doing in the city.

LAUSD, the county, and the city — we have all of these unused parcels that are underutilized. We already know which ones they are, we should really start leveraging them in that same way to create more interim housing, especially in this district. Comparatively to other districts, this district has less interim housing sites, based on sheer location and numbers.

The second thing is, yes, working with community land trusts, using the public monies we raised through ULA, in order to help give tenants a pathway to homeownership, promising them permanent affordability, making sure that's embedded in the covenant for the housing.

Obstacles to combatting homelessness

LAist: Just looking at some of the numbers, councilmember, L.A. city's latest point in time homeless count saw a 10.4% drop in unsheltered homelessness in the past year. We're still talking about close to 30,000 people living on the streets in L.A. city alone, about 75,000 in the county. What's not happening in your view, though? And how do we speed up the change?

Jurado: Part of it is even just looking at the numbers of shelter beds that we have. The city controller has put out a great briefing on this and showing how we're just not meeting the demand and the need.

CD14 is one of the districts that has the most, and I think there's a lot of discretionary funds that they could be using to tackle these crises head on and yet isn't. I think part of it has to do with priorities and failed leadership and, you know, lack of interest. And so looking at the inspiration from the Care First Village of like innovating through shipping containers, using public lands, we all have the opportunity in this district and we should really be doing that to meet the moment right now with our homeless crisis here in LA.

"F— the police" controversy

LAist: I want to go back to a time during the campaign. There was a moment in that campaign that made national news, and that was your response to a question about police budgets during a public forum at Cal State LA. You quoted a song by N. W. A. Would you have handled that question differently?

Jurado: I mean, I was talking to students and I was reflecting back the sentiment of folks in this district in which, you know, they are concerned with over policing. I think, you know, if anybody knows a parent or someone that's talking to you, or even a group that maybe you're not necessarily a part of, you start from a point of reference in which . . . we'll do something that's familiar to them and then drift off to a further point.

And at the end of the day, we were having a conversation about how neighborhoods like Boyle Heights and El Sereno, you know, they want more policing, but at the same time, they don't want to be over policed. They don't want to call the police when they're the victim and then suddenly be arrested for being the suspect, which is a reality that is far too common than we care to admit, right?

And so, I think we can all have a conversation, a mature one at that, about public safety and also about accountability at the same time. And so, that's what we were having that day, and we can continue to have that as we continue moving forward and looking at our city and trying to figure out what's best for, you know, the constituents in CD14 and greater L.A.

LAist: I mean, a lot of people would say, "Yeah, there's a real benefit to connecting with your audience, meeting them where they are at," — the lyrics of that song, is that your personal view of the police?

Jurado: No. . . you know, the song is a criticism. Like when we think about the song and why it was created, it was created [in] the wake of the violence of Rodney King in an L.A. that was torn.

That's where I grew up. That is, I grew up in Highland Park before it was cool and public safety was a real big issue for me and even one of my cousins joined a gang and got caught up in trouble and struggles with recidivism. And so I think the reality of that is still here. Part of why I ran was, you know, the racial reckoning we were promised post George Floyd, that doesn't feel like it's been reckoned with — really.

And so I think when we look at public safety, it looks different for every community, and my constituents do want more police, and it's about public safety and police accountability. And also thinking about the bigger issues, right? What we've been doing has not been working.

On the LAPD

LAist: I'm sure there will be some efforts to invest in those but looking at topics such as the LAPD staffing levels, they have hit their lowest mark in more than two decades. In your view, should the size of the LAPD grow, shrink, or stay the same?

Jurado: The department has been funded more than it's ever been before. But when we look at departments like street lighting, it's funded less than 1% and has been continued to be cut over the years, especially as we head into a financial deficit. We're looking at CD14 where downtown nearly half of all the lights are out, where every main street in this district, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, El Sereno, down the street from my house, every light has a sign that says out of service call this number, you call the number, and it goes to no one, and the reality is 70% of these lights are out because of lack of maintenance.

Because we've underfunded a department. And so when we think about safety, I really think we should be broadening it, because we know the studies show that lighting industry cleanliness contributes to the safety of a neighborhood.

LAist: I will say on the topic of street lights, that is a topic that we have covered extensively here. There is a task force involving the LAPD regarding those lights because some of the wiring has been removed possibly for profit by individuals. I do want to come back though to my question about LAPD and their size and their budgets. Should they grow, shrink, or stay the same?

Jurado: At the end of the day, we have to look at what's been working and we can't keep doing the same things and expecting different results. And they have already, you know, they've been spot on. They've been paid more than they've ever been before. I don't know if you know this — in the past year, due to bad policing and the liability claims from that, the city has had to dip into 300 million of its reserves.

That's our emergency funds and that was in the first three months of the year, 300 million. And if we continue on that rate, we are going to bankrupt the city, and next year, the city council may need to declare a fiscal emergency, and so every expense after that declaration would have to be voted by a 15-member council. . . So I think we really have to be critical about the choices that we're making in funding departments in this next year, especially with a lot of our responsibilities as council members to our constituents, but also with these global events that are coming up in our city.

LAist: Although you did say that the people within your district, they do want police. How do you find that balance when it sounds as though they might need more police, more hiring might be necessary at this point? It sounds to me as though you aren't really in a position right now to say that you want to put more money toward the hiring of more LAPD officers.

Jurado: When we look at our budget, how can we allocate more money that we don't have? And reimagining public safety and widening what that view means, means different things for every community.

And so part of our first 100 days, in addition to lighting up CD14 . . .doing some deep listening and deep canvassing, which is what we intend to do in our first 100 days, to talk to all of our constituents and see what that is.

The budget cycle is going to come again as it does every single year, but we're in a big fiscal deficit and it sounds like we're not going to have enough money to fund many things this next year.

Street safety and reducing traffic fatalities in CD 14

LAist: What are your plans to improve street safety? Maybe what recommendations would you make to reduce those fatalities?

Jurado: Increasing the multi-modality of downtown is important, but even in neighborhoods like Boyle Heights, which is a neighborhood that is considered a hot spot because it's bordered by a lot of freeways, it is one of the areas where there are a lot of traffic fatalities. So looking at how we can reduce the distraction of drivers, increase the ability to have reliable, accessible transit, and make sure that we do have the cleanliness and the city services to make sure the streets are actually safe for folks and pedestrians alike.

What gives Jurado hope about LA's future?

LAist: My last question, you're entering office at a challenging time for the city. What gives you hope about LA's future? 

Jurado: I always said on the campaign trail, we always find joy in the struggle. Whether we're singing at the picket line or, you know, we're going to organize a party to raise money for someone who needs legal funds.

And I think that this group of people that have elected me have always been able to find joy and work and living in community with one another. And I think that will continue no matter who their elected is, but being elected can uplift that joy and make it easier for people to feel that has always been kind of the thing that brings me joy, right?

And throughout this campaign that has been a through line for me, and everyone that has chipped in has always provided me with some hope that they have for CD 14. So starting a new chapter, having radical colleagues who are willing to join me in the struggle, and all the people that we are serving who still are resolving the problems on their own, creatively and without a budget all the time.

And making sure that working class voices are heard and we'll do it alongside them.

Typically on the morning of Eid-ul-Fitr, the festival that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims wear their best clothes and head to parks or convention centers across Southern California.

After the prayer and special sermon, there is another revered tradition to be followed.

Donuts.

After a month of fasting, Muslims wait for the glazed donut for their first breakfast.

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Courtesy ISOC

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As in, glazed donuts. Hundreds and hundreds — even thousands — of them are handed out by volunteers as people line up. The donut of choice? Krispy Kremes, although it’s not mandated.

It’s a specifically SoCal tradition that has been happening, some tell me, for at least 20 years.

Unity through donuts

Sweet treats are a staple of Eid across the world.

When family and friends stop over, they are greeted with tables laden with different sweet dishes.

In South Asian households, gulab jamun (fried dough balls swimming in a sugar syrup) take pride of place. Arab families make maamoul, a date mixture pressed between shortbread cookie dough. Cookies, called kuih, are popular in Southeast Asian households, and in Somali homes, halwa is served.

In SoCal, a region with Muslims from many different backgrounds, deciding what a mosque should serve after prayers can be tricky. A donut is a neat solution.

“ We have a very diverse community, so some of the desserts can become a little too ethnic for one group versus the other,” said Alam Akhtar, chairman at the Islamic Society of Southern California. “Donut is that one food that just cuts across all ethnicities and all taste buds.”

It’s also a way for their American identity to come to the fore.

In recent years, the Islamic Society of Orange County has switched to donuts from small businesses that pepper the Little Saigon area.

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Courtesy ISOC

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Food, Akhtar said, has a way of uniting people from different cultures and plays an important role in celebrations.

 ”Feeding people in general is considered a very spiritual act,” he said. “It brings people together. More hands in a plate has more blessings.”

Last year, the Islamic Society of Orange County mosque in Garden Grove — affectionately called the “mother mosque” of Southern California — decided to change things up a bit and bought pastries from Porto’s Bakery.

It did not go well. People wanted their donuts and made their point of view clear.

 "This year, we're going to aim for donuts again, based on popular demand and the request from the crowd,” said Hassan Mukhlis, the mosque president.

Boxes and boxes of donuts to feed the crowd of 3,000 people.

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Courtesy ISOC

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Krispy Kreme has been the mosque’s go-to vendor for the past decade or so, but in recent years, it has looked to support a local, small business to buy the 3,000 donuts needed to feed the crowd that gathers. The mosque is located in Little Saigon, an ethnic enclave with predominantly Vietnamese immigrants, so it plans to order from a Vietnamese bakery.

Traditions live on ... with a twist

Aliya Amin grew up attending the Islamic Society of Orange County and went on to teach at its weekend school. She now supplies desserts to the cafe on the mosque’s premises, Barakah Cafe.

The Gulab Jamun Donut available during Eid season at Bakes by Aliya.

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Courtesy Bakes by Aliya

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Her earliest memory of the donut lines after Eid prayers were when she was 9 years old. Now, the 29-year-old still says it's not Eid without the donuts. In her specialty microbakery, Bakes by Aliya, she takes the humble food and adds a creative, South Asian twist

Her version, Gulab Jamun Donut, is inspired by a gulab jamun, a fried dough ball that is soaked in a cardamom and saffron sugar syrup.

“ I essentially make a cake donut, which is cardamom cake flavored, and I have the gulab jamun sitting in the middle, and it's like the perfect balance of spiced but sweet,” Amin said.

She offers the donut only during the Eid season. It’s become one of her best sellers.

Donuts are for every age group, she said.

“I'm seeing adults eat it, too, you know, enjoying it just as much as kids,” Amin said.

The gulab jamun donuts have to be preordered by Sunday. To order, click here.

This spring marks the end of an era for the Community Solidarity Project, a mutual aid nonprofit with a longstanding footprint in Mid-Wilshire. It will no longer run Bernie’s Coffee Shop, a community space located in the historic landmark Johnie’s Coffee Shop, famous for appearing in The Big Lebowski and Miracle Mile.

This year, the organization also stopped running a free supply center called the “Really Really Free 99 Store.” The Community Solidarity Project has provided mutual aid to Angelenos for years and started the distribution center last year to help those affected by the L.A. fires and immigration raids.

Co-founder Michelle Manos is the first to admit she had no idea any of her organization’s projects would last as long as they did.

“If you would've told me in 2016 that we would have a 10-year run here, I might have looked at you like you're crazy or I might have died of shock right there on the spot,” Manos said.

The use of Bernie's Coffee Shop as a community space traces back to the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign.

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Courtesy Community Solidarity Project

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Manos has been a steward of Johnie’s Coffee Shop ever since she helped throw a one-night takeover during Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign (that’s how it got the name Bernie’s Coffee Shop). From then, she started a partnership with the Gold family to continue to use the space — first as a campaign center, then as a hub for organizers’ meetings, mutual aid distribution, art events and even on-location shoots with student filmmakers.

Manos said she is “ extraordinarily grateful” for their time in the space, as the Community Solidarity Project looks to extend its work running a free, volunteer-run, large-scale mutual aid distribution site. In order to do so, it is raising the funds to be able to continue operating in a new space.

Getting the project off the ground

The “Really Really Free 99” project started at the beginning of last year, as Los Angeles was reeling from the impact of the L.A. fires. The team at the Community Solidarity Project immediately pivoted to providing mutual aid for fire victims, since it had built up the experience during events like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following those distribution drives, the Community Solidarity Project connected with a multinational mutual aid organization that had an extra tractor trailer’s worth of resources to donate.

At that moment, with the then-vacant location of the 99 Cents Only store right next door, Manos realized there was an opportunity. The coffee shop and the adjacent store are owned by the family of Dave Gold, the founder of the 99 Cents Only chain.

“I reached out to our partners in the Gold family, and I asked for and received permission to be able to start storing those items inside the 99 next door, which is the original 99 Cents store here at Wilshire and Fairfax,” she said.

From there, the organization started to focus on giving out these supplies and finding more about what residents needed. The Community Solidarity Project’s Ralph Green maintains many of the organization’s relationships with suppliers, including building partnerships with brands and big stores that might otherwise throw out materials.

“They know it's going right back out to the community,” Green said.

The Free 99 distribution center offered all kinds of goods, including hats and apparel.

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Courtesy Community Solidarity Project

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Green said the Community Solidarity Project also partners with mutual organizations across Southern California in order to share and trade the resources they’ve been given.

“My personal philosophy as an organizer has always been to say yes to resources and opportunities and then figure it out,” Manos said.

That often means the organization’s members and volunteers end up dedicating large amounts of time to ensuring resources get shared — like one day when Rosalind Jones traversed L.A. County for 14 hours to distribute about 10 pallets’ worth of plant-based ice cream.

“When I tell people our core team is like six or seven people, they're like, ‘That sounds impossible. How did you do that?’” said Jones, who ran the Free 99 distribution center. “I don't know. It just happened. We just started moving things and doing stuff, and then it all came together.”

Some displays at the distribution center, like this one, even resembled a free version of the 99 Cents Only store.

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Courtesy Community Solidarity Project

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About the Free 99

As more and more donations came into the Free 99, it distributed food, hygiene products and other necessities, plus other goods like family-planning supplies and hot meals when available. Eventually, it was able to accept donations of beds, desks and bookcases so people displaced by the Eaton Fire could refurnish their apartments for free with quality furniture.

Members of the Community Solidarity Project unloading furniture.

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Courtesy Community Solidarity Project

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Karla Estrada, who ran the organization’s furniture distribution program, said they were able to give out more than 150 pieces of furniture to 70 families. She said one woman who came in for furniture even showed her pictures of a new apartment, excited to show off where everything would be going. Estrada said when the woman was saying goodbye, she said, “Thank you for saving the world.”

“That is why we do the things that we do,” Estrada said. “It's because we love our communities. That itself is the gift for me, and I'm very proud of that work.”

Rosalind Jones said many people who came into the distribution center couldn’t believe they weren’t being charged. Some even came up to the checkout counter with bills in hand, ready to pay.

She says she personally assisted people who came in, including an unhoused trans woman who distributed supplies to others in her encampment and a mother whose husband was detained by immigration agents and needed help taking care of her two children.

The end of an era

As of last month, the “Really Really Free 99” project has ended after the landlord began taking on paid leases, starting with a 99 Cents Only-themed art show. The Community Solidarity Project’s leadership was aware of the possibility and had been bracing no longer to have access to the space.

Still, the Free 99 store being asked to leave turned into a flashpoint on social media, as commenters panned the art show for seemingly pushing out the mutual aid group, a situation Manos called “unfortunate.”

 ”We never had any issue with the gallery itself or the artists themselves, especially the local, smaller artists who had the opportunity to work with some of the larger artists that were participating in organizing that gallery,” Manos said. “We're well aware that when a local artist sells a piece of art, they use it to feed their family, they use it to make a repair on their car.”

Manos said she also saw value in how the pop-up gallery provided a third space for people to gather, which is also part of the Community Solidarity Project’s mission with spaces like Bernie’s Coffee Shop.

The Community Solidarity Project's Michelle Manos (left) and Rosalind Jones.

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Kevin Tidmarsh

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LAist

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“If we can find more ways to use spaces that are empty around our city to build community, to build the arts, those things are important,” Manos said.

Manos said vacating the space was difficult, especially since community members — many of whom they didn’t have contact information for due to privacy concerns — needed to be notified, and the store’s stock needed to be moved out quickly.

The Community Solidarity Project now is being asked to leave that space as Metro prepares to open a nearby D-Line stop — no word yet on what it’ll be replaced by — but its members are optimistic they can build on that work as a proof of concept wherever they land next.

“Part of the fantastical part to me is that we're a group of poor people that has found a way to be extraordinarily generous, and it's not something that we could have done alone,” Manos said.

Their hopes for the future

Manos said now that the organization is starting a new chapter, it is hoping to raise funds — at least $30,000 — to secure a new, more permanent location.

Long before running the Free 99 store, the Community Solidarity Project organized other kinds of mutual aid, like mask giveaways.

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Courtesy Courtesy Community Solidarity Project

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“We would hope to be able to continue a version of the free store, as well as a version of the community gathering space,” Manos said. “That has been the magical part, when the community is here and when we're able to pay it forward.”

In addition to monetary donations, the organization also is looking for volunteers to help coordinate mutual aid and staff events, including its annual Queer Fair.

“We're not exceptional in that we thought of something that's never been done before,” Jones said. “We just did something that seemed like it was really hard and seemed like it might even be impossible with the resources and the amount of people we had. But we did it.”

A forensic audit released by Orange County on Monday found ex-Supervisor Andrew Do and his top aide had a longstanding pattern of misspending public money far beyond the scandal that led to federal corruption charges and landed Do in prison.

The report released Monday was the first phase of a forensic audit the OC Board of Supervisors commissioned last fall into county contracts in the wake of LAist’s investigation of the Do meal money scheme and his corruption conviction. The audit is being conducted by the firm Weaver.

The report details how Do and his chief of staff, Chris Wangsaporn, undermined procedures meant to prevent abuse of county money, while using their influence to steer taxpayer money to friends, family and businesses that quickly donated to his election campaigns — often with little information about the services being provided.

“The pattern of contracts being awarded to vendors that contributed to former Supervisor Do’s political campaigns raises questions and concerns about potential ‘pay-to-play’ schemes,” the report states.

Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who was elected to replace Do in 2024, said in a statement that “Do’s federal bribery conviction was the tip of the iceberg” and called on law enforcement to investigate.

“For years, I have known that Andrew Do was a criminal, acting as the Godfather of Little Saigon — strongarming political opponents and pressuring his minions to do more,” Nguyen said. “Now the county has evidence of all of it, and I’m hoping the federal DOJ, FBI, state attorney general, the district attorney and the [California Fair Political Practices Commission] investigate.”

[Click here to read the forensic audit report.]

Do’s attorney, Paul Meyer, declined to comment on the audit findings, saying that would be “inappropriate.”

Wangsaporn declined to speak with the auditors, according to the audit report. He has not returned LAist’s multiple requests for comment over the past year and a half, including Monday.

The forensic auditors plan to present their findings at the Board of Supervisors’ public meeting March 24.

More payments to Peter Pham

Among its many findings, the report found Do routed more money than previously reported to companies affiliated with Peter Pham, a central figure in the meal fraud scandal that sent Do to federal prison.

The report notes Do routed money for county events in his district to businesses linked to Pham. One was Aloha Financial Investment — the same company that received most of the diverted meal money in the corruption scheme and paid the down payment on a house for Do’s daughter. The other was Pham’s construction company, Hua Development, which also did business as HD Construction and HD Entertainment.

The findings echo an LAist review of county contract records, which found over $500,000 in county funds were directed to Hua Development and Aloha Financial Investment — largely for events in Do’s district dating back to 2016 and for public service announcements during COVID.

Pham’s construction company, auditors noted, also “appeared to have performed a kitchen remodel of former Supervisor Do’s personal residence in March 2021.” LAist discovered the renovation work in permit records and reported on it last year.

At the time, Do was routing millions of county meal dollars to Pham’s nonprofit, Viet America Society, in the bribery scheme that later led to Do’s criminal conviction. Do admitted in his plea deal that nearly $8 million in meal funds to the nonprofit were diverted, including $385,000 to purchase the home for Do’s daughter.

The new report notes the forensic audit is limited because auditors were not able to make non-county officials and organizations provide documents or answer questions.

More payments to 360 Clinic

Additionally, the auditors found Do authorized an $814,650 county payment to 360 Clinic — the county’s main provider of COVID-19 tests — despite concerns from county staff that the company was double billing. The findings largely echo LAist’s previous reporting on the issue. In all, auditors wrote, the county paid 360 Clinic $3.4 million for uncollectable claims, despite the fact that state and federal law required private insurance or the federal government to fully pay for all coronavirus testing claims at the time.

An internal county report obtained by LAist last year found that 360 Clinic had double- and triple-billed for some testing services. In the report released Monday, auditors found the company submitted more than 4,000 potential duplicate COVID-19 testing claims, with the same patient name and same date of service.

The auditors wrote that they examined documents indicating insurance providers had already paid for some of the claims submitted to the county for repayment. Other claims were for services that weren’t eligible for reimbursement, the auditors wrote.

“While additional review on a claim-by-claim basis would be required to quantify the extent of such denied claims, it is questionable at best as to whether these denied claims should have been invoiced to the county,” they wrote.

‘Not to be questioned’

The audit found Do and Wangsaporn had a pattern of steering contracts and grants to businesses that either employed an immediate family member of Do, contributed to his political campaigns shortly after being awarded a contract, provided a media platform for Do or were involved in the annual Tet and Moon festivals in Do’s district.

Do and Wangsaporn “were very involved in procurement decisions and established a culture where decisions related to District 1 contracts were not to be questioned,” the report states. County procurement staff, it adds, were “concerned that they would receive a phone call” from Do or Wangsaporn “if their requests were not approved.”

Among the decisions Do and his chief of staff impacted were “lump sum advanced payments” to vendors, “directives to pay vendors and contractors for invoices with open issues under review and the selection of vendors and grant recipients.”

Board’s approach obscured money flows

The county’s spending during the COVID-19 pandemic was obscured by the process the Board of Supervisors set up, auditors found.

Contracts were approved without competitive bidding or public approval by the board, which “limited visibility of purchase amounts and vendors selected,” the report states.

During the pandemic, Do and the other county supervisors set up a process where millions in taxpayer spending was directed without the usual public transparency on meeting agendas to show where money was going.

Do used the board-approved closed-door process to quietly direct millions of dollars to the nonprofit at the center of the meal scheme.

The audit also found that the county lacked policies requiring invoices detail what taxpayers were paying for. Do’s office had a common pattern of issuing contracts where payments were made on invoices that had few details about the services provided or itemizations of costs, the report states.

Supervisor cites reforms in the scandal’s wake

“As expected, the most recent audit again exposes criminal Andrew Do for habitually using his position of power to financially reward family, friends and donors through crony capitalist contracts at the expense of Orange County taxpayers,” Supervisor Katrina Foley said in a statement.

Foley said she and other supervisors have implemented reforms to contract policies, “aimed at increasing competitive bidding and [reducing] opportunities for corruption.”

She called on the county to put in place additional safeguards recommended by the auditors to "further protect taxpayers and prevent this type of misconduct from happening again.”

Supervisor Don Wagner said the audit findings show “former Supervisor Do’s corruption goes beyond that for which he is now serving federal prison time,” adding that he’s “deeply disturbed.”

Wagner defended Do at a January 2024 supervisors’ meeting after reports that Do had awarded millions to Viet America Society without disclosing its close ties to his daughter.

“There are no, nor should there be, questions or challenges as to that particular grant of money because there's nothing illegal about what was done,” Wagner said at the time, while blocking a reform proposal to require supervisors to disclose close family connections to groups they award money to.

Do ultimately pleaded guilty to bribery and is serving a five-year prison sentence.

LAist reporter Jill Replogle contributed reporting to this story.

The legal aid organization that was denied a tenant aid contract last year by the Los Angeles city attorney now appears set to receive the contract after all.

On Tuesday, the L.A. City Council voted 12–1 to approve a nearly $107 million eviction defense contract with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, or LAFLA, which oversees the Stay Housed L.A. program.

The vote had been previously scheduled but delayed twice. Last week, council members said they wanted to put off the vote because of a last-minute confidential memorandum sent to council offices by the L.A. City Attorney’s Office.

LAist obtained screenshots of the memo, which show City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto warning the council against awarding the contract to the foundation. The memo argues the city should “reconsider the award of such a large contract to a frequent litigant against the city.”

Sources with knowledge of the contract dispute told LAist that Feldstein Soto opposes LAFLA’s selection in part because the legal aid nonprofit has joined lawsuits in which the city is a defendant. In one case, the city was accused of failing to adequately respond to its homelessness crisis. The city ended up agreeing to a settlement deal requiring nearly 13,000 new shelter and housing beds.

LAFLA leaders said lawsuits against the city are handled independently from the tenant defense work the city has contracted the organization to do.

“There is no conflict of interest here, because Stay Housed L.A. and any affirmative litigation LAFLA brings against the city are entirely separate,” said Barbara Schultz, LAFLA’s director of housing justice. “We do not use Stay Housed L.A. funds for anything except for Stay Housed L.A. services.”

The backstory 

With rents spiking faster than wages for many Angelenos, tenants can quickly find themselves on the brink of homelessness. The city’s elected leaders have tried to stop more renters from becoming unhoused by connecting them with rent relief and free legal defense against eviction.

LAFLA has headed the city-funded program Stay Housed L.A. since 2021. The program brings together legal aid providers to offer attorneys and legal advice to renters facing eviction.

Such legal representation is rare. One study found that 95% of landlords have an attorney in eviction court while the vast majority of tenants do not.

Last summer, the City Council and mayor approved a new five-year contract with LAFLA and its partners. But Feldstein Soto refused to sign it, arguing the contract should have gone through a competitive bidding process.

The city responded by putting out a request for proposals. After reviewing submissions, the city’s Housing Department recommended that eviction defense services continue to be overseen by LAFLA. The council approved that recommendation Tuesday after deliberating in closed session.

In addition to the $107 million award to LAFLA, the council voted in favor of giving $42 million to the Housing Rights Center for emergency rental assistance. The council approved nearly $22 million for the Liberty Hill Foundation to oversee tenant outreach and education.

Another tenant rights organization, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, was approved to receive $6.6 million to strengthen awareness and enforcement of the city’s ordinance against tenant harassment.

Much of the funding comes from Measure ULA, the city’s so-called “mansion tax” on real estate selling for more than $5.3 million.

Calls for more transparency

In a statement emailed to LAist, City Attorney spokesperson Karen Richardson said the amount of funding being awarded exceeds the budget of some city departments.

“The eviction defense program is a City program and is in zero jeopardy,” Richardson said. “What is in question is a $177 million blank check to LAFLA and its partners without the reports and invoice review that is required by law.”

After rejecting the contract last year, the City Attorney’s Office launched an audit of LAFLA. LAist asked for details about the audit’s findings but did not receive a response.

In a statement after last week’s vote was delayed, Schultz said LAFLA has provided the city with ongoing reports about Stay Housed L.A. operations.

She said Stay Housed L.A. “has consistently provided anonymized detailed data on the individual case level to the city, without compromising client identities, along with detailed invoicing.” The program has “never refused to provide any data or invoicing information requested by the Los Angeles Housing Department,” she said.

Stay Housed L.A. leaders said the program currently retains about 160 tenants each month for legal representation and provides legal advice to another 575 tenants per month. They said about 55% of the tenants they’ve represented have remained in their homes and another 40% have settled cases on favorable terms.

During Tuesday’s meeting, some City Council members expressed frustration over how much information the program has reported on its outcomes.

“The transparency requirements in these contracts, when I look at them, does not meet the level of what we as a body should be requiring of organizations that we are giving money to,” said Councilmember John Lee, who cast the lone vote against awarding the contract.

Tuesday’s meeting included voting on a flurry of amendments. Among the amendments that passed, there were calls for new reporting requirements and annual funding renewals to be withheld pending performance reviews.

What it all means for renters

LAFLA is currently overseeing the Stay Housed L.A. program through a temporary contract extension set to expire March 31. If the council hadn’t approved the new contract this week, program leaders said they would have needed to quickly stop offering eviction defense services.

The program already has had to be judicious about taking on new clients, Stay Housed L.A. leaders said. They said they didn’t want to commit to defending tenants in months-long eviction cases if the city could abruptly pull funding.

“When [the previous] contract was disrupted, it did impact our ability to serve more and more vulnerable tenants,” said Joanna Esquivel, Stay Housed L.A.’s program manager at the Legal Aid Foundation. “We are really excited to continue doing this critical work.”

The City Council passed a “right to counsel” program last year, aiming to provide low-income tenants with the right to a free attorney in eviction court. The program does not yet guarantee an attorney to all qualified renters but is trying to expand access in phases by building up the Stay Housed L.A. program.