L.A. County’s newest D.A. swept the Westside and San Fernando Valley

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s David Zahniser, with a big lift from Koko Nakajima and Doug Smith.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park went all out for Nathan Hochman last year, speaking in support of his bid for L.A. County District Attorney at fundraising events, news conferences and neighborhood meet-and-greets.

Voters in Park’s Westside district turned out to be nearly as enthusiastic, with more than 57% backing Hochman in the Nov. 5 election.

Park, who took office in 2022, said she heard regularly from constituents who were eager to oust incumbent Dist. Atty. George Gascón — and wanted an end to what she called “soft on crime” policies.

“Public safety and crime in particular here on the Westside have been top-of-mind issues for constituents in every neighborhood,” said Park, whose district stretches from Westchester and Playa del Rey north to Pacific Palisades.

Four years ago, the city of L.A. was a major stronghold for Gascón, playing a significant role in the ouster of then-Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey. Gascón, who ran as a major proponent of criminal justice reform, secured 59% of L.A.’s vote in 2020, which helped him offset weaker showings in more conservative parts of the county — a vast area that takes in 88 cities and a long list of unincorporated areas.

This time around, it was Hochman who made major inroads in L.A.

Hochman won 54% of the vote citywide and took 10 of the city council’s 15 districts, according to results from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. He swept the vote-rich Westside and every council district in the San Fernando Valley, plus the district that runs from Watts south to the Port of Los Angeles. He also eked out a win in Councilmember Curren Price’s South Los Angeles district, which is four-fifths Latino and has high concentrations of poverty.

The West Valley was a particular power base. Hochman won nearly 69% of the vote in Councilmember John Lee’s district, which includes such neighborhoods as Chatsworth, Northridge and Porter Ranch. Lee, like Park, endorsed Hochman.

Hochman grabbed nearly 64% of the vote in the Woodland Hills/Warner Center district represented by Councilmember Bob Blumenfield. He topped 60% in Councilmember Monica Rodriguez‘s northeast Valley district and in Councilmember Tim McOsker’s harbor area district.

Countywide — including L.A., the other 87 cities and unincorporated areas — Hochman defeated Gascón by 60% to 40%.

In L.A., Gascón did the best in the districts represented by Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martínez and Eunisses Hernandez, who occupy the leftmost end of the political spectrum at City Hall. He secured nearly 60% of the vote in those two districts, which stretch from Hollywood to Highland Park.

Stephen Puetz, a campaign strategist for Hochman, was not surprised by the numbers. In polling, he said, those who described themselves as very liberal were behind Gascón, while respondents who identified as moderate liberals favored Hochman — but by a margin closer to 50-50. Centrist, center-right and conservative voters heavily favored Hochman, he said.

“The biggest single indicator of whether you were more likely to be Gascón or Hochman supporters was just really how liberal you were,” Puetz said.

Soto-Martínez said that, in retrospect, he wasn’t surprised by the massive lead for Gascón in his district, which takes in parts of Echo Park and Silver Lake and has a long history of progressive grassroots activism. He said he endorsed Gascón, in part, because he believes government agencies need to focus less on criminalization and more on mental health and substance use treatment.

“It really felt like the pendulum was swinging back to a more draconian, punitive, 1990s-style approach,” he said. “I grew up in that era and ... remember it well. I felt it was important to use my platform to try to push back.”

Several others at City Hall stayed out of the campaign, including Mayor Karen Bass. On Friday, two months after the election, neither her campaign nor her government spokesperson would say who she voted for in the D.A.’s race. Instead, an aide issued a statement saying Bass met with Hochman after the election to discuss working together on “critical public safety improvements.”

Gascón also did well in districts that had competitive council races.

For example, he won 54% of the vote in the Eastside district where attorney Ysabel Jurado defeated Councilmember Kevin de León. Gascón secured nearly 57% of the vote in the South L.A. district where Councilmember Heather Hutt defeated attorney Grace Yoo.

Jamarah Hayner, a campaign strategist for Gascón, said the incumbent D.A. benefited in areas where progressive groups were also pushing other candidates to victory.

“The map shows that when progressive organizers lean in, they continue to be successful,” she said.

State of play

— DISAPPEARING ACT: Los Angeles officials have been sending internal messages to each other that are automatically deleted after 24 hours, under a system set up by the city’s technology agency. Critics say the practice allows officials to skirt the California Public Records Act and the city’s document retention policies.

— HALL MONITOR: Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn gave the LAT’s Gustavo Arellano her tour of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration — and her pitch for saving the 65-year-old structure. With retrofitting and renovation costs expected to reach $1.2 billion, the building is now on the chopping block.

— THREAT LETTER: A nonprofit group connected to Trump deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller sent a letter to Mayor Karen Bass warning her of legal consequences for impeding the enforcement of immigration laws. The group’s letters went to Bass, Police Chief Jim McDonnell and nearly 250 other officials in cities and states with sanctuary policies. A Bass spokesperson said the letter was “wrong on public safety and wrong on the law.”

— GOODBYE, GEORGE & JACKIE: Two lions of the Los Angeles Unified School District — board members George McKenna and Jackie Goldberg — stepped down last year after lengthy careers in public education and public office. The LAT’s Howard Blume goes deep on their personal stories, highlighting their challenges and accomplishments over several decades.

— BUS BARRIERS: More than 2,000 Metro buses have been retrofitted with barriers to protect drivers after a spate of violent attacks on the transit system. The agency sped up plans for installing the protective tempered glass after a bus driver was fatally stabbed earlier this year.

— A NEW HIRE: Newly elected Los Angeles City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, who represents a portion of the east San Fernando Valley, has hired longtime council aide Alexis Wesson to serve as his chief of staff. Wesson spent several years as chief of staff to former City Council President Nury Martinez, who stepped down in 2022 following the audio leak scandal. More recently, she was a legislative aide to Councilmember John Lee, another Valley rep. Wesson is also the daughter-in-law of former Council President Herb Wesson.

— MORE STAFF MOVES: Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky has hired a high-level aide to Bass as her new chief of staff. Erin Bromaghim, who was Bass’ deputy mayor for international affairs, will replace Gary Gero, who had been running the council office since 2022.

— CHINATOWN CASE: California is suing the former nonprofit owner of the Cathay Manor Apartments, a 16-story residential building in Chinatown that houses low-income senior citizens. Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta alleged that the Chinese Committee on Aging Housing Corp. and its chief executive Donald Toy failed to ensure basic health and safety conditions at the 268-unit property.

— SYSTEM DOWN: The computer dispatch system for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department crashed on New Year’s Eve, rendering patrol car computers nearly useless and forcing deputies to handle all calls by radio, according to department sources. It was still inoperable midday Friday, per The Times’ Keri Blakinger.

— GANG UNIT SCANDAL: A Los Angeles police lieutenant has filed a legal claim against the city, alleging his superiors ignored his warnings about misconduct in an anti-gang unit until it became a public scandal, leading him to face termination.

‘A Patriotic Duty’

Mayor Karen Bass and U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough announced new measures on Thursday to move homeless veterans into permanent apartments.

Bass and McDonough appeared with L.A. County Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Hilda Solis and representatives from the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, the Greater Los Angeles REALTORS and the veterans housing and services agency U.S. VETS, saying they are working together to streamline the process of issuing housing vouchers and finding homes for veterans.

The mayor’s office also announced the creation of an email account, HouseOurVets@lacity.org, promising to respond to any landlord who has an available unit or wants additional information on the program.

“We want apartment owners to take a voucher and take a vet,” Bass said. “It’s a patriotic duty.”

During the event at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall downtown, Bass and the others touted the recent reversal of a federal regulation that excluded some disabled veterans from receiving housing subsidies.

Under the old policy, veterans disability compensation counted as income, which caused veterans to lose out on federal rent subsidies. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rescinded that policy last summer, following a concerted lobbying effort by Bass and a contingent of mayors.

Any veteran who needs emergency shelter may also call (310) 268-3350.

“If you need a place to stay tonight, we will bring you to that place,” McDonough said.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s program to combat homelessness did not launch any new operations over the New Year’s holiday week.
  
• On the docket for next week: The City Council returns from its holiday recess on Tuesday, taking up the Television City project in the district represented by Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky.