September 21, 2023
LAWT News Service
The Women of LA City Hall Event celebrated its 10th Anniversary at the prestigious Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles, honoring all the women in front and behind the scenes of LA City government.
This year’s honorees included Mayor Karen Bass, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, and Fire Chief Kristin M. Crowley, making history as the first time these high-ranking positions have all been held by women.
The FOX Corporation was the presenting sponsor of the sold-out event which celebrates how far women have come in L.A. city representation. In the event’s inaugural year 2013, there was only one woman elected official in the city.
Today, Los Angeles boasts nine women elected to office. This is half of the LA City Council and two out of the three City-wide elected positions.
“I’m honored to receive this award. I want to thank the women leaders who put on the Women of L.A. City Hall event and honored CASA of Los Angeles. The work that CASA does save children’s lives and I’m so glad to see Charity Chandler Cole leading the organization to expand the work of CASA and address the child welfare system,” said Bass.
“We’re graced to be the beneficiary of this event, bringing together the most impressive female leaders in our community,” said CASA/LA CEO Charity Chandler Cole. “We thank Mayor Bass for her continued support for our cause and congratulate her on this well-deserved accolade.”
Each year, the Women LA City Hall Committee chooses a Los Angeles based non-profit organization to support and help raise crucial funds to continue their work; the host nonprofit for this year’s event is CASA of Los Angeles.
CASA/LA advocates for children and families in LA County’s overburdened child welfare and juvenile justice systems, helping them receive equitable access to the resources they need for their physical, mental, emotional, and educational well-being.
September 21, 2023
LAWT News Service
Under the leadership of Council President Pro Tempore Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Council District Eight has developed one of the City’s most extensive pipelines of permanent supportive housing.
The new housing development, West Terrace offers 64 units of housing to South LA families. Through the District’s Housing at Home initiative, CD8 continues to place people and families into homes in the same neighborhoods where they live, work, and worship.
On Saturday, September 16, Harris-Dawson was joined by Mayor Karen Bass and other City and County officials to welcome and introduce new residents including formerly unhoused seniors and families, to their neighbors. There were tours of the new complex which features a playground and community spaces, tacos for everyone, and the KLJH RadioFree Voices Performance Choir. After the ribbon cutting, gospel music soared throughout the venue, touching and lifting the spirits of everyone under their sound.
Council President Pro Tempore Marqueece Harris-Dawson remarked, “Today, we've opened doors to more than just houses; we've opened doors to hope and community. Together, with Mayor Karen Bass and our dedicated team, we're building homes and building stronger neighborhoods, one family at a time.”
Housing at Home is a South LA initiative that advocates keeping people housed and rooted in their communities. This is a practical solution that keeps people connected to their communities and provides housing in a place with all the familiarity of home.
September 21, 2023
By Antonio Ray Harvey
California Black Media
After months of heated political fights, and just before the Sept.14 deadline for passing bills introduced during the 2023 legislative session, the California Assembly passed Assembly Bill (AB) 1228, the “Fast Food Franchisor Responsibility Act.”
Just before midnight, the Senate did the same with a 32-8 vote.
Should Gov. Gavin Newsom sign the bill, an estimated 550,000 fast food workers in California would earn a minimum wage of $20 per hour.
Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), who authored the bill – and who later became a key dealmaker in negotiations critical to the passage of the legislation -- expressed his satisfaction that opponents and proponents were able to reach a compromise that is mutually beneficial.
“I think it was important that we were able to get a resolution to the conflict between the coalition of businesses with franchisees and franchisors,” said Holden, a member of the California Black Legislative Caucus (CLBC). “But also making sure that we accomplish a goal of setting a council to the ongoing ways of looking at the workplace and making sure that the workers had a safe place to go to work.”
Holden said the bill will improve protections and foster a healthy work environment in California’s fast-food industry.
AB 1228 enforces a joint-employer liability theory between a fast-food restaurant's franchisor and franchisee, by requiring the franchisor to share “all civil legal responsibility and civil liability for the fast-food restaurant franchisee's violations.”
To secure its passage, Holden, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, and labor unions brokered a compromise to stave off a referendum scheduled for the November 2024 General Election that aimed to repeal A.B. 257, also known as the Fast-Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act.
“I thought it was a good outcome for all parties,” Holden told California Black Media of the negotiations. “They were sitting at the table with us as we were presenting the bill (Sept. 12).”
AB 257, which was signed into law in September 2022 facilitated the creation of a “Fast Food Council” composed of employees, advocates, franchisors, franchisees, and government officials tasked with overseeing wages and working conditions in fast-food facilities.
In May, a group known as The Stop the Attack on Local Restaurants coalition, which includes social justice advocates, local restaurant owners, small businesses, ethnic business leaders, restaurant brands and trade associations, expressed their concern that AB 1228 would cut off inroads to business ownership for minority entrepreneurs.
On Sept. 11, the Save Local Restaurants coalition announced that a “comprehensive legislative agreement had been reached regarding quick service restaurants” and legislative and regulatory issues in California.
“(The agreement) provides meaningful wage increases for workers, while at the same time eliminates more significant – and potentially existential – threats, costs, and regulatory burdens targeting local restaurants in California,” said Matt Haller, President and CEO, International Franchise Association.
All 12 members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), including Holden, voted for A.B. 1228. The members were CLBC chair Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City), vice-chair Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Ladera Heights) and Assemblymembers Mia Bonta (D-Alameda), Mike Gipson (D-Carson), Corey Jackson (D-Riverside), Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) and Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa).
Assemblymember James Gallagher (R-Yuba City), Minority Leader of the California Assembly, said complicated bills such as AB 1228 should not wait “until the 11th hour” to be voted on.
“If it’s anything after 8 p.m. it usually not good,” said Gallagher, who voted against Holden’s bill.
September 07, 2023
By Cora Jackson-Fossett
Managing Editor
Demonstrating the tragedy of gun violence, Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-65) will hold the Mothers in Mourning March on Saturday, September 9, at 9 a.m., at Jordan High School, 2265 East 103rd St. in Los Angeles.
Parents, siblings, or friends who have experienced the death of a loved ones due to armed weapons are invited to attend demonstration and dress in black clothing, said Gipson, to illustrate grief and bereavement.
“I believe there is a disease of gun violence that is taking place in my district and taking place far too long,” declared the assembly member.
“So, the purpose of this march is to bring every mother, every grandmother, every aunt, every cousin, and every female who has lost loved ones. We are looking for an atmospheric transformation to take place in this community,” said Gipson, who hopes 1,000 people will participate in the march.
Outlining the factors that motivated him to call for the march, Gipson cited the increase in deaths of young people killed by guns. Also influencing him was learning that the acronym for Watts that children in the neighborhood use is “We Are Trained To Survive.”
“Our children shouldn’t have to think like that. They should be thinking of living a long, prosperous life and as long as I’m in office, I’m going to do everything that I can to pull people together, to raise the visibility of this disease that plagues our community; and try to make sure that we cut it off at the root so it can die and our children can live on,” insisted Gipson.
The event will include a rally with remarks by several women who lost a child or loved one to gun violence.
Co-sponsors of the march include A New Beginning 4 You Foundation, Brady Community Empowerment Movement, East Side Riders Bike Club, Everytown for Gun Safety, Grieving Hearts Foundation, Justice for Murdered Children, Moms Demand Action, NAACP Compton Branch, Watts Area Ministers, Watts Gang Task Force and Women of Watts.
To learn more or to RSVP, call Mark Fuentes at (310) 324-6408 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .