Last week, I shared how years of short-term budgeting and temporary fixes – when combined with the significant financial impacts of this year’s fires and the chaos coming out of Washington – have left the City of Los Angeles on shaky financial ground. On Wednesday, the City Administrative Officer confirmed the situation’s urgency. We’re facing nearly $300 million in overspending this year, a projected $1 billion shortfall in next year’s budget, and declining revenues that are pushing our Reserve Fund close to emergency levels. Without meaningful structural change, we’ll be stuck in an endless cycle of budget crises, each one harder to navigate than the last.

The root of the problem, though, is a budgeting system that hasn’t evolved to meet the moment – or the needs of Angelenos – and a revenue model that’s too vulnerable to external shocks like the wildfires, and huge uncertainty in Washington that’s directly – and indirectly – hitting our bottom line. For too long, the City has used one-time solutions to paper over deeper issues—delaying projects, cutting vacant positions, and relying on outdated systems that aren’t serving Angelenos well. We’re spending more than we take in, and we haven’t built a system that delivers the services our communities expect and deserve. As the new Chair of the Budget Committee, I’m focused on turning that around.

That’s why Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and I sent a letter on Tuesday to the City Administrative Officer and Chief Legislative Analyst outlining the steps we believe are necessary to put Los Angeles on a more sustainable path. And on Friday, we introduced a motion to create a Budget Advisory Group, which will bring in outside leaders with relevant and deep expertise to help identify impactful, long-term solutions. This group will support efforts to modernize our budget process, reduce liability costs, better utilize city-owned properties, and make sure residents have a meaningful voice in shaping the City’s financial future.

This isn’t just about closing a gap this year—it’s about fixing the system that got us here. The systemic budgeting challenges we’re facing are decades in the making, and they’ll take more than one year to solve, but we’re going to be moving with intentionality, intelligence, and urgency. I’ll continue sharing updates in the weeks ahead as we prepare for the Mayor’s proposed budget (which is due to the City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee by April 21st for Council deliberation) and begin the hard work of building a more stable and effective financial foundation better equipped to serve the needs of Angelenos for the years to come.

40th LA Marathon
Last Sunday, I held the finish line tape of the 40th Los Angeles Marathon, where Matt Richtman became the first American to win the race in 30 years. This year’s marathon also paid tribute to our first responders, whose service, especially during and after the recent wildfires, reminds us what real dedication looks like. Congratulations to every runner who participated, and thank you to the organizers, volunteers, and public safety teams who made this iconic day possible.

Last weekend, my team joined the Tashbar Sephardic Yeshiva Ketana community to celebrate the groundbreaking of their new boys’ school. Founded over 35 years ago for refugee families, Tashbar now serves 300 students and is a cornerstone of LA’s Sephardic Jewish community. Mazel Tov to the faculty and families who made this next chapter possible!

On Friday, I was privileged to welcome UCLA’s new Chancellor, Dr. Julio Frenk, to City Hall and celebrate his appointment with the City Council. As the former Minister of Health in Mexico, Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and, most recently, President of the University of Miami, Chancellor Frenk has spent his career advancing health and education equity and access on a global scale. Now, he brings that same vision to one of the most important institutions in Los Angeles. In particular, Dr. Frenk emphasized a deep commitment to connecting the university with the communities it serves, which extend well beyond the Westside of Los Angeles. As a proud Bruin, and the Councilwoman representing UCLA’s campus, it was an especially significant honor to recognize him and begin to discuss how UCLA’s work and expertise can better inform our work on the Council.

This week, the City Council approved recommendations from the Housing and Homelessness Committee to strengthen enforcement of the Home Sharing Ordinance. The changes include requiring platforms to verify a unit’s registration before booking (similar to New York City’s system), expanding property inspections before a permit is issued, and increasing fines for repeat violators. The Council also called for better coordination across departments and a report on creating a centralized enforcement office. These improvements will help protect our housing stock and ensure that enforcement keeps pace with the scale of the problem.

This week, the City Council took a major step toward implementing Measure HLA, also known as the Los Angeles Safe Streets for All Initiative. We approved a new framework to guide how the City delivers street safety improvements—clarifying which departments are responsible for what, how projects move forward, and how the public can track progress through a new dashboard. The approved ordinance also outlines a streamlined appeals process and tighter timelines to resolve disputes.

This week, the Council approved a motion Councilmember Nithya Raman introduced and I seconded to begin building a performance oversight Bureau within the Housing Department. The goal is to use data to track how our homelessness investments are working, where people are getting stuck, what’s helping them move forward, and how we can improve outcomes and cut costs across the system.