LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles City Council is set to have busy agendas Tuesday and Wednesday, as it meets for the final full week ahead of its winter recess.
On Tuesday, the council is set to consider a ban on Styrofoam products, a permit program for outdoor dining, protections for freelance workers, a reorganization of the process of conducting zoning and land use entitlements and allowing a controversial shift from natural gas to green hydrogen at the Scattergood Generating Station to move forward.
On Wednesday, the agenda includes consideration of requiring new buildings to be all-electric, streamlining 100% affordable housing projects and moving forward with the process of establishing the Livable Communities Initiative along suitable transit-rich corridors. The results from the Nov. 8 election are also set to be certified.
The council will meet Friday, and then again on Dec. 13 before a recess that is scheduled to last around a month. Council President Paul Krekorian moved to push back the recess by around a week, which allows for the four new council members to take part in one meeting ahead of the break after being sworn in. The new council is scheduled to hold an election for council president during its first meeting, though no member has indicated interest in challenging Krekorian.
Krekorian just took the post in October after Nury Martinez stepped down for taking part in the leaked racist conversation that led to the City Hall racism scandal. Councilmen Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, who also participated in the conversation, have defied calls to resign. Cedillo is in his final days on the council and will be replaced by Eunisses Hernandez next week, but de León -- whose term expires in 2024 -- has shown no indication of stepping down.
De León's refusal to resign is expected to linger over the council as new members join the body. While neither Cedillo nor de León have attended a council meeting since Oct. 11, protesters have regularly shown up to disrupt meetings to demand that they both resign.
The council, while initially showing some deference to protesters, has resolved to continue its business over the protests. Krekorian has been quick to enact council rules regarding disruptive audience members, moving to eject protesters who chant and shout as the meetings begin.