LA Podcast - McDonnell's Not Lovin' It

Alissa, Mike, and guest co-host Yaqui Perez track LA’s latest mayoral race drama, including the question of whether LAPD chief Jim McDonnell should be replaced. Why is the LA police union opposing Measure FD, which would fund the fire department? And how long should someone be the mayor of Inglewood?

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Despite this being the hottest summer on record, our country is covered in ICE: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a statement to “abolish ICE” after agents shot into a man’s car, injuring him and presumably traumatizing his five-year-old child 

On our side of the country, a 45-day “Operation Safe California” siege has tasked agents to “go after anyone,” including people dropping off their ballots

Over 300 law enforcement officials — an ensemble of federal and LAPD agents documented by camera crews — arrested 28 people on drug-related offensesas part of “Operation Save Skid Row”

New data show the city of Los Angeles has paid out almost a half-billion dollars in police lawsuits since 2019

You might be wondering if community nonprofit LA CAN agrees with acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli’s perspective on this “investigation”? Certainly not

An influencer deleted an interview he posted with Nithya Raman where she called for the removal of “fascist liar” LAPD chief Jim McDonnell. Then, Bass’s campaign commissioned a political cartoon of Raman drinking a margarita from cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz. Thanks for the updates, California Post

Mike Trujillo tied these events together by spreading a rumor that former LA County District Attorney George Gascón would become chief of police should Raman win. Raman refuted this, calling it a “bizarre lie”

The New York Times convened Mike and other experts to compare the two mayoral candidates

More mayoral campaign content: Raman’s first 100 days vision speech. Bass’s convention center speechand Raman’s convention center website. Raman’s video advocating for shade and Bass’s speech preparing for El Niño. And new advertisements and website from the carpenters union and Estamos Con Nithya coalition: burnedbybass.com 

The LAPD union is spending millions to oppose Measure FD, which would provide more funding to firefighters — for no reason whatsoever, here’s a reminder that the police department’s budget is $3.6 billion dollars

Inglewood is also electing a mayor this November: all but current mayor James Butts attended a candidate forum last week, discussing a potential budget deficit, video billboards, the need for term limits, and more

Could Butts’s 15-year tenure be derailed by groping allegations? Activists are calling for him to resign

The Inglewood people mover — proposed to mitigate stadium traffic — will now be a series of questionably effective bus shuttles and a giant parking garagethat’s displacing small businesses

But in a win for Inglewood, a judge voided their contract with SoFi Stadium — meaning the city is off the hook for $400 million 

LA Forward’s voter guide is out now! Pledge to vote early today at voteearly.la, sign up to monitor polls near you (you’ll get trained first), host your own ballot party, and join an election protection mobilization network

Mike profiles both candidates for California Insurance Commissioner on the latest What’s Next, Los Angeles? — an overlooked race with real financial consequence

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Thank you to Charlotte Landes for producing this episode and to our digital producer Bianca Cockrell

The reporting and analysis you hear in the show is put together by our rotating cast of producers and co-hosts every week. All opinions expressed on the show are solely those of co-hosts and may not represent the views of LA Forward

Alissa Walker writes the newsletter Torched, tracking LA’s megaevent progress. Find her at @awalkerinla on Instagram and @awalkerinla.bsky.social on Bluesky

Mike Bonin is the executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State LA, and can be found at @mikebonin on Instagram and @mikebonin.bsky.social on Bluesky

Yaqui Perez is an organizer with DSA and the Working Families Party and currently works for an LAUSD school board member. You can find her on Instagram at @instayp8