City Council approved a special election to fill the empty District 6 seat on April 4, 2023, with a runoff taking place June 27 if necessary.

The election follows Nury Martinez’s resignation after a leaked conversation about redistricting was made public.

In the recording, Martinez with fellow council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin De Leon were heard using racist and demeaning language when discussing how to manipulate the city’s redistricting process.

After pressure for all three to resign, only Martinez has stepped down.

The Los Angeles City Council is repealing a law requiring companies seeking city contracts to disclose any ties to the National Rifle Association (NRA).

This comes weeks after a federal judge blocked the city from enforcing the ordinance.

Council members unanimously voted 12-0 without discussion to repeal the ordinance.

The law required companies vying for city contracts to disclose contracts or sponsorship’s between them or their subsidiaries and the NRA.

In December, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson issued a preliminary injunction preventing the law from being enforced.

A federal judge temporarily blocked a Los Angeles law requiring businesses seeking city contracts to disclose any links to the National Rifle Association (NRA).

The Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance in February requiring companies doing business with the city to disclose any financial connections to the gun-rights advocacy organization.

The NRA responded with a federal lawsuit against the city, arguing the policy silences NRA members and supporters in the city by forcing them to disclose their ties with the organization.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the ordinance while the case moves forward.

However, the judge granted the city’s motion to dismiss claims the ordinance violates the NRA’s equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and the ordinance has the effect of compelling speech.

Also, the judge removed Mayor Eric Garcetti and the city clerk as defendants in the lawsuit.

The city may appeal the ruling or the NRA may request the injunction be made permanent.

The Los Angeles City Council rules committee voted to have the city attorney draft two versions of a proposed ban on donations to city officials from developers seeking approval for their building projects.

Version one would directly follow the Ethics Commission’s recommendation to restrict non-individuals and developers from making political contributions. The restriction would apply from the date the project application is filed until 12 months after the final resolution of the application.

Version two would ban donations from any person or entity pursuing or currently working on large development projects with the city.

Both proposals would ban elected officials from soliciting behested payments from restricted sources, and lower the disclosure threshold for behested payments to $1,000 per payor per year.

Additionally, the proposals would require the disclosure of behested payments to identify whether the payor is a lobbyist, lobbyist firm, bidder, contractor, or developer.

These drafts are expected to be presented to the full City Council within the next few weeks.

The Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance on February 12 which requires companies that have contracts with the city to disclose under affidavit any contracts or sponsorships they or their subsidiaries have with the National Rifle Association.

A letter last week sent from the NRA threatened legal action if the ordinance passed, stating the proposal violates the First Amendment and is “an unconstitutional effort to restrict and chill an individual’s right to associate and express their political beliefs.”

Ordinance 18-0896 passed on a 14-0 vote and is headed to Mayor Eric Garcetti’s desk for review.

The Los Angeles, California City Ethics Commission announced the annual adjustments to campaign contribution limits.

The contribution amount allowable per-person increased for mayoral, city attorney and controller elections, but not for Los Angeles City Council elections.

The amounts apply to city elections in which the primary election fundraising window opens after March 1, 2018.

The limits do not apply to Los Angeles Unified School District elections.