Jim Newton is a veteran journalist, best-selling author and teacher. He worked at the Los Angeles Times for 25 years as a reporter, editor, bureau chief and columnist, covering government and politics. He teaches at UCLA and founded Blueprint magazine.
El electorado (quién vota y en qué número) determina las elecciones locales. Los Ángeles, que alguna vez fue un ancla del conservadurismo, ahora se encuentra a la vanguardia de la política progresista.
The electorate — who votes and in what numbers — determines local races. LA, once an anchor of conservatism, now rests on the cutting edge of progressive politics.
Los Angeles County recorded a small decline in its homeless population for the first time in years, and made progress in reducing encampments. It's too early to say if Mayor Karen Bass has successfully turned the corner, especially with other forces at play.
Playa Vista, a West LA community that took decades to build, is an extraordinary accomplishment in a city where housing is notoriously difficult to create. Yet one piece remains: the wetlands restoration. It's being blocked, paradoxically, by environmentalists.
Despite losing the Los Angeles mayoral race two years ago, billionaire businessman Rick Caruso is showing signs that he's still eyeing political office. His ambitions may even extend to California governor.
Self-regulation is a messy business. In politics, it can seem elusive. When elected officials adopt rules to govern the conduct of elected officials, they’re pulled in one direction by constituents who favor restrictions and punishments, and in the other direction by self-preservation, a basic instinct politicians have in abundance. Progress tends to be incremental and uneven […]
The rhetoric around public safety in the Los Angeles district attorney race overstates the scope of the office, crime realities and priorities for many voters. Yet at least one candidate thinks it will determine who wins.
Some local officials may simply ignore the results of UCLA's annual quality-of-life survey of Los Angeles, which reported the lowest score in its nine years. The better response would be to dig deeper into the results because there is policy guidance within the data.
The growth of Los Angeles in recent decades has renewed discussions around how best to represent such a large, diverse city. After city leaders were exposed in 2022 for wanting to carve city council districts to serve narrow interests, the argument for expanding the council has become more viable.