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Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte’s must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State | | | | |  | | By Lara Korte , Jeremy B. White , Sakura Cannestra and Owen Tucker-Smith | THE BUZZ: With the mayor’s race now decided, one big question is still looming over Los Angeles: How long will Kevin de León last? It’s been over a month since the leak of the backroom conversation involving De León, fellow City Council member Gil Cedillo, then-City Council President Nury Martinez and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera that rocked the city. The conversation, for those with short memories, included racist remarks, disparaging comments about colleagues on the City Council and a crass discussion of manipulating political boundaries. Herrera quickly resigned, followed by Martinez. Cedillo, like De Leon, has stuck it out — refusing to step down even as protestors demand his resignation. But after losing his primary, Cedillo’s term is up, and he was already planning to leave city hall next month. That leaves just KDL bearing the full brunt of continued anger and outrage over the recording. De León has made some half-hearted apologies and has tried to deflect – saying he should have intervened when the most horrific comments were made. He argues that, in the end, the worst parts of the conversation weren’t the things he said. (If you’re interested in a line-by-line breakdown of the conversation, the LA Times published a handy transcription yesterday).
|  Protestors demonstrate outside City Hall calling for the resignations of LA City Council Members Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, Oct. 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, Calif. | Mario Tama/Getty Images | In a pair of TV interviews last month, one in Spanish and one in English, de León vowed not to resign , saying his constituents need his representation in CD-14, which includes downtown LA and Boyle Heights, and is home to a large Latino population. He might still hold the seat, and might still be collecting a paycheck, but after getting shouted out of council chambers shortly after the tape leaked, de León has yet to reappear at a council meeting. Some constituents are taking matters into their own hands. Activist Pauline Adkins last month filed her third recall attempt against the council member. According to the City Clerk , notice of the recall was served to de León on Nov. 3. A petition hasn’t circulated yet. If it does, proponents will need to collect a number of signatures equal to 15 percent of the district population – just over 21,000. Qualifying recalls, even municipal ones, can be difficult. Petitioners typically need to collect more signatures than required as a buffer, and that can require hiring paid gatherers. As for the incoming mayor — Rep. Karen Bass, like the rest of her fellow California Democrats, has called on all those caught on tape to resign. The mayor has little power over who stays and who goes when it comes to City Council, but Bass can certainly use her bully pulpit and many are expecting her to do just that. Bass had been vocal about homelessness being her first priority upon taking office. BUENOS DÍAS, good Tuesday morning. Votes continue to be counted in several tight Legislative races. We did get an outcome in one closely-contested open seat —with Republican Mark Pazin conceding to Democrat Esmeralda Soria in Assembly District 27. On the House side — Republican Rep. David Valadao defeated Democratic Assemblyman Rudy Salas last night, with the Associated Press calling the race at 51.7 percent to 48.3 percent. With Valadao’s win, all vulnerable California House incumbents have held their seats. Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up: jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte . PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off for Thanksgiving this Thursday and Friday but back to our normal schedule on Monday, Nov. 28. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Bob Iger gets an A+ on absolutely everything except succession.” Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, on Iger resuming his previous spot as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. TWEET OF THE DAY:
|  Today's Tweet of the Day | Twitter | WHERE’S GAVIN? Out of the state with family through Thanksgiving.
| | | | POLITICO APP USERS: UPGRADE YOUR APP BY DECEMBER 19! We recently upgraded the POLITICO app with a fresh look and improved features for easier access to POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Starting December 19, users will no longer have access to the previous version of the app. Update your app today to stay on top of essential political news, insights, and analysis from the best journalists in the business. UPDATE iOS APP – UPDATE ANDROID APP . | | | | | |  | Top Talkers | | TAPE TALK — “ Inside the room: The entire L.A. City Council racist audio leak, annotated by our experts ,” by the Los Angeles Times Staff: “It’s a rare glimpse into bare-knuckle power politics. Parts of it can be hard to follow. To help readers better understand the context and contours of the discussion, The Times brought together a team of City Hall reporters and columnists to annotate the conversation.” — “ Suspected Colorado shooter is the grandson of this California Republican Assemblyman ,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Andrew Sheeler: “The 22-year-old man suspected of carrying out a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub Saturday night that left five dead and 25 injured is reportedly the grandson of California Assemblyman Randy Voepel, R-Santee.” BIG MOVES — “ Returning Disney CEO Bob Iger announces plans for sweeping overhaul ,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Stephen Battaglio and Ryan Faughnder: “Walt Disney Co.'s returning chief executive, Bob Iger, wasted no time putting his stamp on the company, announcing plans for a major overhaul of the Burbank entertainment giant.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | THE BEST LAID PLANS — “ Both parties had high hopes for California in the midterms. Neither saw their dreams fully come true ,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Melanie Mason, Seema Mehta and Hannah Fry: “Neither Democrats nor Republicans have so far ousted an incumbent or won new ground in their opponent’s territory — though with a handful of races unresolved, a flicker of those hopes remain.” CALL ALERT — " California Republican who voted to impeach Trump wins reelection ," by POLITICO's David Cohen: "Rep. David Valadao, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, on Monday became only the second one to be reelected." — “ Why S.F. elections’ boss might lose his job after two decades and four elections this year ,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Mallory Moench: “With San Francisco’s fourth election of the year still to be certified, the man who oversaw it all and scores of other vote-counts over the past 20 years could lose his job next year.” THE NITTY GRITTY — “ Did San Franciscans understand the competing housing propositions? We analyzed every voter’s ballot to find out ,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Leila Darwiche and Nami Sumida: “Two propositions on San Francisco’s ballot in the November midterms hoped to address the city’s housing-affordability crisis. Neither of them passed. But did people understand them?”
| | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | LABOR LAWS — “ California Aims to Maximize Health Insurance Subsidies for Workers During Labor Disputes ,” by California Healthline’s Annie Sciacca: “Assembly member Jim Wood, a Democrat, is hoping a new California law he authored will dissuade employers from cutting off health benefits during labor disputes by allowing private-industry workers to maximize state subsidies for coverage purchased through Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace.” — “ Mentally ill prisoners in California are three times likelier to get shuffled around ,” by CalMatters’ Byrhonda Lyons, Jocelyn Wiener and Erica Yee: “California state prisons transfer people with serious mental illness far more frequently than other prisoners — sometimes moving them dozens of times — a CalMatters’ analysis of newly acquired state data has found.” — “ U.S. Approves Aid to Extend Life of California Nuclear Plant, ” by the New York Times’ Ivan Penn: “California’s last nuclear power plant received a $1.1 billion federal grant on Monday as the state seeks to extend the plant’s operations — currently set to end in 2025 — to meet electricity demand at a time of intensifying climate events.” CHANGE OF HEART — “ About-face: Why Newsom relented, released $1 billion despite lackluster local homeless plans ,” by CalMatters’ Manuela Tobias: “Two weeks after withholding $1 billion in homelessness funding over lackluster local plans, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that most cities and counties would get the funds as early as next week anyway — as long as in the next round, they commit to more aggressive plans to reduce street homelessness.” — “ In California, 10% of Legislature now identifies as LGBTQ ,” by AP’s Don Thompson: “While LGBTQ candidates and their supporters celebrated several milestone victories around the nation in this year’s midterm elections, California quietly reached its own: At least 10% of its state lawmakers identify publicly as LGBTQ, believed to be a first for any U.S. legislature.” COVID CORNER — “ Long-COVID clinics are wrestling with how to treat their patients ,” by CapRadio’s Blake Farmer: “Many big medical centers have established their own programs, and a crowd-sourced project counted more than 400 clinics nationwide. Even so, there's no standard protocol for treatment, and experts are casting a wide net for cures, with very few ready for formal clinical trials.” — “ After Election Win, California’s AG Turns to Investigating Hospital Algorithms for Racial Bias, ” by Kaiser Health News’ Mark Kreidler: “As he charts a course for his next four years, the 50-year-old Democrat wants to target racial discrimination in health care, including through an investigation of software programs and decision-making tools used by hospitals to treat patients.”
| | | | GO INSIDE THE MILKEN INSTITUTE FUTURE OF HEALTH SUMMIT: POLITICO is featuring a special edition of our “Future Pulse” newsletter at the 2022 Milken Institute Future of Health Summit from Dec. 6 to 8. The newsletter takes readers inside one of the most influential gatherings of health industry leaders and innovators solving the biggest global health issues to ensure a healthier, more resilient future for all. SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE . | | | | | | | BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL | | BUZZ ON THE HILL — GOP centrists prepare to ‘flex our muscles,’ by POLITICO’s Olivia Beavers, Jordain Carney and Sarah Ferris: “Kevin’s not stupid,” said Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), who leads the centrist Republican Governance Group. “He’s trying to add to his numbers, not destroy his base. And so I count on his political acumen to know what’s acceptable to the rank and file inside the conference.” — “ His term expiring, Garcetti pushes hard for job as ambassador to India ,” by the Los Angeles Times’ James Rainey and Dakota Smith: “With less than a month to go before he leaves office, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is pressing his effort to get the U.S. Senate to confirm his appointment as ambassador to India, a fraught campaign complicated by a Republican senator whose office is trying to renew doubts about whether the mayor and his staff mishandled sexual harassment allegations against a top aide.” FINAL SPRINT — Democrats confront bleak odds for immigration deal before 2023 , by POLITICO’s Marianne Levine and Burgess Everett: Democrats eager to find a legislative solution before 2023 for young undocumented immigrants are getting a wake-up call: They need votes from Republicans who don’t want to do it.
| | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | TRICKY TO NAVIGATE — “ Twitter is imploding. What if digital tools like maps and Google suffered a similar fate? ” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Chase DiFeliciantonio: “Instead of providing the most direct route, your maps app routes you by a company’s advertisers on the way to your destination. An apps store is littered with malware and scams. A trusted search engine refuses to return results for competitors’ products.” — “ Bob Chapek's Disney angered Scarlett Johansson, Florida's governor, and more in his two-plus years as CEO ,” by Business Insider’s Travis Clark: “Last week's earnings, in which Disney reported a $1.5 billion loss on its streaming business, appeared to be the final straw. The company's stock dipped 13% the day after the earnings call, its biggest one-day fall in two years.” DEEP CUTS — “ More than 6,000 tech and biotech job cuts roil Bay Area economy ,” by the Mercury News’ George Avalos: “As recessionary pressures continue to mount around the region and across the country, tech and biotech companies have now revealed plans for enough job cuts to erase more than 6,000 jobs in the Bay Area, cutbacks that could weigh on the region’s economy in the weeks and months to come.”
| | MIXTAPE | | — “ Pasadena startup seeks concrete solutions to cement’s carbon problem ,” by the Pasadena Star-News’ Brooke Staggs. WAITING WEEKS— “ Democrats fail to gain in California House races ,” Opines Dan Walters for CalMatters. — “ California cyclist has standoff with mountain lion on trail. Watch what happened ,” by the Sacramento Bee’s John Lynch. CROSSWALK — “ California greenlights jaywalking. It’s a step in the right direction ,” Opines Bruce Feirstein for the Washington Post. — “ Disney is not what it was when Bob Iger left. Does he have the magic touch to turn it around? ” by the Los Angeles Times’ Ryan Faughnder.
| | IN MEMORIAM | | — “ Dagny Corcoran, Bookselling Fixture of L.A. Art Scene, Dies at 77 ,” by the New York Times’ Randy Kennedy: “Dagny Corcoran, a revered California art-book seller whose shop and jam-packed dinner parties became way stations for a generation of artists, bibliophiles and Hollywood literati, died on Nov. 9 in Los Angeles. She was 77.”
| | BIRTHDAYS | | Rob Atkinson of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this -only service offers, click here . Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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