Eric Preven

Los Angeles

Contributor at CityWatchLA

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Articles

Los Angeles County doesn’t fix problems. It just pays to make them go away.

1 week ago | dailynews.com | Eric Preven

The five Los Angeles County supervisors in January 2024. From left to right: Janice Hahn, Hilda Solis, Lindsey Horvath, Kathryn Barger and Holly Mitchell. (photo courtesy of the LA County Board of Supervisors) UPDATED: May 3, 2025 at 11:07 AM PDTI once sued the County of Los Angeles—together with the American Civil Liberties Union and pro bono lawyers from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP—to expose how much it was paying private firms to defend misconduct by sheriff’s deputies. We won.
OPINION: L.A.’s Budget Hearings Are a Charade. The Public Deserves a Real Voice.

2 weeks ago | westsidecurrent.com | Eric Preven

At the first Los Angeles budget hearing last week, Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky promised a process that would be “transparent, collaborative, and community-driven.”Minutes later, the trap snapped shut:One agenda item. One minute of public comment. One continuous meeting — no matter how many sessions you attend. By declaring it a special meeting — a phrase that sounds accommodating but actually reduces public rights — the City Council triggered a technicality: one comment, total.
Really, Really Dark

3 weeks ago | citywatchla.com | Eric Preven

ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - At Monday’s special meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery, city officials attempted to balance a $350 million wildfire bill on the edge of a solar-powered light pole. The agenda, which began as a sober review of burned infrastructure and FEMA reimbursement strategy, slowly unraveled into the usual LA spectacle: bureaucratic backlogs, noble-sounding pilot programs, and exactly one glowing flashlight quote from Councilmember Traci Park.
The Budget Matryoshka

3 weeks ago | citywatchla.com | Eric Preven

ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - This week, Bob’s little black book rises up from the ashes. It’s nearly time for the annual budget matryoshka—that special ritual where one monolithic item quietly swallows 38 departments, 800 amendments, a police helicopter, and a zoo monkey with a pension.
Eric Preven: The real obscenity at LA City Hall

4 weeks ago | dailynews.com | Eric Preven

When the Los Angeles City Council is up to no good — which is often — people send me clips. “Eric, do something.” I used to show up in person, but the council eliminated virtual public comment, effectively banning anyone without free mornings and a downtown parking strategy. I still write — mostly on CityWatch. It’s not the New York Times, but it gets more eyeballs than most council meetings ever will. The latest clip didn’t land in my inbox — it turned up in a city case file.
Power Preservation

1 month ago | citywatchla.com | Eric Preven

ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - Item 41-D on Tuesday, tucked deep into the so-called Green Sheet—where urgency goes to hide—confirms what many already suspected: the County’s Governance Reform Task Force is less about reform and more about preserving the current power structure with better lighting. Each Supervisor got one pick. And each picked someone safely within reach. Hilda Solis selected Brian Calderón Tabatabai, her West Covina ally.
CityWatch LA - Landfill Fire

1 month ago | citywatchla.com | Eric Preven

ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - It’s wild. The people who committed the abuse? Not paying a dime. The institutions that enabled them? Still standing. Meanwhile, the taxpayers — who did nothing wrong — are left holding the four-billion-dollar bag. These look-back windows are supposed to bring justice, and I support that. But when the price tag hits $4 billion, and we’re slashing programs to pay it? That’s not justice — that’s generational punishment. Are we destabilizing the future to atone for the past?
Four F*in’ Billion?

1 month ago | citywatchla.com | Eric Preven

ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - On the day the Dodgers and Benjamin Netanyahu showed up—together—at the Trump White House, it's safe to say the optics were not ideal. Especially not coming off a weekend march against Trump that, let’s be honest, barely rattled the windows. (Correct me if I’m wrong, but the passion felt... muted.) Mookie Betts went this time, and some fans aren’t taking it lightly.
In Defense of Karen Bass

1 month ago | citywatchla.com | Eric Preven

ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - Karen Bass has been grinding, working daily to tackle an inherited crisis, and has been relentlessly scapegoated for the dysfunction of a system that predates her tenure. The homelessness crisis? A disaster decades in the making, worsened by bureaucratic inertia and political grandstanding. Public safety? A fire department left underfunded for years, is now weaponized against her.
Shrinking Aspirations

1 month ago | citywatchla.com | Eric Preven

Details Eric Preven ERIC PREVEN'S NOTEBOOK ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - Looking back, Tuesday’s council meeting was all good vibes. Nowruz was in the air—sprouts, coins, renewal! Blumenfield didn't speak in Farsi, but ... Raman was celebrating a hard-fought four-year journey to finally staff up the Housing Department with 18 new positions to crack down on illegal Airbnbs, rogue yoga retreats, and the scourge of unpermitted short-term rentals. We were practically basking in progress! And then...