By Los Angeles County Politics (LACP)
Hahn supports family bonding, job training for incarcerated women
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn (D-Southeastern LA County including Long Beach, San Pedro, Diamond Bar, Whittier, Cerritos, Downey, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hacienda Heights) this week saw the full board of supervisors approve her motions to advance plans for a new career center as well as a long expected expansion to a family bonding room for women incarcerated at the Century Regional Detention Facility (CRDF), the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s detention center in Lynwood.
“Providing these opportunities for family bonding and job training during incarceration are the two most important things that we can move forward on. The funding is there. The need is urgent. So we can’t wait any longer,” said Hahn, whose district includes Lynwood.
Hahn’s first motion directs the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the County’s Chief Executive Office’s Real Estate Division to report back to the Board regularly—with the first report in 45 days—on funding options and timelines for a renovation to an unused former California Superior Court courtroom located at CRDF to convert it into a family reunification room for the Sheriff Department’s Bonding, Empowering, and Reuniting (BEAR) Families Program.
The program is already available at the detention facility, but currently operates out of a smaller room that is outside of security, limiting the number of women who can participate.
Hahn’s second motion directs the County’s Department of Economic Opportunity to work with the Sheriff’s Department and the Justice, Care, and Opportunities Department (JCOD) to create a career center for women incarcerated at CRDF, allowing women to learn job skills and get hands-on experience that will help them get a job when they return home.
In 2019, the County established a two-year Job Center pilot program at CRDF which saw 141 participants enrolled, 91 completing job readiness training, 25 completing skills training in construction or technology, and 25 obtaining employment post-release. That pilot ended in November 2022.
For nearly three years, $1.2 million in state funding from Assembly Bill (AB) 109 allocated to this particular initiative have gone unused. Hahn’s motions directs County departments to utilize those funds to establish the permanent career center services at the facility.
Hahn urged the Sheriff’s Department to move with urgency on both projects.
Kamlager-Dove celebrates American Decade of Sports Act moving forward
U. S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Culver City, View Park-Windsor Hills, parts of South LA), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, yesterday celebrated the committee passage of H.R. 5021, the American Decade of Sports Act – a measure in which she was a leading co-sponsor.
This bipartisan legislation enhances the United States’ ability to strengthen global relationships as it prepares to host several major sporting events, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup, the 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup, and the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Currently, the State Department has the ability to implement sports diplomacy exchange programs, but it lacks a strategic plan and sufficient staffing to focus on the American Decade of Sports. The measure, among other things, directs the State Department to develop a sports diplomacy strategy leveraging the major sporting events coming to the U.S. to enhance soft power and global leadership.
“Over the next ten years, the United States will be the center of the sporting universe, hosting major international competitions like the World Cup and the Olympics. This presents an incredible window of opportunity to deliver lasting economic benefits for our communities, enhance U.S. global leadership, and establish once-in-a-generation diplomatic relationships that would not have come together without the connecting power of sports,” said Kamlager-Dove on the House Floor.
“The State Department’s sports diplomacy division punches far above its weight and does excellent work managing day-to-day sports diplomacy programs. But it needs the strategic mandate and personnel to engage with the international sporting events being hosted in the United States. My bill would elevate the division to its own Office of Sports Diplomacy, require the office to implement a strategy to leverage the mega-decade to enhance U.S. global leadership, and assign additional personnel focused exclusively on the international sporting events in the United States.”
Gomez floats legislation redirecting ICE allocations for more affordable housing
U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Downtown LA, Koreatown, Boyle Heights, Eagle Rock) yesterday introduced legislation that redirects the $175 billion allocations given to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the Trump Administration’s“Big Beautiful Bill,” and reinvests into affordable housing.
Dubbed the Make Housing Affordable and Defend Democracy Act, the measure makes one of the largest housing investments proposed this Congress, lowering costs for renters, providing substantial support for first-time homebuyers, and incentivizing the conversion of vacant office buildings into affordable units.
“I’m introducing this bill because families across the country are being crushed by housing costs while Trump uses $175 billion to terrorize families with his own national police force,” said Gomez. “This bill flips the script. We’re taking back Trump’s anti-immigrant slush fund and investing it in real housing solutions that actually help people while putting a check on the unaccountable police force he built to go after our communities.”
Gomez emphasized that the bill builds on the momentum from the first-ever National Summit on the Housing Affordability Crisis, which he convened to drive a coordinated national response to the housing crisis.
“At the summit, I said this crisis demands a New Deal-level housing movement, and I meant it,” said Gomez. “My son just turned three. He doesn’t understand the affordability crisis he’s inheriting yet, but he will live with the consequences if we fail to act. This bill restores the simple promise that if you work hard, you can afford a home and build a future for your family.”
The partisan House measure had 61 co-sponsors.
Diamond Bar City Council reorginization names Tye new mayor
The Diamond Bar City Council this week unanimously selected Mayor Pro Tem Steve Tye the new mayor, Council Member Ruth Low the new mayor pro tem while recognizing the work of outgoing Mayor Chia Yu Teng as part of its annual reorganization.
Tye was first elected to the Diamond Bar City Council in November 2005 and is the longest-serving member of the current City Council. He has been re-elected four times in 2009, 2013, 2018 and 2022. This marks his fifth term as mayor, having previously served in the role in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2020.
Before joining the Council, Tye served on the Planning Commission from 1997 to 2005, and on the Parks and Recreation Commission from 1994 to 1997. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from California State University Dominguez Hills, where he graduated cum laude.
Low was first elected to the Diamond Bar City Council in 2015 and previously served as mayor in 2018 and 2021. Prior to joining the city council, Low served on the Planning Commission from 2013 to 2015 and 2003 to 2005. She also served on the Parks and Recreation Commission from 2005 to 2009.
Low is a deputy district attorney with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. She has prosecuted serious and violent crimes, and as a member of the Special Prosecution Bureau, she has prosecuted white-collar crimes involving large scale financial, medical and real estate fraud. In 2011, she was recognized as Outstanding Prosecutor by the FBI.
Diamond Bar, like many municipalities in the County, is a General Law city governed by a five-member City Council. Members are elected by district to four-year staggered terms in general municipal elections held on even-numbered years.
Each December, the Council selects one of its members to serve as mayor and one member to serve as mayor pro tem for a one-year term. The mayor presides over all council meetings and serves as the ceremonial head of the City for official functions.
