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Ownership vs Influence: Mapping Downtown Property Power

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By Devonte Barr, Columnist

Downtown San Pedro, with its vacant storefronts and low-rent offers, can feel like a place constantly on the cusp of revitalization. Yet who decides when — or if — that change happens? The answer lies in ownership.

Of the 804 parcels in downtown San Pedro’s Improvement District, only 5% are publicly owned. The remaining 95% sit in private hands, often concentrated among a relatively small number of entities. One of the most significant is Jerico Development, which owns and operates more than 1.2 million square feet of commercial space, including several historic buildings, and is spearheading the West Harbor waterfront project.

Property and Business Improvement Districts (PBIDs), like San Pedro’s, operate under a 1994 state law and are funded through mandatory assessments on property owners within designated boundaries. These districts are governed by boards composed exclusively of property owners or their representatives, who make decisions about security, graffiti removal, marketing strategy and redevelopment timelines — without direct input from residents, renters, or everyday shoppers.

When landlords control multiple properties, the financial incentives shift. Vacancies can become strategic — a calculated wait for higher-paying tenants rather than a rush to fill space with local operators. Consolidated ownership spreads risk across portfolios. What looks like stagnation from the sidewalk can look like patience on a balance sheet.

Downtown’s future will be debated in meetings and promoted in press releases, but its immediate reality is shaped more quietly — through property records, lease negotiations, and decisions about whether to lower rent or hold the line.

The question isn’t whether revitalization is happening.
It’s who it’s happening for.

But that question — important as it is — isn’t the whole story.

Ownership determines leverage. It doesn’t eliminate responsibility.

It’s tempting to look at parcel counts and improvement districts and decide the game is centralized beyond influence. That downtown happens to us. That the real decisions are made somewhere else.

That conclusion feels logical and incomplete.

Downtown succeeds or struggles at the human level. Foot traffic is human. Word of mouth is human. Clean sidewalks start with someone deciding not to litter. Safety grows when neighbors recognize each other.

You don’t need to hold a deed to influence a block. You just need to show up.

Attend events — not just to critique them, but to participate.
Talk to business owners. Learn their stories.
Pick up trash, even if it isn’t yours.
Sit in on a meeting, not to grandstand, but to understand.

None of that changes ownership, but it changes the atmosphere.

Improvement districts can coordinate services. They can fund security. They can market a vision. What they cannot manufacture is culture. That only exists if residents opt in.

Downtown isn’t just a collection of parcels. It’s a pattern of habits.

If you want a late-night coffee shop, frequent the one that stays open past eight.
If you want safer streets, be visible on them.
If you want momentum, contribute to it.

Revitalization isn’t something unveiled in phases. It unfolds daily.

Ownership influences leverage, and community determines life.

And life is what makes property valuable in the first place.

Downtown San Pedro doesn’t belong exclusively to the names on deeds or the members of assessment boards. It belongs, in practice, to whoever participates in it. The structures matter. The ownership patterns matter. But so does whether we treat this place like a waiting room or a living room.

If concentrated ownership shapes leverage, the only real counterweight is concentrated participation.

County Seeks Financial Services Provider for New Worker Ownership Initiative

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County Seeks Financial Services Provider for New Worker Ownership Initiative

LOS ANGELES— The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity or DEO March 26 announced the release of the Employee and Worker Ownership Initiative Financial Services Request for Proposals or RFP, inviting qualified financial institutions to administer and manage a county-owned loan program that will support businesses transitioning to employee and worker ownership models and help existing employee- or worker-owned businesses grow within or into Los Angeles County. Up to $2,136,000 in total funding available.

Proposals are due May 1, by 12 p.m. (PST).

The employee and worker ownership initiative or EWOI advances economic development in LA County and was created in response to a September 2023 motion. EWOI expands access to shared ownership opportunities as a pathway to building wealth, preserving local businesses facing succession challenges, and promoting long-term job stability for workers.

Through this RFP, DEO seeks a qualified financial institution licensed to issue loans in the State of California to lead the Financial Services component of EWOI. The selected proposer will manage the full lending lifecycle, including underwriting and structuring loans, facilitating a loan committee, coordinating county approval and funding transfers, disbursing and servicing loans, providing borrower post financial counseling, managing repayment processes, and monitoring portfolio performance.

Key Dates for the EWOI Financial Services RFP:

RFP Release: March 25
Written questions due: April 8
Questions and answers released via addendum: April 17
Proposals due: May 1, 2026, by 12 p.m. (PST)

Anticipated contract term: June 2026 – June 2031 with an option to renew contingent upon funding.

Learn more about the EWOI at: opportunity.lacounty.gov/ewoinitiative/.

For all details on the RFP, download the EWOI Financial Services RFP (solicitation number EWOI-FIN-01) at doingbusiness.lacounty.gov/open-solicitations/

Future Changemakers Wanted: Apply for AALT

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Future Changemakers Wanted: Apply for AALT

Organized and led by the California Legislative Black Caucus, this annual African American Leaders For Tomorow flagship event invites high-achieving high school students from across California to participate in a four-day legislative and leadership, convening July 8 to 11.

Held on the CSU Dominguez Hills campus in Carson, current California high school sophomores and juniors are hand-selected to participate in workshops, civic engagement sessions, and exploration into the legislative process.

Students will experience dorm living and community dining for a curated, age-appropriate introductory college experience, all at no cost to the participants or their families.

The California Legislative Black Caucus developed AALT to lend its expertise to help cultivate the next generation of Black leaders equipped to tackle critical issues of the day.

Learn more, create an account, and submit an application today

Application Deadline: April 13

Details: https://cablackcaucus.org/aalt/

Francesca Albanese, Gaza, and the Military-Propaganda Nexus Behind the US-Israeli War on Iran

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Francesca Albanese, Gaza, and the Military-Propaganda Nexus Behind the US-Israeli War on Iran

By Robin Andersen

https://orbooks.com/catalog/the-complicit-lens/

When the Israeli lobbying group UN Watch spread disinformation about Francesca Albanese, they were trying to silence her condemnations of the true “common enemy of humanity”—the illegal system of oppressive, corporate-media-military and surveillance forces shaping a brutal new world order, and now bombing Iran.

Francesca Albanese has evoked the ire of Israeli officials, the US government, and Western countries that have failed to stop, and continued to support, Israel’s genocide in Gaza. They are mad at her for doing her job and excelling at it. When she accepted the position as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, she was a widely published human rights expert. She never hid her focus and strong positions on the rights of Palestinians or the fact that her historically grounded research focused on Israel’s occupation of Palestine. She began as Special Rapporteur in May 2022, and by November she gave a talk at the Irish Center for Human Rights titled, “Resetting the Mind: Settler Colonialism, Apartheid and the Right to Self-determination in Palestine.”

Albanese has proven to be the most important global voice defending Palestinians against the Israeli extermination campaign in Gaza that has continued for 28 months. In doing so, she exposed a growing web of neo-colonial forces at the forefront of genocide, still intent on completing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and turning Gaza into a multibillion-dollar resort for the billionaire class (revealed on a disgusting though rarely cited videotape). Trump’s profit-making enterprise called the “Board of Peace” convened for the first time in January, and some 60 countries were invited to join for a one-billion-dollar fee in a pay-to-play scheme that Pope Leo XIV referred to as an attempt to replace the UN. Jeremy Scahill explained on Democracy Now! what exactly this muddle of corporate shills, Netanyahu, and a group of rag-tag government representatives are dreaming up for their Epstein-Class playground on the Mediterranean. Depriving Gazans of any independent representation or defense, their terms are these; “you either fully bend the knee and accept a colonial apartheid regime [and] accept a new reality as dystopian plantation workers on Jared Kushner’s real estate project or we’re going to kill you.” As Asal Raad pointed out, “’They’re building resorts on the graves of Palestinians…slaughtered in a genocide—for profit—and @nytimes calls it a ‘glittering plan.’”

Francesca Albanese has incisively corrected the record and debunked Israel’s denials and justifications for genocide so often repeated in the Western Press. It took her one eloquent sentence to expose media’s role in facilitating Israeli attacks on the enclave when she wrote, “Israel has written one of the darkest pages of human history and the world is still holding the pen.”

She made it look easy when she shattered a foundational rhetorical question lobbed at anyone who dare criticize the state of Israel, Do you believe Israel has a right to exist? When a journalist threw that one at Albanese, she patiently explained “Israel does exist. It is a recognized member of the United Nations.” France and Italy exist, if they want to merge that’s up to them, but she added, “What is enshrined in international law is the right of a people to exist.”

Last year over 700,000 people signed a petition nominating Albanese for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. But her effective advocacy for Palestinian rights made her the target of US sanctions. The action came after she published a study in July 2025, naming the major global corporations profiting from Israel’s ongoing occupation and genocide in Gaza. She named 60 companies that have played a role in ‘sustaining Israel’s settler-colonial project.’” The military industrial complex dominated by US weapons manufacturers, is unsurprisingly, at the heart of this nexus. The occupation and bombing of Gaza “provided a testing ground for cutting-edge military capabilities: air defense platforms, drones, AI-powered targeting tools and even the US-led F-35 programme.” After being used on Palestinians, deadly technologies are marketed as “battle proven.” At a major weapons conference in Tel Aviv in December 2025, Israel boasted that their weapons are tested “live on Palestinians” to increase profits.

In the July report, Albanese also drew attention to the financial industries, consulting firms, social media, and public relations companies, that help design the misleading narratives that have deflected blame, refused to use terms likes genocide, and parroted Israeli talking points in sanitizing Israel’s brutality.

In tandem with the nexus of military force, security surveillance, corporate and media power, its acolytes are formulating an attendant neocolonial ideology. At a Munich Security Conference in February, US Secretary of State Mario Rubio, introduced the conceptual architecture for, in the words of Jonathan Cook, “a return to brutal Western colonialism,” in a speech well-received by European dignitaries. The humanitarian community is left struggling to find a way to continue to represent humanity as the ground shifts beneath their feet.

When Albanese began to expose the big picture of expanding military domination, and warned of its global consequences, the campaign to discredit her went into high gear. The latest attacks on the Special Rapporteur came in response to a videotape appearance she made at a conference in Doha where she argued that this growing systemic threat should be viewed as a “common enemy of humanity.”

The pro-Israeli lobbying group UN Watch, released an altered video of her talk and claimed that Albanese called Israel itself the “enemy of humanity.” One need only look at the original tape of her address to prove that she said no such thing. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot augmented the false charges adding that Albanese condemned Israel “as a people and a nation,” and demanded her resignation. Pointing to the doctored videotape being used to portray her as antisemitic, Albanese told Medhi Hasan, “The cut and paste of that video was so rudimental that it was almost insulting to human intelligence.”

The powerful global consortium of weapons-based profiteering and neo-colonial states have attacked one of the most forceful advocates for humanity, at the same time the US and Israel are bombing Iran. They are committing crimes of aggression against a sovereign state that has not threatened or attacked them, and major media outlets such as the New York Times has spurred them on. After a US bomb struck a girls’ elementary school in Minab, Iran, killing 165 people (mostly girls between the age of 7 and 12), hours later another US-Israeli strike on the town of Lamerd hit mostly teenagers in a gymnasium, killing 20 youthful volleyball players. Witnesses described, “The continuous screaming of the injured.” But news of these bombings were not prominently featured in establishment media. As Fatima Bhutto put it, “From Gaza to Iran, Children Have Always Been Sacrificed by Western Imperial Aims.” Trump’s illegal war is unpopular—just a quarter of Americans back the strikes on Iran—and there is no legitimate rationale for another war in the Middle East.

Former UN official and Human Rights Lawyer Criag Mokhiber has also identified what he referred to as a “US-Israeli Axis” calling it “the greatest threat facing humanity today” and described to this way; “A murderous bombing campaign in Iran, continuing genocide in Palestine…belligerent occupation of several countries, acts of transnational terrorism, repression at home, schemes to profit from murder and colonization…massive corruption of the public and private sectors across the West, sanctions against human rights defenders and international courts, attacks on international institutions, the dismantling of international law, mass surveillance of the rest of us, and a growing trail of blood and destruction around the globe.”

In her characteristic expression of deep humanity, woven into Francesca Albanese’s words is an alternative vision of a world shaped by humanity and freedom. “We, who do not control large amounts of financial capital, algorithms, and weapons, we now see that we, as a humanity, have a common enemy. And freedoms, the respect for fundamental freedoms, is the last peaceful avenue, the last peaceful toolbox that we have to regain our freedom.”

The gaggle of for-profit genocidaires, or what Trump calls his Board of Peace, is looking to expand its mission from Gaza to other conflicts, seeking to further dismantle international law and the humanitarian community. As the death toll escalates under US-Israeli bombs and spreads war throughout the Middle East, Negin Owilaei argues in Truthout, “We need to reckon with the American War Machine,” and I would add, push back against the common enemy of humanity—the growing nexus of military and propaganda alliances.

Robin Andersenis professor emerita of media studies at Fordham University and an award-winning author of a dozen single- and co-authored books. Her upcoming book is The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza.

LA Advances SB 79 Plan to Build Housing Near Transit

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LA Advances SB 79 Plan to Build Housing Near Transit

 

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council March 24 approved a phased approach to implementing Senate Bill 79 (SB 79), advancing a plan to increase housing near transit while allowing time for thoughtful planning and targeted reforms.

The adopted framework, known as Option C1, expands the city’s corridor transition (CT) program across transit-oriented areas, allowing for new multifamily housing, including three- to four-story buildings, in higher and moderate opportunity areas, including neighborhoods currently zoned for single-family homes. At the same time, the city will delay full implementation in lower resource areas, high fire severity zones, and historic districts until 2030. The framework also directs the development of a citywide local alternative plan to take effect in 2030.

This approach allows Los Angeles to implement state law while creating local flexibility to determine where additional housing should be located in alignment with state requirements.

In addition, councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky introduced two motions that will now move through the committee process:

  • The first motion, seconded by councilmembers Hernandez and Blumenfield, directs the Department of City Planning to reform and strengthen the corridor transition program to ensure that newly legalized housing types are financially feasible and actually get built. This includes potential updates to zoning rules such as floor area, height, and unit mix to support family-sized housing and missing middle development.
  • The second motion, co-authored by councilmember Blumenfield and seconded by Council President Harris-Dawson, directs the Department of City Planning to develop an accelerated implementation framework for higher opportunity areas in advance of the citywide local alternative plan. This framework focuses on increasing density near transit corridors, with a graduated transition into surrounding neighborhoods, including those currently zoned for single-family homes.

Port Awards $1.17 Million in Community Sponsorships

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Port Awards $1.17 Million in Community Sponsorships

 

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on March 23 awarded $1,174,900 in sponsorships to 364 local nonprofit organizations through the Port of Long Beach community sponsorship program, marking the largest award and highest number of recipients in a single call to date.

The community sponsorship program supports events and projects centered on the environment, education, social justice, the arts and historic preservation while also informing residents about Port operations and initiatives.

A list of the approved sponsorships can be found here.

The Port received a record high of 394 applications in January for this round of sponsorships, 44% of which were first-time requests. The Harbor Commission has approved a $3 million sponsorship budget for fiscal year 2026, with applications accepted in January, May and September.

The next open application period for sponsorships will be May 1-29.

Details: www.polb.com/sponsorships.

Institute for Policy Studies and JVP Los Angeles Present Phyllis Bennis Discussing and Signing Understanding Palestine and Israel

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Institute for Policy Studies and JVP Los Angeles Present Phyllis Bennis Discussing and Signing Understanding Palestine and Israel

 

Page Against The Machine will present longtime political analyst, writer, and activist Phyllis Bennis on March 26. She will be discussing her latest book, Understanding Palestine and Israel, published in an updated edition by Olive Branch Press in 2025. The book provides a straightforward, point-by-point examination of the historical, factual, legal, and moral issues at play over the past hundred years, up to and including the current war on Gaza and the election of Donald Trump.

Time: 7 p.m., March 26

Cost: Free

Details: https://tinyurl.com/Page-Against-The-Machine

Venue: Page Against The Machine, 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach

L.A. County Awards $140K in Entrepreneurship Grants; Launch Funding Still Available

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L.A. County Awards $140K in Entrepreneurship Grants; Launch Funding Still Available

 

The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity or DEO has awarded $140,000 in entrepreneurship academy grants through the Small Business Mobility Fund (SBMF), providing direct capital to 70 entrepreneurs and small business owners across the region. Each awardee will receive $2,000 in grant funding to support the launch or growth of their business. The grants are designed to help entrepreneurs cover start-up and set-up costs, such as business licensing and permits, website development and branding, inventory and equipment, intellectual property protections, or facade and tenant improvements.

While applications for the entrepreneurship academy grant have closed, additional funding opportunities remain available through the SBMF. Applications are still open for launch grants, which support businesses opening a brick-and-mortar location in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Eligible businesses may receive $5,000 for non-retail commercial spaces, such as offices and warehouses, and $10,000 for retail a retail commercial storefront.

The application deadline has been extended to March 31.

Details: opportunity.lacounty.gov/sbmf/.

To learn more about the Economic Mobility Initiative, visit emi.lacounty.gov.

McOsker Proposes Port Reform Plan Centering Workers in Port Decisions

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McOsker Proposes Port Reform Plan Centering Workers in Port Decisions

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker March 24 introduced a comprehensive package of reform proposals to strengthen transparency, accountability, and worker protections at the Port of Los Angeles.

The reform package builds on the city’s ongoing charter reform efforts and represents a major step toward ensuring that port approvals are evaluated not only on financial and operational factors but also on their direct and long-term impacts on workers, job quality, and other economic impacts, particularly as automation and emerging technologies continue to reshape goods movement.

At the core of the proposal is the creation of a Workforce Impact Report or WIR framework, a policy tool that would require worker-centered analysis to be completed, disclosed, and considered before key port decisions move forward, including leases, permits, and major operational changes.

“The Port of Los Angeles has been the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere for over two decades because of the strength of our workforce,” said Councilmember Tim McOsker who represents the Harbor Area. “As we modernize and grow, we have a responsibility to make sure those workers are not an afterthought, they must be at the center of every decision we make. That means requiring clear, open, and public Workforce Impact Reports before approvals move forward, ensuring our leasing policies and Port decisions fully account for impacts on longshore jobs and the local economy, and bringing greater clarity and accountability to how projects are reviewed along our waterfront. If we are serious about the future of this Port, then we must be just as serious about protecting and strengthening the workforce that makes it run.”

The reform package includes four key components:

Port-Specific Workforce Impact Framework Implementation:

Establishing a port-focused workforce impact framework to ensure that no port-related approval or public investment advances without a clear understanding of its impact on jobs and the workforce, including safeguards to prevent public funds from subsidizing automation that results in job loss or displacement. See motion here.

Reforming Leasing Practices to Address Worker Impact:

Requiring tenants and applicants at marine terminals to prepare workforce impact reports as a condition of lease approvals, amendments, and permits. These reports would evaluate current and projected job levels, the effects of automation and technology, and broader economic impacts, and would be publicly presented to the Board of Harbor Commissioners to inform decision-making. See motion here.

Modernization of Coastal Development Permit Review:

Initiating updates to the port’s coastal development permit process to better distinguish between heavy industrial projects and community-serving or commercial waterfront developments, ensuring that project review is appropriately scaled to potential impacts on neighborhoods, public access, and coastal resources. See motion here.

Citywide Workforce Impact Framework:

Directing the city to develop a standardized workforce impact report model that can be applied across departments, ensuring that major city decisions, including contracts, infrastructure investments, and policy changes, consistently evaluate job creation, job loss, wages, working conditions, and workforce development needs, and incorporate worker input into the process. See motion here.

Together, these reforms aim to modernize how the city evaluates economic development by making workforce impacts a required and transparent part of the approval process, not an afterthought, while maintaining the port’s global competitiveness.

Today’s introduction also comes as the city council recognized the leadership of outgoing ILWU, Local 13 President Gary Herrera, marking his tenure with a renewed commitment to forward-looking, worker-centered port policy.

“Gary Herrera has been a steady and respected leader for the women and men of ILWU, Local 13, fighting every day to protect good-paying jobs and the dignity of work on our waterfront,” said Councilmember McOsker. “He has stood up for his union sisters and brothers through times of change, especially as automation continues to try to reshape the industry, always making sure workers had a seat at the table. His leadership has helped set the standard for what it means to advocate for working people, and his impact on our Port and our community will be felt for years to come.”

The motions direct the city’s chief legislative analyst, in coordination with the Port of Los Angeles and city attorney, to report back within 90 days with detailed recommendations, including potential charter and municipal code amendments to implement the proposed reforms.

LA County Seeks Bilingual Poll Workers for 2026 Primary Election

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LA County Seeks Bilingual Poll Workers for 2026 Primary Election

 

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk announced that the RR/CC is recruiting bilingual community members to serve as election workers at vote centers across the county for the upcoming June 2, statewide direct primary election.

The RR/CC is seeking individuals who speak English and a high-need language. Languages in high demand include Japanese, Khmer, Thai, Farsi, Gujarati, Hindi, and Korean.

“Election Workers are the people who make voting possible at Vote Centers across the County,” said Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan. “We are especially looking for bilingual community members who can assist voters and help ensure language access at Vote Centers.”

Election workers receive training before the election and can earn up to $1,180 during the election period, with additional stipends available for bilingual workers who speak, read, and write in one of the county’s supported languages.

Details: Residents interested in serving can apply and learn more at LAVOTE.GOV.

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