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ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK -
Cold Open:
INT. MARRIOTT BALLROOM – DAY
Warner Center Marriott, late September, the annual State of the Valley luncheon. The room reeks of rubber chicken and ambition. Wells Fargo, SoCalGas, UCLA Health, CSUN—logos plaster the walls like campaign stickers. Each bought a tier: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze. Pay more, sit closer. It’s a menu of influence, a parody that’s no parody. Days later, City Hall served its own version, swapping chicken for kiosks.
It's going great! Sign up soon to get your seat(s) at the table.
Somewhere near the back, Stuart Waldman of VICA whispers to John Lee about Olympic tickets. Across the aisle, Waste Management’s tent neighbors AECOM’s cookie corner where their is a live baking situation. A cutout of Arnie and Harvey guards the bar, pointing to the Englander Knabe & Allen kiosk where you can order chicken-or-fish or an Uber. Yes, they’ve got a table.
Susan Collins’ Broadside
Susan Collins took the mic, armed with homework.
“Oppose the City Attorney’s $6 million request for attorneys billing $1,300 an hour to fight Judge Carter’s remedy for LAHSA’s failure. The City spent $2.3 billion, most unaccounted for. Gibson Dunn’s already milking $1 million a week. What’s $6 million? Seven weeks of representation? This is repugnant. Vote no on agenda item 41.”
Her outrage cut the room’s choreography. Collins trekked downtown to speak; most Angelenos can’t. Harris-Dawson’s ban on call-in testimony ensures the mic is for the few. For her, it was worth it. For the rest, silence is policy.
Closed Session Shuffle
Post-closed session, the City Attorney shrugged: “Nothing to report.” Translation: $6 million more for Gibson Dunn, shielded by privilege.
Then, Item 21—kiosks. Katy Yaroslavsky called for reconsideration, a tell that the script shifted backstage. Her amendments: stakeholder outreach (BIDs, maybe a neighborhood council) and a report on kiosk profits—district or general fund. McOsker seconded, piggybacking his own amendment with Lee.
Two 15–0 votes, bang-bang, no debate, no public input. A million-dollar lobbying campaign rode those votes, moving faster than a Starbucks kiosk takes your order. Procedural above, pre-cooked below: closed session secrecy, open session unanimity, no trace of who’s calling the tune.
Invisible Threads
Yaroslavsky’s push for outreach and revenue splits looked routine. Unmentioned: her husband’s a veteran of Gibson Dunn — his prior firm, the same shop blessed with millions in closed session minutes earlier.
Angelenos don’t see the billing sheets or revolving-door hires. And they don’t hear it in chambers either—Harris-Dawson’s mic cut-off ensures that. Collins spoke; most can’t.
That’s the crime: not just the billable hours or six-figure lobbying contracts, but the silencing.Motions name no vendors, “stakeholder” stays vague, and the gavel falls if you cite “Afriat got $82,943.55 last quarter.” The threads—between amendments and law firms, vendors and lobbying rosters eating millions—stay invisible by design. That’s how they like it.
LAHSA tension.
The Menu of Influence
City Hall’s prix fixe trumps the Chamber’s:
Platinum: VIP seat, your kiosk outside your BID. Deputy mayor winks.
Gold: Revenue calculator demo, rich districts cash in.
Silver: Your logo on a kiosk splash screen. Frame it.
Bronze: A staffer’s promise to call back.
Copper (illegal): Unlicensed weed ads, until LAPD strolls by.
Bonus: The Lobbyist Table — Afriat (now Aaron Green’s shop), Berghoff, M Strategic, Englander Knabe.
Book early and sit near Dutra, the new Chairman of LA County METRO! Quite a seat!
Parsing the Policy Stakes
“Stakeholder outreach” sounds civic, but who’s included? Residents tripping over screens? BIDs picking ad spots? The disability community questioning ADA compliance? Or small businesses dwarfed by SoCalGas and Cedars-Sinai ads? Outreach here usually means coffee with lobbyists, then a glossy flyer for the rest of us.
Yaroslavsky’s revenue split—district or general fund—seems fair until you recall: rich districts get richer, poor ones get bus stops. Equity in reverse, cloaked in fiscal responsibility — Robin Hood rewritten by lobbyists.
Missing: RFP details, ad rules, privacy protections for kiosk cameras, or alignment with the Sidewalk and Transit Amenities Program. Policy’s a shell game; the pea’s always lobbying dollars.
Pay-Per-View Raid
10-4 from Harris-Dawson on mobilizing the Port Police in the One-Five.
McOsker and Spindler name-dropped the U.S. Attorney, signaling tension. When council and gadflies invoke feds, someone’s setting a stage.
Would the DOJ raid City Hall? It might balance the budget. Revenue idea: $19.95 for a pay-per-view FBI perp-walk past the Port Police. Lobbyists get a group rate, chicken included. Influence is for sale; now we’re just selling tickets.
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At least at the Chamber luncheon, you know exactly what your $5,000 buys. Two VIP seats, a logo on the program, maybe a handshake from the Mayor. At City Hall, the bill comes out of closed session, payable by every Angeleno, with no menu and no refunds.
Platinum buys you lunch with the Mayor and her chief of staff. Gold gets you a general manager and a lobbyist with three city contracts. Silver is a harried staffer who may or may not call you back. Bronze is a commendatory resolution and a smile for the camera. Copper? That’s the unlicensed weed package, until LAPD walks by.
Illegal tier: the Lobbyist Table. Ask Aaron Green’s Afriat Consulting Group, Berghoff, M Strategic, or Englander Knabe. A million dollars in, a million dollars out, and not one kiosk installed yet. That’s the real State of the City — not the luncheon banners, but the invisible receipts.
(Eric Preven is a Studio City-based television writer-producer, award-winning journalist, and longtime community activist. He is known for his sharp commentary on transparency and accountability in local government. Eric successfully brought and won two landmark open government cases in California, reinforcing the public’s right to know. A regular contributor to CityWatch, he combines investigative insight with grassroots advocacy to shine a light on civic issues across Los Angeles.)
