Politics
L.A. City Council votes to allow the demolition of a Jewish and labor movement landmark
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Friday to allow the demolition of a century-old building in the Westlake neighborhood that served as a Jewish landmark and later as the heart of labor organizing in the city.
The vote was a victory for Catholic Charities, which bought the building historically known as the B’nai B’rith Lodge in 2018 but later said it was “seriously dilapidated and structurally unsound” and could threaten the safety of the surrounding neighborhood.
Catholic Charities, a nonprofit organization connected to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, filed a lawsuit against the city in 2023, saying it had wrongly been denied permission to tear down the ornate 1924 structure.
The group said in court documents that the city would not allow demolition of the property on South Union Avenue because it “may be historic,” making it subject to further additional review, as well as because any future projects on the lot must comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.
Community preservationists and advocates argued that a potential demolition would be a blow to crucial L.A. history. Instead, they urged Catholic Charities to repair the building and put it to use.
The Rev. Dylan Littlefield, the chaplain at the Cecil Hotel who has become involved in preservation battles, said the lodge’s demolition would mean the destruction of a place that stood as a “testament to the resiliency and the diversity of the city of Los Angeles.”
Esotouric, a tour company that advocates for historic preservation and public policy, told The Times before the settlement vote was announced that the public should have a chance to comment. The company called the lawsuit — and any prospective settlement — a potential “land-use decision about the right to demolish a cultural resource.”
The city attorney’s office declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
The B’Nai B’rith lodge was designed by the famed Jewish architect Samuel Tilden Norton, who also designed the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.
It was built in the early 1920s as the home for an L.A. chapter of the B’nai B’rith, a Jewish service organization with New York roots. At the time, members of the B’nai B’rith felt a “desire to really be accepted by the leaders of the city,” according to Steven Luftman, a heritage conservation consultant.
“They felt that if they only built a grand enough meeting hall, that that would be one step toward being recognized as part of the community,” said Luftman, who wrote an application for the lodge to be deemed a historic-cultural monument.
After a few years of being a community hub for Jewish L.A., the building was sold in 1930 to the Fraternal Order of Eagles. It then had a brief tenure as clubhouse for the Safeway Employees’ Assn. before it became the headquarters of the American Federation of Labor Teamsters Joint Council 42.
It became the site for rapid growth of the labor movement, and is where the Teamsters elected their first Black official, John T. Williams, according to Luftman.
“The AFL Teamster building was the heart of the Los Angeles labor movement and ground zero for much of the union organizing that transformed Los Angeles into a metropolitan powerhouse,” said Chris Griswold, Teamsters Joint Council 42 president.
B’nai B’rith International said in a statement that the lodge “represents an important part of the history of our organization in Los Angeles.”
“However this is resolved, it would be important to the history of Los Angeles Jewry to note that B’nai B’rith met there,” the statement said.
Catholic Charities and the archdiocese respect the building’s history and “have been in communication with both the Jewish community and labor leaders throughout this process,” the religious groups said in a joint statement. “Our concern has always been the safety of the dilapidated property and well-being of our neighborhood.”
In the lawsuit, Catholic Charities said it has no projects planned for the lot, and stressed that its intention is to simply demolish the lodge.
“Catholic Charities incurs ongoing costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to maintain and secure the building, which is vacant, deteriorated and unstable,” the court document read. “These funds are being diverted from critical programs to help disadvantaged communities.”
The groups said their hope was to “work with the community and the council office to eventually find a use for the property consistent with Catholic Charities’ mission, such as community food service, an emergency shelter, transitional youth housing, before and after school care, and older adult services.”
Littlefield, the chaplain at the Cecil Hotel, said Catholic Charities’ rationale was “just an excuse to justify their desire to tear the building down.”
“The building itself could be a place of empowerment,” Littlefield said. “The building itself could be a place where more movements like this takeoff, where more great things happen, where more lives are saved and changed.”
new video loaded: Steve Hilton Holds Slim Early Lead in California Governor’s Race
transcript
transcript
Steve Hilton Holds Slim Early Lead in California Governor’s Race
Steve Hilton, a Republican and former Fox News host, held a narrow lead in early votes over two Democratic opponents in California’s nonpartisan primary for governor. The top two candidates will advance to the general election in November.
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“Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue. I want to just say something from my heart to every single person who’s voted for me. We’re not — We’re not there yet, but it’s looking good.” [cheers] “Tonight, the people of the great state of California, in the greatest nation on earth, have spoken. [cheers] Loudly and proudly. [cheers] And while I take nothing for granted, there are lots of ballots left to be counted, it appears that we are on track to advance to November.” [cheers] “It might take some time to figure out where this is going. We’re going to wait until every ballot is counted. We’re going to give democracy a time to work, and we know we finished really strong.” [cheers]
By Axel Boada
June 3, 2026
Politics
Spencer Pratt surges to runoff in LA mayor’s race after angry voters send message to Karen Bass
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Reality television personality Spencer Pratt appears on track to clear a key hurdle in Los Angeles’ mayoral race as he seeks to unseat incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in November.
Bass, who has led the city since 2022 amid a turbulent stretch rocked by her response to wildfires, advanced to a runoff after failing to secure a majority of the vote in Tuesday’s primary election. With no candidate surpassing the 50% threshold, the top two finishers will face off in a November runoff.
The anticipated runoff is a symbolic blow to Bass, who was endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., and former Vice President Kamala Harris and has spent decades serving California in a series of elected Democratic offices.
Pratt, a first-time candidate known for the MTV reality show “The Hills,” was running in second place as of Wednesday morning.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass attends the Women for Bass Phone bank event in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles on June 1, 2026. (Louise Barnsley/Splash for Fox News Digital)
REALITY TV STAR SPENCER PRATT TESTS LA VOTERS’ APPETITE FOR POLITICAL OUTSIDER
“Obviously, God wanted five more months of me exposing the failures of our mayor,” Pratt gloated to reporters as the returns came in Tuesday evening.
Pratt has relentlessly hammered Bass on issues that have long plagued the city, including fire recovery, street homelessness and crime. The insurgent candidate holds Bass personally responsible for devastating wildfires that destroyed more than 18,000 structures in the city, including his Pacific Palisades home.
Pratt’s surge appears to have shut out Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman, a former ally of Bass who challenged the incumbent from the left and was once viewed as a threat to her bid for a second term. Raman is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and has argued for steering the city in a more progressive direction.
Raman has not yet conceded despite running well behind Bass and Pratt as of Wednesday morning.
Pratt, a registered Republican, faces an uphill battle to defeat Bass in November if he advances to the runoff election.
Less than 20% of voters in the heavily Democratic city identify with the GOP, though Los Angeles’ mayoral contest is officially nonpartisan.
Media personality and independent candidate Spencer Pratt, left, pictured alongside LA mayor Karen Bass, right. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images; Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESS
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who represents a San Diego-anchored seat, told Fox News Digital that Pratt has won a following in the mayoral contest due to widespread voter discontent with Bass’ leadership.
“He’s catching fire among ardent historic Democrat voters because Karen Bass has been so ineffective,” Issa said in an interview. “And every time she opens her mouth, she’s talking about more of the same to people who have seen their streets, both crime-ridden and in fact … ineffectively managed.”
Bass, conversely, argues that her leadership is leading Los Angeles in the right direction.
“Los Angeles is at a turning point. After decades of rising homelessness, under-built housing and a shrinking police force, it’s Mayor Karen Bass who finally stepped up to change how City Hall works,” Bass’s website reads.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman appears likely to finish in third place, keeping her out of the November runoff. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
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“Homelessness is down, more housing is being built, and the LAPD is hiring new officers,” it also claims.
Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno contributed reporting.
Los Angeles County’s half-cent sales tax to fund healthcare services was trailing Tuesday, with early returns showing a majority of voters rejecting the measure.
The tax — a half-penny of every dollar spent in the county — is meant to prop up local hospitals and clinics that are hemorrhaging funding after recent federal cuts.
The sales tax, which needs a simple majority to pass, would take effect Oct. 1 and last five years. Officials say it would pull in $1 billion annually to help plug the budget holes hitting local hospitals and clinics.
L.A. County health officials anticipate the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Trump last summer, will slash more than $2 billion from the county’s health services budget within the next three years. Due to eligibility changes, the county will no longer be able to get reimbursements for many Californians who have lost Medi-Cal.
The measure was championed by a coalition of healthcare advocates called Restore Healthcare for Angelenos who warned that mass layoffs and emergency room closures could be imminent if new funding didn’t come fast. The Department of Public Health recently closed seven clinics — a grim sign, supporters said, of service cuts to come.
Voters haven’t rejected a sales tax hike since 2012, when a transportation measure fell just short with 66.1% support. It needed 66.7% to pass.
A majority of county supervisors had supported the new tax proposal, voting 4 to 1 this February to put it on the ballot. But the measure faced significant opposition from local cities, with opponents arguing the sales tax hike would unfairly burden the poorest county residents and encourage people to spend their dollars across the county line.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger, the board’s lone opponent of the tax, said she was concerned it was a “general” tax, meaning the money wouldn’t be earmarked for healthcare costs. Instead, she argued, politicians would have final say over how the money gets spent.
The supervisors have created a plan for spending the tax money, with the largest chunk of the money meant to cover the costs for patients without insurance. The measure also asked voters to sign off on a nine-member oversight committee.
The county currently has a base sales tax rate of 9.75%, and cities impose local taxes on top of that.
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