Trump orders coastal drilling, LAUSD labor rally, South Pasadena residents rally against “Flock” cameras — Sunday Edition

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and third row seating. You can learn more at CarPro's Kia in Glendale, Huntington Beach,

and Moreno Valley. Today on the LA Report, Trump orders California coastal drilling to resume.

State officials say they'll fight it, and South Pasadena has dozens of surveillance cameras

installed around town that track the cars. Some residents aren't happy about it.

Hey, you know, as people become aware of this, they say, just no longer a secret. Let's get them out.

It's Sunday, March 15. I'm Robert Garova in for Josie Long. That's coming up on the

weekend edition of the LA Report from LAest89.3, but first, here's the latest news.

President Trump has given the Green Light to restart offshore drilling at a Santa Barbara oil

pipeline that's been shut down since the damaging oil spill in 2015. That came in an executive

order issued Friday by the President to get around court rulings. Last month, the Santa

Barbara County Superior Court judge ordered the pipeline to remain shut down after an earlier

attempt from federal officials to restart drilling. Governor Gavin Newsom says the move defies

state oversight and the state will sue. And average life expectancy fell in LA County over the

past decade. That was especially true in poor neighborhoods. That's according to a report out

recently from the research group Measure of America. The average life expectancy is 80 and a half

down from 82 in the group's previous report. Kristen Lewis directs the research group.

The areas that we're already doing well are doing better. Groups that we're already making

the most money say or places that we're already on the most affluent, they tended to gain the most

ground. Lewis says she hopes local officials and community organizations use the report to guide

planning, programming, and investment decisions. Some of Los Angeles Unified's largest labor

groups will rally in downtown LA this Wednesday as they push the school district for new contracts.

Negotiations with the unions that represent teachers and school support staff have been

stalled for months. Members of both unions voted overwhelmingly in January to give their leaders

the power to call a strike. Their last such walkout shut down schools for three days in 2023.

And the LA City Council voted 12-0 on Friday to approve a largely symbolic resolution on the

controversial chairman of the LA 28 Olympic organizing team. Casey Wasserman is facing calls to

step down because of past emails with Epstein associate Galein Maxwell. The motion doesn't

demand his resignation, but calls for a thorough and transparent review of his involvement in Epstein

matters. Wasserman has the backing of the LA 28 committee and has said his connection to Maxwell

was long before her crimes came to light. And Hollywood's biggest night goes beyond your living room

this weekend. Plenty of local venues are hosting Oscars watch parties. Danielle Martinez tells us more.

West LA bar Dusty vinyl is bringing 1970s Brazil to Los Angeles for their Brazilian Oscars watch

party celebrating nominee the secret agent. And just steps away from the actual award ceremony,

the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel will be holding a lavish four-course dinner and viewing.

Looking for something more low key? All four 33 tap sports bar locations in LA will be

screening the awards. And if you'd like a challenge with your viewing, trivia is being held

before the show at the Forge and Cypress Park. For the full list of watch parties, check out

LAS.com, Danielle Martinez, LAS News. Some so-called residents aren't happy about the surveillance

cameras around their town more after this break.

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You're listening to the Weekend Edition of the LA Report. I'm Robert Grova in for Joseph Long.

South Pasadena has more than two dozen cameras installed around town that track the cars

that come and go. They're part of a national camera network run by the controversial surveillance

company Flock Safety. And some residents want them gone. Libby Rainy reports.

The camera is attached to a street pole on Fair Oaks Avenue, a busy thoroughfare in South Pasadena.

It's pretty easy to miss, save a small solar panel installed above it. But it's tracking every

car that passes by. Once you know what it is that you're looking for, you kind of can't really

unsee them. That's Sam Gurley, who's been pushing city officials to end their contracts with Flock

after reports that camera data had been accessed by ICE. Gurley says he's been talking to his

neighbors and many didn't even realize that there were 27 cameras installed in their community.

You know, once people start to realize these are in town, people don't really want them, right?

So I think a big part of what we're trying to do is to say, hey, you know, as people become aware

of this, they say, this is no longer a secret. Let's get them out. The Flock cameras are

automated license plate readers. They collect license plate numbers, the Macon model of cars,

and the time, date, and location of each car that passes. That information is temporarily stored

in a database that's shared with law enforcement agencies across the state. Police departments say

it's helped them solve crimes. South Pas has had the cameras since 2022, but its city council is now

taking a deeper look at its contracts after reports that some local law enforcement agencies in

Southern California illegally shared Flock data with federal immigration agents. Those included

the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, which South Pasadena shares its data with.

Here's South Pas mayor Sheila Rossi who said the city is looking at cancelling at least one of

its contracts with Flock. Cities have a responsibility to make sure the safeguard is around these tools

keep pace so we can support public safety while maintaining the trust of the community. So

trust the community, I think, is a really big issue. South Pasadena is not alone.

Other cities have been reconsidering or severing their ties with Flock over concerns about how

their data could be used in the federal government's mass deportation campaign. Santa Cruz killed its

contract with Flock following reports that the city's data was shared with ice. The Oxnard police

department also suspended its use of Flock cameras after an audit revealed that its data was made

available to federal law enforcement agencies against the city's wishes and state law. Flock has

apologized for the incident and says it has since added additional safeguards. Here's company

spokesperson Holly Baylin. Flock actually has instituted the compliance mechanisms that ensure

that every community can use their Flock technology completely in compliance with each state

specific law. She also said that Flock does not have a contract with ice. Nick Hidalgo is an

attorney who works on surveillance technology in the Bay area for the ACLU. He said even if the data

doesn't get shared outside of California, residents should be concerned about automated license

plate readers. What they are collecting is a person's location, right? Because any like license

plate information can be connected very easily to a driver and you can capture a ton of information

about it where a person lives, works, etc. So really we're talking about like truly sensitive

information here. In South Pasadena, the city council will discuss whether or not to cancel a Flock

contract this week. They're also considering other safeguards like limiting how long it keeps

data for. Susan Seeger is a first amendment lawyer and a South Pasadena resident and she said she

wants the cameras gone period. I think what's hard is I and a lot of people don't trust the federal

government that they're going after people who just engage in first amendment protected descend.

So I don't trust Flock and I don't trust our federal government and I want to be able to trust

our local police department. For now, every time you exit the 110 on Faroaks Avenue and head south,

your car will be documented by Flock. Libby Rainey, LAS News.

Thanks for listening to the Weekend Edition of the LA Report. The Weekend LA Report is hosted by

me this week Robert Garova and produced by Danielle Martinez. Our engineer is Sean Cory Campbell.

The podcast is edited by Fiona Aing. Catherine Mailhouse is the director of content development.

Join us back here tomorrow. You can read more at LAS.com and listen live on the LAS app or on the

radio at 89.3 FN.

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