The challengers say Hernandez has failed to making meaningful headway on homeless encampments in Chinatown, Lincoln Heights and other parts of the district.
“People feel they do not have safe and walkable streets,” Robledo said. “People are disappointed, and I am too.”
Robledo, 67, wants to shut down the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the city-county agency that oversees social services at the city’s hotels, motels and other interim housing.
Hernandez touts a $6.3-million state grant she helped secure to house homeless people living in or near the Arroyo Seco riverbed. She’s bringing a new 65-bed interim housing facility to Cypress Park and has worked to beef up services near MacArthur Park.
“I’m not focused on what folks are saying about us not delivering the services,” Hernandez said. “I know in my district we’re doing the work.”
Hernandez supports Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program, which has cleared encampments across the city, but wants greater transparency on how its money is spent.
Grande and Robledo also favor Inside Safe but say it is too expensive and needs to be reworked. Claros is the only candidate in the race who outright opposes the program, saying he would vote against any additional funds to keep it going.
“When we look at it now and we just do the numbers, it’s been a failure,” Claros said. “We’ve got to completely course correct and get away from that.”
Calanche, 57, supports Inside Safe but believes it isn’t addressing the root causes of homelessness, particularly mental health and drug addiction. Those issues are the responsibility of county government, which has its own public health and mental health agencies, she said.
To make real progress on those issues, the city should create its own public health department, similar to those found in Long Beach and Pasadena, Calanche said.
“There needs to be a different vision to address this issue,” she said.
Calanche, Claros, Grande and Robledo support Municipal Code 41.18, which prohibits homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers. That law allows the council to create 41.18 zones around “sensitive use” locations, such as public libraries and freeway overpasses.
Hernandez is a longtime opponent of 41.18, calling it ineffective and inhumane. She has voted against dozens of 41.18 zones that were created by her colleagues in the San Fernando Valley, the Westside and South Los Angeles.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger was the only supervisor against it. She pointed to the fact that the tax was a “general” tax, meaning the money won’t be earmarked for healthcare costs. That means politicians have final say over how the money gets spent rather than voters, she said.
Some cities within L.A. County say they’re also rattled over the tax, unleashing a stream of opposition letters against the tax. The California Contract Cities Assn. argues a sales tax hike would “disproportionately burden the very residents the County seeks to protect.” Shoppers near the county line, they warn, likely would start crossing it to shop.
Some of these cities say they have the trust issues when it comes to county ballot measures. When voters approved Measure B in 2002 to fund the county’s trauma center network, an audit years later found the county couldn’t account for whether the money actually had been spent on emergency medical services. And some cities feel they never got their fair share of funds from Measure H, the homelessness services tax measure passed in 2017.
Kenneth Mejia, 35, is a certified public accountant who lives in Westlake. In 2022, he won the most votes of any controller candidate in city history, despite lacking name recognition and running against a sitting city council member, Paul Koretz.
He’s well-known online, and his two corgis, Killa and Kirby, are a constant presence in his campaign as well as on the official controller’s website. He points to his audits of city spending on homelessness, police, housing and animal services.
“We said we were going to provide more financial transparency and accountability and oversight, and we’ve done that,” Mejia said in an interview.
The controller’s waste, fraud and abuse team began investigating a homeless service provider after receiving a phone call alleging fraud. Mejia said it became the catalyst for a federal investigation into Alexander Soofer, who in January was charged with wire fraud amid allegations that he took $23 million in public funds meant for homeless people.
“Because of the work that we do, it also forces agencies to better look at their internal controls, to hold service providers accountable,” Mejia said. “These events can lead to systemic change, and that’s what it did.”
Zach Sokoloff, 37, lives in Westwood with his wife, two kids and two rescue dogs. He was born and raised in the Westwood area. He graduated from Yale University, received a master’s in education policy and administration from Loyola Marymount University and an MBA from Harvard University before teaching algebra at a middle school in Boyle Heights and a high school in Watts.
Since joining Hackman in 2018, he has worked on multibillion projects transforming legacy studio lots. The company is considered one of Hollywood’s largest landlords.
Sokoloff points to his experience managing large-scale projects as key to navigating the city’s budget and bureaucracy. He said he would work collaboratively across different departments.
“Angelenos are tired of reports. They want results, and so my approach balances accountability and collaboration,” Sokoloff said.
Sarina Hosseiny said she had never heard of Qassem Suleimani, an Iranian general assassinated by the U.S. in 2020.
That is, not until this year, when threatening comments cropped up on social media claiming that she and her mother were relatives of Suleimani and were terrorists who should be deported.
The 25-year-old, who studies fashion at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, now sits in an immigration detention facility in Texas, alongside her 47-year-old mother. And other L.A. Iranian Americans helped put her there.
Sarina Hosseiny, 25, shown in an undated photo, is a student at Los Angeles Trade Technical College now held at an immigration detention facility in Texas, alongside her 47-year-old mother.
(Courtesy of Hosseiny family)
“They were sending me death threats. Literally saying like, they were gonna find me and kill me and my mom and all this stuff,” Hosseiny said in a phone interview from the facility last week. “All I’ve ever posted is that I was against war and just innocent people dying.”
In recent weeks, as the war in Iran continues, the U.S. State Department has detained five L.A. area-based Iranian nationals, including Hosseiny and her mother — all of whom are green card holders — and moved to strip them of their residency.
The arrests have exposed a rift in the Iranian American community, which has grown increasingly polarized in recent years, leading to online smear campaigns and at times violence.
In L.A., home to the largest concentration of people of Iranian descent outside Iran, a vocal segment has joined forces with Trump-aligned far-right conservatives, including Laura Loomer, to wage campaigns against other Iranians they believe should not be allowed to live here.
Many in the local community fled Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and cheered the recent U.S. military attacks on their native country. Some have turned on Iranian Americans who have expressed antiwar opinions, interpreting that stance as support for the current government.
A poster in support of Iran’s former crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, hangs in a window of the Gallery Eshgh, which sells artwork and clothing reflecting Iranian culture on Westwood Boulevard in Los Angeles in April 2026.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
The tensions are interpersonal, with arguments at family gatherings and friendships strained or shattered. But much of the conflict also takes place online, as when a San Diego-based “mommy influencer” — who normally posts images of herself and her three young children in a luscious backyard shucking nuts, arranging tulips and peeling pomegranates — urged her Instagram followers to contact Loomer so that “the deportation of [the Islamic Republic’s] lackeys can be arranged.”
Anger at the Iranian government has been channeled toward family members of current or former officials, with online petitions describing them as living luxuriously in the States even as ordinary Iranians face repression from a brutal government back home.
Agoura Hills residents Seyed Eissa Hashemi and Maryam Tahmasebi, both psychology professors, were detained by immigration authorities in early April — as was their son, Seyed Mobin Hashemi. The elder Hashemi, the State Department said, is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, who gained fame as a spokeswoman for militants who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and became a reformist politician pushing for environmental protections and women’s rights.
The petition that led to the family’s detention amassed more than 140,000 signatures, with many identifying themselves as members of the Iranian diaspora in the U.S., Australia or elsewhere. The creator of the petition on Change.org, a user who also published petitions targeting five other families, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Times was not able to reach Hashemi or the family’s attorney. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media when announcing their detentions that the Obama administration had granted visas to the family members, who have been lawful permanent residents since June 2016.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to respond to questions about Hosseiny and her mother’s case. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson also declined to comment. The State Department and Loomer did not respond to requests for comment.
Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, said that some of the sentiment comes from real grievances about corruption in Iran, such as the banker who embezzled millions before fleeing to Canada. But he said that rumors have been weaponized to muffle voices opposing U.S. and Israeli military aggression in Iran and exploited by the Trump administration to exercise a show of strength at home during a flailing war.
The flags of pre-revolution Iran are prominently displayed in the Jordan Market, a purveyor of Persian groceries on L.A.’s Westwood Boulevard, in April 2026.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
“This witch hunt has become really pervasive, and it’s not new,” Abdi said. “What seems to be new is there’s an administration who is willing and eager to entertain this McCarthyism and actually punish people based on what the mob is calling for.”
In the section of Westwood known as “Tehrangeles,” support for Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince and son of the late shah, is apparent. A campaign to install him as Iran’s leader intensified in January, as protests ripped through the country. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack in February.
“Make Iran Great Again” signs and posters of a stern-faced Pahlavi are plastered on nearly every window. Iran’s flag before the 1979 revolution — green, white and red with a lion and a rising sun — flutters from many overhangs.
In early March, as the U.S. widened its assault on Iran, crowds from the diaspora rallied in the neighborhood, dancing and celebrating even as the death toll in Iran grew and reports said a missile strike had killed more than 100 schoolchildren.
In Westwood these days, many are more tepid in their support for the war than at the outset and are hesitant to speak openly, whether because of potential backlash here in the U.S. or repercussions for relatives in Iran.
Iranians who don’t back a return to a monarchy under Pahlavi or American and Israeli intervention have gotten “a hell of a lot of backlash,” said Narges Bajoghli, an associate professor of Middle East studies at John Hopkins University. Bajoghli cited a groupthink dynamic stoked by popular Persian-language media such as Iran International, as well as U.S.-funded counter-propaganda programs during Trump’s first term.
After Aida Ashouri, a human rights lawyer who is running for L.A. city attorney, posted a video explaining why she opposes the U.S. war in Iran, the comments came rolling in.
“Please deport this woman,” one user wrote, tagging Rubio and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “She is constantly spreading suspicious anti war propaganda.”
Aida Ashouri, who is running for L.A. city attorney, poses for a picture at Astralab on April 24, 2026.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
Ashouri, a U.S. citizen, spent her childhood frequenting businesses in Westwood, but she no longer feels comfortable there, fearing some sort of altercation. Some businesses removed her campaign posters from their windows after the war began, she said.
“It’s 100% impacting my campaign. It’s hard to connect with the Iranian community now, even though I’m Iranian,” she said.
The State Department has said it revoked the green cards of Iranians it targeted in recent weeks, including Hosseiny and her mother. Immigration experts said it’s not so simple, as a legal process has to play out, during which the green cards remain valid.
Even so, Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute said that the executive branch has vast discretion in immigration law, particularly when invoking national security justifications, and defense attorneys may face an uphill battle.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said he is “personally troubled by the idea that we need to deport someone because of who their grandparent is.”
“The government doesn’t usually outsource its investigatory processes to external people,” he said, referring to Loomer and others. “There’s still a lot of questions about how these people are being found and targeted.”
After Hosseiny and her mother, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on April 3, the State Department asserted that they were the Iranian general’s grand-niece and niece. Afshar had denounced America as the “Great Satan” and shown “unflinching support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps” while “enjoying a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles,” the State Department said.
Social media posts, showing Soleimani Afshar posing for glamour shots and photos of Hosseiny in a similar vein, were published by numerous news outlets.
Loomer took credit on April 4 for the two women’s arrests, writing on X that over several months she had “quietly been documenting” their social media activity and shared the information with the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department.
Within hours, however, Hosseiny and her mother’s connection to the slain general was disputed, with his daughter writing on social media that they had “no relation whatsoever” to her family. A review of family documents, as first reported by Dropsite News, shows that Afshar’s father had no brothers and that the general is from a different province than Afshar’s family.
Hosseiny said her mother has been sharply critical of the U.S. and Israel’s military assault in Iran. But Hosseiny “always thought that in America, people have freedom.”
She said that her mother’s health has deteriorated as she battles severe autoimmune-related anemia and that her mother’s home and car were broken into, amid the stream of online hate.
After four weeks in detention, Hosseiny said, she is “still in disbelief.” Her friends have been raising funds for her legal defense.
Times staff writer Cierra Morgan contributed to this report.
McOsker said Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program has been effective in clearing homeless encampments and moving the residents inside. He supports reducing costs by doubling people up in rooms and cutting underutilized contracts.
“It’s unsustainable as it is to spend this much, and I think everyone recognizes that,” he said.
McOsker said he supports “no encampment” zones, per Municipal Code 41.18, around places like schools, day care centers, libraries and homeless shelters.
It’s especially important to keep encampments away from shelters, he said, so people can get help without distractions nearby.
“We really need to make that break and give folks an opportunity to put their lives together,” he said.
Rivers equated the no-encampment zones to federal immigration operations in the city, arguing that they enable law enforcement to snatch people off the street without giving them a place to go.
“Just moving homelessness doesn’t all of a sudden solve it,” he said.
Instead, Rivers wants to establish “safe shelter” zones where people can get their needs met instead of being chased out.
Rivers believes that Inside Safe contractors should be audited and that there should be “full transparency” in the amount of money spent to house each person.
“We need to actually have a track record of where these funds are going to,” so it’s clear the money actually is helping to resolve homelessness, he said.
Three seats — two contested — are on the June 2 primary ballot for the seven-member Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.
The nation’s second-largest school system, with close to 400,000 students, faces evolving challenges and uncertainties that could alter the direction of the district for years.
In mid-April L.A. Unified officials barely averted a strike by agreeing to significant employee raises, rescinding about 200 layoffs and agreeing to hundreds of new hires of counselors, school psychologists and other student support staff. The contracts with three district unions, including teachers, will cost nearly $1.2 billion a year, and board members now must find a way to pay for them amid budget pressures.
Standardized test scores have trended upward since the nadir of the COVID-19 pandemic, recovering faster than the state average, but the pace remains too incremental for critics.
The future of L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho is uncertain. He’s on paid administrative leave following FBI raids of his San Pedro home and downtown office. At least part of the investigation centers on a failed chatbot project that was supposed to revolutionize and individualize education.
Carvalho said he’s done nothing wrong and would like to return to work. If he does not return — and cannot serve out his new four-year contract — board members would select a superintendent.
L.A. Unified also faces declining enrollment — which reduces state funding and increases pressure to save money by closing many campuses.
Heightened federal immigration enforcement also has affected enrollment and attendance while creating anxiety that spills over into the classroom. Officials responded by declaring L.A. Unified a sanctuary district — both for immigrants and for the LGBTQ+ community, which also has been a target of some conservative groups.
Carvalho’s central focus on improving test scores has led to increased tutoring, repeated diagnostic measures and phonics training. In addition, the district put a successful school bond on the ballot to continue renovations, worked to lower student absenteeism and emphasized greener campuses.
The board majority consists of candidates elected with the endorsement of the powerful teachers union — United Teachers Los Angeles. This election will not change that balance because five seats are held by union-friendly incumbents. But the outcome will determine whether UTLA can further strengthen its hand or whether other constituencies will gain a measure of power at the union’s expense.
UTLA is the most reliable funder of school board campaigns — and the union’s spending is not controlled by candidates.
Also exerting influence in recent elections is the district’s other largest union: Local 99 of Service Employees International Union. It represents some 30,000 bus drivers, teacher aides, custodians, gardeners, cafeteria workers and technical support staff. This union has yet to endorse candidates.
A potential but diminished source of election-funding firepower would be charter school advocates — who once routinely outspent the unions. Retired businessman Bill Bloomfield — a charter school ally who makes his own calls about whom to support — has been a big spender in recent elections, typically as a counter to teachers-union-endorsed candidates. He has not committed to being involved in this school board election cycle.
The material below was assembled through reporting and surveys provided to candidates. Some responses are paraphrased for clarity or condensed for brevity.
A nonprofit advocacy group, Social Equity LA, organized with local cannabis business owners to oppose the measure in letters to Mayor Karen Bass.
Luis Rivera, executive director of the nonprofit, said Measure CB risks legitimizing the illegal cannabis industry while linking city finances to the tax revenue the businesses would generate. The measure also would undermine Proposition 64, the state law that requires cannabis businesses to be licensed, he said. And amid the city’s struggles to track and close illegal cannabis businesses, Rivera said it will be difficult to force them to pay up.
“There’s no guarantee or mechanism to assure that illegal operators will pay the taxes or fulfill their obligations,” Rivera said.
Even if they pay taxes, illegal operators could undercut legal businesses by selling unregulated products and avoiding requirements, such as code inspections and safety tests for merchandise, that legal businesses must fulfill to keep their licenses, he said. For an already struggling industry, the answer isn’t taxing more businesses, he said — it’s lowering taxes.
Lindsey Horvath was a West Hollywood city councilmember in 2022 when she ran for L.A. County supervisor in a six-person primary that featured a pair of state senators, Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) and Henry Stern (D-Malibu).
As a supervisor, Horvath helped lead a historic push to remake county government. Measure G, passed by voters in 2024, will nearly double the size of the Board of Supervisors and create an elected chief executive position as well as an independent ethics commission. But the passage of Measure G had the unintended effect of wiping out Measure J, which funds anti-incarceration programs, leaving county officials scrambling for solutions.
Tonia Arey is a real estate agent who said she decided to “enter public service out of concern for the direction of Los Angeles County and a desire to bring stronger accountability to local government.”
She calls herself a “Jewish woman challenging the incumbent” and is centering her campaign on public safety, including law enforcement, fire and probation, emergency preparedness and confronting antisemitism.
Tomás Sidenfaden is a software developer and startup founder who has lived in Los Angeles for nearly three decades.
“Three generations of my family have called this region our home, and I’m tired of waiting around for other people to fix it,” he said.
Carmenlina Minasova is a San Fernando Valley reform advocate who did not respond to requests for comment.
Katy Young Yaroslavsky is running for L.A. City Council District 5.
(Campaign of Katy Young Yaroslavsky for City Council)
Yaroslavsky, 45, was named the council’s budget committee chair at the beginning of last year, a job that carries immense influence over city spending and that requires her to balance lofty political expectations with fiscal reality.
Yaroslavsky began her career as a land use attorney and lobbyist and later worked as a top aide to former Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl for more than six years. She is the daughter-in-law of former Fifth District City Councilmember Zev Yaroslavsky, who later served on the county board of supervisors.
“We need people in office who are interested in problem solving, not focused on gotcha politics. Who are not super ideological but are just really there to solve problems. And that’s what I’m there for,” Yaroslavsky said.
Henry Mantel is running for L.A. City Council District 5.
(Handout from Matt Mantel)
Mantel, 33, has worked on a handful of political campaigns, according to his campaign website, including Carolyn Ramsay’s unsuccessful campaign for the 4th District council seat in 2015. Mantel graduated from the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento in 2020. As a lawyer, he says he has represented tenants in disputes with landlords, including contesting evictions.
“The extent of the crisis really weighed on me, and watching the City Council continue to refuse to do nothing was just unbearable,” Mantel said.
Morgan Oyler is running for L.A. City Council District 5.
( Cory Aycock)
Oyler, 42, is a longtime accountant for Haus of Portraiture, a fine art portrait studio in Santa Monica. He was born and raised in L.A., attending high school in Santa Monica, and returned to live in Westwood about a decade ago. He sought election to the Washington statehouse in 2010 and 2012, running as a Republican and losing both times. He says he became a Democrat a decade ago, after becoming uneasy with President Trump’s influence on the GOP.
Oyler felt compelled to run because he sees Yaroslavsky’s policies as a barrier to sustainable housing growth.
Los Angeles didn’t get many April showers, but May flowers are blooming just the same, leaving a lingering scent of jasmine as the star-shaped flower blossoms across the city. Jacaranda trees will soon follow suit, turning the skyline of entire neighborhoods lavender as spring stretches into summer.
Marine layer aside, this season invites us to get outside and make the most of living in L.A. The Metro will soon open the expansion of its D Line, making it convenient to peruse Museum Row, the Grove and bars and restaurants along Fairfax and in Beverly Hills without a car. Local farmers markets are more abundant than ever, with rainbow assortments of stone fruits and tomatoes.
And there are plenty of patios and rooftops for enjoying sunny evenings and taking in city views. Keep reading if you need dining inspiration this month, like exploring a new hand roll counter in downtown L.A., a buzzy Larchmont diner that lives up to the hype and a pan-African destination for customizable “slop bowls” in Gardena.
Robert Luna seeks a second term as L.A. County Sheriff but faces nine challengers, including predecessor Alex Villanueva, whom he defeated in 2022.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Robert Luna is hoping to be the first L.A. County Sheriff to win a second term in more than 10 years. He points to a reduction in crime for the county during his term and says he brought stability after a series of one-term sheriffs since 2014.
Last year, deputy-patrolled areas of the county experienced a 12.5% drop in serious crimes from the previous year, including a drop of 12% in murders and 20% in auto thefts.
Perhaps the most vocal and well-known of Luna’s opponents is his predecessor, Alex Villanueva, who paints a picture of a department in disarray, with low morale and trouble in recruiting. Villanueva claims his return would keep deputies from leaving and appeal to new hires.
Former sheriff’s Lt. Eric Strong, who also served as chief of campus safety and security operations at the county probation office, has entered the fray once again after finishing third in 2022. Strong has called for increased transparency by the department, advocating for the agency to work with oversight bodies like the Office of Inspector General and the Civilian Oversight Committee.
“Nothing has really changed, and that’s why I’m running,” Strong said.
Mike Bornman, a retired former captain, also is vying for the job. He’s looking to lift morale inside the department, which he said has faced a series of challenges with social movements that have been “anti-cop,” such as the George Floyd protests of 2020 and calls to defund the police.
“There’s been no real pushback from law enforcement; there’s been nothing coming from this office relative to that,” Bornman said.
He said the department is struggling with difficulty in recruitment, significant overtime hours and deputies at risk of burnout.
Sgt. Karla Carranza is running again after an unsuccessful campaign in 2022. At one point assigned to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown L.A., Carranza has made jail reform one of her top campaign focuses, promising to reduce violence and lower the risk of lawsuits and what she says are preventable inmate deaths.
Brendan Corbett, also running for the job, served as assistant sheriff during Villanueva’s tenure. He’s looking to restructure the department, focus resources on patrol and line functions and increase the reserve program.
Lt. Oscar Martinez, assigned to the department’s Palmdale station, is running to unseat his boss and criticizes Luna for fostering relationships with the county board of supervisors and oversight bodies, saying his focus should be on law enforcement, not politics .
“The sheriff is more interested in protecting the political establishment,” Martinez said. “Under my leadership, the mission of the sheriff’s department is to fight crime. Our job is not to fix politics.”
Andre White, a detective with about 11 years at the department, also vowed to take a “community-oriented approach” if elected.
Some voters may recognize Sonia Montejano, a former senior deputy in the department’s court services division, as the court bailiff in the television court program “Judge Joe Brown.”
Montejano filed paperwork for the position and listed her personal website on campaign forms. Her website, however, makes no mention of her campaign or position on issues involving the department. She did not respond to requests for comment.
When Juan Antonio moved to Los Angeles from his hometown of Puebla, the capital city of the Mexican state by the same name, he got straight to work doing what he knew best: baking cemita bread.
Antonio started baking at a panadería in Lincoln Heights in about 1996, churning out dozens of fresh cemitas daily and selling them door to door. At the time, there were few places selling the bread, and the community recognized him as “el cemitero.”
The cemita sandwich is a staple in Puebla, a gastronomically rich region in East-Central Mexico with Indigenous, Spanish and Middle Eastern roots. Alongside cemitas, Puebla is known for traditional dishes such as mole poblano (the sauce complex with chocolate and chiles), chiles en nogada (stuffed Poblano chiles drenched in a walnut cream sauce) and tacos arabe (tacos with spit-roasted pork, wrapped in pita bread).
Cemita bread, speckled with sesame seeds and crisp on the outside with a soft, fluffy interior, is believed to have originated in 16th century Puebla, brought to Mexico by Spanish conquistadors and later developed with French baking techniques.
Due to its long preservation period, the bread was commonly found on ships with long voyages, and some believe it was offered as a tribute to the Spanish crown.
The sandwich started with simple fillings like beans and cheese and gradually became more layered over time. Now, cemita sandwiches typically consist of the titular, toasted sesame seed bread; a heap of stringy, salty Oaxacan cheese; avocado; jalapeño or chipotle peppers; pápalo, an herb with a cilantro-minty taste; and some choice of meat, with milanesa — a breaded chicken or steak cutlet — being the most popular options.
Cemitas, often wrapped in crinkly yellow paper and eaten on the go, have grown a steady presence in L.A. since Antonio first started selling them in East L.A. almost 30 years ago. Today, he continues to bake cemitas at El Cemitero Poblano, his family restaurant in Boyle Heights, and is joined by food trucks, street vendors and other sit-down restaurants offering traditional and creative takes on the iconic Poblano dish that’s usually priced between $10 and $20.
In Puebla, thousands gather for the annual Festival de la Cemita Poblana, a celebration that takes place around Cinco de Mayo and features dozens of cemita vendors.
Though commonly misunderstood as Mexico’s Independence Day, Cinco de Mayo is a holiday with special significance to Puebla, as it recognizes the Mexican army’s victory over France at the historic Battle of Puebla in 1862. In L.A., the holiday is often celebrated with mariachi bands, free-flowing margaritas and tacos, but if you’re looking for ways to tie in Poblano traditions, consider stopping by one of L.A.’s top spots for cemitas, from classic East L.A. stands to places in La Puente, Mid-City and Van Nuys.
As the spines of the invasive thistle bit into my legs, I worried I had failed.
I had spent hours at my computer staring at maps of northeast Los Angeles in hopes I could develop an urban hike that used existing trails to connect at least four of the area’s parks.
But there I was, standing in a narrow footpath on a hilltop, realizing I’d essentially hit a dead end, because to get into Ascot Hills Park, I would need to trespass (not allowed) or do something dangerous (also not allowed).
I headed down the steep hillside and told myself, “It’s OK. It’s your job to fail a little.” It was time to try again!
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In today’s edition of The Wild, I will introduce you to a 13.5-mile urban hike that I developed and fact-checked myself from the ground. I have admittedly been a mountain hiking snob since arriving in L.A., running off to the San Gabriels or Santa Monicas any chance I get. This experience opened my eyes to the joy and potential of urban hiking. I’m so excited to share what I learned with you.
I was inspired to develop this route for a few reasons. For one, I love going to Ernest E. Debs Park and Elephant Hill Open Space, and because I could see one park from a hilltop in the other, I’d wondered: “Could these be connected?”
A view of downtown L.A. and the surrounding city, as seen from the City View Trail in Ernest E. Debs Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Secondly, I attended the California Trails & Greenways conference earlier this month where I learned in sessions about hikers connecting existing trails, including San Francisco’s Crosstown Trail and the American Discovery Trail, which I wrote about in last week’s Wild.
Each time I visit one of L.A.’s open spaces, I am in awe of how hard local residents fought to protect the space and how each space has a dedicated fleet of volunteers lovingly restoring it to its glory by ripping out invasive plants (like thistles) and bringing back oaks, sumac and gorgeous wildflowers.
Some quick logistics before I dive into the route:
I developed the route using CalTopo, an online mapping software with a desktop site and mobile app. You can download the trail from CalTopo to use on your Garmin or other device. I also uploaded it to my AllTrails profile.
I called the trail “River to the Hilltops” in CalTopo. I kept it simple. If you have a clever name, feel free to suggest it.
I haven’t marked everywhere you can find a restroom or water, but will try to add those as time allows. Please plan accordingly, as some stretches run through neighborhoods or open spaces where there isn’t much nearby.
There is no single place to start this route. You can start and stop this route in several spots.
Trail access and conditions can change. Please follow all posted signage (and contact me if you encounter major issues).
This route travels through several neighborhoods. Please refrain from using Bluetooth speakers and anything else that would be disruptive to residents.
At several junctures along the suggested route, you will have an option to take a different path that will essentially get you the same place. Do what’s best for you, and most important: Have fun, be safe and don’t trespass!
Elephant Hill Open Space and the San Gabriel Mountains, as seen from near Ascot Hills Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Now let’s talk more about the route.
To begin my “River to the Hilltops” hiking adventure, my friend Patrick and I met last week at the entrance of Flat Top Park, parking on the shoulder of the north side of Montecito Drive. Our plan was to check the route I’d mapped out from Flat Top to Rose Hill Park, Ernest E. Debs Regional Park and the Arroyo Seco. I planned to walk the rest of the route a few days later.
Neither of us had been to Flat Top, an open space of more than 120 acres with several private owners. Local residents have advocatedfor years for Flat Top to be turned into a public park. North East Trees, a local environmental justice group, manages about 37 acres of the site that feature trails and native plant installations.
A snake skin hangs atop buckwheat in Flat Top Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
From the gate, we trekked southwest along its wide dirt path. Patrick soon spotted a buckwheat plant with a snake skin draped over it, a gift from a previous visitor for all to appreciate.
We headed onward and were greeted by the park’s panoramic views of L.A. County and the San Gabriel Mountains. It’s a quiet respite in the middle of the city.
As we left Flat Top, we spotted a large gopher snake that we both mistook for a rattler. Our day was already off to a cool start!
We traveled northeast on Montecito Drive, watching for cars while observing interesting stilt houses and one home that reminded us of Storybook architecture. Just over half a mile from Flat Top, we found the trail I’d noticed in my research. Its entrance has two barriers in the middle that I interpreted as an attempt to keep out motorized vehicles.
The narrow dirt footpath, called Rose Hill Link Trail on some maps, featured multiple Southern California black walnut trees and at least two healthy Canary Island palms. I paused Patrick mid-sentence because I really wanted to know who was providing us with such loud birdsong. It was a mix of house finch and red-whiskered bulbul.
Weeds crowd the Rose Hill Link Trail, but it remains passable.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Portions of the trail were overgrown with castor bean and other invasives, but some park workers or kind volunteers are doing their best to keep it clear enough to pass.
We took a quick detour to Rose Hill Park in search of a restroom. Both facilities with flush toilets were closed as of Saturday, but there are portable toilets with a hand-washing station.
We headed north from Rose Hill Park onto a steep, direct route to Peanut Lake, a small pond with benches, shade and turtles. We walked around the pond clockwise and took a route on the north end of the pond to continue northward.
After just a tenth of a mile from the pond, we turned left (or west) onto the aptly named City View Trail. The route started to descend steeply after just a third of a mile. I criss-crossed the path to create my own switchbacks, which helps with gaining traction and makes traveling downhill easier on your joints.
We did not take the first left turn off the City View Trail because a hiker carrying a toddler on their back told us it was kind of steep — and they seemed more hardcore than we were. Instead, you’ll find my route suggests you take the Scrub Jay Trail, the second left turn from the City View Trail.
Wild writer Jaclyn Cosgrove and friend Patrick crab-walk down the river embankment.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Patrick and I actually took a different path because I thought the map had suggested there was an entrance to the Arroyo Seco Bike Path from near South Avenue 52. I can’t recommend that option, as it involves an unofficial trail and crab-walking down the side of the concrete river bank.
Instead, you’ll essentially follow the Scrub Jay Trail to a road that leads hikers past the Audubon Center at Debs Park and onto Griffith Avenue. There’s a crosswalk you can take across to an actual entrance to the river bike path.
We ended our day here, taking a rideshare car back to our vehicles. Our driver was curious enough about our day to want to subscribe to The Wild to learn more. I felt that was a good sign!
A few days later, I walked about 9.2 miles to check the rest of the route. I walked up steep hills through South Pasadena before passing through a green space (with a significant history) and into El Sereno. Soon, after chatting with a resident feeding her beloved speckled hens some fresh fruit and complimenting a man’s classic restored truck, I arrived at Elephant Hill Open Space.
The view of downtown L.A. from a high point at the Elephant Hill Open Space in El Sereno.
The agency has worked with community activists to develop the open space’s first official hiking trail, which I had the pleasure of hiking before the grand opening this Saturday. I trekked past the L.A. Conservation Corps workers and contractors busily working to complete the new path. Boulders and oak trees along gates to tamp down illegal off-roading have been added to the space.
After saying hello to a friend who lives nearby, I took Collis Avenue for two blocks and turned onto Yoakum Street, a dirt path, up to Harriman Avenue.
I followed the path labeled “Elephant Hill/Ascot Hills Connector” on my map, where I foraged for a Diet Coke and pretzels at a convenience store and grabbed a poetry book from a free book rack outside Son of a Vet thrift shop. There are many perks to urban hiking!
Soon, I faced my next surprise.
A metal stool sits along a trail in Debs Park where hikers can see great views of L.A.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
For reasons unclear to me, someone labeled a spot north of Ascot Hills as the “Ascot Hills Northern Trailhead.” Maybe they were manifesting what could someday be a great walk, because what I found was not a trail I’d repeat.
As I mentioned up top, I hoofed up through thistle and dried-out mustard, thinking I’d find a connection to the well-maintained trails I knew were in Ascot Hills Park. I got to about here, and although I could see the park’s actual trails, I could not safely or legally reach them. Cursing, whining, bemoaning, I made it back down the path that was about a 20% grade.
I stood in the neighborhood, looking like a sad weirdo with a backpack. I decided to try one last thing. It looked like, from the map, there was a northern entrance.
I headed west on Bedilion Street and then turned south onto Bowman Boulevard. After two-tenths of a mile, I turned west onto Lynnfield Street. On the fence, I noticed a wooden sign with green, white and red letters. “Victor’s Walk starts here,” it read.
A memorial for a neighbor near Ascot Hills.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
“Who was Victor?” I asked a resident cleaning the street.
He told me that Victor had died recently. He’d helped Victor, who walked daily, keep the street tidy by tending to the plants and picking up trash, and he was doing his best to make his late neighbor proud. We chatted more, and he confirmed that there was a nearby way to reach Ascot Hills. (He’d helped other hikers who’d taken the thistle-filled route.)
I soon found a locked gate with access for hikers, and farther down a paved road and a razor-wire-lined fence, an opening to the park.
Ascot Hills Park in Northeast L.A.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Reaching a vista point, I took in the views of downtown L.A. and the rest of the city, grateful for my first visit to the park and the people I met along the way to get there.
Before finishing the final 2.6 miles, I stopped at the Village Mart & Deli near Ascot Hills for a sandwich.
The rest of my day included more life-affirming surprises.
Lincoln Park in Los Angeles.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
I reached Lincoln Park as a Union Pacific train rumbled past. A Muslim man performed his late afternoon prayer with his mat under a shade tree. Kids played baseball in an adjacent field. I followed the concrete path to the lake, where I navigated around ducks and geese and watched a fisherman catch a bass.
Continuing north, I stopped at the Wall Las Memorias AIDS Monument and ran my fingers over the names etched into one of the panels honoring the dead. I felt chills as I took in the reverence for human life communicated in the memorial’s art and design. I hope you’ll stop by as a part of your walk too.
The entrance to the Wall Las Memorias AIDS Monument in Lincoln Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
I had fooled myself into believing the end of my walk would be easy — like somehow I’d gently ride off into the sunset.
Instead, after taking Gates Street to North Broadway, I looked up to discover what I told a friend in a text message was my “final boss”: North Thomas Street. In just under a third of a mile, the street gains about 260 feet, similar in steepness to the start of a challenging mountain trek.
North Thomas Street, a steep road along the 13.5-mile path.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
I rallied, reminding myself of the time I walked all 27.4 miles of Washington Boulevard in one day, and headed up. Just under half a mile in, I reached the top. I thrust my arms into the air and cheered like I’d won a race.
Ever since moving to L.A., I’ve been blown away by just how many people truly care about our public lands and open spaces. It has taken decades for the parks on this route to be as protected as they are, although much of the space remains threatened by development.
My route is a kind of thank-you to those of you who’ve been doing this work. I hope more people see it, appreciate it and want to show their gratitude too.
3 things to do
Stargazers observe the celestial bodies at the Star Party, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomy Society, last year.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
1. Jump for Jupiter in Silver Lake The Los Angeles Astronomical Society will host a free star party from 8 to 10:30 p.m. Thursday at the Sunset Triangle Plaza in Silver Lake. Guests will listen to local musicians while hopping among telescopes. Learn more at the group’s Instagram page.
2. Notice the nighttime critters in Orange County We Explore Earth will host a 3-mile nocturnal wildlife hike from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday through Black Star Canyon about 15 miles east of Santa Ana. Hikers will look for evidence like burrows, nests and tracks of tarantulas, toads, scorpions, glowworms and other nighttime creatures. The trek is along a wide dirt trail with minimum elevation gain. Register at eventbrite.com.
3. Hike in solidarity and support in Claremont Hiking With Bill, a sober hiking group, will host a hike at 7 a.m. Saturday at Claremont Hills Wilderness Park. The group aims to provide a safe, sober and supportive community outdoors experience. To learn more about the group’s exact meeting location, either email hikingwithbill935@gmail.com or visit the group’s Instagram page.
The must-read
An opening date for later this year was announced at the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills on April 22.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Apparently, social media still has the power to create sudden outrage over seemingly the most random of targets: the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing. Times staff writer Lila Seidman wrote that after a conservative think tank dubbed the bridge a $114-million “bridge to nowhere,” conservative media and politicians jumped on the opportunity to criticize the effort (and Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat considering a presidential run). Curiously, the bridge is a fourth of the cost of President Trump’s White House ballroom — as the bridge’s original price has increased in part due to worsening inflation and tariff-driven price increases. The bridge is set to open Dec. 2.
Happy adventuring,
P.S.
Although I find most trails around L.A. County are largely free of litter, I have seen metallic balloons deep within the San Gabriel Mountains, far beyond wherever they were released. I wasn’t surprised when I saw, via a post from Steampunk Farms Rescue Barn, a Ranchita-based farmed animal sanctuary, that the balloons can make it far into the Mojave too. The image of a desert tortoise considering a lunch of a “Congrats, Grad!” balloon still made my stomach lurch. The organization asked readers to consider: “Don’t release balloons. Any of them — mylar, latex, ‘biodegradable,’ sky lanterns. Weight them, pop them, recycle them indoors,” among other helpful ideas.
For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.
Brian Kahn was a teenager living in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s, which meant at 5:30 p.m. every weekday he did what any true sports fan did at that time.
He listened to the radio.
“Is it true? … I am the king … Aw, blow it out! … The dreaded 6 o’clock tone …”
“I had a buddy and his dad used to listen to Jim Healy a lot,” Kahn recalled, “and I caught onto it and loved it and just religiously listened to it every day. He’d talk about horse racing all the time and I knew nothing about it.
“It caught my interest somehow.”
Little did 15-year-old Brian Kahn know that enjoying odd sound effects and rants from Tommy Lasorda and Lee Elia would someday lead him to breeding one of the 20 horses that will start in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs (3:57 p.m. PDT, NBC). The Puma, who is 10-1 on the morning line, is a son of Eve of War, a mare Kahn owns with Hidden Brook Farm in Paris, Ky.
After hearing Healy talk about the horses, Kahn began watching the race replays each night on TV. His cousin started taking him to Santa Anita, where he saw Spectacular Bid win the 1980 Strub Stakes in world record time for 1¼ miles and later followed such stars as John Henry.
“It was just so dynamic back then, being at Santa Anita for the big days and there would be 60,000 or 70,000 people there,” he said. “It was amazing.”
Brian Kahn stands alongside a 2026 foal, the daugher of Maximus Mischief, at Hidden Brook Farm in Paris, Ky.
(Courtesy of Brian Kahn)
Kahn, 61, went to Birmingham High School and USC, and decided he wanted to have a career in horse racing. He worked as a hot walker for some trainers, including Gary Jones, read everything about the sport and business he could and learned that unless he wanted to get up at 4 a.m. and be a trainer, he needed to move to Kentucky.
Duncan Taylor from Taylor Made Farm offered him a job, and Kahn got in his car and drove more than 2,100 miles to Nicholasville, Ky., just outside Lexington.
He started working with horses but eventually Taylor thought Kahn was more suited to client relations, or “hustling business” for the farm by convincing owners to board their mares at Taylor Made or sell them.
It was a good beginning, but after three years, Kahn missed California.
“I really should have stayed in Lexington and made a life there for myself, but I ended up coming back,” he said. “But I was able to do business for them from out here.”
Kahn, who lives by the beach in Venice, enjoyed his first major success with Miatuschka, a mare he bought with Taylor Made in the mid-1990s and later sold for $380,000, making “a nice profit.”
“I’ve been doing that ever since,” Kahn said.
Brian Kahn, left; Bryan Cross, center; and Dan Hall are his partners owning Eve at War, the mother of The Puma. They gathered at Hidden Brook Farm in Paris, Ky.
Not every sale works out like that, but Kahn has done well enough to make this his career. He looks to buy fillies and mares that are good broodmare prospects, then either resells them or breeds them and sells the foal.
For the colt that turned out to be The Puma, Kahn thought Eve of War — a daughter of Declaration of War, who was a multiple Grade 1-winner in Europe — had great promise after winning a maiden race. Her career never really took off like he thought, but Kahn believed she would be a good broodmare. When she was consigned to a sale in the summer of 2021, he bought her with Hidden Brook for $135,000.
Kahn’s idea was to breed her to Charlatan, who won the Arkansas Derby and Malibu Stakes for Bob Baffert in 2020. But Sergio de Sousa, managing partner at Hidden Brook, suggested Essential Quality, a champion colt at 2 and 3 at the start of this decade.
As a yearling, the colt didn’t meet his reserve price of $95,000, so Kahn and Hidden Brook pointed him to a 2-year-old in training sale last year at Ocala. He brought a price of $150,000, still less than Kahn hoped. But they still own Eve of War, whose value has increased with the progress of The Puma, and she has a yearling colt by Nyquist, a weanling colt by Practical Joke and this year was bred to Sierra Leone.
Under the care of trainer Gustavo Delgado, who won the Derby two years ago with Mage, The Puma has won only once in four starts, but that victory came in the Tampa Bay Derby. He also was second in the Florida Derby, losing to Commandment by a nose.
And now he’s in the Kentucky Derby. Kahn, who spends three to four months a year in Lexington, was there last week but will be home Saturday, watching by himself.
“To have a Derby horse … it’s very significant for me and very exciting,” he said. “Off the charts exciting.”
Silent Tactic scratched
Silent Tactic, second in the Rebel and Arkansas Derby, has been scratched from the Derby with a bruised foot. That moves Great White from the also-eligible list into the field of 20, breaking from the outside post position. Horses who were drawn from 14-20 will move inside by one spot.
Great White, a son of Violence, won the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes in February over the synthetic surface at Turfway Park, but in his first (and only) career start on dirt, he was a distant fifth in the Blue Grass at Keeneland.
Three seats — two contested — are on the June 2 primary ballot for the seven-member Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.
The nation’s second-largest school system, with about 390,000 students, faces evolving challenges and uncertainties that could alter the direction of the district for years.
In mid-April L.A. Unified officials barely averted a strike by agreeing to significant employee raises, rescinding about 200 layoffs and agreeing to hundreds of new hires of counselors, school psychologists and other student support staff. The contracts with three district unions, including teachers, will cost nearly $1.2 billion a year, and board members now must find a way to pay for them amid budget pressures.
Standardized test scores have trended upward since the nadir of the COVID-19 pandemic, recovering faster than the state average, but the pace remains too incremental for critics.
The future of L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho is uncertain. He’s on paid administrative leave following FBI raids of his San Pedro home and downtown office. At least part of the investigation centers on a failed chatbot project that was supposed to revolutionize and individualize education.
Carvalho said he’s done nothing wrong and would like to return to work. If he does not return — and cannot serve out his new four-year contract — board members would select a superintendent.
L.A. Unified also faces declining enrollment — which reduces state funding and increases pressure to save money by closing many campuses.
Heightened federal immigration enforcement also has affected enrollment and attendance while creating anxiety that spills over into the classroom. Officials responded by declaring L.A. Unified a sanctuary district — both for immigrants and for the LGBTQ+ community, which also has been a target of some conservative groups.
Carvalho’s central focus on improving test scores has led to increased tutoring, repeated diagnostic measures and phonics training. In addition, the district put a successful school bond on the ballot to continue renovations, worked to lower student absenteeism and emphasized greener campuses.
The board majority consists of candidates elected with the endorsement of the powerful teachers union — United Teachers Los Angeles. This election will not change that balance because five seats are held by union-friendly incumbents. But the outcome will determine whether UTLA can further strengthen its hand or whether other constituencies will gain a measure of power at the union’s expense.
UTLA is the most reliable funder of school board campaigns — and the union’s spending is not controlled by candidates.
Also exerting influence in recent elections has been the district’s other largest union: Local 99 of Service Employees International Union. It represents some 30,000 bus drivers, teacher aides, custodians, gardeners, cafeteria workers and technical support staff. This union has yet to endorse candidates.
A potential but diminished source of election-funding firepower would be charter school advocates — who once routinely outspent the unions. Retired businessman Bill Bloomfield — a charter school ally who makes his own calls about whom to support — has been a big spender inrecent elections, typically as a counter to teachers-union-endorsed candidates. He has not committed to being involved in this school board election cycle.
The material below was assembled through reporting and surveys provided to candidates. Some responses are paraphrased for clarity or condensed for brevity.
Three seats are on the June 2 primary ballot for the seven-member Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, but the District 6 race is essentially a foregone conclusion: The only name on the ballot is two-term incumbent Kelly Gonez.
The nation’s second-largest school system, with close to 400,000 students, faces evolving challenges and uncertainties that could alter the direction of the district for years.
In mid-April L.A. Unified officials barely averted a strike by agreeing to significant employee raises, rescinding about 200 layoffs and agreeing to hundreds of new hires of counselors, school psychologists and other student support staff. The contracts with three district unions, including teachers, will cost nearly $1.2 billion a year, and board members now must find a way to pay for them amid budget pressures.
Standardized test scores have trended upward since the nadir of the COVID-19 pandemic, recovering faster than the state average, but the pace remains too incremental for critics.
The future of L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho is uncertain. He’s on paid administrative leave following FBI raids of his San Pedro home and downtown office. At least part of the investigation centers on a failed chatbot project that was supposed to revolutionize and individualize education.
Carvalho said he’s done nothing wrong and would like to return to work. If he does not return — and cannot serve out his new four-year contract — board members would select a superintendent.
L.A. Unified also faces declining enrollment — which reduces state funding and increases pressure to save money by closing many campuses.
Heightened federal immigration enforcement also has affected enrollment and attendance while creating anxiety that spills over into the classroom. Officials responded by declaring L.A. Unified a sanctuary district — both for immigrants and for the LGBTQ+ community, which also has been a target of some conservative groups.
Carvalho’s central focus on improving test scores has led to increased tutoring, repeated diagnostic measures and phonics training. In addition, the district put a successful school bond on the ballot to continue renovations, worked to lower student absenteeism and emphasized greener campuses.
The board majority consists of candidates elected with the endorsement of the powerful teachers union — United Teachers Los Angeles. This election will not change that balance because five seats are held by union-friendly incumbents. But the outcome will determine whether UTLA can further strengthen its hand or whether other constituencies will gain a measure of power at that union’s expense.
The material below was assembled through reporting and a survey provided to Gonez. Some responses are paraphrased for clarity or condensed for brevity.
One judge claims his colleagues have adopted a “gangster mentality” in order to shut him up.
Another compared the state board accusing him of serious misconduct to “the Russian mafia.”
Judicial elections are usually sleepy affairs, subject to little political fanfare or interest. But two battles on the June ballot in Los Angeles have raised the temperature this campaign season and invited questions about the lengths members of the insular local bench will go to protect their own.
Lawyers who aspire to become judge often run for open seats. The challengers in these races, however, say they specifically targeted incumbents they believe are unfit for the office, which carries an annual salary of more than $244,000.
One of the contests could unseat 84-year-old Judge Robert Draper, who is seeking reelection despite having spent the last three years relegated to a room at the Santa Monica courthouse without a computer or caseload, which two other judges described to The Times as a “closet.”
In 2023, then-Presiding Justice Samantha Jessner said Draper was “unable to carry out the duties and responsibilities of a judge” due to deteriorating mental and physical health, according to a letter she sent to the state’s Commission on Judicial Performance.
Draper denied all wrongdoing in an interview with The Times, and said that although he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he remains fit for the bench. He has also been accused of sexual harassment and making improper and biased comments by the judicial commission. He is contesting those claims. A hearing that could result in his removal began Monday and is expected to last into early May.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Thompson at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The other incumbent fighting to save his seat is Judge Pat Connolly, 61, a former prosecutor who has drawn support from several other sitting L.A. County judges. But his opponent, Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Thompson, has called Connolly a “rogue judge” who needs to be replaced.
Connolly has been disciplined multiple times in his 18-year judicial tenure for improper comments toward litigants and, in one case, exhibiting bias against a defense attorney against whom he was weighing contempt charges, according to state judicial commission records.
Thompson, who gained notoriety for his role winning a rape conviction against Harvey Weinstein, purchased the rights to the domain name “patconnolly4judge.com,” which now redirects to one of the commission’s admonishments of Connolly.
“What I see is a man who repeatedly prioritizes his own goodwill over that of the community and the public he is serving … a man who has been repeatedly disciplined for prioritizing his own interests,” said Thompson, who has been endorsed by the L.A. County Democratic Party.
In a bizarre turn, the race was linked to the recent shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner after conservative influencers posted a picture of a Thompson campaign sign on the Torrance lawn of the suspected gunman, Cole Tomas Allen.
Thompson lives next door to the Allen family and described the suspect’s parents as great neighbors. He said he didn’t know their son and dismissed “internet trolls” for trying to tie his campaign to political violence.
This year’s election has sparked conversations about the unwavering support incumbent judges seem to enjoy among their colleagues.
Despite the concerns about Draper’s health, a political action committee run by fellow judges gave $72,500 to his campaign, state election finance records show. The PAC gave the same amount to Connolly.
Judge Maria Lucy Armendariz, who oversees the PAC, did not return a call seeking comment.
“The PAC has some explaining to do here. Why is there this show of support for someone who is facing so many challenges?” asked Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches at Loyola Law School. “It doesn’t reflect well on the bench.”
Deputy Dist. Atty. Tal Khan Valbuena at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Draper’s opponent is Deputy Dist. Atty. Tal Khan Valbuena, a refugee from Pakistan who works in the Hollywood mental health court. Khan Valbuena believes his lived experience as a gay Muslim who has faced bigotry will bring a compassionate perspective to a bench some complain is overrun with old-school tough-on-crime prosecutors.
But he also expressed concern about Draper’s mental decline after meeting him for lunch earlier this year.
“His honor had exemplified disorganized thought behavior, tangential thought … things I see on a day-to-day basis [in mental health court],” Khan Valbuena said, while acknowledging that he is not a doctor.
The Los Angeles County Bar Assn. issued its ratings for every judicial candidate last week. Connolly graded best among the judges in the contentious races, described as “well qualified.” Thompson and Khan Valubena were rated as “qualified.” Draper was one of only three candidates labeled “unqualified.”
In 2022, Judge Eric Taylor said he noticed a sharp change in Draper’s behavior that included sending “abusive” and “incoherent” e-mails to colleagues that contained racist and profane language, according to a letter Taylor sent to the state judicial commission.
“He has demonstrated a flagging handle on reality,” Taylor wrote.
Draper was accused of sexual harassment, making racist remarks and callous behavior all over the course of one hearing. According to the state judicial complaint and testimony at Draper’s removal hearing on Monday, the judge allegedly stroked a female lawyer’s hair after going on a tangent to a Black attorney about “Black history, Black football players, the Civil Rights Act, and the Black Lives Matter movement,” even though the case had nothing to do with those issues.
Judge Robert Draper outside the Ronald Reagan Federal Building in Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Later in chambers that same day, he made crude remarks to a group of female attorneys while reflecting on his time as a civil attorney, recalling how male lawyers would deride female secretaries, insisting they learn to “f— better than they could type,” according to testimony given by attorney Janice Brown at Draper’s hearing.
Brown told the review panel that Draper’s behavior left her “aghast” and “perplexed.”
Draper denied much of what was in the complaint. He says that he never touched a lawyer’s hair, and that the comments about Black culture were meant to express his pride at racial progress in America. He criticized the Commission on Judicial Performance.
“This is like the Russian mafia, it’s like Germany,” he said. “There’s no due process for any judge.”
Draper’s attorney, Ashley Posner, said his client would routinely walk up seven flights of stairs when he was assigned to the downtown Stanley Mosk courthouse and remains sharp.
“Things were set up to portray him in the worst light possible … he’s been portrayed as a bigot. He’s been portrayed as doddering and demented, which couldn’t be further from the truth,” Posner said.
In court on Monday, Posner suggested the complaint was part of a broader campaign to force Draper to retire and accused the L.A. County Superior Court’s leadership of ageism. A court spokesperson said they could not comment on personnel matters.
The race between Connolly and Thompson has also focused heavily on alleged misconduct.
Connolly’s past admonishments by the state commission include complaints that he yelled at attorneys for appearing remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The judge also told a recently acquitted defendant that he knew the man was guilty, records show.
“I don’t think it’s as much what I’ve said as how I have said it. I think that they have taken issue with the terms that I’ve used,” Connolly said, noting he has never been accused of ethical violations or moral impropriety.
L.A. County Superior Court Judge Pat Connolly at the Compton Courthouse.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A legal expert raised questions in 2023 about the propriety of Connolly seeking to disqualify a fellow judge from ruling on a petition to resentence a convicted cop killer that Connolly had prosecuted in the late 2000s. The state commission is also currently reviewing two additional complaints against Connolly, according to e-mails seen by The Times. Connolly said he couldn’t comment on either situation.
In an interview with The Times, Connolly said he was surprised by the “venom” Thompson had injected into the race.
He said he sees himself as a fair jurist with a knack for finding creative solutions to cases that balance public safety and alternatives to incarceration. In 2022, court records show, he negotiated a plea deal for an NFL player facing prison time for weapons charges, ordering him to organize sports camps for underprivileged youth.
“I’m one of those who listens to both sides, who gives both sides the opportunity to voice their positions,” he said.
Connolly enjoys the support of many sitting judges and law enforcement leaders, including former Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and the head of the court’s criminal division, Ricardo Ocampo.
Thompson says some of Connolly’s allies on the bench have come after his supporters.
When Thompson launched his campaign, he published an endorsement from L.A. County Superior Court Judge Scott Yang on his campaign website. Within weeks, Thompson said, Yang asked him to take the endorsement down, claiming he was being pressured by other judges.
Yang, who presides over a court in the Antelope Valley, said his colleagues on the bench exhibited a “gangster mentality” when they told him to withdraw his endorsement in a judicial election, according to a text message reviewed by The Times.
“They were going to target him. They were going to run at him. They were potentially going to make false disciplinary reports around him,” Thompson said.
Connolly was not accused of being involved in the alleged harassment and declined to discuss the matter. Yang did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A court spokesperson said they had not received any reports of threats made against Yang, but a law enforcement source said Yang told them he was harassed by fellow judges over his endorsement of Thompson. The source spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the bench.
The conflict has generated whispers among L.A. County judges, one of whom requested anonymity due to concerns of backlash for speaking publicly. Word of the threats against Yang, the judge said, left some fearing they too could face retribution for breaking ranks.
“It’s totally concerning,” the judge said. “How different is that than the deputy gangs?”
If you’ve ever daydreamed about owning an item from Carrie Bradshaw’s closet or the writing desk where she penned her famous memoir, this L.A. event may be your golden ticket.
Julien’s is hosting an auction for “And Just Like That…,” the sequel to HBO’s groundbreaking series “Sex and the City” that took its final bow last year after three seasons. The auction features more than 500 lots of designer clothing, shoes, furnishings, kitschy keepsakes and props straight from the beloved show. Online bidding kicked off earlier this month and will conclude with a live, two-day event at the auction house’s Gardena location on Thursday and Friday. Participants can place bids both online and in person.
Given the popularity of the show, particularly the fashion, style expert George Kotsiopoulos says being able to own an item that your favorite character wore or had in their home is a rare opportunity.
“Even if you love something design wise, there’s an extra layer of ‘Well, that came from “And Just Like That…”’ or ‘That’s Carrie’s’ or ‘That’s Charlotte’s’ or ‘That’s Miranda‘s,’” adds Kotsiopoulos, a former co-host of “Fashion Police” and a style expert working with Julien’s on this sale.
While you won’t be able to snag a pair of Manolo Blahniks worn by Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) — Carrie’s clothing is sadly not for sale at this auction — you can purchase other items from her closet, including the round, vintage suitcases that held her elaborate hats, custom wooden hangers inscribed with her initials or even empty designer shoe and jewelry boxes.
Many items from Carrie’s collection are from the luxurious apartment she shared with her husband, Mr. Big. There’s the front door intercom panel, a pair of embossed leather club chairs and, fatefully, Mr Big’s Peloton water bottle. The memoir “Loved & Lost” that Carrie wrote about Mr. Big’s sudden death is also for sale, as is the manuscript. A small but poignant item: the condolence card sent to Carrie by Samantha Jones, her estranged friend played by Kim Cattrall, who made a brief but impactful appearance in the reboot.
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1.Shoes from Lisa Todd Wexley’s collection. 2.Carrie Bradshaw’s globetrotter luggage set, a vintage stool and steel writing desk. 3.Midcentury modern chairs and an upholstered cat pillow from Carrie Bradshaw’s Gramercy townhouse.
Fashion lovers will likely find satisfaction raiding the closets of OG characters Charlotte York-Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), along with newcomers Seema Patel (Sarita Choudhury) and Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker). Notable items from their collections include Charlotte’s Prada coat from the Spring 2023 Menswear collection and Miranda’s vintage Issey Miyake coat. There’s also an authentic woven Intrecciato Bottega Veneta clutch that Miranda wore, Seema’s silk Fendi dress, the showstopping Balmain cape Lisa wore while trekking through the snow in New York City and an array of glamorous heels.
Catherine Williamson, managing director of Hollywood memorabilia for Julien’s, says it was important for the company to price items conservatively so many people, particularly fans who may have never bid before, would have a chance to buy something.
As of late last week, several items had highest bids under $100. Meanwhile, bigger ticket items like Marantino’s Louis Vuitton bags were bidding for $4,000, and the engraved Rolex watch — it’s a prop not a genuine Rolex — that Bradshaw gifted Mr. Big for their anniversary was going for $5,000.
How to participate in the auction
The “And Just Like That…” auction will take place over two days on April 30 and May 1 at the Julien’s location in Gardena. Participants can place bids both online and in person.
In honor of the late Willie Garson, who played Stanford Blatch on the series, Warner Bros. Discovery will make a one-time donation to You Gotta Believe, a New York City-based organization that specializes in finding permanent families for pre-teens and young adults in foster care. As a father of an adopted son, Garson, who died from pancreatic cancer in September 2021, was deeply connected to the organization.
Allyson Felix is attempting a comeback at age 40 that could give her a chance to add to her Olympic-record medal haul two years from now in Los Angeles.
Felix, a mother of two, told Time magazine she thought about coming back some four years after calling it quits and decided: “Let’s go after the thing. Let’s be vulnerable.”
“You know, at this age, I should probably be staying home and taking care of my kids, doing all that. And just, why not? Let’s flip it on its head,” she said.
Felix has won 11 Olympic medals — the most by any woman in track — and has a record 20 medals from world championships.
She is a seven-time Olympic champion, with six in the relays and her lone individual gold coming in the 200 meters at the 2012 London Games.
Before retiring in 2022, she became an outspoken advocate for athletes who become mothers and want to keep their careers going.
Felix, who landed a spot on the IOC Athletes’ Commission in retirement, has two kids — 7-year-old Camryn and 2-year old Trey.
She said she expects to start full-time training with her coach, Bobby Kersee, in October with the goal of competing in 2027. The Olympics will be in her hometown a year later.
“I totally get the person who sticks around too long and you’re like, ‘What are they doing?’” Felix said. “I know, at 40, I am not at my peak. I have no illusions about that. I’m very clear in what it is and what I want to see. And so I hope it’s seen that way.”
It’s 7:50 p.m. on a Tuesday as I enter the dimly lighted metaphysical supply store the Crooked Path. Even inside, it almost looks closed; I barely see the crystal-necklace-studded walls, the bowls of runes and bins of long, black candles around me. Half-filled glass jars (perhaps potions?) sit beyond the store’s elongated bar — the apothecary — where a silent man in black points me past Egyptian deity figurines and a large python named Drakina to … my yoga class.
The backroom that Goth Yoga LA calls home is all black paint, purple lights and sage-y smells; music growls ominously from the speaker system above. Devotees gather for the intimate, pay-what-you-can classes, held at 6:30 and 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday nights. It feels like an open mic night in the Upside Down — and yes, everyone is wearing all black. Everyone but Goth Yoga LA’s leader, Brynna Beatnix. Tonight, Beatnix is giving more Y2K occult-glam. She chats with one heavily-tattooed man stretching in the corner, and welcomes in an older woman in heavy eyeliner who tentatively peeks inside. Is she in the right place? Of course she is.
Students take part in a Goth Yoga LA class, complete with burning incense.
Goth Yoga LA’s masterminds are Beatnix and her partner, James David (who DJs each class). The couple has been active in L.A.’s goth/alternative music and event scene for years, co-creating the popular outdoor roller disco event Skate Oddity during the pandemic. This “goth club on wheels,” brought an inspiring blend of physicality, niche goth music and connection to alt-Angelenos at their most isolated.
As Skate Oddity (and athletically-forward goth events like it) became more popular, so did some pretty gnarly injuries. As a response, Beatnix began hosting communal stretching sessions before the event, complete with vibey dark ‘80s, goth and post-punk soundtrack. “It started as a gathering,” Beatnix said. “And with James and my background in nightlife and music, it gained momentum and grew.”
Soon, Beatnix got her yoga certification and a couple of her goth friends, Sal Santoro and Popi Mavros, offered the backroom of their Burbank-based occult store, the Crooked Path. And from the shadowy, crystal-studded darkness Goth Yoga LA was born.
Brynna Beatnix’s classes are defined by deep stretches and dark sounds.
DJ James David provides the music for Goth Yoga LA classes.
Beatnix and David created and practice Goth Yoga LA much like yoga itself — slowly, with intentionality. It took them years to fuse music and movement to “get the space right,” and they hope that the result helps participants’ mental health. “The music and the alternative world can already be a coping mechanism. Well, yoga is also a great coping mechanism. So let’s combine the two.”
What resulted is an intimate, therapeutic yoga class shrouded in darkness (literally), where goths, alts, punks — anyone feeling outside of the norm — can work through “heavy feelings” via moody vinyasas. “It just feels really nice to be in a room of people who are kinda literally leaning into the discomfort of being in the chaos of the world right now,” says Heather Hanford, a regular at Goth Yoga LA.
For many, it’s not just about mental health but simply a more welcoming alternative to the Lululemon-coded homogeny of L.A.’s wellness culture. “Some people feel scared of going to traditional yoga studios. One, the prices are really high. Or they don’t really feel accepted there,” Beatnix says. “I’ve even had guys be like, I’m scared to go, because people are going to look at my tattoos and think that I’m a satanist and stare at me.”
The intimate Goth Yoga LA classes are distinctive because they are mostly shrouded in darkness.
And, of course, it’s not just for goths. Class participant Hanford, who identifies as a neurodivergent non-goth, experiences Goth Yoga LA as much more regulating than a mainstream yoga class. “The lighting and mood music makes it easier to focus on the internal experience than other classes I’ve taken,” she said. “Either intentionally or not, really helps minimize sensory overload.”
As we cat-cow to the Cure, the irony that goth yoga is more approachable, more calming and far less expensive than most traditional classes isn’t lost on me. With its donation-based entry, alternative clientele and bespoke DJ experience, Goth Yoga LA is like the anti-yoga of L.A’.s yoga scene. “I didn’t particularly want to rebel against the yoga studios, I just … am,” Beatnix tells me later. “We just saw something that didn’t exist, and wanted to create it.”
I know the class is coming to an end as ambient noiserock leads us into corpse pose. I inhale, letting new smells — something minty and palo santo-y, maybe? — waft over me. Now back into our original sitting positions, I’m not expecting a namaste. No, I have been warned this class concludes … differently than most.
Class participants Ellie Albertson and Jenn Rivera recline in corpse pose.
In Sanskrit, namaste translates to mean “I bow to you,” or, ”the light in me honors the light in you.” It is meant to be an invitation: a means of being deeply and profoundly seen.
“But that’s just ignoring the dark,” Beatnix says. In her opinion, to truly be seen we must acknowledge our alternative natures, our shadow sides, the otherness of our beings. “My ending is — and it ranges class to class — but generally I say, ‘the darkness in me honors and acknowledges the darkness in each and every one of you.’ We have both light and dark. We are both.”
Michael Tilson Thomas came onto the scene as a great hope for classical music, American music, Los Angeles music, modern music, multifaceted pop music, maverick music, Russian music, Broadway music and just plain music, whatever it might be and from wherever it might be found. He lived his 81 years as conductor, pianist, composer, educator and media personality promoting that hope, and died Wednesday having shown how hope is done. He looked ahead. He looked back. Yet he lived for the now.
It wasn’t always easy. He wasn’t, to say the least, always easy. But MTT made music matter by making hope matter. He was, moreover, one of us. He achieved greatness though an epic amplification of a uniquely L.A. positivity in which grumpy became wistful.
I first encountered MTT as a kid clarinetist and he, Michael Thomas back then, a student conductor at USC and already, at 19, music director of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra. He was soon everywhere. A piano prodigy, he regularly performed (and hobnobbed) with the likes of Stravinsky, Copland, Boulez and Cage at Monday Evening Concerts programs when the Los Angeles County Museum of Art opened in 1965. That summer, he appeared at the Ojai Music Festival, which he would go on to lead as music director seven times.
MTT liked to describe his L.A. youth as driving from Jascha Heifetz’s house in the Hollywood Hills (where he accompanied the famed Russian violinist in classes) to LACMA to rehearse Ives and Renaissance music, to composition and conducting classes at USC. Then it was home to the San Fernando Valley to practice Beethoven.
All the while, he listened to the hip L.A. 1960s pop music stations on his car radio. He was particularly keen on, and became friends with, Chuck Berry. Home was where he would also encounter screen legends. Tilson Thomas’ father worked in films and television as a screenwriter, producer and dialogue coach. Theodor Thomas was, as well, a painter with a visionary sensibility and a pianist, self-taught other than a handful of lessons from Gershwin.
But it was Tilson Thomas’ mother and grandmother who may have had the biggest influence. His mother was a public school teacher. She instilled what became a key trait in her only child, who treated conducting as an exercise in learning both for the musicians and the audience (if not for him, because he basically knew it all). His grandmother, Bessie Thomashefsky and her husband, Boris, were stars of Yiddish theater on New York’s Lower East Side.
Boris died in 1939, five years before MTT was born. But Bessie and young Michael were close. She recognized that, like her, he was born for the stage, and regaled him with stage lore that put the stardust in his eyes. As a young kid, MTT played Beethoven piano sonatas so impressively that he wowed his babysitter, an architecture student at USC named Frank Owen Goldberg, who needed extra cash.
Frank Gehry, as he became, told me that MTT was already an entrancing showman. The two remained lifelong friends.
While MTT did not actually reside in L.A. for most of his life, he never really left it. It prepared him for all that was to follow. In high school, he met Joshua Robison, who became his lifelong partner and ultimately husband. Whether in New York, Miami, London or San Francisco, wherever they lived, they always talked about L.A. His father’s paintings were on the walls, as were Boris’ Yiddish theater posters, one proclaiming “King Lear,” translated and improved.
The Tilson Thomas package that emerged from L.A. was unlike any conductor the world had seen. He doted on the music of Rachmaninoff when Rachmaninoff was unfashionable and on Steve Reich when Reich was found unfathomable. He adopted classical music’s neglected outsiders and especially such key West Coast “mavericks” as Lou Harrison and Henry Cowell. He convinced Meredith Monk to write for orchestra and enticed everyone from Sarah Vaughan to the Mahavishnu Orchestra onto the symphony stage.
Studying at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony’s summer home, MTT won the Koussevitzky Prize in 1969 and, with the encouragement of Leonard Bernstein, was appointed assistant conductor to music director William Steinberg. Before long, MTT became principal guest conductor, filling in frequently for Steinberg, who was in poor health.
MTT in his early 20s was vibrant, arrogant, fearless, full of ideas, a chance taker. Ever the Angeleno, he tooled around town in a Porsche. He talked to staid symphony musicians and audiences who didn’t want to be talked to and often played music they didn’t want to play or hear. And he dazzled them. He got a contract with the distinguished German record label Deutsche Grammophon and made exciting records with the orchestra of Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Ives and modern Americans. They remain a thrill to hear.
By 1974, it was Tchaikovsky one moment and a wonderfully crazy avant-garde opera the next. Stanley Silverman’s “Elephant Steps,” which MTT recorded in 1974, was for pop singers, opera singers, orchestra, rock band, electronic tape, raga group, gypsy ensemble and, of course, elephants. Richard Foreman wrote the libretto. There had been nothing like it then or since. A revival could prove a sensation. The Olympic arts festival, anyone?
At the same time, Tilson Thomas, who proved a born educator, succeeded Bernstein in delivering the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts. When Steinberg left, the Boston Symphony Orchestra passed over MTT as too young (24) and not ready (he wasn’t, nor was Boston). He was just right, though, for the Buffalo Philharmonic, which he led from 1971 to 1979. It was a wild ride, with lots of exciting new music and no small amount of controversy — arresting performances of arresting new works (Morton Feldman in particular) and an actual arrest at Kennedy International Airport when small quantities of cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines were found in his luggage.
He may have seemed ready for a homecoming in 1981, but MTT’s appointment as principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic did not prove to be the return of the prodigal son. These were the years of Carlo Maria Giulini’s music directorship, and MTT brought currency — new music, Gershwin, flashy showstoppers. Much of it was a breath of freshest air, but he was also remembered for his brash youth, which was now a brash 30s. He ran afoul of some in the orchestra and of its imperious head, Ernest Fleischmann.
Having been branded the next Bernstein, MTT floundered. What he needed was not L.A., but a far distant remove to find himself. That happened in two parts.
In 1987, the educator in him led to his greatest project, the creation of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. The training orchestra guides young musicians with conservatory backgrounds into the world of professional orchestras.
Around the same time, Bernstein talked the London Symphony Orchestra into hiring Tilson Thomas as music director. Far from L.A., Boston and New York, a newly mature MTT found his bearings, no longer the next Leonard Bernstein but the first and only Michael Tilson Thomas.
Miami gave MTT meaning, and he commissioned Frank Gehry to design a revolutionary concert hall and teaching facility. In London, his conducting took on depth without losing its surface glamour. What MTT still lacked, however, was a creative outlook. He had always thought himself a composer and could, at a party, make up a clever song at the piano on the spot. He had drawers full of sketches but little finished work.
It took a return to the West Coast for MTT, having turned 50, to put all of his musical, emotional, personal and spiritual parts together and achieve greatness. For 25 years as music director of the San Francisco Symphony, MTT conducted Mahler and Tchaikovsky with a depth of soul that integrated his Russian roots and Bernsteinian character. He advocated for mavericks in summer festivals. He found his voice as a composer. He and Robison were embraced as a beloved San Francisco couple. He alchemized the San Francisco Symphony into a Bay Area beacon.
In the challenging last chapter of his life, MTT turned tragedy into triumph to became a universal inspiration. The lockdown in June 2020 meant cancellation of his farewell concerts as music director, including a production of Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman” with a set by Gehry. The following summer, MTT fell on stage while conducting the London Symphony in Santa Barbara. He was diagnosed with late-stage glioblastoma. He likely had less than a year to live.
Remarkably, MTT continued to conduct until last April. His appearances with the L.A. Phil and the San Francisco Symphony were transformative. He guest conducted in New York, London, Prague and elsewhere. In L.A., a dying MTT led a profound performance of Mahler’s death-obsessed Ninth Symphony, not as a farewell but as a shamanistic savoring of every moment of life. He asked not for sympathy but for joy.
For MTT, the music never stopped. In his later years, he advanced the theory that what you took away from hearing a performance mattered as much, if not more, than what you experienced. That may explain why this creature of the theater who was so graceful leading an orchestra and so enjoyed talking to the audience turned stiff and awkward when bowing to acknowledged applause. Was it his reluctance to leave? Insecurity? Attempt to remove his ego from the experience, as if he was now handing the music over to you?
It was probably all of those things. During his illness, when his movement became more difficult, he let go. He was simply happy to be there, happy to share music, happy to be alive, very happy to be loved. His final bows were a celebration of life.
Sadly, Robison died Feb. 22, exactly two months before MTT, who died four days short of a year since his final concert with the San Francisco Symphony. But he lives on through about 150 recordings and his website.
He and Robison worked as tirelessly throughout his illness to archive his life. His website provides a treasure trove of compelling radio and television programs, his copious Thomashefsky Yiddish theater archive, a vast legacy of searching and believing. And hope.
