REP Watch

Last month, the Los Angeles City Council, through a motion made by 15th District Councilman Tim McOsker, voted to provide office space for Rep. Nanette Barragán in the San Pedro Municipal Building on 7th and Beacon streets.

City staff decided that a suite currently occupied by the Department of Public Works on the fifth floor would be the best place for the congresswoman’s new office.

To accommodate this proposed lease, the Department of Public Works will be relocated to another suite on the same floor.

The Department of General Services, with the help of the City Attorney’s office, was directed to negotiate a no-cost lease with Barragán’s office.

On Jan. 13, the Los Angeles City Council moved a motion to the public safety committee that would pay for a presentation by Denver Colorado’s Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) Program, which deploys, through 911, emergency response teams that include emergency medical technicians and behavioral health clinicians to engage individuals experiencing distress related to mental health issues, poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse.

In the first three days of 2023, three Angelenos suffering from mental health breakdowns were killed by the Los Angeles Police Department in three separate incidents, including Takar Smith, Keenan Anderson and Oscar Leon.

But no mental health experts were contacted, as Police Chief Michel Moore pointed out during a news conference following the shooting.

“Our City’s emergency response not only failed them and their loved ones but took their lives,” the city