More than 200 city officials from throughout California to the state Capitol for legislative briefings and meetings with legislators on April 24 for the League of California Cities' Annual Legislative Action Day.

The Division’s March meeting welcomed Dr. Rafael Sonenshein, Executive Director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at CSU Los Angeles. Just days after voters throughout Los Angeles county went to the polls in local elections, Dr. Sonenshein spoke about key trends shaping the Los Angeles electorate as well as developments in the State Capitol.

Supported by 3,000 coaches and 30,000 volunteers, they will compete in 24 events over a 9-day period. The venues will be world-class, including Olympic Villages at USC and
UCLA, and a star-studded Opening Ceremony at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games.

2012 saw significant efforts to reshape Infrastructure Financing Districts (IFDs) as a viable tool for cities and economic development. While several of these bill passed the legislature, including AB 2144 (J. Perez), SB 214 (Wolk) and SB 1156 (Steinberg), all were vetoed by Governor Brown. That the Governor vetoed bills by both the Assembly Speaker and Senate Pro Tem was significant in itself, worsened because they were the only true post-redevelopment vehicles for cities in the last legislative session.