Celebrate the start of Fall with a Drag Brunch!
Hey friends,
You’re invited to be my guest at our upcoming…
Drag brunch! supporting
Freddy Puza and Thomas Small for Culver City Council
Hayden Tract neighborhood in Culver City
Sunday, September 20
11AM - 1PM
Here's the tea— corporate PACs have spent millions in Culver City over the past several years to get their faves elected.
In 2024, Culver City voters told them to sashay away and you put me in City Hall to be responsive to you, the people.
But we have to slay this lip sync again in 2026 to keep us moving forward.
Culver City is ready for people-powered, progressive queens who will werk to keep our city affordable and welcoming to everyone.
As our city's first LGBTQ+ Mayor, Freddy Puza has been an iconic leader, championing affordable housing, repairing sidewalks, adding miles of new bike and bus lanes, and supporting a modern approach to public safety.
And when Thomas Aujero Small served, he made Culver City a sanctuary city, passed our first rent control ordinance, and approved a plan to shut down the city's portion of the Inglewood Oil Field, the largest urban oil field in the country.
Now it's time to keep City Hall fierce with candidates who'll actually fight for an affordable, sustainable, welcoming Culver City—not a playground for right wing donors and corporate PACs.
So sashay down to our Drag Brunch this Sunday and let's TURN OUT THE VOTE!
Expect brunchy bites, bubbles, and performances by legendary local queens, Morgan Wood and Twinka Masala.
It's time bring these two proven leaders back to City Hall for another four fabulous years of progress.
RSVP Below! 👇
Address will be shared closer to event.
And this is a fundraiser, so don’t forget to open your purse! Suggested donation is $50 at the door, but feel free to donate more if you can, less if you can’t 💕
Tonight! Regulating Waymo staging sites
At tonight’s Council meeting (the first in a month), we have several consent items but just one discussion item, a public hearing about a proposed ordinance regulating staging sites for autonomous vehicles (i.e. Waymo).
PH-1: ADOPTION OF AN URGENCY ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A NEW USE CLASSIFICATION, STANDARDS AND APPROVAL PROCEDURES FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE FLEET SERVICES [REQUIRES 4 VOTES TO PASS]
It’s an important item, given the City of Santa Monica’s recent lawsuit against a Waymo staging site that was becoming a nuisance for neighbors.
You can watch the meeting on the city’s YouTube channel.
And you can participate on Zoom or in-person at Council Chambers (9770 Culver Blvd).
To sign up to speak, just tap the button below.
Hope to hear from you tonight!
L.A. Delegation Visit to Amsterdam!
I was fortunate enough to join an LA County delegation on a visit to Amsterdam focused on bridge building before 2028 Games… and wow, what a trip it was!
Over the course of a packed 7-day trip, we talked 2028 Olympics, explored some of the world’s best cycling infrastructure, met with Team Netherlands, checked out their elite training academy, visited an adaptive sports center for disabled youth, and discussed partnerships with some of their most innovative and fastest-growing companies.
Not pictured: some of the best dark chocolate I’ve ever tasted. And yes, it was just chocolate! 🍫
Joined by my colleague Councilmember O’Brien, our Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, City Manager Odis Jones and Asst City Manager Lea Ericksen who repped our town well on the other side of the globe.
Infill Builders “Infill Pioneer” Award
Walk tall and carry a big hammer! 🔨
I’m honored to be recognized as an “Infill Pioneer” by the Council of Infill Builders for our work making Culver City the first city in California to legalize single stair residential buildings up to 6 floors… and one of the friendliest places in the region to build homes.
We’ve all watched as friends, family, and neighbors are priced out, because ever since the late 70s, Culver City just didn’t build.
That’s finally changing. We’re now building more homes, especially affordable ones, than we have in decades — while strengthening renter protections to keep vulnerable tenants housed.
But we’re not done. We have a responsibility to make sure the next generation can benefit from the incredible schools, economic opportunity, parks, trees, and amenities we enjoy every day.
Build baby build! And let’s keep Culver City for everyone.
[This award belongs to our amazing city staff including former and current planning directors Mark Muenzer and Emily Stadnicki, Tim Koutsouros, the advocates at LCI< Our Culver, Abundant Housing, CA YIMBY, Inner City Law Center, YIMBY LA, Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Zwick, Housing Action Coalition, and my colleagues on Council (esp. Councilmember McMorrin, my teammate on the housing/homelessness committee)]
Talking civil disobedience with Idaho’s first out LGBTQ+ legislator
I came away feeling inspired after the privilege of talking civil disobedience with Idaho’s first out LGBTQ+ legislator, Cole Lefavour. 🌈
Cole served in the state legislature from 2004-2012 then led protests and civil disobedience actions in an effort to get sexual orientation and gender identify added to Idahos anti-discrimination laws, a struggle that continues to this day.
Their touching new memoir ‘In the Arms of Mountains: a Memoir of Land, Love and Queer Resistance’ is a captivating read and available here at Village Well Books & Coffee. Can’t recommend it enough !
Thanks to The Village Well for hosting and the organizers, The Out Words Archive which collects and preserves oral histories of queer elders.
