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Hydee Feldstein Soto

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Hydee Feldstein Soto
43rd City Attorney of Los Angeles
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 12, 2022
MayorKaren Bass
Preceded byMike Feuer
Personal details
Born1958 (age 65–66)
San Juan, Puerto Rico, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationSwarthmore College (BA)
Columbia University (JD)

Hydee Feldstein Soto (born 1958) is an American attorney and politician, who is the incumbent City Attorney of Los Angeles. She is a member of the Democratic Party.[1]

Early life and career

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Feldstein Soto was born in 1958 in San Juan, Puerto Rico and moved to the mainland United States at age 17 to attend Swarthmore College and Columbia Law School, graduating from the latter in 1982.[2] As an attorney, she served as a general counsel and worked in several private practices.[3]

Los Angeles City Attorney

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In 2021, Feldstein Soto announced her candidacy for Los Angeles City Attorney.[4][5] She was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times.[1] She prevailed in the general election, becoming the first female City Attorney in L.A. history, and the first Latina elected to citywide office in Los Angeles.[6][7]

Tenure

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On September 12, 2023, Feldstein Soto announced that the City Attorney’s Office had filed a lawsuit against the owners and operator of a motel in South Los Angeles that has served as a “hub for prostitution” for several years.[8]

At the start of Labor Day Weekend, on September 1, 2023, Feldstein Soto joined Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martínez and Tim McOsker to unveil new legislation to strengthen the enforcement of wage theft violations.[9][10]

On August 15, 2023, Feldstein Soto announced her office had filed a lawsuit against a company, Nightfall Group, that offers luxury party houses for short term rentals saying that they violate city laws and create a public nuisance. Feldstein Soto said that police have been called more than 250 times in the last two years because of problems at houses that the business rents out in the Hollywood area.[11][12][13]

Affordable housing

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While running for office, Feldstein Soto opposed the construction of 140 units of affordable housing in Venice.[14] In July 2024, once Feldstein Soto was in office, advocates for low-income housing sued the city of Los Angeles, accusing Feldstein Soto of violating fair housing laws by blocking the housing development in Venice.[14][15] The Los Angeles Times editorial board criticized Feldstein Soto for derailing the housing development.[16]

Guns

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Feldstein Soto announced a settlement in her office's lawsuit against Polymer80, the nation's largest manufacturer of weapons parts kits and components, permanently prohibiting the company from selling its weapons parts kits its in California without first conducting background checks of buyers and serializing its products. In addition, the company and its founders were ordered to pay $5 million in civil penalties.[17] The lawsuit had been filed in February 2021, almost two years before Feldstein Soto took office, and was prosecuted by staff who predated Feldstein Soto's election along with Everytown Law and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.[18][19]

Skid Row Housing Trust

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In March 2023, Feldstein Soto asked a court to appoint Mark Adams as a receiver for the Skid Row Housing Trust, which holds a collection of 29 buildings home to 1,500 formerly unhoused people. Feldstein Soto described Adams as "the most experienced health and safety receiver we were able to locate in the state of California".[20] A Los Angeles Times review of Adams's record showed that he had a history of overbilling local governments, failing to maintain the conditions of his properties and putting vulnerable tenants at risk of eviction and homelessness.[21][22] In July 2023, the Los Angeles Times revealed that Adams had hosted a fundraiser for Feldstein Soto. She subsequently withdrew her support for Adams, who resigned.[23]

In 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported that Feldstein Soto had instructed city agencies to not interact with the developers of a project for homeless and affordable housing on a city-owned parking lot in Venice, an affluent neighborhood of L.A. The project had been approved by the City Council and had survived NIMBY lawsuits, but Feldstein Soto's actions delayed it from moving forward.[24][25]

Police Officer Photographs and Public Records

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Under Feldstein Soto's leadership, her office sued journalist Ben Camacho and the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, a local advocacy organization, to return a flash drive containing photographs of LAPD officers. The City of Los Angeles had given Camacho the pictures in response to a public records request, and the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition subsequently published them on the website WatchTheWatchers.net as well as for download on the Internet Archive [26] A coalition of media organizations denounced the lawsuit as limiting the freedom of the press.[27] Constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky commented that "the city is on very weak legal grounds".[28] In June of 2024, The city of Los Angeles agreed to pay $300,000 in a tentative settlement to Knock LA journalist Ben Camacho and the group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition for their legal fees.[29]

Weakening of California Public Records Act

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Following the LAPD picture release, Feldstein Soto suggested to several California state legislators to weaken the California Public Records Act of 1968 by exempting "images or data that may personally identify an individual". The ACLU described Feldstein Soto's proposal as a "gutting" of the Public Records Act.[30]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Endorsement: Hydee Feldstein Soto for Los Angeles city attorney". Los Angeles Times. May 12, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  2. ^ Antonicello, Nick (April 25, 2022). "Questions & Answers With Hydee Feldstein, Candidate to Succeed Mike Feuer as LA's Next City Attorney".
  3. ^ Raziel, Benjamin (November 4, 2021). "Meet The Only Jew Running For LA City Attorney". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
  4. ^ McGregor, Angela (May 9, 2022). "Current Interview: Hydee Feldstein Soto, Candidate for City Attorney". Westside Current.
  5. ^ Seifer, Helene (September 29, 2022). "Process versus litigation in city attorney's race". Larchmont Chronicle.
  6. ^ "Hydee Feldstein Soto set to become LA's first female Latina city attorney". CBS News. November 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Staff and City News Service • • (November 17, 2022). "Feldstein Soto Projected to Win Los Angeles City Attorney's Race". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  8. ^ "L.A. City Attorney Feldstein Soto looking to dismantle 'prostitution hub' at South L.A. motel". KTLA. September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  9. ^ "Los Angeles City Councilmembers Introduce New Legislation to Combat Wage Theft". Los Angeles Worker Center Network. September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  10. ^ "Los Angeles City Council members launch effort to address wage theft". Daily News. September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  11. ^ "L.A. sues 'luxury rentals' company over party house blowouts that shake neighborhoods". Los Angeles Times. August 16, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  12. ^ Lombard, Patricia (August 16, 2023). "Larchmont Village Residents Applaud City Attorney's Suit Against Hollywood Party House Owner". The Larchmont Buzz. p. 1. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  13. ^ "Does L.A. have a 'party house' problem?". www.audacy.com. August 17, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  14. ^ a b "L.A. officials continue to stall homeless housing project in Venice, new lawsuit claims". Los Angeles Times. July 12, 2024.
  15. ^ "New lawsuit aims to stop LA leaders from further 'thwarting' Venice homeless housing project". LAist. July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  16. ^ "Editorial: Mayor Bass has no more excuses for delaying Venice Dell homeless housing". Los Angeles Times. June 3, 2024.
  17. ^ "LA City Attorney Announces $5M Settlement Regulating Ghost Gun Sales". MyNewsLA.com. May 30, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  18. ^ "City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto Announces $5 Million Settlement Blocking Ghost Gun Sales in California". L.A. Office of the City Attorney. May 30, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  19. ^ "Ghost Gun Manufacturer Agrees To $5 Million Settlement With LA". LAist. May 30, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  20. ^ "Skid Row Controversy". LAist. June 23, 2023.
  21. ^ "Evictions, homelessness, debt: Skid Row Housing Trust receiver has checkered history". Los Angeles Times. May 17, 2023.
  22. ^ "String of eviction notices leads to growing concerns about Skid Row receiver". Los Angeles Times. June 7, 2023.
  23. ^ "L.A. attorney admits her pick for Skid Row receiver was a fail. But she doesn't want to talk about the $8,500". Los Angeles Times. July 11, 2023.
  24. ^ "Are L.A. leaders trying to sabotage homeless housing in Venice?". Los Angeles Times. July 30, 2023.
  25. ^ "L.A. City Attorney Wins $5M Settlement From Biggest U.S. Ghost Gun Manufacturer". Everytown Law. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  26. ^ "Judge says 'prior restraint' to remove published photos of LAPD officers is justified". Los Angeles Times. August 4, 2023.
  27. ^ "L.A. Times, media coalition oppose L.A. lawsuit to claw back police photos from journalist". Los Angeles Times. May 17, 2023.
  28. ^ "L.A. sues journalist, activist group to claw back photos of undercover officers". Los Angeles Times. April 6, 2023.
  29. ^ Jany, Libor (June 17, 2024). "L.A. will pay $300,000 to settle lawsuit over undercover police officer photos". Los Angeles Times.
  30. ^ "After police photo release, L.A. city attorney tries to weaken public records law". Los Angeles Times. June 22, 2023.
Legal offices
Preceded by City Attorney of Los Angeles, California
December 12, 2022 – Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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