LOS ANGELES—In a recent development, the city of Los Angeles has successfully resolved a legal dispute between the City Controller’s Office and a nonprofit homeless service provider. This resolution comes after concerns were raised about the controller’s authority to subpoena non-financial information from the organization.
The City Council approved a settlement with Urban Alchemy, the nonprofit that contested the legality of a subpoena from the controller’s office seeking non-financial information. Urban Alchemy, as a sign of goodwill, agreed to provide the requested documents to the City Attorney’s Office on Wednesday night.
Kirkpatrick Tyler, Chief of Community and Government Affairs at Urban Alchemy, informed City News Service that the nonprofit would also be withdrawing the lawsuit it had filed against the city regarding this matter.
The investigation into Urban Alchemy was initiated earlier this year by City Controller Kenneth Mejia. Urban Alchemy, a city-vendor contracted with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, operates climate stations on Skid Row to provide services and relief during extreme weather conditions. The investigation was prompted by an incident where an Urban Alchemy employee sprayed water at a homeless individual on a cold night, an act captured on video and shared on social media.
Following the incident, Urban Alchemy released a statement condemning the action and stating that the employee involved no longer worked for the organization.
Mr. Mejia stated that the investigation aimed to ensure that services funded by the city align with the contractual commitments made by Urban Alchemy and are in line with the values of the city.
Related Stories
The controller alleged that Urban Alchemy had refused to provide requested information, leading to the issuance of a subpoena by his office. Urban Alchemy’s representatives stated that they initially provided the requested information but objected when additional unrelated documents were requested. They believed that Mr. Mejia was overreaching his authority by seeking non-financial information through a subpoena.
Urban Alchemy took legal action against Mr. Mejia, questioning his ability to demand non-financial information through subpoenas.
“The controller seeks to expand the scope of his authority under the charter beyond all reasonable bounds in a politically motivated attempt to avoid an ongoing disagreement between the controller’s office and other elected officials and to harass a private entity merely by virtue of the entity’s independent subcontractor relationship with another contractor of the city of Los Angeles, who maintains a contract with the mayor of Los Angeles,” said Eduardo Santacana, a lawyer representing Urban Alchemy.
Mr. Mejia subsequently sought permission from the City Council to engage external legal services as he believed the City Attorney’s Office would not adequately defend the subpoena in court.
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto’s office refrained from commenting on the pending litigation but maintained that the subpoena was a lawful exercise of the city’s rights to access the requested documents.
Urban Alchemy emphasized its commitment to transparency with city partners but argued that Mr. Mejia was exceeding his authority.
“The investigation Controller Mejia launched into our organization over a viral video a few months ago was cynical and politically motivated, and his office’s handling of it amounted to an abuse of his power,” the nonprofit stated.
Urban Alchemy agreed to provide the requested information as a demonstration of good faith collaboration and transparency.
Mr. Mejia expressed satisfaction with Urban Alchemy’s decision to produce the requested documents and highlighted the importance of transparency in city dealings.
Please rephrase this sentence.
Source link
