Hydee Feldstein Soto

Hydee Feldstein Soto
43rd City Attorney of Los Angeles
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 attorney and American politician, who is the incumbent City Attorney of Los Angeles. A member of the Democratic Party, her candidacy was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times.[1]

Early life and career

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]

Political career

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

Tenure as Los Angeles City Attorney

Human Trafficking

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. She said that, “Prostitution and violence are thriving at New Gage Motel, and this property has participated in and played an active role in facilitating the sex trafficking operation that has engulfed this corridor for far too long.” The New Gage Motel is situated along the Figueroa corridor, which was described as one of California’s most notorious prostitution tracks.[8]

Feldstein Soto said this is not about shutting down businesses or prosecuting sex workers or the victims of human trafficking. Rather, this effort is aimed at putting predators and profiteers in jail, disrupting the johns, and shutting down the illegal activity on South Figueroa Street. Feldstein Soto also announced that this lawsuit was one piece of the trafficking puzzle, and that her office was part of a multi-disciplinary task force which includes the U.S. Attorney’s Office, LAPD, the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Mayor Karen Bass, and the Office of Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson.[9]

Wage Theft

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 in the City of Los Angeles, which annually cost workers an estimated $1.4 billion. She said, “Every worker, no matter who they are or what they do, deserves dignity, respect, and fair treatment, and nothing is fairer than paying workers what they’ve earned.”[10]

Feldstein Soto also said that wage theft in Los Angeles is staggering and takes different forms. She noted that the City Attorney’s Office resolved five wage theft cases recently, resulting in about $2.5 million in restitution to workers and additional penalties.[11]

Party Houses

On August 15, 2023, Feldstein Soto announced her office had filed a lawsuit against a company that offers luxury party houses for short term rentals saying that they violate city laws and create a public nuisance. Feldstein Soto sued the Nightfall Group, alleging 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 alone. She stated, “...party houses have deleterious and serious effects on the quality of life for our city. They disrupt communities, violate noise ordinances until the wee hours of the morning, clog evacuation routes, and take valuable housing off the market. I expect this is the first of the enforcement actions we will need to bring.”[12]

Feldstein Soto’s lawsuit against the Nightfall group, and the action of LAPD, was applauded by a group of Larchmont Village residents battling an alleged local party house in their neighborhood. A Larchmont Village resident said, “Yesterday, the City Attorney brought suit against a sophisticated party house operator. The City Attorney also addressed her heightened awareness and concern about these types of destabilizing neighborhood menaces. The North Plymouth Coalition is fully aware of this filing and applauds the City Attorney’s efforts.”[13]

Feldstein Soto said Los Angeles has a party house problem and that her office is cracking down on one company - the Nightfall Group - she says is a major contributor to this problem.[14]

Privately made firearms

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.[15]

The lawsuit claimed that Nevada-based Polymer80 didn’t conduct background checks, making it easy for underage people and people with criminal histories to purchase guns. They argued that this disregarded federal Gun Control Act requirements and broke California gun laws. In addition to the aforementioned prohibitions, the company can no longer provide customer support to those assembling privately made firearms in California. Additionally, the company can no longer says weapons parts kits without serial numbers are legal in the state of California in its ads or on its website.[16]

Skid Row Housing Trust

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".[17] 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.[18][19] 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.[20]

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.[21][22]

Police Officer Photographs and Public Records

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 [23] A coalition of media organizations denounced the lawsuit as limiting the freedom of the press.[24] Constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky commented that "the city is on very weak legal grounds".[25]

Weakening of California Public Records Act

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.[26]

References

  1. ^ "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. ^ LA city attorney cracks down on prostitution and notorious Figueroa Corridor, retrieved September 27, 2023
  10. ^ "Los Angeles City Councilmembers Introduce New Legislation to Combat Wage Theft". Los Angeles Worker Center Network. September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  11. ^ "Los Angeles City Council members launch effort to address wage theft". Daily News. September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  12. ^ "L.A. sues 'luxury rentals' company over party house blowouts that shake neighborhoods". Los Angeles Times. August 16, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "Does L.A. have a 'party house' problem?". www.audacy.com. August 17, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  15. ^ "LA City Attorney Announces $5M Settlement Regulating Ghost Gun Sales". MyNewsLA.com. May 30, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  16. ^ "Ghost Gun Manufacturer Agrees To $5 Million Settlement With LA". LAist. May 30, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  17. ^ "Skid Row Controversy". LAist. June 23, 2023.
  18. ^ "Evictions, homelessness, debt: Skid Row Housing Trust receiver has checkered history". Los Angeles Times. May 17, 2023.
  19. ^ "String of eviction notices leads to growing concerns about Skid Row receiver". Los Angeles Times. June 7, 2023.
  20. ^ "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.
  21. ^ "Are L.A. leaders trying to sabotage homeless housing in Venice?". Los Angeles Times. July 30, 2023.
  22. ^ "L.A. City Attorney Wins $5M Settlement From Biggest U.S. Ghost Gun Manufacturer". Everytown Law. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  23. ^ "Judge says 'prior restraint' to remove published photos of LAPD officers is justified". Los Angeles Times. August 4, 2023.
  24. ^ "L.A. Times, media coalition oppose L.A. lawsuit to claw back police photos from journalist". Los Angeles Times. May 17, 2023.
  25. ^ "L.A. sues journalist, activist group to claw back photos of undercover officers". Los Angeles Times. April 6, 2023.
  26. ^ "After police photo release, L.A. city attorney tries to weaken public records law". Los Angeles Times. June 22, 2023.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hydee_Feldstein_Soto&oldid=1216047712"