Dr. Mark Gold, newly appointed leader of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, brings decades of experience in environmental policy, marine science, and interagency collaboration to one of the nation’s most critical ocean monitoring efforts.

In reporting by David Wagner for LAist, TPR excerpts coverage of the Los Angeles City Council’s narrow vote to oppose Senate Bill 79, legislation by Sen. Scott Wiener that would override local land-use restrictions and allow denser housing near major transit stops. The contentious debate highlights ongoing tensions between state housing mandates and local control.

Framing the Civic Center as Los Angeles’ essential “common ground” for governance, culture, and public gathering, Rosenfeld traces its history, highlights past collaborative planning successes, and critiques current decisions that jeopardize its future. He challenges cost studies used to justify agency relocations, contrasting them with successful, lower-cost retrofits of comparable buildings. His central message: preserving and reinvesting in the Civic Center is vital to maintaining civic unity, cultural identity, and functional efficiency for Los Angeles.

In conversation with TPR, Eduardo Mendoza shares how California’s single-stair reform can expand housing supply by enabling small-lot, incremental redevelopment. He notes that current double-stair mandates inflate costs and limit layouts to studios and one-bedrooms, while single-stair buildings allow more diverse typologies, including starter homes at lower price points. Mendoza emphasizes that the reform is not a panacea but creates policy leverage for affordability and highlights the importance of balancing design flexibility with safety standards.

Outgoing CEO of LBEP, Leah Goold-Haws, reflects on her legacies advancing Long Beach’s global profile through branding, collaboration, and strategic events. She cites progress toward LA28 readiness in areas such as air mobility, shoreline redevelopment, and clean energy. Returning to consulting with the M2 Group, she emphasizes collaboration among LA28, federal partners, and local stakeholders to align priorities in infrastructure, security, and technology for successful outcomes.

In light of the Legislature’s passage of Senate Bill 131 (SB 131) and Assembly Bill 130 (AB 130) as budget trailer bills—pushed by the Governor and adopted outside the normal legislative process—The Planning Report asked legal experts Douglas Carstens, Dan Silver, and Aleja Cretcher to assess the implications of SB 131 for environmental and community protections.

In the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina, Steven Bingler, planner and citizen of New Orleans, as well as the founder of Concordia LLC, shares key takeaways from the post-disaster recovery planning for Hurricane Katrina and how cities like Los Angeles, Asheville, and Florida should incoporate community members and be human centered in their approach to rebuild. TPR excerpts this op-ed published originally by Common Edge.