I messed up this week — I voted yes on something I shouldn't have.

I don’t have any excuses, but I want to talk about some of what I learned. (thread)

There has been a real culture of consensus on the Council for years, and you're especially discouraged from voting no on stuff that's not in your district.

I thought doing what I did (calling the agenda item for questions) would show that I wasn't ready to accept these processes without questioning. Within the context of existing norms, that felt pretty transgressive!

And I was excited that the questions led to Mike Bonin and others wanting to give residents of public housing developments an institutionalized opportunity to weigh in on how HACLA spends their services dollars going forward.

But ultimately I should have voted no. The irony is not lost on me that I did this the day after LAUSD voted to cut their police budget by a third.

Thank you for holding me accountable. I am very much still learning about what it means to wield my new power effectively, and I did not do that on Wednesday. But hopefully I can do better going forward.