THE BUZZ: Change is in the smog this week as Los Angeles voters select a new City Council member, but one constant endures:

City Council Member Kevin de León isn’t going anywhere before his term ends.

A longshot effort to recall de León withered on Friday as proponents failed to file before the deadline. That wasn’t a surprise. It’s now been nearly four months since the publication of a recording in which de León and other politicos used racist language as they discussed consolidating power. For all the ensuing furor, with voters shouting down City Council meetings as de León’s colleagues demanded his exit, activists and funders never coalesced behind a longtime de León foe’s recall effort or launched their own.

That means de León will remain in office through 2024 — and possibly longer. De León claimed some vindication on Friday, saying in a statement that the recall stall showed “for my constituents, actions speak louder than words.” A spokesperson said he didn’t know if de León would stand for reelection. Two candidates have already signed up to challenge him if he does.

In the meantime, he’s the person voters chose to represent CD-14. His office touted his work getting potholes filled and distributing food. Mayor Karen Bass told Fox’s Elex Michaelson that while she rarely communicated with de León, “his constituents deserve to be served” on pressing issues like homelessness. Bass wasn’t ready to declare de León had weathered the storm, noting “I haven’t heard anybody rallying to his defense, nor have I heard anybody calling for him to continue.”

Nevertheless, de León’s staying power is a marked contrast from the fate of others caught on tape. Tuesday, Los Angeles holds a special election to replace former City Council President Nury Martinez, who resigned under insurmountable pressure after the tape dropped. Martinez did substantially more of the talking than de León. But many Angeleno politicos would have been surprised in November to learn that de León would still be in office come April.

He’s not the only Los Angeles politician to dodge a recall but face reelection headwinds. Opponents of progressive District Attorney George Gascón are lining up after having failed to trigger a recall vote last year, including deputy DAs in his office. One potential entrant to watch: Nathan Hochman, who challenged Attorney General Rob Bonta in 2022 and backed the Gascón recall effort; Hochman is making a “major announcement” this morning. For what it’s worth: L.A. voters picked Bonta over Hochman by a two-to-one margin last year.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Monday morning. Congrats to San Diego State and Moreno Valley’s Lamont Butler on making the men’s NCAA final tonight. And happy Junket season! Ten lawmakers are on a spring recess trip to Denmark organized by the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy, a nonprofit whose membership list doubles as a roster of powerful state interest groups.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up at [email protected] and [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte.

WHERE’S GAVIN? In Arkansas, as he continues his push into red states.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I try to be upfront. Am I doing something good? Or really bad?” OpenAI’s Sam Altman on what he has wrought, via The New York Times.

TWEET OF THE DAY:

— “Horrifying stories of women chased down by the LAPD abortion squad before Roe vs. Wade,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Brittny Mejia: “The abortion squad fielded calls from hospitals, which were obligated to report any sign of a criminal abortion.”

— Texas court ruling exposes limits of California’s ACA protections by POLITICO’s Rachel Bluth: The decision in Braidwood Management v. Becerra from the U.S. District Court in Texas struck down the part of the Affordable Care Act that required insurers to offer certain preventive services for free. The ruling, which is likely to be appealed, could ripple to employer-based plans in California, despite the state’s strong protections for the Obama-era law.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — PORTER PROFIT: Rep. Katie Porter is announcing a substantial $4.5 million haul since launching her California Senate campaign in January, emanating from roughly 80,000 donors. The sum both affirms Porter’s fundraising ability and indicates that this Senate race could break the bank.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — CABALDON CAMPAIGN: Former West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon is launching a run for the SD-3 seat that Sen. Bill Dodd terms out of in 2024.

— “Fight over pay for L.A. hospital execs could hinge on what President Biden makes,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Emily Alpert Reyes: “The hospital association argued that the president is entitled to other payments and benefits, including travel expenses, discretionary funds and residence in the White House, that bring his annual compensation well over $450,000. As a result, it argued in its lawsuit, the L.A. petition contained “calculated untruths” that misled voters who were asked to sign it.”

— “Costa Mesa Republican, activist announces bid for state’s 73rd Assembly district in 2024,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Sara Cardine: “Abraham, who worked as a campaign manager for Choi in his bid against Petrie-Norris, co-founded the Greater Costa Mesa Republicans in 2021 to reach a wider group of millennials, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community with similar political values.”

— California bullet train faces delay due to floods, storms, by The Fresno Bee’s Tim Sheehan: “But while standing water at some locations has prevented work crews from reaching their job sites, the Central Valley director for the California High-Speed Rail Authority said it’s the prospects for a lengthy summer run of water in local irrigation canals that present a greater potential disruption to construction later this year.”

— “End of an era: L.A. County lifts COVID-19 emergency,” by Los Angeles Times’ Luke Money and Rong-Gong Lin II: “L.A. County isn’t going that far. Officials will lift a mask order for visitors and patients at healthcare settings, but retain the requirement for healthcare workers providing patient care or working in patient areas.”

— “‘I want to have peace again.’ Two families —100 miles apart — face off with California’s floods,” by Kvpr’s Esther Quintanilla: “On March 10, the combination of heavy rainfall and snowpack runoff overwhelmed a canal near the city, causing a breach less than a mile from homes.”

— “Bay Area’s empty-storefronts plague: Blight goes far beyond downtowns,” by The Mercury News’ Ethan Baron: “Owners of older buildings with low property taxes can still make money with only 20 percent or 30 percent occupancy, Snider said. Many won’t update them because they can’t afford to or the improvements would raise their property taxes.”

— “San Francisco could be on the verge of collapse. What should California do about it?,” opined the Editorial Board for the San Francisco Chronicle: “Experts say post-pandemic woes stemming from office workers staying home instead of commuting into the city could send San Francisco into a “doom loop” that would gut its tax base, decimate fare-reliant regional transit systems like BART and trap it in an economic death spiral.”

“LifeMoves Mountain View promises to help homeless clients find stable housing in three months. The majority of them don’t.,” by Mountain View Voice’s Magali Gauthier and Melea Martin: “But the Mountain View program serves a range of clients with unique needs, from seniors living on fixed incomes and teenagers in high school, to single parents with young children, domestic violence survivors and adult couples who have lost their jobs and homes.”

— Biden-backed California rule pushes clean trucks, by POLITICO’s Camille Von Kaenel and Alex Guillen: California officials celebrated the approval, but were also working to smooth out a last-minute spat with truck manufacturers that is holding up the approval of another tailpipe regulation.

— “How a Trump-era rollback mattered for Silicon Valley Bank’s demise,” by The New York Times’ Jeanna Smialek: “Silicon Valley Bank’s difficulties also appear to have come to the fore too late to fix them easily, in part because of the Trump-era rollbacks. By deciding to move banks into large-bank oversight much later, Mr. Quarles and his colleagues had created a system that treated even sizable and rapidly ballooning banks with a light touch when it came to how aggressively they were monitored.”

— “Tesla and Musk lose Ruling on factory union issues,” by The New York Times’ Noam Scheiber: “Tesla argued that the statement was a straightforward prediction based on Mr. Musk’s understanding that other members of the United Automobile Workers union did not receive stock options, and that his benign intent became clear in subsequent posts in the same thread.”

— “Tesla issues recall on Semi over defective brake module, rollaway risk,” by CNBC’s Lora Kolodny: “Tesla has issued a voluntary recall on the Semi, a first since the company began deliveries of the heavy-duty electric trucks to customers in December 2022.”

— “‘Rattled with guilt,’ assistant director David Halls convicted for role in ‘Rust’ shooting,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Meg James

— “Is Sacramento’s Cesar Chavez Plaza primed for resurgence? Some say the time is now,” by The Sacramento Bee’s Hector Amezcua

— “Scuffle at pro-Trump rally in Huntington Beach leaves 2 injured,” by Los Angeles Times’ Christopher Goffard, Marisa Gerber and Jack Flemming

— “Calif. Bar investigates ex-chair for undisclosed Girardi tie,” by Law360’s Brandon Lowrey

— “City of Sacramento signs lease allowing tight-knit North Sacramento camp to stay put,” by The Sacramento Bee’s Theresa Clift

— John Lovell, a longtime Sacramento lobbyist known for representing law enforcement, died last week.

SUNDAY: Brent Colburn … Magda Strehlau

SATURDAY: Julia Hahn … Max Segan

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