Water Damage Restoration in Los Angeles, CA

By Andrew J. Campa

and Christina House

Oct. 5, 2024 3 AM PT

When kindergarten teacher Cynthia Farrow searched for a community where she could raise her family and afford a home with enough space for a few horses, she settled on the sunswept desert town of Littlerock in the Antelope Valley.

Farrow, along with her husband, Gary, and their 10-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter, bought a home in 1996 in the hamlet about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

“We were priced out of so many places except here in the AV,” Farrow said, referring to the Antelope Valley. “It was a dream place, and we found a community here. But, sadly, that attracted others here too.”

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The affordability, the low population density and the space between homes and properties — often measured in acres — is also enticing for correctional authorities and courts across the state looking to relocate former sex offenders who have been conditionally paroled or recently released.

Antelope Valley residents like Farrow and others who have been fighting the placement of such offenders have become activated by the potential move to relocate Christopher Hubbart, aka the “Pillowcase Rapist,” to the Juniper Hills community.

They see his placement and two others in 2021 as an escalation in the relocation of violent sexual predators into their community.

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L.A. County Superior Court Judge Robert Harrison is deliberating whether to approve the move, having received 600 letters and petitions Tuesday in opposition from area residents. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón, Supervisor Kathryn Barger and other officials have spoken out as well.

Farrow, who lives directly across the street from a previously relocated violent sexual predator, Calvin Lynn Grassmier, attended that court hearing in Hollywood along with friends Mary Jeters, Linda Adams and Diane Swick.

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“We’re writing petitions, we’re attending court cases, we’re doing everything we can to stop his move here,” Farrow said. “Enough is enough. We need to be respected.”

The placement of sex offenders within the Antelope Valley, an area comprising around 545,000 residents with two sizable cities of Palmdale and Lancaster, has been source of protests for years.

There have been no recent data analysis on the exact percentage of sex offenders paroled to the region or whether the Antelope Valley is getting an outsize share of them.

But in 2014, the Antelope Valley Times labeled the region a “dumping ground for sex offenders” when it documented 876 registered sex offenders within the area, noting that the Megan’s Law database showed 673 — which it said still accounted for about 6% of the registered sex-offender population of Los Angeles County of 11,520 at the time.

California state Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Antelope Valley) tried to address the issue in 2018 by authoring legislation that requires a paroled inmate or released registered sex offender to be returned “through all efforts reasonably possible” to the city of last legal residence or a close geographic location where the person has family, social or economic ties.

“This change in the law is great news for people living in rural and affordable areas of California, like the Victor and Antelope valleys,” Wilk said in August 2018. “Up until now families living in these areas were bearing the brunt of rehousing and rehabilitating the state’s sex offenders. That’s all about to change.”

The release of a sexual offender triggers a variety of stipulations.

The 2004 Megan’s Law created a publicly accessible database to show where sex offenders were registering to live. Jessica’s Law, passed in 2006, requires the banning of an offender parolee from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park where children congregate.

Several recent high-profile cases has sparked alarm in the Antelope Valley.

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“What you end up getting is a case like Christopher Hubbart, a violent man who the courts say needs to be released,” said Jeters, who opposes the local placement of sexually violent predators and who runs the Facebook Group No SVP’s in the Antelope Valley. “Too many people think there’s nothing here, that we’re depopulated, so they try to place him here.”

In 2021, an L.A. County Superior Court judge released convicted sex offender Calvin Lynn Grassmier into the town of Littlerock, despite the opposition of thousands of residents. That same year, Lawtis Donald Rhoden, who sexually assaulted multiple underage girls, was also placed in unincorporated county territory near Lancaster.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger this week said Hubbart’s release to Juniper Hills made no sense for a variety of reasons, including its remote location as well as weak cellphone and internet services.

“Should an emergency occur, law enforcement emergency response times are long,” she wrote in a letter. “Only two Sheriff’s deputies are assigned to the region where the proposed placement site is located. ... They alone are responsible for patrolling the southeast portion of the Antelope Valley, which spans hundreds of square miles.”

Hubbart earned the moniker the “Pillowcase Rapist” because he covered his victims’ heads with pillowcases while raping and assaulting them.

He attacked and raped women in Glendora, Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights and Pomona, making headlines throughout 1972.

The then-21-year-old Claremont furniture worker was eventually arrested thanks to a tip of a suspicious man lurking near Brea. He was indicted on charges of rape, sodomy and attempted rape, eventually pleading guilty to some charges before being sent to a state hospital. He was released in 1979, moved to the Bay Area and was again arrested two years later and convicted of rape, burglary and other crimes.

Hubbart eventually admitted to 44 sexual assaults over 18 years.

He was committed to the Department of State Hospitals in 2000 for mental health evaluations and treatment, as is required for sexually violent offenders who are within six months of being paroled. DSH provided years of sex offender treatment to Hubbart.

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Hubbart was initially released in 2014 into the Lake Los Angeles area near Palmdale under a conditional release program, despite the opposition of Former L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey. He lived there for two years before breaking terms of his release and was remanded back to DSH’s Coalinga State Hospital.

DSH declined to disclose the nature of the violation due to patient privacy laws.

Five years later, a court recommended that Hubbart be given another chance for a conditional release.

In 2022, a Santa Clara County Superior Court determined Hubbart should be housed in Los Angeles County. In March 2023, that court ruled that Hubbart was indeed suitable for conditional release, and a search process for his home was commenced by DSH’s housing contractor Liberty Healthcare.

A DSH representative reiterated it was the courts that “decide if an individual designated as an SVP may be placed into outpatient treatment.”

Liberty found a residence in Juniper Hills, one that Judge Harrison said he would take great care in considering, as if he was living in the area.

Juniper Hills resident Diane Swick, 60, transitioned from joy to despondency quickly in early August.

The retired dental specialist received a pacemaker in July to treat heart failure that caused fatigue and difficulty breathing for months.

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Two weeks into her new lease on life, Swick said she heard about Hubbart and sat at home for a week, fearful that Hubbart was potentially moving to an adjacent property 300 feet away.

“I don’t get depressed, but I couldn’t move, I was stricken with fear,” Swick said. “I didn’t want to do anything and I felt like my world, my life, was being ruled by someone else.”

Like Farrow, Swick raises horses along with a variety of animals. What she finds most endearing about her local community is its safety and security.

“I can leave my back door unlocked and not worry about someone breaking in,” she said. “I can leave my car unlocked and not worry.”

She sat in the court bewildered as to why an upscale community such as La Crescenta successfully blocked the placement of Grassmier in 2021 but “the AV is ignored.”

“Sometimes I wish the courts would see what they’re jeopardizing here, and I wish Liberty Healthcare would actually take us into consideration,” she said. “This is a community recovering from wildfires — particularly the Bobcat fire — and this is a blow.”

Swick, however, continues to fight. She and her friends submitted letters to Harrison while raising community awareness through social media and town gatherings.

“What can we do but speak up and let people know we’re here?” Swick said. “We’re not sad. We’re determined.”

California voters on Tuesday approved Proposition 35, the measure that cements an existing tax on health plans to help fund the Medi-Cal program, as election results continued to be tallied Wednesday.

California has imposed a tax on managed care organizations — health insurance providers that provide or arrange services for a monthly payment — off and on over time. The state can reap more federal money as a result of charging the tax, which is based on how many people the health plans serve.

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Nov. 5, 2024

The ballot initiative aims to make the “MCO tax” permanent and designates how the money should be used. State leaders had renewed the tax last year and pledged to increase the reimbursement rates paid to healthcare providers under the Medi-Cal program, but Gov. Gavin Newsom changed plans for the funding amid a budget deficit, ultimately approving less money for rate increases than had been previously planned.

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In the short term, Proposition 35 will require the money to be allocated in generally the same way that California had been planning before Newsom sought to rework those budgetary plans.

The ballot initiative was backed by a coalition of major healthcare groups, including the California Hospital Assn., the California Medical Assn. and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, which gathered signatures for a petition to qualify the initiative for the ballot. Groups backing Proposition 35 said that the health system needs consistent funding to ensure that Medi-Cal patients don’t face a shortage of providers.

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But opponents including the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network and the Children’s Partnership challenged how Proposition 35 calls to allocate funding from the MCO tax, saying there had been little voice from Medi-Cal enrollees in those decisions, and warned the measure could restrict future flexibility when budgets are tight. Earlier this year, Newsom was pushing the coalition backing the measure to take it off the ballot.

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Passing Proposition 35 also unravels some of the existing plans for the MCO tax under the state budget, critics warned, including funding to ensure continuous coverage under Medi-Cal for young children. Proposition 35 proponents have countered that lawmakers could still choose to fund such programs.

Backers of the ballot measure, including the ambulance company Global Medical Response, spent more than $55 million in support of Proposition 35. No opposing committees reported any spending to the state.

A ballot measure aimed at enlarging the pot of money available for homeless services in Los Angeles County was ahead in early returns Tuesday night, while voters were deadlocked on another measure expanding the county Board of Supervisors.

Measure A would double the quarter-cent sales tax that voters approved in 2017 for homeless services and extend the tax indefinitely, ensuring that a major funding stream won’t dry up in a few years.

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Nov. 5, 2024

Measure G would dramatically shift power within L.A. County government, nearly doubling the size of the board of supervisors and creating a new ethics commission as well as a new elected executive position that functions almost like a mayor.

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The board would expand from five to nine supervisors, with each politician representing about 1.1 million people. Each supervisor currently represents 2 million constituents in America’s largest county.

The county’s current chief executive, appointed by the supervisors, is responsible for daily operations and drafting a $49-billion annual budget. Under the measure, the executive would be elected by county voters.

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The new ethics commission would be designed to punish corrupt officials and crack down on the “revolving door” of county officials-turned-lobbyists.

The deadline to create the ethics commission would be 2026, and the county executive would be elected by 2028. All nine supervisors wouldn’t come on board until 2032, following a redistricting process.

Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, the measure’s co-author, said in a statement that she was “feeling hopeful” about the early results.

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“We know there are still more votes to count, especially from those who voted in the final days and hours of this election,” she said. “Measure G marks a new era for a better and brighter LA County for all of us.”

Horvath and Supervisor Janice Hahn got the ball rolling on Measure G this spring, arguing that the county’s outdated government structure was long overdue for a refresh.

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1. Supervisor Lindsey Horvath at press conference with L.A. County District Attorney George Gascon. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 2. Supervisor fourth district Janice Hahn at County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors meeting on Oct. 3, 2023 in Los Angeles, CA. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

The proposal won the support of Supervisor Hilda Solis, and the board voted 3-2 to refer the mammoth overhaul of county government to voters. Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Kathryn Barger voted against it, criticizing the process as rushed and the proposal as ill-conceived.

It proved instantly controversial.

Supporters like Horvath and Hahn argue that the basic form of county government has not changed substantially since the county’s founding in 1850. They say the restructuring would also pave the way for a more racially diverse board.

Five supervisors are nowhere near enough to properly represent the county’s 10 million constituents, who rely on the board to oversee the region’s jails, public hospitals and child welfare system, among other critical services, supporters argue.

Opponents of Measure G argued that a new elected position overseeing the county’s executive branch would create unnecessary power struggles and that the proposal could needlessly drain the county’s coffers.

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The county auditor’s office has put one-time costs for the measure at about $8 million, but critics expected the ultimate price tag to be much larger.

County attorneys estimated last month that the ethics reforms detailed in the measure could cost $21 million yearly, mostly because of staff salaries. The campaign for Measure G disputed the estimate.

Voters have rejected the idea of expanding the Board of Supervisors at least eight times — most recently in 2000.

The quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters to fund homeless services through Measure H is scheduled to sunset in 2027. A coalition of labor unions, nonprofits and homeless service providers helped put Measure A, which would raise the tax to a half-cent with no expiration date, on the ballot.

There has been no organized opposition, though the measure has faced skepticism from some residents who believe the region has little to show for the millions already generated through Measure H.

But supporters of Measure A warn that homelessness will spike dramatically if the sales tax expires, drying up funds for temporary beds and rental subsidies, among other services.

A cheer went up at the campaign party for Measure A when the first round of early results hit the board Tuesday night.

“Each vote brings us one step closer to being able to bring bold new solutions to tackling homelessness and improving the lives of all who call Los Angeles County home,” said Scott Mann, a spokesperson with the Measure A campaign in a statement.

Campaign manager Yousef Robb said his team was feeling “very optimistic” about the results.

“This is the most challenging environment for a tax measure I have ever seen. The No. 1 pressure on the voter is the cost of living,” he said. “Voters are frustrated with the homeless crisis.”

After climbing for the last five years, overall homelessness leveled off in Los Angeles County in 2024, according to the annual count released in June.

There were 75,312 homeless people across the county, including in the city of L.A., the count showed, down 0.3% compared with the previous year.

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Measure H generates about half a billion dollars a year, which is most of the money the county spends on homeless services, including mental health treatment, drug treatment and job counseling.

According to estimates, the new sales tax would raise more than $1 billion each year, with 60% going to homeless services and nearly all the rest dedicated to housing production.

The tax would be permanent unless it is repealed by another ballot measure.

California voters were asked to decide ten statewide ballot propositions in the November election.

The measures, as they often do in California, covered a wide range of subjects include bonds, same-sex marriage, involuntary servitude in prisons, rent control, health care spending, criminal penalties and minimum wage.

The results below will be updated.

About Proposition 2: Authorizes bonds for public school and community college facilities.

About Proposition 3: Constitutional right to marriage.

About Proposition 4: Authorizes bonds for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, and protecting communities and natural lands from climate risks.

Proposition 5: Allows Local bonds for affordable housing and public infrastructure with 55% voter approval.

About Proposition 6: Eliminates constitutional provision allowing involuntary servitude for incarcerated persons.

About Proposition 32: Raises minimum wage.

About Proposition 33: Expands local governments' authority to enact rent control on residential property.

About Proposition 34: Restricts spending of prescription drug revenues by certain health care providers.

About Proposition 35: Provides permanent funding for Medi-Cal health care services.

Proposition 36: Allows felony charges and increases sentences for certain drug and theft crimes.

How are propositions added to the California ballot?

There are two ways a ballot proposition can get on an election ballot in California.

First, the prop can be placed before voters by the California State Legislature.

Second, a prop can be added through a petition, which can be brought by anyone. If the petition receives enough signatures, it qualifies for the election ballot.

Because of unusually strong winds, the National Weather Service has issued a rare Particularly Dangerous Situation red flag warning for wide swaths of L.A. County and southwest California, stretching from late Tuesday through Thursday.

Gusts of 50 to 100 mph are predicted in Los Angeles, while humidity levels are expected to drop to as low as 8% — creating prime conditions for “extreme and life-threatening” fire behavior, according to the weather service.

Although red flag warnings are fairly common in L.A., the label of Particularly Dangerous Situation is a more extreme warning that is typically only issued once every few years. The weather service is urging residents to be on guard for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees.

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As a result of the elevated fire risk, Topanga Canyon Boulevard will be closed between Mulholland Drive and the Pacific Coast Highway to non-residents from 6 a.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. Friday, when much of L.A. County will be under the red flag warning.

The unusually strong winds are expected throughout the region, including but not limited to the Santa Monica Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, the Antelope Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, Santa Catalina Island, the Santa Clarita Valley, L.A. County beaches, the Malibu coast, the Palos Verdes Hills, and a wide swath of inland coastal areas stretching up to downtown L.A.

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Kevin McGowan, director of L.A. County’s Office of Emergency Management, urged residents to be ready to evacuate “at a moment’s notice,” especially those living in the canyon, mountain or foothill communities.

County officials are asking residents in high-risk areas to sign up for emergency phone alerts, keep mobile phones and other devices charged, have working flashlights ready and to park their vehicle in the driveway to avoid being stuck behind a garage door in the case of a power outage.

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Southern California Edison has sent advisories to about 47,000 L.A. County customers and 8,100 Orange County customers, warning that the utility may consider power cuts once the Santa Ana winds pick up on Wednesday. Officials are also recommending residents prepare an evacuation bag filled with personal documents, medication and other essential items.

Meanwhile, regional fire departments are gearing up to respond to the fire danger.

“With widespread critical fire weather conditions impacting Southern California, the County of Los Angeles Fire Department has implemented its augmented staffing plan by ordering additional staffing and pre-deployment of ground and aerial resources throughout Los Angeles County,” L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said in a statement.

In Orange County, warnings will also be in place for coastal areas, inland areas and the Santa Ana Mountains. And in the Antelope Valley, a high wind advisory is in effect on the 14 Freeway from Ward Road to the Kern County line, where the California Highway Patrol is urging people to be extra cautious driving large vehicles or hauling trailers.

High winds are also expected in the Bay Area and Central Coast, where the weather service has issued a standard red flag warning, starting Tuesday morning and extending through at least 7 a.m. Thursday.

City News Service contributed to this report.