Local ordinance

Jackson County, Missouri voters went to the polls Tuesday to pick a new county executive, choosing between Democrat Stacy Lake and Republican Alan Rohlfing. The office has been in turmoil: interim executive Phil LeVota was federally indicted in a bribery scheme after the August primary, following the earlier recall of former executive Frank White over a botched tax assessment process. All nine seats on the Jackson County Legislature were also on the ballot, along with a ballot measure to renew the COMBAT quarter-cent sales tax funding anti-crime and drug treatment programs. Missouri voters statewide also weighed in on legislative races, two U.S. House contests, and judicial retention questions.

Toms River's Township Council unanimously introduced zoning to add 140 apartments, including 28 affordable units, at Jamestowne Village, and approved converting 19 market-rate units to affordable at Autumn Ridge. But the council again failed to act on most of its court-ordered fourth-round affordable housing plan, originally due to the state in March. Mayor Daniel Rodrick accused the council of "betrayal"; council members blame him for the Jamestowne expansion. Fair Share Housing has asked a judge to enforce a 2025 settlement and strip the township's builder's remedy immunity, which could allow higher-density projects to bypass local zoning. A hearing is set for December 7, with disputed Route 70 and Route 9 parcels central to the standoff.

The Department of Justice has sued St. Paul, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon, over city ordinances barring federal law enforcement officers — including ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents — from concealing their faces while on duty and requiring agency and name identification on their uniforms. The lawsuits argue the measures violate the Constitution's Supremacy Clause by unconstitutionally regulating federal officers and endangering officer safety and federal operations. These filings bring the DOJ's total challenges against such state and local laws to 11, including a recent suit against Denver.

Named defendants in the St. Paul case include the city, Mayor Kaohly Her, the St. Paul Police Department, Chief Axel Henry, and City Attorney Irene Kao. St. Paul's mask ban, passed in February, followed the end of the Trump administration's Minnesota immigration enforcement surge and came weeks after a masked ICE agent fatally shot U.S. citizen Renée Good in Minneapolis. Violations are misdemeanors in St. Paul, while Portland's ordinance, proposed in September 2025, allows civil enforcement. At least eight states and nine localities have enacted similar restrictions nationwide.

Boyle Heights and Arts District residents are uniting to push Los Angeles officials to designate an anti-camping zone around Sixth Street PARC, the park under construction beneath the 6th Street Bridge that is slated to open next year. The Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council voted 13-1 to back a petition started by Arts District residents, joining the Arts District Little Tokyo Neighborhood Council and the downtown LA Residents Association in urging Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, Mayor Karen Bass, and city staff to establish the zone and a security plan.

Anti-camping zones, created under Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.18, prohibit sitting, lying, or sleeping in designated public areas and require council approval. Supporters note the city already approved a 41.18 zone for the bridge itself in 2024 and want it extended to the park below. Jurado said her office is reviewing the boundaries and called for broader dialogue on homelessness and safety. The push contrasts with recent moves elsewhere in LA, including Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez's repeal of 12 anti-camping zones in his district over concerns the ordinance hampers housing efforts.

Minneapolis and St. Paul are taking different approaches to autonomous vehicle policy as companies like Waymo eye expansion into the Twin Cities. On Oct. 1, the Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance 7-6 requiring a licensed human safety monitor inside driverless rideshare vehicles, with immediate access to steering, braking and acceleration, plus minimum wage pay for the monitor and a city licensing requirement for AV companies. The measure would make Minneapolis the first U.S. city with such a rule. Waymo called it a "de-facto ban," and Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed it, arguing thoughtful safety regulation shouldn't function as a backdoor ban. Council member Robin Wonsley said she would pursue a worker-focused resolution if the veto override fails.

St. Paul took a more cautious route, with its City Council voting Oct. 14 to study how driverless cars could affect public transit, rideshare drivers, people with disabilities, public safety and emergency response before crafting any rules. No timeline exists for the study, for Waymo's potential Minneapolis launch, or for whether Minneapolis has the nine votes needed to override Frey's veto.

Leroy Griffith, the Miami businessman known for decades as South Florida's "adult theater king," died peacefully at his Miami home on Oct. 3 at age 94, his family said. Born in 1932 in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Griffith entered show business as a teenager selling candy at St. Louis burlesque shows and later managed theaters across the Midwest before settling in Miami in the early 1960s. He built a chain of burlesque and X-rated film venues across Florida and beyond, best known for Club Madonna in Miami Beach and the Pussycat Theater in Miami.

His career was marked by repeated clashes with regulators and police, including efforts to circumvent nudity and liquor ordinances, dozens of police raids, and a 2013 incident involving a trafficked minor performing at Club Madonna, for which Griffith was never charged. He famously bought back his own foreclosed theater at a courthouse auction. Griffith outlasted 17 Miami Beach mayors and 16 city managers during his decades-long run. He is survived by his wife, four children, and several grandchildren.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to delay for one year a rule that would have stripped licenses from more than 100 cannabis businesses over unpaid city taxes. An ordinance that took effect in August allowed license renewals only for businesses owing less than $1 million in back taxes and delinquent for fewer than four years, with thresholds set to tighten annually through 2030, when the limit would drop to $100,000.

Of roughly 1,000 licensed cannabis businesses in the city, 125 would have failed to qualify for renewal. City Treasurer Diana Mangioglu reported in October that 500 cannabis businesses collectively owe about $500 million in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties, with 48 owing more than $2 million each.

The delay stems from a separate tax amnesty program, meant to let delinquent businesses avoid losing licenses by entering multi-year payment plans with forgiven penalties, which could not launch in time for 2027 licenses. Officials cited risk to a tax-system overhaul and said the program should still generate expected revenue once operational. Operators cite high taxes and unlicensed competition as ongoing pressures.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a package of bills intended to speed construction of affordable student housing and reduce costs for developers amid a persistent shortage at California's public colleges and universities. The centerpiece, Assembly Bill 1732, exempts student housing projects from California Environmental Quality Act review, addressing a major source of delays and litigation. Other new laws streamline mixed-income housing along commercial corridors, add incentives for developers who set aside at least 24% of units for low-income students, extend bond requirements to deter frivolous lawsuits, and speed approvals for mixed-income housing near commercial corridors.

Separately, Assembly Bill 2766 gives unhoused students and former foster youth priority for on-campus housing at community colleges and California State University campuses, while deferring housing fees until financial aid arrives. These laws build on 2025 legislation already advancing projects at UC Santa Barbara, Santa Monica College and San Bernardino Community College District. Backers, including the Student Homes Coalition and California YIMBY, say the measures target a long-overlooked segment of the state's housing crisis. Voters will also weigh Proposition 1 in November, an $11.25 billion housing bond that includes funding for student, tribal and farmworker housing.