Hope Is Hard Work: Laphonza Butler Delivered Call to Action on Building Power From the Ground Up At the annual Luskin Summit, the former U.S. senator joined 400 scholars, students, and leaders in search for lasting equity and well-being

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Former U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler brought a message of resiliency and resolve to more than 400 scholars, students, community leaders, and elected officials who came together at UCLA last week to take on California’s most entrenched problems.

“Too many Californians, too many Angelenos, are not OK,” Butler told the crowd gathered for the eighth annual UCLA Luskin Summit on April 15. But she added, “The people in this room, the communities that you serve, have already proven that change is possible. …

“I keep returning to this one thing that sustains me: It’s that hope is not a joyful feeling. Hope, UCLA, is hard work.”

Butler, who served as a labor leader, political advisor and UC regent before joining the U.S. Senate in 2023 to complete the term of the late Dianne Feinstein, delivered the keynote address following a morning centered on strengthening resilience and equity at the local level.

Sharing Research and Solutions

Researchers from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs teamed up with difference-makers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to share the latest advances in four areas of concern:

  • California’s housing strategy, including the state’s new zoning rules aimed at making shelter more affordable
  • Environmental health and justice, including the impact of extreme heat as L.A. hosts a series of mega-events, and the toll plastic pollution takes on vulnerable communities
  • Transportation security, including new strategies for elevating security, trust, and comfort among public transit riders
  • Socioeconomic vulnerability, including strategies to bridge intergenerational inequities, and regulatory tools that can be used to promote more inclusive growth

Launched in 2019, the UCLA Luskin Summit provides a bridge between academia, policymakers, and civil society, with the goal of finding evidence-based solutions to California’s most pressing concerns. This year’s gathering highlighted recent research from the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, and departments of Public Policy, Social Welfare, and Urban Planning.

Master of Urban Planning student O’Philia Le said she chose to attend the summit to learn how UCLA Luskin research is put into practice in the world.

“A key takeaway for me was that large-scale racial justice and global environmental impacts really start with local solutions. However, those solutions don’t just happen on their own,” she said.

“They require political pressure, community engagement, and an intentional push to actually move forward. As an aspiring planner, I believe that this is key to the work that we do.”

three men in suits sitting on stage

From left, ABC7’s Josh Haskell, Miguel Santana of the California Community Foundation, and Zev Yaroslavsky of UCLA Luskin’s Los Angeles Initiative review results from the 2026 Quality of Life Index. Photo by Michael Troxell

Quality of Life Index Reveals Growing Strain

The summit also hosted the release of this year’s UCLA Quality of Life Index (QLI), a project of the Luskin School’s Los Angeles Initiative, directed by Zev Yaroslavsky. The survey found that Los Angeles County residents’ satisfaction with their lives has hit the lowest level in the QLI’s 11-year history.

“We’ve been through a lot in the last five years: COVID; punishing increases in the cost of living; last year’s catastrophic fires, the worst natural disaster in the history of this city; tariffs; and this year the destabilizing implementation of the Trump administration’s immigration sweeps, which started right here in our own back yard,” he said. “All of these have taken their toll on virtually every aspect of our lives in every part of our region.”

Cost of living continues to be the single biggest driver of residents’ quality of life, though its rating declined from 2025, according to the survey. Among the 1,400 Los Angeles County residents polled in March, housing affordability remained the dominant concern, while rising costs for utilities, groceries, and taxes were cited more frequently than in prior years.

Ratings fell across nearly every category compared with last year, with six areas reaching their lowest levels since the survey began in 2016: education, transportation and traffic, jobs and the economy, public safety, neighborhood conditions, and relations among different races, ethnicities, and religions.

A Call to Action for the Next Generation

In her remarks, Butler also addressed the sobering results of the QLI.

“Every year the Quality of Life Index holds up a mirror to Los Angeles County,” she said. “And every year, it asks us to be brave enough to look in that mirror.”

She stressed, however, that “alongside every data point of strain, there’s a counter story, one that doesn’t get enough attention — the story that happens when people organize, when coalitions hold, when accountability is real.”

To the service-minded students in the room, she issued a call to action, echoing the summit’s theme of empowering local communities. Some of them would go to Washington and some to Sacramento, where they are desperately needed, she said.

“But some of you — hear me — need to go to places that don’t make headlines. To neighborhoods where the data actually lives, to communities where the stakes are immediate, not to study them but to be accountable to them. …

“The communities most impacted by vulnerability are also most engaged in building solutions. … Survival demands participation.”

UCLA Luskin professor Veronica Herrera introduces a session on plastic pollution before a standing-room-only audience. Photo by Mary Braswell
Men and women listening to speaker
Men and women listening to speaker
Three people in conversation
Three people in conversation

View more photos from the 2026 UCLA Luskin Summit on Flickr.

Zev Yaroslavsky Reflects on Declining Quality of Life in Los Angeles Times Report

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A new Los Angeles Times report highlights a continued decline in quality of life across Los Angeles County, according to UCLA Luskin’s 11th annual Quality of Life Index, which has fallen to its lowest point since the survey began in 2016. The index score dropped to 52, driven by widespread declines in satisfaction across nearly all major categories, including education, transportation, public safety, and cost of living. Six categories reached decade lows, underscoring persistent concerns about affordability, infrastructure, and safety.

The report finds that residents continue to feel the compounding effects of recent crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, rising housing costs, immigration enforcement actions, and devastating wildfires. Cost of living remains the most significant driver of dissatisfaction, with housing, utilities, groceries, and taxes increasingly cited as key pressures.

Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA, noted the cumulative toll of these challenges, saying, “We’ve been through a lot in the last five years: COVID, increases in the cost of living, immigration sweeps, and the Altadena and Palisades fires. [They all] have taken their toll on virtually every aspect of our lives,” and adding, “People haven’t had a chance to come out of the water and take a breath.”

Despite the decline, the survey shows resilience, with most residents still optimistic about their economic future and a strong majority viewing L.A. as offering access to a “good life.”

“I think people still have hope and still think things can get better,” Yaroslavsky said. “There’s a lot of resiliency in L.A., … especially in the immigrant population,”

A Toss-Up in the LA Mayor’s Race

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A UCLA Luskin poll finding that the Los Angeles mayor’s race is currently a toss-up received wide coverage from local, national, and international media outlets.

The poll of likely LA primary voters, part of the annual Quality of Life Index produced by UCLA Luskin’s Los Angeles Initiative, found that 40% are undecided.

The Los Angeles Times initiative De Los viewed the survey results through the lens of the Latino electorate, where the undecided vote is 44% just two months from the June 2 primary vote.

Other outlets highlighting the survey include the Los Angeles Daily News, USA Today, Newsweek, Politico, Britain’s Daily Mail, Fox11 News and Spectrum News1.

Los Angeles County residents’ satisfaction with quality of life at all-time low in year 11 of UCLA survey They also cite concerns about immigration enforcement, wildfire recovery and economic pressures; mayoral race remains highly unsettled.

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Key takeaways

  • LA County residents are less satisfied with their quality of life than at any time in more than a decade, according to the 11th annual UCLA Los Angeles County Quality of Life Index.
  • The overall index dropped to a historic low of 52, with six of the nine categories that comprise the index also falling to their lowest levels on record.
  • Education, transportation/traffic and cost of living saw the steepest declines, reinforcing the ongoing strain of affordability and infrastructure challenges.

Los Angeles County residents are less satisfied with their quality of life than at any time in more than a decade, according to the 11th annual UCLA Los Angeles County Quality of Life Index, a project of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs in partnership with the California Community Foundation. The overall index dropped to a historic low of 52, with six of the nine categories that comprise the index also falling to their lowest levels on record.

Topline Numbers

  • 52 – Lowest Quality of Life Index score on record
  • 40% – Share of voters undecided in LA mayoral race
  • 31% – Residents worried about deportation
  • 26% – Residents reporting wildfire-related income loss
  • 56% – Dissatisfied with wildfire recovery efforts

Declining quality of life

In addition to the drop in the overall index, eight of the nine categories that make up the index declined in satisfaction, with six reaching historic lows. Education, transportation/traffic and cost of living — already the lowest-rated areas — saw the steepest declines, reinforcing the ongoing strain of affordability and infrastructure challenges.

“Los Angeles County residents’ rating of their quality of life has been in decline since the peak of the COVID pandemic,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, which conducts the poll. “We’ve been through a lot in the last five years. COVID, increases in the cost of living, immigration sweeps, and the Altadena and Palisades fires have taken their toll on virtually every aspect of our lives.

“Despite the challenges county residents have faced, when asked if they were generally optimistic or pessimistic about their own economic future in Los Angeles County, a majority of survey respondents (53%) said they were optimistic.”

Immigration enforcement driving anxiety

Immigration enforcement actions over the past year have contributed to widespread concern across the county. Nearly one-third of residents (31%) say they are worried that they or someone close to them could be deported.

These concerns are not abstract. Three in 10 residents report knowing someone who lost income or was afraid to leave home due to enforcement activity, and roughly 15% say they know someone who has been detained or deported. The impacts are most pronounced among Latino residents and younger Angelenos.

“The ICE sweeps have cast fear and insecurity in many of our communities,” said Yaroslavsky. “When so many residents are directly touched by these experiences, it’s no wonder that anxiety is widespread.”

Lingering impacts of 2025 wildfires

The economic effects of the 2025 wildfires continue to ripple across Los Angeles County. More than 1 in 4 residents (26%) report losing income due to the fires, and only a small share of those affected say they have fully recovered. Overall, about 1 in 5 residents continues to experience unrecovered financial losses tied to the disaster.

Public sentiment toward recovery efforts is broadly negative. A majority of residents (56%) report dissatisfaction with local government response and rebuilding efforts, including nearly one-third who are very dissatisfied.

Mayoral race remains wide open

The survey also gauged voter sentiment in the upcoming Los Angeles mayoral election, revealing a highly unsettled race. Among 813 likely June primary voters, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass leads with 25% support, followed by Spencer Pratt at 11% and Nithya Raman at 9%. A striking 40% of voters remain undecided — by far the largest bloc.

With no clear second-place candidate emerging, the findings suggest that while Bass is well positioned to advance, the contest for the second spot remains fluid and voter preferences are still taking shape.

The Quality of Life Index

The Quality of Life Index is based on a survey of 1,400 Los Angeles County residents conducted March 15–29, 2026, with a margin of error of 2.6%. The index is a project of the Los Angeles Initiative of the Luskin School, with major funding provided by Meyer and Renee Luskin and the California Community Foundation.

“The QLI captures both the hope and the challenges in Los Angeles,” said Miguel Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation. “Through our partnership with UCLA Luskin over the next decade, we can better understand the region — and what it takes to ensure a good life is within reach for all.”

The full report is being released on April 15 as part of the UCLA Luskin Summit, which will focus on building community resilience through local solutions. In addition to Yaroslavsky and Santana, the event features other public officials, including former U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler, as well as scholars and community leaders.

Zev Yaroslavsky Discusses Los Angeles Quality of Life Survey Ahead of Luskin Summit

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Zev Yaroslavsky appeared on ABC7 Los Angeles to discuss findings from the Los Angeles County Quality of Life Index (QLI), which will be released April 15 at the 2026 Luskin Summit. The annual survey, conducted since 2016, asks residents to rate their quality of life across nine different categories, including cost of living, education, the economy, healthcare, and sentiments around their neighborhood.

Yaroslavsky noted that the survey’s design allows researchers to track changes in public sentiment over time. Cost of living has consistently ranked as the lowest-rated category and has declined significantly since the pandemic. Concerns about traffic, transportation, and the education system have also received relatively low ratings.

This year’s results will provide insight into additional issues, including wildfire recovery, immigration enforcement, and housing preferences. Yaroslavsky emphasized that the QLI serves as a critical tool for policymakers and researchers working to better understand and address the evolving priorities of Los Angeles County residents.

View the full segment on ABC7 News.

Zev Yaroslavsky Reflects on 1984 Olympics and Weighs in on LA28

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Appearing on “Inside the Issues“ with Amrit Singh on Spectrum News 1, Zev Yaroslavsky reflected on the legacy of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as the city prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. Scheduled for July 2028, the Games will mark the third time Los Angeles has hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Yaroslavsky, who served on the Los Angeles City Council during the 1984 Games, emphasized the importance of fiscal safeguards that guided the city’s approach at the time. “We did not want taxpayers on the hook for the 1984 Olympics, so we proposed a charter amendment to prevent the city from using general fund dollars to operate the Games,” he said. “Ultimately, voters approved that amendment in 1978.”

Looking ahead to 2028, he expressed cautious optimism about the Games’ financial outlook. “There is no reason why the LA28 Olympics shouldn’t break even or make a profit,” he said, noting that in 1984, organizers were forced to “maximize revenue and minimize expenses” because the city was not financially backing the event.

However, Yaroslavsky also raised concerns about the stalled negotiations between the city and LA28 organizers, particularly the absence of similar taxpayer protections. Host Amrit Singh underscored the potential risks, noting that if costs exceed projections, “the city and the state are on the hook.”

Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, called for greater transparency and stronger agreements as preparations continue, urging stakeholders to reach a clear and accountable path forward.

Volatility Ahead in LA Mayor’s Race; UCLA Luskin Poll Finds 40% of Voters Undecided ‘It’s a wide-open race’ ahead of the June 2 primary election

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With just two months to go before a primary election for Los Angeles’ next mayor, 40% of the electorate remains undecided, signaling volatile weeks of campaigning ahead, according to a new poll by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass led the field with 25% support, followed by conservative television personality Spencer Pratt at 11% and Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman at 9%, according to the poll of likely LA primary voters.

Also on the ballot are tech entrepreneur Adam Miller and housing activist Rae Huang, who each received 3%. Nine percent of respondents indicated they would support “a different candidate.” A total of 14 candidates are vying for the city’s top office.

If no candidate wins a majority in the June 2 primary, the top two vote-getters will face off in November to determine who will lead the nation’s second-most populous city.

“It is unusual for 40% of likely voters to be unsure of their choice just two months before an LA mayoralty election,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, who served for decades as an elected leader in Los Angeles city and county.

“Although Mayor Bass faces the most challenging reelection of an incumbent mayor in decades, it is highly likely that this election will be decided in a November runoff. A lot can change between now and then, so it’s a wide-open race.”

The poll, which surveyed 813 likely primary voters between March 15 and March 29, is part of UCLA Luskin’s annual Quality of Life Index measuring Angelenos’ perception of their well-being across issues like safety, cost of living, health care and the environment. This year’s survey was conducted in partnership with the California Community Foundation, and complete results will be released on April 15 at the UCLA Luskin Summit.

The large bloc of undecided voters indicates that many are still assessing Bass’ record against her opponents’ qualifications. The 2025 Quality of Life Index, released weeks after the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires, found that the mayor was viewed unfavorably by 49% of respondents, a significant increase from 32% a year earlier.

Undecided voters may be unfamiliar with many of the names on this year’s ballot. Among the more prominent are Pratt, best known for his appearances on reality television shows, and Raman, elected in 2020 to represent Los Angeles’ 4th District, which stretches from Reseda to Los Feliz. Raman entered the mayor’s race just hours before the filing deadline closed on Feb. 7.

This year’s UCLA Luskin poll also measured support for candidates across different demographic groups.

  • Bass, the first Black woman to lead Los Angeles, drew the support of 53% of African American respondents, with 29% undecided.
  • Among white, Latino, and Asian and Pacific Islander respondents, the undecided category outpaced support for Bass.
  • Among voters age 65 or older, Bass received support from 31%, with 36% undecided.
  • Among voters aged 40 to 64, 23% supported Bass. Collectively, her top four opponents drew 30% support. A similar pattern emerged among voters aged 18 to 39, with 21% supporting Bass and 29% supporting one of her four closest contenders.
  • Undecided voters were the largest segment in each of the age categories.

The poll, conducted by public opinion research firm FM3 Research by phone and online in English and Spanish, has a margin of error of 4%. Funding for the Quality of Life Index is provided by Meyer and Renee Luskin through the Los Angeles Initiative, as well as the California Community Foundation.

 

Yaroslavsky on the Response to the Lachman Fire

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Reports have emerged that firefighters at the site of the January Lachman fire were told to leave the scene of the flames while there was still visible smoldering. Five days later, the highly destructive Palisades fire swept through southern California, killing twelve people and destroying thousands of buildings and homes.

Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass ordered an investigation into the handling of the Lachman fire to ensure that the Los Angeles fire department (LAFD) can enact necessary reforms and improvements. 

Director of the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Zev Yaroslavsky spoke with the Guardian about the resulting Palisades fire, describing it as a “Pearl Harbor moment,” and highlighted the importance of transparency to restore the public’s faith in the LAFD.

“Many questions remain and Bass and the LAFD need to provide answers as communities continue to rebuild,” said Yaroslavsky. “I think the morale has been shaken to the core in Altadena and the Palisades.”

Failure to Vote on a Key Los Angeles Appointment

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Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, weighed in on the L.A. City Council’s failure to vote on the appointment of a Los Angeles Police Commission member.

Erroll Southers previously served as president of the civilian panel that watches over the Los Angeles Police Department. While he has been the subject of criticism, he was nominated for a new term as a commission member.

The City Council typically has 45 days to approve a new member of any city commission. Since it did not act, Southers is expected to continue in the position by default for a full five-year term because he was already serving on an interim basis, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Failing to vote on a member of one of the city’s most high-profile commissions is almost unheard of, said Yaroslavsky, a former councilman and L.A. County supervisor.

“They have responsibility to confirm or not confirm,” he said of the council. “I never understood why you would campaign for office, as hard as you campaign to get there, and not vote on something that’s as important to the public.”

Zev Yaroslavsky, UCLA’s Jewish community unite against Trump’s $1B demand

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Over 350 Jewish faculty and community members at UCLA have come together to oppose the Trump administration’s demand that the university pay a $1 billion fine over allegations of campus antisemitism. The “Jews in Defense of UC” letter also decries the government’s freezing of $584 million in research grant funding.

Zev Yaroslavsky, former L.A. County supervisor and director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, was an early signatory of the letter. In the article, he said, “the federal actions are not going to address the issue of antisemitism on campus,” but that they will “blow a hole through” the school’s finances.

“It’s the existence of the institution — that’s what’s at stake here,” said Yaroslavsky.

“Cutting off hundreds of millions of research funds will do nothing to make UCLA safer for Jews nor diminish antisemitism in the world,” the letter said. “It will not benefit Jewish Bruins nor Jews beyond campus who make extensive use of its first-rate medical facilities, ground-breaking scientific innovations, and cutting-edge cultural institutions.”

Zev Yaroslavsky is a former faculty member at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and currently serves as director of the Los Angeles Initiative. A longtime former member of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, he continues to contribute to the school’s research and public engagement through his work with the Quality of Life Index, which is highlighted each year at the annual Luskin Summit.