Reported / Citable
Background
Section 8.33 of the Los Angeles Administrative Code authorizes the Mayor to declare ‘a local housing and/or homelessness emergency’ and to exercise specified powers during the emergency. On July 7, 2023, Mayor Karen Bass declared such an emergency. The City Council renewed the emergency, and the Mayor exercised her granted powers to take action regarding unhoused city residents. The emergency was eventually lifted on November 4, 2025, while the appeal was pending.
Fix the City, Inc. challenged section 8.33 as invalid, contending that during the emergency declaration the City and City Council acted illegally. Fix the City argued the California Emergency Services Act (CESA, Government Code section 8550 et seq.) preempted section 8.33, and that another section of the Los Angeles Administrative Code also conflicted with section 8.33. The trial court denied Fix the City’s writ petition. Fix the City appealed.
The Court’s Holding
The Court of Appeal affirmed. CESA establishes three categories of emergency declarations (state of war, state of emergency, and local emergency), with local emergencies invocable based on conditions like fire, flood, drought, or ‘other conditions . . . likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of that political subdivision.’ The court held that CESA’s local-emergency framework does not preempt city authority to declare more specific local emergencies — including a housing/homelessness emergency — under separately enacted city authority. CESA establishes a baseline framework but does not occupy the field of local emergency-declaration authority.
Section 8.33 and CESA do not actually conflict; they govern different levels of emergency declaration. Section 8.33 grants the Mayor specific powers tied to housing and homelessness, while CESA addresses broader emergency-management coordination. The two regimes can coexist.
The court also rejected Fix the City’s argument that a separate Los Angeles Administrative Code provision invalidated section 8.33. Reading the LAAC as a whole, no internal conflict required striking section 8.33.
Key Takeaways
- The California Emergency Services Act does not preempt city authority to declare more specific local emergencies under separately enacted city authority, such as Los Angeles Administrative Code section 8.33.
- CESA’s local-emergency framework establishes a baseline but does not occupy the field of local emergency-declaration authority.
- City charter and administrative-code emergency-declaration provisions can coexist with CESA when they address different aspects of emergency response.
- Internal Los Angeles Administrative Code provisions are read together to give effect to all sections; perceived conflicts are resolved through harmonious interpretation.
- The opinion provides important precedent for cities seeking to declare specific subject-matter local emergencies (housing, homelessness, climate, etc.) under their own administrative authority.
Why It Matters
For California cities, this decision provides important authority for using specific subject-matter local emergency declarations to address pressing local issues — housing, homelessness, climate-related risks, and more — under their own administrative-code authority. Mayor Bass’s housing/homelessness emergency declaration was a high-profile use of section 8.33; the Second District’s published opinion confirms the legal framework supporting that declaration and analogous future declarations.
For taxpayer- and government-accountability groups challenging city emergency declarations, the case sets meaningful limits on preemption-based attacks. CESA does not provide a vehicle for invalidating subject-specific local emergency declarations adopted under separate city authority. For city counsel and other public-policy practitioners, the opinion provides a template for defending specific local emergency declarations against state-preemption challenges. The case also illustrates that emergency declarations can become moot during appeal but courts may still address recurring issues.