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IN TOUCH WITH LA - For years, some residents of Northeast L.A., where parks are at a premium, have pushed to safeguard from builders a swath of precious green space that overlooks Eagle Rock, not far from the 2 Freeway on the west side of the neighborhood.
The obstacle? A looming luxury development of nine homes that has dragged on for nearly two decades. Meanwhile cultural interest in the site, dubbed Onteora Hillside, as a place of significance to the Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians - Kizh Nation has mushroomed. And advocacy by neighbors to stop the destruction of trees and wildlife habitat on the site has surged.
On July 1, the L.A. Board of Public Works (BPW) is due to hear an appeal by the luxury developer Noah Ornstein, based in Silver Lake, for a permit by his company, Leap of Faith, to remove trees from the Onteora Hillside parcel where no building has proceeded for 17 years. The permit was rejected earlier by the city, making the luxury developer’s appeal a high-stakes matter, including for the coalition of residents seeking its denial.
In a bit of insider intervention, Ornstein’s quest for permission may have a gained another hand on the scales in his favor within city government. Reports from City Hall on June 17, when the BPW convened and tabled the appeal until July 1, indicate that City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto appears to have dispatched a staffer to side with the luxury developer to urge granting the appeal for tree removal.
What’s odd and perhaps unseemly about any intervention on behalf of the luxury developer by Feldstein Soto is that it follows a campaign donation by Ornstein to her reelection effort. City ethics records show that Ornstein’s sole direct contribution to a city candidate in recent years is a donation of more than $250 to Feldstein Soto’s 2026 campaign to keep her job, which failed this month. Feldstein Soto finished in a distant third place, outside the top two runoff, and will exit the office in December.
But her legacy may be taking shape in small interventions like this one. Taking official action in government that favors a campaign donor is an ugly ethical lapse in any case. It’s a particular stain when it involves an attorney, whose duty of integrity in representation should be beyond reproach.
But questions about Feldstein Soto’s official actions connected to fund-raising and donor solicitation have surfaced earlier. In 2025, the embattled City Attorney drew a complaint by a trial witness that he might be facing leverage to chip in to her campaign, given the timing of a call from the incumbent officeholder, who was also a candidate.
For residents nearby the Onteora Hillside, a whiff of petty influence peddling adds to the stink of luxury development that seems to be superseding the public interest in protecting accessible greenspace with cultural value.
“There’s something wrong with a proposed development of nine luxury homes that takes 17 years to complete,” says Kathleen Whitaker, leader of the Onteora Hillside Alliance that seeks to preserve the parcel.
“The CFAC, the Santa Monica Mountain Conservancy, San Pascual Arroyo Seco, the Hillside Federation, United Neighbors, the Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians - Kizh Nation, and hundreds of others agree,” she adds.
“All have sent letters, called in, and ZOOMed in to meetings, and held exchanges with other groups and professional conversations with Native people. They have asked this project be halted; and it was for two years when the city illegally issued two permits, now rescinded in 2023,” she explains.
The challenge before the 5-member Board of Public Works is whether the voices of residents or the appeal by a luxury developer benefiting from a possible boost from the City Attorney will prevail. The outcome may be an indicator of whether pay to play, that devil’s bargain, is normalized or stigmatized in decision-making in our City of Angels.
(Hans Johnson is a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, and public education. His columns have appeared in USA Today and leading newspapers across more than 20 states. Based in Eagle Rock, he serves as president of East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD), California’s largest grassroots Democratic club with over 1,100 members. Hans brings decades of organizing and policy experience to his work, advancing equity and accountability in local and national politics.)
