“In Focus SoCal” host Tanya McRae looks back at the defining issues and events of 2023 that impacted Southern California. From being the hottest year ever recorded in history to the “summer of strikes,” 2023 has been a historic year in many ways.

In January, 11 people were killed and nine injured after a mass shooting in Monterey Park. Just days after, another shooting took the lives of seven people in Half Moon Bay in Northern California. In the wake of the mass shootings, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and state Sen. Anthony Portantino announced new gun safety legislation to modernize and strengthen California’s public carry laws. McRae sat down with Portantino in October after his bills, including Senate Bill 2, were signed into law.

“SB 2 defined criteria. For example, can you get three people to vouch for you? If you can’t have three friends say you’re an upstanding citizen, you probably shouldn’t be able to have a gun permit,” Portantino said. “Do you have a history of domestic violence? If the answer is ‘yes,’ we are not going to give you a gun.”

The city of Los Angeles has been tackling the city’s homelessness crisis head-on, starting with Mayor Karen Bass declaring a state of emergency to respond to the crisis on her first day. She also issued an executive director to accelerate and lower the cost of building affordable housing and temporary housing.

“I have been excited at the willingness, frankly, of every level of government to recognize the crisis that we’re having, and to pitch in,” Bass said during an interview with McRae to mark her first 100 days in office.

Bass also announced her Inside Safe program, which places homeless people into motels temporarily, with the goal of getting them into permanent housing. After almost a year, the program has moved only about 4% of the city’s 46,000 homeless individuals into motel rooms. 

The LA City Council has gone through tremendous change this year in the aftermath of a scandal that spurred from racist remarks that were leaked in a secret recording. Beyond calls for the three Council members involved to resign, the scandal opened up discussions about the need for government reforms. In November, the City Council unanimously approved a plan to establish an independent redistricting commission and to place it on the November 2024 ballot. McRae spoke with LA City Council President Paul Krekorian, who said one of his top priorities for the council has been rebuilding trust with Angelenos. 

“In the last year, we have made incredible progress in getting the city back to the people’s business, and we’ve accomplished a lot of big things,” Krekorian said. “Some of the most important things we’ve done have involved reforming the way we do business here in City Hall.”

Finding solutions to coastal erosion has been a top priority for coastal communities in Southern California. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, up to 70% of the state’s beaches could be lost to erosion by the end of the century. McRae sat down with Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley in June to discuss efforts being made in her district, including one to restore beaches such as Capo Beach and Doheny State Beach. 

“As of today, we’ve dumped 10,000 cubic yards of sand in that area,” Foley said. “It’s protecting the coast because in that area, we have homes. We have a railroad track just right beyond there. So it’s a combination of restoring the way of life and protecting the way of life.”

This summer, we also saw a historic dual work stoppage in Hollywood by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. The twin strikes shut down development and production on the vast majority of movies and television shows. Meg James, senior entertainment industry reporter for the LA Times, discussed the long-term impacts of the strikes. 

“The lasting impact of the strikes is just economic hardship,” said James. “I also think that there will be less TV shows and movies produced.”

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