Let’s Stop Lying: The LACC Swap Meet Is About to Be Erased
After 28 years, the LACC Swap Meet is on the edge of permanent closure. Not a pause. Not a "reimagining." Shut down for good. If that happens, 17,000 Los Angeles City College students lose funding, and hundreds of vendors — many who have held this market together for decades — lose their livelihood and their community overnight.
And it’s happening in plain sight. With the City's blessing. And with almost zero vendor presence where it matters: at City Hall and in the media.
City Hall Knows Exactly What They’re Doing
The City of Los Angeles is not confused about this. They know this market funds students. They know hundreds of vendors depend on it. They know it has been here for nearly three decades. And instead of defending it, they’re trying to bury it under legal pressure.
I am now staring down a $55,000 City Attorney bill just for daring to sue the City to protect this market. That’s not “dialogue.” That’s punishment. That’s the City of Los Angeles, through its City Attorney, sending a clear message: sit down, shut up, and let the swap meet die.
City leadership knows what this means: if the market closes, the garage and the lot get locked up. No market. No parking. Nobody wins. They’ve been told this. They’ve heard this. They are choosing to ignore it.
Hugo Soto‑Martínez: You Can’t Play Both Sides
Councilmember Hugo Soto‑Martínez, this is on your desk. Vendors have been told directly to contact your office. To ask for help. To ask for leadership. Instead we see you signal support for street vendors who are operating illegally right outside the swap meet while the legal, permitted, student-funding market is being strangled.
Let’s be clear: the street vendors on the sidewalk are there illegally. They are not the enemy — but the setup is. They are being used as political cover while the permitted, established, revenue-generating swap meet is pushed toward extinction. And they “think they’re winning” because they believe they have your backing, Hugo. Winning what? An empty street after the swap meet closes and the thousands of customers disappear?
When the swap meet dies, there is no crowd. No foot traffic. No shared ecosystem. No 28-year institution drawing people in. Everybody loses — including the very street vendors being propped up as a convenient excuse to do nothing.
Vendors: Your Silence Is Helping Kill Your Own Market
Now let’s talk about us. Vendors. Because we are not off the hook.
Only two vendors — out of the entire swap meet — have actually shown up at City Hall. Two. While my wife and I carry the legal fight alone and face a $55,000 bill for trying to keep this place alive.
Meanwhile, vendors have been asked for years to contact:
Hugo Soto‑Martínez’s office
The Mayor’s office
Telemundo
LA Taco
Every outlet that might listen
Most of you have not done it. You’ve been told over and over that without your support, this cannot continue. You’ve heard it on the lot, seen it in messages, watched this fight drag on. And still, only two people show up where the decisions are being made.
Let’s be brutally honest: if you’re sitting back, skipping calls to City Hall, ignoring media contacts, not booking a booth, and then complaining about business, you are helping shut down your own swap meet.
Street Vendors Are Not Winning if the Swap Meet Closes.
The sidewalk vendors outside think they’re winning because they believe they’ve got political protection and that the swap meet is their competition. Here’s the reality: when the LACC Swap Meet closes, the crowds go with it. The parking goes with it. The energy goes with it.
Once the swap meet is gone and the garage and lot are locked up, there is no market to feed off. No 28-year anchor bringing thousands of people every weekend. Just an empty stretch of street and a dead opportunity for everyone.
So no — nobody wins if this market dies. Not the college. Not the students. Not the legal vendors. Not the illegal vendors. Not the community. The only ones who “win” are the people who wanted us quiet, out of the way, and off the books.
This Is the Line: Act Now or Lose It Forever
I can not keep fighting this alone. That is not a threat. That is a fact. One person cannot hold off City Hall, the City Attorney, and political indifference while hundreds of vendors watch from the sidelines.
If you want this market to live, here is what needs to happen right now:
Vendors must show up at City Hall — in person, not just in group chats. Sit in the room. Speak. Be seen.
Contact Hugo Soto‑Martínez’s office and the Mayor’s office — call, email, and demand protection for the LACC Swap Meet and a real, legal solution for relocation or enforcement on the street, not silence.
Blow up the media — Telemundo, LA Taco, every outlet you can reach. Tell them what is happening: a 28-year student-funding swap meet is being pushed out while illegal vending is allowed to crowd it out.
Book a booth — it’s an $85 investment to keep your place in this market and keep activity alive. Empty spaces are exactly what the City will point to when they decide to pull the plug.
Vendors and Residents! Make Some Noise. If you stay quiet now, don't act shocked when the gates are locked, the lot is empty, and the LACC Swap Meet is gone for good.
Our demand is simple: Hugo Soto‑Martínez, the Mayor of Los Angeles, and the City Attorney must stop treating the LACC Swap Meet as disposable and work with vendors to either secure a viable relocation or enforce the rules on illegal street vending that is undermining a permitted, student-funding market. And every vendor who claims to care must prove it — by showing up, speaking up, and booking in, now.
CONTACT THESE OFFICIALS AND MEDIA OUTLETS NOW
Call and email. Tell them that the 28-year-old LACC Swap Meet is facing permanent closure, threatening funding for 17,000 Los Angeles City College students and the livelihoods of hundreds of vendors.
CITY OFFICIALS
Councilmember Hugo Soto‑Martínez — District 13
City Hall: 213-473-7013
District Office: 213-207-3015
Email: councilmember.soto-martinez@lacity.org
Mayor Karen Bass
Main Office: 213-978-0600
Mayor’s Help Desk: 213-978-1028
Email: mayor.helpdesk@lacity.org
Contact Form: https://mayor.lacity.gov/contact
Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office
Phone: 213-978-8100
General Email: cityatty.help@lacity.org
Media Email: ivor.pine@lacity.org
Sergio Godinez, Deputy Press Secretary, sergio.godinez@lacity.org, (213) 269-8431
Ilanna Morales, enior Communications Manager, ilanna.morales@lacity.org , (213) 978-3107
Paige Sterling, Senior Press Secretary, paige.sterling@lacity.org, (213) 930-1031
LOCAL MEDIA
Los Angeles Times
News Tips: tips@latimes.com
Main Phone: 213-237-5000
L.A. Times City Desk and City Hall Contacts:
Monte Morin: monte.morin@latimes.com
John Corrigan: john.corrigan@latimes.com
Joe Mozingo: joe.mozingo@latimes.com
Noah Goldberg: noah.goldberg@latimes.com
Melissa Gomez: melissa.gomez@latimes.com
Sandra McDonald: sandra.mcdonald@latimes.com
David Zahniser: david.zahniser@latimes.com
L.A. TACO
News Tips: tips@lataco.com
Editor: editor@lataco.com
General Email: info@lataco.com
ABC7 Eyewitness News — KABC
Breaking News Tips: 877-777-6397, then press 1
Tip Form: https://abc7.com/tips/
NBC4 Los Angeles — KNBC
Breaking News: 818-684-4321
Contact Page: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/contact-us
CBS Los Angeles / KCAL 9
Phone: 818-655-2000
Email: kcalnews@cbs.com
KTLA 5
Main Phone: 323-460-5500
Assignment Desk: 323-460-5513
Website: https://ktla.com/
FOX 11 Los Angeles — KTTV
Newsroom: 310-584-2025
Email: fox11news@fox.com
Use “News Tip” or “Attention: Story Pitch” in the subject line.
Spectrum News 1 Southern California
News Desk: 310-531-1234
Contact Form: https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la/about/contact-us
Telemundo 52 Los Angeles — KVEA
Assignment Desk: 818-684-5711
Email: telemundo.losangeles@nbcuni.com
Univision 34 Los Angeles — KMEX
Newsroom: 310-348-3495
Alternate Number: 800-994-5639
Email: noticiasunivision34@televisaunivision.com
When contacting these offices and newsrooms, include your name, telephone number, connection to the LACC Swap Meet, and a brief explanation of what its closure would mean for you, your family, the college’s students, and the surrounding community.
Next City Council Meeting:
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
10:00 AM
JOHN FERRARO COUNCIL CHAMBER
ROOM 340, CITY HALL
200 NORTH SPRING STREET, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
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