| It's been six years since a batch of nude pictures ended the meteoric political rise of Katie Hill, a rookie congresswoman from north Los Angeles County who appeared positioned to be a generational leader in the Democratic Party. |
| A scandal over the published photographs and accusations of affairs with a campaign worker and a congressional staffer (the latter of which Hill denied) likely will linger forever on the internet. But what's gotten less attention since Hill left the House of Representatives in 2019 is the way she has resurrected her life and career. |
| She's remarried to a new partner, after divorcing the husband she accused of "smearing" her with the naked photo dump. Her son, born in what felt like a "miracle," given that she has only one ovary, soon will turn 4. And Hill just marked one year heading a Pasadena homeless services agency, which has been hailed as a lifeline by many people displaced by January's fire in Altadena. |
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| Union Station Homeless Services CEO Katie Hill brings a turkey to a car during a Thanksgiving food distribution event at Union Station Adult Center on Nov. 19 in Pasadena. (Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times) |
| "I haven't experienced homelessness but I have experienced adversity and I have experienced life falling apart," Hill said in a recent interview in her office at Union Station Homeless Services. "It's only because of my family support, I didn't end up in a far worse situation ... It would not have been hard to spiral to the point that I lost everything." |
| She said her odyssey, which at the nadir included thoughts of suicide, has given her new perspective. "It's important for everybody to recognize that a few wrong turns in life ... can take you to a place that is awful and hard to recover from. So I feel like it's important for everybody to remember that and have empathy. When you're looking at somebody who's on the street, it's not just a series of behavioral problems. It's a lot bigger than that. And we need to help people find a way out of it." |
| A quick sketch of Hill's rise: Born the daughter of a cop and a nurse, she grew up in the Santa Clarita Valley and worked her way through college as a waitress. She got a Master's in Public Administration at Cal State Northridge and soon rose to lead the PATH homeless services agency. At just 29 she became a first-time candidate, challenging Republican incumbent Steve Knight for a House seat representing Simi Valley, Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley. She won in 2018, flipping a reliably Republican seat and joining a wave of House newcomers that included Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Katie Porter. When Speaker Nancy Pelosi began grooming Hill for leadership, a long career in Washington seemed assured. |
| But that dizzying climb came crashing down with the release of the nude images of her brushing another woman's hair, holding a bong and sunbathing. She soon resigned and went home. But her anguish grew even deeper when her 20-year-old brother overdosed on fentanyl. Hill administered CPR but couldn't save him. "That totally overtook any other grief that I had," she said. |
| Fortunately for Hill, her work in homeless services had left an impression of her as someone who employed "logic, reason, critical thinking and honest, authentic dialog," said Veronica Lewis, who hired her as a top administrator at HOPICS, which serves South L.A. County, after Hill left Congress. |
| Those qualities impressed the board at Union Station, the Pasadena agency Hill took over last December. With government funding sources threatened, she imposed a hiring freeze to prevent layoffs on a 292-person staff. She's spent time on the front line with staff, including when she hustled turkeys and boxes of fixings to a long line of cars in a food giveaway one week before Thanksgiving. |
| "That kind of servant leadership is just really important," said Amanda Green, chief operations officer at Union Station. "She makes big, strategic decisions and she can also get into the weeds, which is hard to do." |
| Hill mostly steers clear of politics, though she occasionally blasts Trump administration policies she fears will hurt funding for the homeless. She also worried in an interview that unhoused people could be rounded up and forced into detention camps before the 2028 Olympics in L.A. |
| Hill, 38, doesn't miss being in Congress, especially with Democrats in the minority. But she won't discount the possibility of a return to politics, saying she wouldn't consider it until her son is grown. In her farewell speech on the floor of the House six years ago, Hill apologized to the people she let down. But she ended with this: "Thank you, and I yield the balance of my time for now, but not forever." |
Today's top stories |
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| The famous water tower at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press) |
Paramount challenges Netflix for Warner Bros. Discovery |
- Paramount launched a $78-billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, four days after Warner's board unanimously selected Netflix as the winner of the auction.
- Last week Netflix agreed to pay $72 billion — or $27.75 a share — and take on more than $10 billion in Warner Bros. debt for a total deal value of $82.7 billion.
- Paramount's latest bid offers $30 per share. The company confirmed it submitted the offer hours before Netflix was announced as the winner.
- Warner Bros. said its board would review Paramount's offer "in accordance with the terms of Warner Bros. Discovery's agreement with Netflix."
- On Monday, Netflix shares dipped, fueling worries on Wall Street about the streaming giant's ability to pull off the acquisition.
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The investigation and grief following the killing of a California farming tycoon's wife |
- Last month Kerri Ann Abatti was fatally shot in her Pinetop, Ariz., home, according to the Navajo County Sheriff's Office.
- Abatti was entangled in a contentious divorce battle with Mike Abatti, a wealthy farmer from one of the most prominent families in the Imperial Valley.
- News of the case has shaken the community of the Imperial Valley, where the Abattis are among the largest landowners.
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Trump administration cracks down on legal immigration |
- After two National Guard members were shot near the White House, leaving one dead, the federal government launched an attack against legal immigration.
- The shooting suspect entered the U.S. in 2021 from Afghanistan and was approved for asylum this year, and the administration has since halted visa and immigration applications of people from the Islamic country.
- Decisions on all applications filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services by people seeking asylum also have been paused.
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The 2026 Golden Globes |
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What else is going on |
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Commentary and opinions |
- There is courage lacking to fix California's deep-rooted budget shortfall, Capitol Journal columnist George Skelton writes.
- California is failing its Latino population. Here's how, contributing writer Joel Kotkin argues.
- Colleges oversold education. Now they must sell connection, guest contributor Eric Anicich writes.
- Americans still have a choice in whether to let the nation turn authoritarian, guest contributor Michael S. Roth writes.
- Closing the labor-force gap is the only fix for the housing crisis, guest contributor Angelo Farooq writes.
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This morning's must reads |
| | | Unveiling my face won't change how I go about the business of reviewing, writes Times restaurant critic Bill Addison. | | | |
Other must reads |
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| Keep up with California | Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. | | | | | |
For your downtime |
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| The Culver City Hotel and tuna tartare at The Line restaurant. (Los Angeles Times photo illustration; Photos by Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times, Getty Images) |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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Question of the day: What do you wear when you fly? |
| Mike Barnes said, "Depends on the weather and where I'm going, but I want to be comfortable. If it's warm, I'm wearing shorts and flip flops. Otherwise, jeans and preferably tennis shoes unless there'll be snow." |
| Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. |
And finally ... your photo of the day |
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| People walk along Santa Rosa Avenue during the Winter Festival and Tree Lighting Ceremony at Christmas Tree Lane on Saturday in Altadena. (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times) |
| Today's great photo is from staff photographer Eric Thayer of Altadena's annual Christmas Tree Lane lighting ceremony and festival on Saturday. This event allowed the community to come together after being ravaged by the Eaton fire that burned down neighborhoods and left thousands homeless. |
Have a great day, from the Essential California team |
| Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
June Hsu, editorial fellow
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters |
| How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com. |
