L.A. wants to sell asphalt. But it can’t.

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, Aug. 26, and you can expect more blazing hot temps as SoCal Edison considers thousands of power shutoffs.

Residents of Los Angeles may be startled to learn that the city boasts not one but two asphalt plants. And not just any asphalt plants, apparently: "We make the best asphalt,” Councilmember Heather Hutt declared last year. 

Now, after nearly 80 years of using that asphalt to pave only the city’s own streets, city officials want to start selling the black, tarry substance to all comers. 

But they can’t. 

For 113 years, an obscure provision in the charter has prevented the city from engaging in “purely commercial” business activity unless voters explicitly approve it. The highly unusual restriction has repeatedly tied the city’s hands, forcing it to burn taxpayer dollars on legal battles and such trifling amendments as the one that allowed it to sell snacks at the Greek Theatre.

I wrote about the effort to amend the charter provision that you’ll be able to vote on in November, and the critics who think the city has no business expanding its asphalt operations. 

It’s official: More than three years after a handful of L.A. City Council staffers first started efforts to form a union, bargaining units have been recognized by the city’s Employee Relations Board.