In a rare display of municipal consensus, the Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved a bronze memorial for P-22, the late Griffith Park mountain lion. Analysts note the initiative allows lawmakers to closely align themselves with a beloved local figure whose only documented public scandals involved consuming off-leash pets.
According to sources close to leadership, the memorial commission represents a strategic triumph for City Hall, which has increasingly struggled to find human civic figures who can safely be cast in bronze without triggering a federal indictment. Internal talking points circulated ahead of the floor vote reportedly praised the 123-pound feline’s "unwavering commitment to local wildlife management" and his disciplined, career-long silence on affordable housing zoning disputes.
P-22 embodied the absolute highest ideals of this city, in that he was fiercely reclusive, photographed exceptionally well against the Hollywood sign, and never once submitted a public comment demanding we fix the sidewalks.
Transcripts from a closed-door committee markup reveal lawmakers spent several hours debating the precise posture of the sculpture, carefully weighing whether to depict the cougar in a stately repose or actively stalking a miniature labradoodle, a demographic the council has quietly sought to marginalize since 2019. The final text of the resolution, passed on a voice vote, formally recognized the animal's 2022 euthanasia as the city's most broadly supported healthcare intervention of the decade.
The statue is slated for installation near the Griffith Observatory next spring, at which point the Department of Animal Services will resume its ongoing, fully funded mandate to systematically trap and relocate all of P-22’s surviving relatives.