Voters in Meeting District 54 have a troublesome alternative between two sturdy candidates — longtime Meeting staffer and Democratic Celebration chief Mark Gonzalez and John Yi, a group organizer who has run nonprofit advocacy teams.
They’re each first-time candidates who’ve made their careers in public service. They’re each progressive Democrats who share lots of the identical priorities, together with growing tenant protections and hire aid, making it simpler to construct reasonably priced housing and making certain the district will get its justifiable share of funding for transportation, sidewalks, timber and different quality-of-life enhancements.
We advocate Gonzalez as a result of he has a deep on-the-ground understanding of the wants of residents throughout the district and is the perfect positioned to ship outcomes. He’s been an Meeting staffer within the space for greater than a decade. He labored for former Meeting Speaker John Pérez, and most not too long ago served as district director for the present Meeting member, Miguel Santiago, who ran for Los Angeles Metropolis Council District 14 however didn’t make it out of the first. Gonzalez is operating to switch him.
Meeting District 54 stretches from Koreatown and Westlake by way of downtown and Boyle Heights to Commerce and Montebello. It’s one of many poorest districts within the state, with about one in 4 kids residing in poverty. It contains traditionally working-class, immigrant communities which have suffered from continual underinvestment from the private and non-private sectors, however at the moment are seeing an actual property growth, fueling issues about displacement, gentrification and affordability. Some 80% of residents within the district are renters.
Gonzalez stated a lot of his legislative priorities, together with growing tenant protections and enhancing entry to healthcare, are derived from his life expertise. He grew up in Part 8 rental housing and remembers being afraid to ask for repairs for worry the owner would deem his household a nuisance or drawback tenants. As caregiver to his mom, who had a stroke, he’s seen firsthand the nonsensical paperwork of Medi-Cal that makes it too laborious for low-income seniors to qualify for medical protection.
Like his boss, who handed some significant housing bills, Gonzalez needs to make it quicker and simpler to construct housing. His priorities embrace streamlining environmental evaluate of tasks, making it simpler to transform business buildings into residential makes use of and reconsidering constructing rules, similar to staircase rules, that restrict residence building.
With the relationships Gonzalez has cultivated through the years — he has the support of Gov. Gavin Newsom, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and several other native members of Congress — he can choose up the telephone and name highly effective individuals to press the case for funding and sources for a district that has extra wants than most.
Yi was most not too long ago the chief director of Los Angeles Walks, a nonprofit that advocates for avenue security and a extra walkable metropolis. He has expertise listening to usually unheard communities and dealing with them to advocate for his or her wants, similar to new crosswalks on busy streets and making Metro’s buses and trains safer for riders.
Like Gonzalez, Yi says tenant protections and reasonably priced housing building are amongst his prime priorities. He additionally needs to work on payments to fund public works, similar to sidewalks, timber and streetlights, so it’s safer for individuals to get round with no automobile, and to incentivize environmental investments, similar to light-reflecting pavement and grassy stormwater-capture bioswales that may make city neighborhoods cooler. These are necessary priorities for a district that lacks primary facilities and inexperienced house.
Each candidates have good concepts and a ardour for enhancing their communities, however of the 2, we expect Gonzalez is finest geared up to advocate and ship for the 54th Meeting District.
