What's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin
Los Angeles is at a turning point. We are living in a defining moment. What happens next is up to us. Over the past few years, problems and challenges have shaken this city -- and tremendous opportunities for change have presented themselves. How do we rise to this moment and emerge a better place to live? What will it take to create a more just and a more equitable community? Working together, how are we going to create a stronger, forward-thinking Los Angeles? Mike Bonin, writer, teacher, progressive activist and former City Councilmember, looks at the issues and problems facing Los Angeles, examines ideas, and talks with the people who will lead us to a brighter future.
Produced in partnership with LA Forward.
What's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin
Lalo Vargas for City Council: Candidate Spotlight
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Who will unseat disgraced Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León? That’s the question a lot of people are asking as we head into the March primary. There is a big and impressive field of candidates – and on this episode I talk with Lalo Vargas.
Vargas is science teacher at Franklin High School in Highland Park. He is the son of immigrants, a community organizer, and a gay man. A former firefighter/EMT, he is running to the left of a pretty progressive field of candidates. He is an avowed socialist, and is a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation You can learn more about him here: https://www.laloforcd14.com/
What's Next, Los Angeles? is produced and hosted by Mike Bonin, in partnership with LA Forward.
Who will unseat disgraced councilman Kevin DeLeon? That's the question a lot of people are asking as we head into the March primary for LA City elections. There is a big and an impressive field of candidates trying to unseat KDL, and today I talk with Lalo Vargas. That's on this episode of What's Next, Los Angeles. Hi everybody and welcome. It's Mike Vaughn. Thank you for joining me on this episode of What's Next, Los Angeles. Today's show is part of a series of deep dive one-on-one interviews I am doing with candidates running for the Los Angeles City Council. One of the most watched, talked-about, and interesting contests is the race to represent the 14th District, which includes Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Northeast LA, and downtown Los Angeles, including Skid Row. The seat is currently held by Kevin DeLeon, who has been hanging on to office despite being a prominent voice heard on the notorious racist tapes that rocked LA politics in October of 2022. He's being challenged by a large field of candidates, and I plan to interview many of them here. Recently, I sat down with candidate Lalo Vargas, a science teacher at Franklin High School in Highland Park. Lalo is the son of immigrants, a community organizer, and a gay man. He is running to the left of what is a pretty progressive field of candidates. He is an avowed socialist and is a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which is very different from the Democratic Socialists of America, which many more voters are familiar with. His socialism is a core part of his identity and of his candidacy. I spoke with him recently about his life, the district, and his views on the issues facing Los Angeles. Here's that interview. Lala Vargas, welcome to What's Next Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_00Hi, Mike. Thanks so much for having me and for giving me the space to talk.
SPEAKER_01Oh, my pleasure. Glad to do it. Let me start out as I always do with these interviews and ask you to tell listeners, tell the voters of the 14th district who you are, why you're running, and why they should vote for you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, my name is Eduardo Vargas, but everyone in my family and in my community knows me as Lalo. It's a nickname for you know Eduardo. And I am a public high school teacher right now. And I'm also a socialist because I see so many of the ways that our city government could take care of our working families in the city and yet fails in so many areas. And so we when I have students coming into my classroom, you know, they're they're coming after having to work a job to support their family, or living in an apartment with 10 other, a one-bedroom with 10 other people. And so as a high school teacher, I see a lot of the ways that, you know, our social safety net is failing them or non-existent. And my whole life, I I grew up as a working class person. My family, my parents are immigrants from Morelia, Michoacan, and our livelihoods have been, all of the challenges that we faced have been dictated by this capitalist system that we live under and that no one is really able to escape. So my whole life I've seen how this system that prioritizes profits over people's human needs abuses workers and families like my own. So I'm running in the 14th Council District because I believe that this, that my unique perspective, as well as my connection to the community as an educator and my past experiences as a first responder and just as a worker that's that's you know contributed to my community everywhere I go. I think this enables me to be the working class leader that Los Angeles and especially people on the East Side need, especially after all of the decades of corruption and racism and the betrayal that people feel from their city government right now. And why should people vote for you? People should vote for me because I'm the only working class socialist candidate that really has nothing to lose when it comes to standing up to the political establishment and prioritizing the needs of working families first. I think that too often people start out trying, you know, with their heart in a good place, but eventually they end up capitulating to the pressure of being part of the political establishment or special interests. And they, regardless of where they start out from, they end up, you know, betraying their own principles or betraying the community that that got them elected. So what we need now is someone who is unafraid of really standing up to these kinds of forces. And what I'm vowing is that I'm going to be obedient only to working people, to the popular movements, to the to the working class movements, where such as workers' unions and tenants' unions, where people are starting, are increasingly turning to, because these are the these are the pathways where they see that their needs are being respected and where people are fighting for them and having making and fighting to make sure that those needs, whether it's housing or healthcare or a dignified job, are guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01So tell me a little bit about your your background, go a little bit deeper into uh sort of your professional experiences and and what it is that prepares you for this job.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so when I mean I've I've worked minimum wage jobs, I've worked in construction, uh, as you know, many um immigrants or children of immigrants have have had to do. But I also have had like an array of different job experiences. Like I said before, I was I was an EMT and a firefighter before. So I saw how the nation's opioid crisis works. I saw I was interfacing with law enforcement, and you know, you start to see the cracks in the healthcare system. I became a teacher because I wanted to be the kind of person that was, I wanted to be the kind of teacher that I didn't have in my upbringing. In my upbringing, I I did have really great teachers, really great mentors, and that's why I think I learned to value education so much. But at the same time, I wanted to take it a step further and be the kind of educator that's connected not just to issues in the classroom, but in in wider society. You know, what are the what are what are the conditions that are affecting my students' learning, not just in the classroom, but because of the structure and the systems at play in society as a whole.
SPEAKER_01Where were you an EMT firefighter?
SPEAKER_00I was actually an EMT firefighter in rural Ohio when I went there for college. So Ohio has is very dependent on volunteer services and young people like myself. At the time, I wanted to actually go into medicine. So I was looking at that experience as, you know, one way to one be connected very much so to the local community, which is an experience that not a lot of college students get. A lot of times it's a it's a very insulated experience. But I was out in the community working with regular folks, you know, seeing what were the actual pressing issues, the medical issues and safety issues in the community. And so that that experience actually it pivoted me towards that systemic view of things, knowing that maybe maybe I was better suited at serving the community as an educator and also as an activist in my free time, rather than being kind of locked into the medical system where it you do really good work, but you're kind of locked into helping people only once they they're sick or once they're hurting. So that definitely was a formative experience for myself as a teacher. And and then when I when I came back to California, I was I went to Calcita Lay. And I mean, I just saw all of the same issues that I saw in my upbringing while teaching. I mean, in my upbringing, my parents were trying to make it uh trying to you know figure out how they were going to navigate this this system. And I think my you know my family depended a lot on the generous social safety net that that we had at the time we were on Medicaid, we were on WIC. These are programs that are now on the chopping block. And these are the programs that allowed my family to in Spanish we say salir adelante, which means like to get ahead, basically, to you know, fulfill that uh American dream that for a lot of people is actually an American more of an American nightmare. Because, you know, the opportunities themselves are not are not very equal. And so, but seeing that, you know, those programs that that I had in my upbringing were still not enough when I was when when I made it to the classroom and when I'm now teaching youngsters who are like myself when I was a kid, you know, there's still so much more that we can be doing. And I think that that I see an opportunity, especially now given the the the intensification of people's struggles, the you know, what COVID taught us, what 2020 taught us, is that you know, people are ready for something new. Um so I'm hoping to bring these kinds of these this you know unique experience to to city council and to leadership for the working class of Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_01You you said you went to school in Ohio and that you went to school at Cal State LA. Where'd you grow up?
SPEAKER_00I grew up in and around the San Gabriel Valley. I was born in El Monte, and I think it's a common experience for many immigrants to kind of move around from place to place, even as an adult. I've had to move around, you know, kind of trying to find what is the most reasonable place to live that's you know, not a crazy amount, a crazy distance from from work, because you know, we have a very car-dependent infrastructure and culture in in Los Angeles. So I uh yeah, I grew up around San Gabriel Valley. My but I also grew up going having the privilege of going back to Mexico to see with you know my extended family. And I did that a lot more as a child, sometimes even without my my parents because they they couldn't travel. Um my mom actually was the one who was undocumented so for for some time. So she wasn't able to travel with me to Mexico to go see our family. And our experience in Los Angeles, you know, moving from place to place, it's hard for me to say that there's one particular area that's really, you know, the kind of the place that I grew up. I I went to high school in the San Gabriel Valley, I went to, you know, that's where my doctor and my community are. But really, my community is wherever the working class Latinos are in Los Angeles and you know, we're everywhere. And I think that that experience of fragmentation is all too common for those of us who you know don't have that the the privilege of saying we've stayed in one community for generations and and you know this is home. But so I'm I I feel like I can make home wherever I go. And having lived in the district, I I've this is home now to me. And where do you where do you teach now? I teach in Highland Park at Franklin High School. And during COVID, I taught at Wilson High School in El Sereno. And what subject do you teach? I'm a science teacher, so I've taught uh so I teach currently biology and environmental science. So actually it's a topic that's really fascinating to me because I mean the climate crisis is such an urgent, yeah, such an urgent issue for not just the young generation, but for everyone increasingly.
SPEAKER_01And where do you live?
SPEAKER_00Right now I live in Lincoln Heights. Uh owner, renter? I rent. Uh I'm in my apartment right now. So, you know, the uh hopefully, you know, one day uh it would be great if you know we could the majority of us could be homeowners, but especially for a lot of people in my generation, that seems increasingly out of reach. Uh you're uh have roommates? Not right now. Uh well, on and off. Sometimes I'll sometimes I'll take a roommate because that helps helps with the rent.
SPEAKER_01Um you are you if you were elected, you would be the youngest council member. You would be, I believe, only the uh second renter on the city council, uh maybe the third. Um tell me, as somebody of of of a different generation that has not served in City Hall, uh, what perspectives do you think you would bring to the city hall that is that are currently missing?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that young people are not afraid to try new things, to really break outside of the confines of what we've been told is, you know, makes a sustainable city government. What I mean by that is, you know, people in my generation, we're we're looking at the world we've inherited pretty much. You know, we see all of the cracks in the system all too much. We've seen how like even our school lunches have changed. I grew I grew up like on you know the free reduced lunch program, and even the quality of that has gone down. And so it just seems like everywhere we look, whether it's healthcare or looking for a decent job or looking for housing, you know, wanting to start a family, maybe even like something as as mundane as like trying to find insurance for whether it's for your car, for your health, you know, these things are becoming increasingly difficult to us. And we're basically saying, you know, how how can people live like this? And sometimes in at least in like conservative media, it's a little bit billed as like a you know, a sense of entitlement. But I don't think it's wrong to feel that we are entitled to clean air or a safe, healthy environment, or a dignified job. I think what we're saying is, you know, our predecessors, our ancestors, you know, they they built this world because there, it didn't seem like there was an alternative. But now it's getting, things are reaching a boiling point. And if we want to make sure that we have the same sort of outcomes as as the generations before us, that you know, we have that upward mobility, that we're able to, you know, actually achieve stability for ourselves and for our families, that that requires a reimagining of the system. And I think for me, that that means a system anchored in socialist principles, because the socialist system would address the root causes of all of these issues because they're not actually separate. You know, I talked about environment, housing, health, but they're actually core to people's livelihoods and they're and the system the symptoms that we see right now are part and parcel to the capitalist system.
SPEAKER_01I I assume a lot of your students know that you're running for office. Right. Uh when they find out, if if they're if they're curious and they they ask you, well, what is it that a council member does? What's the role of a council member? How do you answer that question?
SPEAKER_00Well, I tell them that when they when they walk to home from school or when they walk to school, the sidewalks that they're walking on, the bus that they're taking, the dash, all of the infrastructure that carries them to and from school, and you know, the economic situation that they're themselves and their parents are in or their family are in, all of those conditions are the result of decisions that people like city council members make on a day-to-day basis. So, you know, I tell them if if they're unsatisfied with the minimum wage or if they're satisfied with the minimum wage, that was a decision that was made by your local government. If you're wondering why, you know, some neighborhoods have better sidewalks and and cleaner streets than other neighborhoods, well, that's a decision from your city council member. If, you know, there's and you know, I can give them all all different kinds of examples, but I think it's actually I do see kind of like a spark in their eye because a lot of times they don't know what they've never heard of a city council member. Uh my school, it's a little bit different because one of the council members, UNICE, she actually went to the school that I teach at. So they they have heard of her and they they are she is sort of a badge of honor for the school, showing that you know uh a great leader can come from anywhere, just like them. And and so that's what I also try to instill in them is like, look, we this what I'm doing is not it's not really about myself, but it's about just regular ordinary people. And you don't have to be like a superhero to make positive changes. You can make positive changes wherever you are.
SPEAKER_01What's the angriest or the most frustrated you've been with city government?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I think that every time I get into my car to drive around, there's you know, the infrastructure and just the kind of the level of anxiety that I have while driving around, it it does feed into my frustrations, especially as an EMT. I mean, I saw a lot of car accidents in my time. And so I'm a very cautious driver and just as cautious as you might be driving around Los Angeles, there the the infrastructure itself just doesn't lend itself in all cases to safety. And I know that there are initiatives to make the streets a lot safer, and I and I and I see them in my neighborhood and I welcome them. But I mean, I prefer taking the bus to work when I can. Um, it's just a lot more pleasant, peaceful experience. So I mean, yeah, one thing is with infrastructure, just kind of on the daily, it kind of grinds and adds to that pressure of being a working person, just moving yourself through the city, you know, because that's part of our livelihoods. But then there was also specific instances. I think, you know, the most frustrated that I that I've been, you know, when when things are sort of coming to a to a boiling point had to have been a couple of years ago during the the whole scandal where the that the those three council members were you know basically outed as open races. And that was that was honestly an eye-opening moment for me as well, because I hadn't realized fully to what extent these council members were like plotting and and sort of using their political positions to their own benefit. And that was one of those moments where we also, it wasn't just myself, but you know, you you felt that collective energy from the community that wasn't gonna tolerate this. So I think that was in in recent history, that's one of the most frustrated moments I've felt.
SPEAKER_01Let me ask the the flip side of the question. Give tell me about a time when you were uh satisfied or optimistic or inspired by city government.
SPEAKER_00I actually look a lot at the recent work that has been done by council members Hernandez, Sota Martinez, you know, they're showing that for a long time, you know, we've had within reach so many different protections for working people in Los Angeles, like the right to counsel and you know, other programs that are you know extending you know the moratorium on evictions, you know, things like that that are providing very real relief to people. You know, sometimes when I say I'm a socialist, people tend to think like, oh, well, he's just you know against the system altogether, but that's not necessarily true. I think when our city government does pull through, like when it provided reliefs, relief for families during COVID so that people could stay housed and we saw you know rates of homelessness drop, that was our government actually showing up for us. And I was really honestly pleasantly surprised and and and I was really hopeful that you know, if if it took COVID to show what our city government is capable of, then you know, so be it. Now the the fight is really making sure that we keep those protections, that you know, they're not running out just because the COVID emergency is, you know, has been declared as over. So I have seen that our city government is able to pull through, especially for for renter protections, and you know, when when when worse comes to worse. So I think we just need to continue with that urgency now.
SPEAKER_01Uh tell me about the 14th district.
SPEAKER_0014th district, like I said, it feels like home. It is home to me. Uh just walking around, it's and talking to people, uh you can strike up a conversation with anyone. And it just has a small town feel to it, even though we're such a huge city and such a or such a huge part of the city and such a dense part. And even though there is sort of some areas that are more transient with you know people moving in, people coming out, it just feels like you know, we're still such a heavily majority working class area that we sort of there's sort of an understanding that we're we're kind of you know on this grind, you know, trying to just make it through another day, but we're making through it to making it through it together. And that's what I think makes it easy. I mean, I've talked to I sometimes I just stop into shops and you know strike up conversations with people. I think that being a council member or sorry, being a city council candidate now, it's sort of given me more of an excuse to even do that. But it's it's just a really great experience. And people here just have so much heart. Um, there's also, I think, just so many green spaces and so many places to walk around compared to other parts of Los Angeles that uh I think it's kind of you know sometimes is taken for granted as a little bit under the radar, but we have really amazing parks, hikes. I like going walking around the neighborhood because yeah, there's just there's a lot more greenery here than in other parts of in the city.
SPEAKER_01How long have you lived in the district?
SPEAKER_00I've lived in the district since 2021. So first I lived in El Sereno, and then was a little bit then then I was kind of moving between housing. I was in St. Gabriel for a little bit, then I came back and now I'm in in Lincoln Heights.
SPEAKER_01In Lincoln Heights. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And where do you spend time in the district other than your apartment? Well I think I sp I spent a lot of time uh in Highland Park uh you know just because that's where I work but then also it's really easy before after work you know stopping by walking that's another place where I like walking um I think going on on uh I used to spend a lot more time actually in El Sereno right on on Eastern and Huntington. There's just a lot of like little businesses and restaurants that I like going to there. And I really actually you know despite the shortcomings of our public transportation system I actually like living in areas that are that are like that like very walkable. So I used to live like right next to the food for less in El Sereno and so I like just walking around walking getting my groceries um that was when I had more time and I wasn't campaigning and things like that. And so same same goes for me now in in Lincoln Heights just walking on Broadway. Yeah I think the city has a lot to offer and it's just you know it it should be accessible though to to everyone you know not just people who who are of a specific income level and what uh would you say are the top three issues facing the district housing is number one you know we I think every I mean it's one of the top issues facing the city but especially in our district which is the epicenter of the evictions crisis where you know the the city controllers data is showing that we have such a disproportionate amount of evictions mostly in the downtown area but the yeah that it's it's it's really housing and I see also a lot of crumbling infrastructure crumbling housing that is not up to code not up to standard but people are living in it because you know you know they find a way they're busy with the with the day to day of of just make trying to survive really but I mean just walking up and down my street I see a lot of apartment buildings that are run down that need you know maintenance and so so on the one hand it's you know the infrastructure of this air of this area that's not just transportation not just the streets but the housing infrastructure keeping people housed and I mean I've noticed that there's a lot of tenants associations and tenants unions popping up to sort of meet that need. And there's also the issue of safety. I think public safety would be the next the next big issue and this one is I mean they're both tied together because a lot of times when people think of safety and think of housing, they also think of homelessness, you know, which is a huge issue in our city because we live in one of the wealthiest cities in the world and yet you go up and down Broadway and and or any you know major street and you see homeless individuals, you see, you know, it seems like there no matter how hard we try to get people housed there's always just more and more people becoming homeless. And so uh but the reason I say it's tied to public safety, I think people's perception of public safety is a little bit warped. I think safety has to do with how well our neighborhoods are taken care of and that means making sure that people are housed. It means making sure that that people have everything that they need that social safety net of you know making sure kids are are having after school programs or have you know development opportunities to keep them you know out out of crime or out of you know circles where they might be where but where that might lead to crime. I think all of these things together sort of form would would form the fabric of of the issues you know that we're seeing in the district. And so so I think that's that's about that that might be three but if if you let me have one more the I think also just worker protections and workers' rights. I mean it's becoming almost like a meme online that that Los Angeles is known for its strikes now which I think should be a mark of pride because it's showing that we have a really strong labor movement. But what it what it's pointing to is that you know there is a strong undercurrent that the well there's there's a strong degradation of of workers' rights that is the you know that that the owning class or that the capitalist class is trying to push onto workers but we're fighting back and we have a strong labor movement that is not going to tolerate that and starting to to pick up speed and that momentum has has not really wavered. So I think that's gonna be another big issue especially in the next coming years.
SPEAKER_01The 14th district is made up of a bunch of different individual neighborhoods or communities some very different from each other.
SPEAKER_00Are there any particular needs or issues that that certain neighborhoods have that are unique to those neighborhoods but are not global for the whole district yeah I mean I'm just thinking of the in that inequality in there's sort of a widening gap in in income you know you see in our in our district sort of the wealthy community is known as as Eagle Rock whereas the more the poorer community is is Boyle Heights I think that's kind of like how people think of the the spectrum. And then El Sedano Lincoln Heights are kind of in the middle of course that's a generalization there are working class people and and you know more I guess you know what we would call middle class people in in every part and those those communities are sort of grading against each other but I actually think they're they have a common interest in ensuring that everyone is taken care of you know that everyone has safe streets. I think there are some areas that are that's that feel more neglected. So where I live in Lincoln Heights and in El Sedeno, there are areas that just have a lot of trash that seems like you know city services are not paid attention to but it's not something that you necessarily see in Eagle Rock. In Eagle Rock you see much more much cleaner streets and it may not necessarily be anything to do with you know the people themselves who who live there. That's not where we should be putting like the blame or anything. It's just that everyone should be entitled to those same clean streets as an example. And you know if something wouldn't be tolerated in a wealthier community that it should have been tolerated in some of the poor communities as well. One other example that I can think of is some of the youth programs that are now offering like like childcare for for families. I think this is a really good program. You know families are paying $10 a week and their kids get meals they get trips and they're basically taken care of while their parents are at work. I think more more a lot of families in El Sereno are making use of this but we need more localized programs like this in a community like Lincoln Heights that you know has is kind of known for a lot more a lot fewer and more sparse youth programs like that. But it's these kinds of initiatives that you know they shouldn't just be applied to where there's you know high home ownership or where there's you know a high voting population. It should be an opportunity for everyone you know Boyle Heights as well so or and even downtown where there are communities and families that want to make sure that their kids are safe while they're at work or whether where they're at school. So you know these kinds of inequalities I think need to be need to be addressed and we can definitely do it if we're doing it in in some of the the wealthier communities.
SPEAKER_01So let me start talking about some of the issues that that are facing the city council. One of the issues that's really important around the city but particularly in the 14th district are the issues of development the the whole issue of development is the the the center of the controversy the corruption scandal with Jose Weizar who was representing this district for over a decade downtown has been the hub of a lot of development for Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_00How would you approach the issues of development in your district well in in my view as a socialist I kind of tend to I tr I tend to look at things from a systemic standpoint. And when I think of development I see the same things sort of what I've been talking about with infrastructure I mean it's the working class of Los Angeles that builds these major buildings that builds our sidewalks that drives our buses and yet we don't really have a say over where and how these resources are allocated. And what ends up happening is that these resources whether it's a new building a new you know apartment building or whatever it may be property it gets used to the best so that somebody can make a profit off of it and not necessarily to meet the community's needs. If it was working people that had a say, that had direction over how these resources are utilized, how they're harnessed, we would likely we I mean we would direct them to our communities we would direct them to our you know to to the needs that to the most pressing needs of our community where you know if we have people living on the streets there shouldn't be luxury housing going up you know basically right next to them you know to to displace even further people even more people I think that you know there is something to be said about about you know developing areas that that historically are are underserved that are historically for the working class of Los Angeles but that doesn't mean that we need to just start to you know that we're gonna basically develop without conscience of the of the community we have to if any if there's any kind of development it needs to be about preservation preserving the the working class businesses the working class families that are the ones who build up the city and I think they should be prioritized in all questions of development and and land use as well. Are there any particular projects in the pipeline that have been an issue in the campaign when you talk to people that you're either strongly for or strongly against yeah so in Boyle Heights there was the development project from the Tiao Corporation that was being proposed this project was about building a I believe it was a four or five story luxury apartment building 50 units five of which were going to be you know supposedly affordable housing but this was going to displace a lot of the legacy businesses that had been in that had been in that block for decades. You know there's a hair salon there's a vintage shop there's a bookstore and there's an there's a restaurant with the family who's also a residential tenant. So it's sort of a mixed use building right now. And this project had it been approved would have not only displaced a lot of these business the small businesses which are the the foundation of of livelihoods for all the tenants all the commercial tenants that live there it would also displace the residential tenants they're not they weren't necessarily being guaranteed housing after this and it would also signify a wider change that the fabric of Boyle Heights was going to be disrupted and basically open for sale and open for gentrification. And so there was a pretty significant community pushback against this project that said you know we've heard the phrases Boil Heights is not for sale but what that means is you know people were were organizing showing up together whether it was at a rally whether it was at you know planning commission meetings to oppose this project because you know there was a lot at stake here. For now it seems that it's been stalled and we were able to get the actual actually a vocal support even from the incumbent but I think it was only because we had this organization of people it wasn't because you know they felt he felt that that it was the right thing to do because no and nobody was saying anything about this project until this people's movement started to to organize around it. And there's a lot of other instances like this around the district right now there's also one happening actually in Eagle Rock there's uh uh Ontara Hill which is one of the last sort of natural areas that's being that has been preserved in Eagle Rock there's a lot of live oak species there that are that are crucial to the environment those are also an area where developers are looking to to start to build something there and and there is some community opposition but I think that also needs to be paid more attention to uh let me talk about homelessness for a bit you you raised it as one of the biggest issues uh facing your your district by by talking about housing uh it's universally considered the number one issue in the city I want to get a sense of how you think about the issue of homelessness so let me ask a very sort of elementary question.
SPEAKER_01What would you say is the cause of homelessness?
SPEAKER_00This is something that I think a lot of people well I think I I I try to look at the root cause of these issues. Sometimes you know in the media I think it tries to make people think that homelessness is somehow a personal failure and you know there are studies that show that you know a huge contributing factor to homelessness is the catastrophic loss of family relationships. But I actually think that none of that really gets at the root of why people become homeless. It has to do with the capitalist system in and of itself which says that you know it's housing is not a human right now in our system. Housing is a commodity that people are allowed to make a profit off of and so what that means is you have people that can buy up buildings and they can drive up rent prices they can leave their units empty just so that they can make a profit off of it later. So essentially they're using housing for speculation and what that's doing is creating an artificial scarcity which is what drives up prices what displaces communities and and families and which is what makes it so that there's never really a stop to the flow of people becoming homeless because no there isn't there isn't a law that says you know people must be housed no matter what but there are laws that say you know you can this is your housing you're this is your building you can do whatever you want with it even if it means leaving people out on the street. So as a city council member how do you address that there are I think even within this system of capitalism that these sort of confines that I've laid out there are still things that we can do. There are still immense amount of resources at our disposal that can allow us to house people immediately I think I think the city you know we have uh over $13 billion budget and it would mean allocating a significant portion of that budget to housing people to you know seizing empty units making sure giving them to people so that they're housed creating streamlined processes I think that there there have been good initiatives that sort of show or or are paved the the way that that show that what what is possible basically with the within the current confines of the system and actually if I if if I may I know that there has been programs such as Inside Safe and Home for Good. And I think a lot of times people on the outside you know people in the public they see oh well you know there's thousands of homeless people but they've only housed like a hundred people so you know what good is it really? And I think you know to outsiders of the of you know people who are not in office it seems like well maybe they're just doing this to to sort of placate us or you know as a concession but it's not really going to solve the issue. But I don't know if maybe you're as you know since you've been a city council member if you're able to speak to some of the challenges that have come up when trying to implement these these issues. I'm sorry these programs. In terms of purchasing uh buildings or purchase purchasing buildings and and getting people housed through these sort of comprehensive programs.
SPEAKER_01Well historically one of the the challenges has been uh the the speed with which new projects can get built uh there's been a whole bunch of regulations that that make things take forever uh in my part of town that I represented uh there was a very heavy NIMBY set uh sentiment that would sue to stop projects and they had the the the resources to slow things down considerably um there's also in some places a a a lack of land the government doesn't own enough land in in my district for instance there wasn't a lot of government land other than beach parking lots and and and stuff like that uh so getting other levels of government to cooperate was always a a struggle whether it was getting trying to see if the the school district will allow the building of housing on school properties there's some opportunity there. But then being able to put together a complete project that helps people uh the the city traditionally doesn't fund services mental health services uh or any of the other services that go with permanent supportive housing that's the county and for a number of years the city and the county didn't work particularly well on on doing that they they seem to be doing a a better job than than they did before I I'm curious though you mentioned Inside Safe uh and you mentioned Home for Good um for a while every council member sort of was bringing a different approach to their district and how they addressed homelessness. Mayor Bass has shifted that a little bit by focusing on Inside Safe but you you've had the opportunity to watch Kevin DeLeon operate on homelessness what would you do differently so a big part of my campaign and my platform has has been trying to educate people that it's you know when we when we say housing is a human right it is realizable but only realizable if we have the backup and the support of the community organized through a people's movement.
SPEAKER_00So I think a you know one of the orders of business that will be sort of the underlying current through all of the initiatives that I'm proposing is to use my platform as a city council member if I'm elected to to build up that movement to show that you know whether it's through a tenants organization like the LA Tenants Union or a workers union we need to sort of build a coalition that prioritizes the needs of working people so that we can pressure not just you know the whoever's elected but so that we can pressure you know the the city government as a whole so that we can pressure all of those partners into meeting our needs. And I think that you know prefacing you know all the other policy initiatives with that understanding shows that is is actually a very historical understanding of how people get their rights. When it came to to gay rights, when it came to women's rights, these rights were not necessarily achieved just out of the goodwill of politicians. These rights were seized by people who had had enough and who stood up and organized around these issues. There are policies you know once we have you know as we build up this movement which I think will be an ongoing process there are certain policies that I think could be like first order of business. And I think that involves canceling COVID-19 debt I think that you know both for tenants and also for small landlords and and homeowners because at the end of the day it's it's the large banks that are profiting off of people suffering. And people so many people are still carrying COVID-19 debt and they're still you know facing eviction cases because they're unable to to pay back that rent. You know people haven't gotten back up on their feet despite all of the you know you know supposedly all of the help that we've been getting from from local and federal government. I also think an uh something easy that we could do and that I think I would have the support of other council members would be repealing 4118. These are you know this is a policy that doesn't really address the root cause of homelessness but only you know moves people around essentially and it's so I believe it's a waste of resources. Though though that money that time that is being used to you know disrupt people who already have nothing would be better used. You know every single dollar would be better used if we were to invest that into the community into housing people. And you know I've also I've already mentioned some of the other things but you know banning luxury developments but I think we need to take a hard look at the housing housing department and building and safety as well these departments need a significant overhaul restructuring you know what whatever we want to call it but we need to actually have you know working class and and tenant leadership in these departments. I think right now they're sort of trying to work with everyone you know they're trying to serve both landlords and tenants but really if you've worked with tenants who are trying to submit complaints there's a huge variance. You might get an inspector that is very responsive, very on top of it. You might get an inspector that lags that takes a really long time to submit your complaints and so there's a huge disparity in the level of service that tenants are getting and in a city where almost two thirds of people are renters, which is you know almost twice twice the national average this is a you know this is a renter city we should have a housing department that serves the people. And so I think that means not just co governing with you know I've mentioned the LA Tenants Union or other tenant organizers and nonprofits, but it actually means having people who are tenant organizers on staff in our in our housing department to make it into a people's department that will actually fight for for tenants and really the majority of working class people and families in Los Angeles. So those are that's kind of how I'm envisioning a really comprehensive look at you know taking Los Angeles from you know the city now it's we're known for our homelessness. We're known for gentrification but not but through these measures, through providing this relief, we can actually start to fight back against all of these issues, whether it's gentrification, displacement, or homelessness.
SPEAKER_01So let's shift to public safety. You mentioned public safety a little bit earlier in the conversation. I want to get a more detailed sense of how you think about the issue. And so let me ask first of all when is the last time you felt unsafe?
SPEAKER_00You know I'm a high school teacher and unfortunately through the whole time I've been alive you know I grew up post post Columbine post 9-11 you know unfortunately the issue of domestic terrorism because I think that's that's what we should call you know these these senseless shootings that happen at our schools where we're where the most vulnerable population is the majority of the time you know this is becoming increasingly the norm. And I don't think we should tolerate that. You know we we are doing what we have to you know my school this just this year installed a a buzzer at the front gate and you know this is kind of unheard of the school that that that I went to was actually when I was still in high school when I was in elementary school they were wide open there was no gates there was no you know there was a sense of security and safety because that was what we're used to that's what we're guaranteed. But now schools are such a target and you know it can come from anywhere it can come from outside it can come from you know a a you know a troubled individual within the school you you never know really where the security is and so there's always something kind of in the back of your head saying you know is today going to be the day and it's the same when I'm in like crowded areas you know when I'm at a big event I think just knowing that there you know no matter how well intentioned a the the police response may be we've seen places like Uvaldi where the response is just not quick enough. We know that the police is not going to be able to to prevent these crimes and they only respond to them. And so so that's that's one of my I guess higher anxieties just as a as an educator is just knowing that we're a target at school. But honestly I mean walking around I've all I've ever known is working class communities. People you know understandably take precautions my the area that I live in is like you know sort of I think in a lot of people's minds it's like known for like gang violence but I think in over the last 15 years it has gotten safer and I mean I I I feel like there's nothing really when I walk around my community I feel at home so I don't feel like there's anything that could happen to me that could be possibly worse than what's already happening to people day to day who are you know experiencing homelessness and so on. But I do think that there is sort of a uh I think a propagandic push to make people perceive that they are more less safe than they were say 20 years ago, whether it's on public transit or in their own homes. You're seeing a lot more you know of those ring cameras that people are installing. But yeah to me it's just I I guess I I don't feel any less safe in my in my own apartment than I do at school than I do anywhere else. It's just sort of operating with that degree of caution knowing that we haven't really addressed the root cause of the of of violence yet.
SPEAKER_01What what do you think are the public safety challenges facing Los Angeles? You talked about how there's an element that that seems to be hyping up a sense of crime but how would you define the the problems that we need to address to to make people safe well number one I think we need to stop expecting the police force to respond to every sort of emergency.
SPEAKER_00I don't think they should be responding to I'll I'll preface this by saying that there's people in my family who are police officers or who formerly were police officers. And so sometimes I pick their brain about it. And I think actually there's a lot of common ground with what even police officers themselves want out of their job and what those of us who are you know who are we're in the streets protesting to defund the police you know were we're calling for in 2020 and who have been calling for since I think that you know police officers don't want to be responding to mental health crises. They're not equipped to it. You know they're not they're not experts on homelessness. So why should they be responding to these things? I think a community you know they're what we envision is basically more of a a a structure like what we've seen in Denver structures like what have being being piloted around the country of community violence interruption programs that are staffed by community members who know very intimately the issues and the people in their community and who are the best or who are well positioned to actually intervene. I think that when we expect police officers to intervene in all these situations, a lot of times they end up escalating things. You know, they are they're they're armed and you know we don't want to have any sort of tragedy like we've seen historically with with our police system whether it's nationwide or here in LA you know there's there's tons of historical examples whether it was with Andrés Guardado the murder the murder of Andrés Guardado the beating of Rodney Kane you know all throughout Los Angeles history there is you know it points us to the fact that the issues of policing are are systemic. It's not about the individuals. And I think that that doesn't necessarily mean we want everyone to sort of fend for themselves. It doesn't mean that people need to suddenly take security into their own hands. It just means that we need to start as a city government funding these infrastructure like violence interruption programs so that the community has a backbone but to to rely on and to to actually feel safe. But I think that security also comes from ensuring that people's needs are met, having access to food, having access to to dignified jobs, housing all of that is are things that you see in communities that are safe. In communities that are safe, you know it's not because they have a huge the the biggest police budget it's because everyone has all of these things already and so this sort of comprehensive look at public safety I think allows us to then start to imagine okay once everyone has all of their needs, once everyone sort of has a trust in the community with each other, how can we then start to imagine these alternative programs? Do you characterize yourself as an abolitionist that one is a is a I I think let me let me think about this one for a second because working people deserve protection for example if a landlord is harassing their tenants I think the people who are who I'm politically aligned with they're happy to see a police officer arresting that landlord and I have seen it you know that landlord who's breaking the law who is keep making us unsafe I don't think it's about you know having the absence of a structure I think a real sense of abolition is not is is really abolition of a police force that oppresses us. My platform is about ending police terror meaning you know no matter how like I said it it's no matter how well intentioned a police officer may be at the end of the day the system of policing is geared and the way the laws are you know qualified immunity these kinds of things are geared towards creating the conditions that you know lead to to instances like George Floyd like Brianna Taylor. I don't think that sort of policing system should be tolerated and that that that does need to be abolished but in its, you know, as it's replaced and I think this isn't something that happens overnight. I don't think we just delete the the police budget overnight and then all of a sudden install something new. I think it's a it's a phasing out and uh and a transition but I think it actually requires a national transitioning into a socialist system. I think we won't really know true safety and true police evolution until we have really a reconstruction of society on socialist principles that then says okay our your the police force is now not not the police that we know it, but it's actually the community. It's tenants, you know what is law enforcement well it's tenants enforcing that their landlord respects their rights. It's you know because right now uh a landlord can actually hire the police or the sheriff's department more specifically to evict you if you don't you know if you don't pay your rent if you lose an eviction case. But you can't hire the police to defend you from being evicted. So I think that a socialist position on on you know what a police force would be would be you know something that works in the interests of the people something where now we have teams of people working and for our benefit where we have a defense against those who seek to oppress us. So that's yeah that's that's how I would approach that. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Let me ask you about climate change.
SPEAKER_00What do you see as uh the city's role or what influence does the city have in addressing climate change yeah uh so I'm a public school teacher that I teach environmental science and so this is a topic that you know I spend pretty much every day talking about and there's so many solutions I mean really the sky's the limit when it comes to when it comes to climate solutions there's so much stuff that is that you know so many technologies that have been developed that I think could be easily implemented but it requires us to prioritize the needs of working people the needs of you know people who don't have cars pedestrians bicyclists alike elderly disabled folks when we start to prioritize things for example like like public transportation if we make it if we expand ridership by making it free by expanding public transportation that helps us with our carbon emissions when we start to also we we can also look at building materials there's actually different types of uh building materials and structures that help to reduce the heat island effect because Los Angeles is a very hot city it's a very smoggy city and so different kinds of things like like like planting trees and you know increasing our tree canopy as well as having new building requirements that reduce the heat island effect that can help us have a clean and safe Los Angeles we can also do things like I mean the Oakland City Council as an example they banned natural gas in any new construction. That actually immediately sent out ripple effects throughout the country and the natural gas corporations and their lobby immediately tried to prevent similar ordinances from being passed in other local governments around the country. And that's because natural gas is actually it's still a fossil fuel it's not you know a lot of people hear the word natural and it's like oh it must be green. It is you know slightly better than petroleum but it's still at the end of the day a fossil fuel and we do have to phase it out. A state like California has enough land and resources to actually have to be completely run on geothermal wind and solar energy and but what we need is actually subsidies. So I think this this might require a lot of interplay with the county with the with the state government but we can have we can have a much a very significant impact not just locally in taking care of the environment for our community and for our youth so that the next generation has a clean environment and a clean Los Angeles to live in but we can actually show leadership in you know so many different ways that that other cities can then start to actually implement as well you know everything from the rainwater capture in our sidewalks that there's that you know they could be structured differently designed differently to to trap rainwater better could be putting that rainwater to better use I could be here all day really talking about you know different different solutions but at the end of the day I think a win for the environment is a win for the working class because it is poor communities it's black and Latino communities that suffer the most from environmental racism, that have the dirtiest air, the dirtiest soil. I mean we saw how exide contaminated oil heights and the surrounding areas even all the way up to Lincoln Heights where I'm at you know because it was basically unfettered corporate corporations that were just allowed to pollute for set for decades. And the same can be said about oil well drilling I mean we have an opportunity now to say okay the climate crisis is reaching a boiling point. We need to take matters into our own hands and show what leadership is going to look like on this front.
SPEAKER_01You mentioned transportation as part of your answer to that question and making it easier for people and more accessible for people to access transit. You also talked about infrastructure in one of your earlier answers.
SPEAKER_00I'm curious there's a there's a ballot measure this year in the city of Los Angeles that would require the city anytime it repaves a street to bring it up to the standards of its mobility master plan and add uh dedicated bike lanes or bus lanes or or other improvements uh uh when indicated whenever they repave a street is that something you support or oppose yeah I would definitely support that I mean uh I also have I know how complicated things get because I've seen the breakdown of for example at an intersection all of the different departments that control different areas of the city you know the the lighting and the electricity is controlled by by maybe Department Water and power then there's the sidewalk then the street maybe if there's a a uh state control road that goes through it you know that's now the state is is into it I don't know maybe to preface could you speak a little bit to just how that interplay works between all of these different departments is it really up to the whim of a city council member to decide what happens with the streets or is there just so much noise from all these different departments that you know things sort of get lost?
SPEAKER_01It's both uh it's those things aren't mutually exclusive. There's a there's a it left to its own devices it's hard for a project to get done unless somebody's really pushing it because there's so many different agencies that can uh derail it or ignore it. Street Services, Bureau of Engineering, Department of Transportation. If there is a project that a council member opposes, they really do, if not on paper, they do, for all practical purposes, have the ability to kill it. The departments will they'll work on a project that people support rather than one where the council member's opposing it. And historically that's been one of the reasons that we don't have as many protected bike lanes or don't have as as as many bus-only lanes. And uh so one of the reasons people put forth this initiative is sort of take it out of the hands of of council members and and make the city do it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah I think I mean if so long as as a council member does have influence I do intend to use my position to support measures like the ones you're talking about you know having these you know what we what I've heard referred to as complete streets where you know there are you know safety should be the number one metric of how we build a successful road and successful transportation infrastructure. I don't think it should be speed or efficiency. I think we should it this is something that's going to take a really long time. I think it's you know it far outlives the the term of any one council member. But I do think that there needs to be a strong leadership that says okay we need to start to imagine for the sake of climate and also for the sake of public safety how we can be like other cities not just in in socialist countries but in capitalist countries as well. Like I mean you look at the public transportation system in Japan or in London, you know, cities that maybe have a smaller footprint than Los Angeles but who that nevertheless have a similar amount of resources and scale. I think that there's so much that we can do to improve the infrastructure to really take that burden off of working people who are the ones you know who rely on the safety of our roads the most so yeah I do think that we need to take that strong leadership promote promote new infrastructure for the safety and benefit of the environment and the working class.
SPEAKER_01There's been a lot of debate over the past year really since the the tapes came out about government reform in Los Angeles. One of the things that has been discussed is expanding the size of city councils reducing the size of council districts what do you think?
SPEAKER_00Yeah I think we definitely need to catch up to cities like Chicago or New York I mean they have 50 city council members for us at least Chicago you know around 50 council members for a population of a similar scale and I think that would you know 50 council members in Los Angeles that would actually enable really local community leaders to take office people who actually know the issues of the community I think a grassroots candidate like myself would have a much stronger shot at being elected. It wouldn't be you know I think it would it would make it harder for money to dominate politics as it does right now. And I mean 50 sounds like a huge jump from you know where we are right now. I think it would have to be have to be done very carefully you know independently because as we saw you know the three city council members that were caught in the race in the in you know in the racist audio tape it wasn't just about the racism you know that that was a very you know disgusting part of it but it was also that they were using their power to gerrymander the districts to their own benefit to their own favor you know treating the people of their district like pawns trying to break up renters in the district to not create you know renter to to divide renter power basically among the different districts I think that shows the urgent need for a reimagining of the districts and and making it so that we have actual justice in our representation. You know it's not just about equality. I think another thing that was racist about what they were saying is that you know it seemed like they wanted just a Latino dominated city council. I don't think that's necessary even as a Latino myself and as a as a gay Latino like I don't think I would necessarily want a city council that's you know just all Latino because that's leaving out a lot of people that's leaving out so many different communities from oppressed nationalities. I think even taking it a step further not just saying that that we need you know 50 seats but we also need to guarantee seats for some of these oppressed communities I mean if we could imagine you know guaranteed representation for the African American community or for the Asian American community for the Arab American community here in Los Angeles these you know it seems radical it would it wouldn't be about having a quota but it would be making sure that these voices are heard that they will always have representation on the city council and it would mean that we would have to finally start to really take a hard look at the historic historic and systemic racial inequality that pervades this whole country you know Los Angeles isn't specific to it but but that really is has pervaded in in Los Angeles for decades. And uh just one last thing to go along with that I think it would also require you know putting limits on on money in politics I think right now you know you need a lot of money to win an election a lot of times money ends up winning out but if there were more limits on it you know people would be able to see candidates on more of an equal footing and would be able to really make a decision about you know would be able to elect leaders that actually will be fighting for their interests.
SPEAKER_01If you get elected uh which uh uh current or recent council member do you think you will be most politically alike or aligned with I think it it to from issue to issue it could vary.
SPEAKER_00I think so far the one that I'm most aligned with is Ulysses Hernandez specifically because of her vote on the budget. She refused to vote for an increase in the police budget and I I wholeheartedly agree with that. I don't think it should be you know I don't think that's so that that is a very crucial moment where she showed that she's willing to be you know persona non grata in the rest of the city council if it means she's sticking to the principles that she got elected on that's something that I'm that I'm starting to become very increasingly aware of because I mean from day one of my campaign I've been attacked for being you know a socialist for being young for being gay all of these things that I think you know this it scares only the people who are the elite in power because we have the most power to Change things and to change things for the benefit of ordinary people. So I'm not really afraid of being, you know, adding my voice to that chorus, being having an ally in UNICES and saying, you know, a police budget that that is, you know, going to increase another billion dollars over the next four years. You know, bringing the police budget to $4 billion, which is actually like twice. I don't know, many people know this, but that's actually twice the budget of the military budget of a country like North Korea, which only spends $2 billion on its military. You know, that hypermilitarization is actually why the reason why so many of our communities don't have the adequate services that we need. It's also coming up again, seeing how, you know, our you know, nationally, our country is funding the state of Israel and sending all those money, all that money abroad when it should be investing into childcare and health care for our citizens here. And so, you know, things, you know, these kinds of values show up, you know, and in votes like for the budget. And I think that, you know, for now, UNICES seems like I'm the one most closely aligned with.
SPEAKER_01You you mentioned in your answer that there's a number of ways or a number of things you've been criticized about as a candidate, being a socialist being one of them. But you also said uh being gay was another one. In in what way have you been uh attacked or criticized uh as a gay candidate?
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, there's a rising tide in sort of this fascist conservative push against teachers, specifically and and trans people, specifically as you know, as we interface with children in our day-to-day. I think that the overwhelming majority of people support teachers, they trust our judgment, they know that we're professionals in everything that we teach. And it's really uh, you know, there is we we do have to deal with the fact that there is a rise though in this sort of conservative push. And trans people are being attacked over it. I'm thinking of um um maybe, maybe a girl for Congress, you know, who has been very vocal about this. Yep, you know, there we have to contend with it, but I think that we have a strong movement. I think there are more people, far more people who believe in a more tolerant Los Angeles and a more tolerant country that want to preserve the rights that we've won over the decades of struggle to respect us as a community. And, you know, now is the time to step up and organize against that. It's not the time to self-censor or to back away. You know, the the right-wing Republicans are finding everything to attack us on, you know, they're coming up with, you know, critical race theory as if that's something that's taught in high schools. But, you know, and uh, and what they're trying to do is erode away at at the trust that people have in teachers, which, you know, teachers are, you know, tasked already with so many things. We're we're the first line of defense for you know the emotional support of students, we're their mentors, we're connecting them with mental health services. And, you know, I think most families and parents who of conscience actually see that and support us. But, you know, they're we just have to make sure that our voices are louder than those voices that seek to sort of bring us down.
SPEAKER_01Final question. Uh, you get elected. Um, what would be your own personal measure of success in the job after four years?
SPEAKER_00I think that showing how much we are able to actually accomplish within four years will be a metric of success. What I mean is, you know, it's it's I think a lot of times city council members sort of go under the radar with, you know, people tend to focus more on like presidential elections and things and things like that. But you know, there's so much of our day-to-day lives that are that are decided by the daily decisions of our city council members. I think that in Fin Four years, we're able to create structures in the community. I mean a coalition, a real working movement of working class people, that will that will be a mark of success. I will mention, you know, part of that that is starting to take shape. I think a candidate can also start to make that take shape. I'm trying to form a coalition with tenants unions. I've just been endorsed by the UAW Region 6, which is 100,000 workers. You know, if we were able to revive the working people's movement, just like how we had it in the 40s and the 50s before the McCarthyist era, where people were turning to their workers' unions and their tenants unions because they were principled, they were on the cutting edge of policy initiatives that were actually serving the needs of people, that were helping people that were unemployed. You know, that sort of revival is really what we're what we need to aim for in the next, not just in the next four years, but in the next decade. And I think that my measure of success won't be about, you know, how many election cycles I'm able to cling on to power. You know, the the idea isn't to become a career politician, but the idea is to be a working class candidate, a working class council member that shows look, look at how much we're able to do even within a capitalist system, even within a capitalist city council, you know, or a council that that you know is existing within the current confines of what we know as a democracy. But there's so much, and I think that will show people the potential of what can be done. And it will actually, you know, Los Angeles can show leadership as a beacon for working class leadership, not just for the rest of the state, but for the whole country. I think people will be looking to Los Angeles to see how do we respond to racism in our in our halls of power, how do we respond to you know this dire homelessness crisis, which is a uh really a humanitarian crisis that that the whole world knows about. So, you know, if we are able to get even half of the policies that I'm proposing passed, that would be historic because you know we're we're expecting it to be a struggle at every step of the way. How can people find out more or get involved? Yeah, my my username everywhere is Lalo4CD, and then the numbers one four and lalo for cd14.com. My program is there. I'm on TikTok, Instagram, people of my generation very, you know, into social media right now. So it's definitely one of the best ways that we're able to get our message across, knowing that you know we're not always going to uh grassroots candidates like me are not always going to be front and center in the in the corporate media.
unknownGreat.
SPEAKER_01Lella Vargas, thanks for joining me on What's Next Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much, Mike.
SPEAKER_01And that does it for this edition of What's Next Los Angeles. I will have many more candidate interviews in the coming weeks. My thanks to my friend Marta Avery for sound editing and production on this episode, and thank you for joining me and for listening. Please follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen. And you can also look me up on Substack or social media at MikeBuck. Until next time, thank you. Take good care and peace.