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
Girl on Fire: Ysabel Jurado
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Ysabel Jurado is shaking up Los Angeles politics. A progressive candidate rooted in service to her community, she is taking on an establishment that is fighting back hard and ugly. But she remains joyful and optimistic. Today I talk – and play a game of "Name That Tune" – with Ysabel Jurado – on What's Next, Los Angeles.
Mike’s CD14 Soundtrack
What About US - Pink
The Rent is Too Damn High - Jimmy McMillan
I Can’t Breathe - H.E.R.
Your Racist Friend - They Might be Giants
I’m Coming Out - Diana Ross
Fight the Power - Public Enemy
Girl is on Fire - Alicia Keys –
Ysabel's Favorite Campaign Song
Anything Can Happen - Ellie Goulding
LA FORWARD PROGRESSIVE VOTER GUIDE
LA PODCAST
What's Next, Los Angeles? is produced and hosted by Mike Bonin, in partnership with LA Forward.
Isabel Urado is shaking up Los Angeles politics. A progressive candidate rooted in service to her community, she is taking on an establishment that is fighting back hard and ugly. But she remains joyful and optimistic. Today I talk and I play a very timely game of name that tune with Isabel Urado on What's Next, Los Angeles. Hi everybody and welcome. Thanks so much for joining me. It is Mike Bonin. Joy vs. Fear. Outsider vs. status quo. Inspiring versus scandal plagued. David vs. Goliath. Those are just some of the ways that people have been describing the race for the 14th District LA City Council seat between Isabel Urado and that other guy, Kevin DeLeon. Isabel is a Highland Park native, the child of undocumented immigrants, a single mom to a teenage daughter, and a tenants' rights attorney. She's queer, she's a Filipina, and she is a progressive movement leader. She's also a first-time candidate running a grassroots campaign. And she beat three incumbent elected officials in the March primary. She has been building her high-energy grassroots team since then, while winning the support of Dolores Huerta, Supervisor Hilda Silise, the Democratic Party, the local labor movement, and a whole lot more. And she's been running against a shameless, scandal-plagued incumbent, and she has been on a roll. At least until last week, that is, when there was a little bump in the road, when she quoted a song lyric that disparages the police by using a particular phrase using the F-word. Now her opponent and his supporters in the police union, which, let's remember, routinely defends police brutality and apparently has no problem endorsing a racist, whip themselves into a false hysterical frenzy all over a freaking song lyric. So with that in mind, I decided I would play a little game of name that tune with Isabel. I picked a half dozen songs that could be a soundtrack of this race. Songs that are sort of reminiscent of her or her opponent, or conjure up thoughts about the issues in this race, or about the voters of the 14th District. I interviewed her early Saturday morning, not far from her home in Highland Park, where DeLeon supporters were protesting outside her home, waking her neighbors early on the Saturday morning. And before she embarked on a full day of going door to door, talking to voters, and attending community events with large crowds of her cheering supporters. We talked, and here is that conversation. Good morning, Isabel.
SPEAKER_05Good morning, Mike.
SPEAKER_01How are you doing?
SPEAKER_05I am perky today.
SPEAKER_01Plenty of reason to be. You got just, as we're recording, you got just over a week until the election. We are in Highland Park today, recording. Uh instead of recording in my man cave on the west side, we're recording uh here in Highland Park on the Saturday before the election. And uh it's been a lively morning. We'll get into that in a second. But I was just reflecting. I mean, we've we've seen each other a lot over the past several months, obviously, but the last time we sat down to talk for a podcast was prior to the primary when people still didn't really know who you were, where a lot of people weren't really giving you a lot of uh uh a chance for uh for winning.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh before you got the endorsement of Hilda Solis, of Dolores Huerta, uh before you get this huge momentum, before you came in first in the primary. Just let's let's pause for a second and sort of inhale all the stuff that has happened.
SPEAKER_05Oh God, I might want to vomit.
SPEAKER_04No, it's been good since.
SPEAKER_01It's good, but also so uh how does it feel to have done everything you have done over the past year?
SPEAKER_05It is uh wild. It's very been such a wild ride for Disneylanders. It is very much like Toad's Wild ride right now. Um, all these like quick turns, you know, flames. I don't know. Um, it's just been so interesting. I mean, thinking about election night, I am just celebrating how far we've gotten building something out of nothing. There have been so, so many firsts on this campaign for me, like uh simultaneously learning how to be a candidate, learning how to be a boss of, you know, from four people to more than that, uh, learning how to be a small business owner of, I guess, in two instances, a half a million dollar enterprise, which is more money than I've ever owned in my had in my life to manage. Um, and somehow doing that all at once in the last, I don't know. I guess I filed December 2022. And that's really when I was like, okay. And since then I've just put my heart and soul into it. And so to think of what we've built thus far, the momentum and all the accomplishments, it's really, it's really something that I won't vomit at. It it really warms my heart to think about all of that and how we've all grown.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I uh I've been to a few of your campaign events, and you can tell a lot about a candidate by their campaign and by the people they attract and sort of the movement that they create. Some people create an operation, some people create a movement. Uh, some people create a positive energy, some people create a negative energy. And uh you have created this really loving, heart-led, optimistic community movement. Whereas your opponent, who I'm clearly not a big fan of, has really created this sort of cynical fear-based operation. Um, so first of all, kudos to you for creating that because that's hard to do. How has that felt putting that together?
SPEAKER_05I didn't realize how mom, how much of a mom my energy is, but apparently that is very, very true. Uh just like so uh disarmingly a mom. To have this kind of community is just a reflection of the community that raised me and just the family that I had, which was welcoming, jovial, joyous, like the fact that we always had parties every weekend. I mean, if there's anything that I can definitely say that me and my campaign manager can do, we can throw a hell of a party. And in part, that's just like we grew up in these kinds of neighborhoods. And and so for me, it's just kind of an extension of the legacy of my family, like my mom, my Lola's. It really feels like that and and joyous and the people we attract and you know, the multi-generational aspect. So it's kind of like this extension of all the things that I already knew. Um, I will say I remember having an interview the other day, and someone was like, Yeah, your campaign is just so it exudes joy and like you just look so happy all the time. And I was like, ha ha during this campaign, it hasn't always been that. Obviously, there have just been so many challenges and growing pains. And even me, you know, I'm just notoriously hard on myself. Uh, you may know this from our conversations, but just so hard on myself and so wanting to be better. And so um, you know, I'm glad that's reflected. And when we are in true community with one another, it does come out. Or, you know, when we start dancing at a just an event that wasn't a dancing event, it's kind of like this is awesome! Yes, this gets me out of my body and shakes my nervous system. And so it's been great to see it grow uh exponentially and catch fire, as it were. It's been amazing. This is something I never thought would happen for me or be able to do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, and you're in the the hardest part of a campaign, particularly for a progressive. It's when all the the the money starts coming in, the attack ads. We were uh just at your house when I was picking you up, and there were protesters outside, including members of Kevin DeLeon's staff. Yes, uh, of course, all sort of uh trying to manipulate and make hay out of the moment that's been in the news for the past week about uh your appearance at Cal State State LA, where you uh quoted a song lyric that has sort of uh fed the attacks from the LA police union. Uh how are you holding up this week?
SPEAKER_05This week has been tough. Uh, you know, I've never thought I'd go viral, but here we are. Um and I think, you know, I've been knocking on doors, which uh some sage person told me to do, and talking to people. And, you know, people have already voted, people are still with us, people, it's the beginning of a conversation, and we talk about the city's broken budget and fiscal responsibility. People are with us. Um, and so when you get out of the airwaves and you talk to real people, you find out what's ha really happening, and I feel really good about it.
SPEAKER_01There's no better cure for campaign bullshit and and and the campaign blues than going door to door and talking to actual voters and realizing what you know the LA Times may report about or what Twitter is talking about is not what people are concerned about at their doorsteps. They're really concerned about how you're gonna impact their lives and improve it. So uh good on you that you're going door to door. So this whole Brujaha this week has come uh from you uh quoting a song lyric. So I thought maybe a a fun way to go about this interview today was uh to play a little game of name that tune. And what I've done is I've picked some songs that are either sort of movement themed or that uh remind me of you. So I'm gonna play a few snippets and then uh let's see what you can identify and how they uh connect to your campaign. Let me get the first one here.
SPEAKER_03What about all the places? What about them? What about trust? What about us?
SPEAKER_05I love it.
SPEAKER_01Uh so can you identify that song?
SPEAKER_05It is uh What About Us by Pink.
SPEAKER_01Ah, yes, you got it. Uh does that resonate with you at all about this campaign?
SPEAKER_05You know it does. It's about government failing its people, about promises not kept. We were in downtown. We were downtown, residents that I couldn't meet the meet and greet because I had COVID, rescheduled, and they were like, Isabel, we want you to actually walk the streets of downtown with us. We want you to see what it's like at night and how unsafe it is. And then we got to a Spring Street park where they were like, Yeah, we were promised uh the children's playground was going to be relocated and that we're gonna get more green and we're gonna get a beautiful fence, and and that they were gonna replant the trees, that the dogs had been ruined. And they were like, Yeah, nobody did that. So we replanted the trees ourselves. And they were like, nobody cleans this. We've asked for someone to clean this, and someone, a resident that lives nearby, out of the goodness of his heart, he cleans it all the time. And when he goes on vacation, there's just like dog poop everywhere. And I was just like, wow, look at all these promises that you were made during the campaign trail and just haven't come to fruition or yeah, even haven't been met with until that, until this moment again, right? Um, and so I I feel that a lot of the constituents throughout the district feel that they don't feel listened to, they feel forgotten, they feel used.
SPEAKER_01They feel left behind. Yeah. Um, it that's been a a a theme that I have seen and heard a lot in this campaign.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh real sense of feel failure and abandonment, not just from the current elected official, but that's sort of been a a trend in this district for a while, right?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's been a trend in this district. And even if, I mean, you know, going through this campaign, people really do like are heartbroken about Jose Wisar, right? They they thought he was a good council member, was doing like moving things along and actually cared about certain issues. And the fact that he was, you know, money laundering or being bribed, you know, in in the back in the back end was just so disappointing and frustrating to be so lied to in such a nice, clean way almost, you know. Um, and so that betrayal is deep for a lot of folks.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it sure is. All right, so I'm gonna go to a second song, and this is a song that uh speaks to definitely one of the issues in Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_02It's too dang.
SPEAKER_01Sound familiar?
SPEAKER_05I was like, I was about to add lib. Uh yes, it does, because that is true. The rent is too bleep high. Um, no more singing.
SPEAKER_01Now you know profanity, huh?
SPEAKER_05I do know profanity, and my dad has uh I didn't tell uh yeah, my dad gave me a talk and two that is now backed up.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so the rent is too darn high.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean that's what people are saying. Uh housing affordability, uh rent increases. I mean, I always talk about the senior that lived, uh we actually had canvas and he was down the street or no longer because that 6% increase was gonna impact him. And he was like, if I don't get another disability, my social security is not gonna cover this rent increase. So he self-evicted and he moved to Pasadena and now he's a roommate. But he was living at that space for 15 or 16 years in a studio, and I think he had a cat. I remember the cat, but I don't think he was able to take the cat with him. Like, you know, in a moving 16 years worth of stuff, and he's a senior. He's he was like in his 60s. It's like, what we want people to age in place, and so that's just so palpitable everywhere.
SPEAKER_01And that's not an uncommon story in this part of the city. It's not an uncommon story anywhere, but yeah, um uh not only has uh rent been an issue, escalating rent, but it that ties to another issue that that you've talked about a lot that constituents here are being hit by, which is displacement and gentrification.
SPEAKER_05Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, whether you're a renter, residential renter, or a small business, because there's no commercial rent control. You know, once your lease ends, they can hike it up to however much they want. And so for commercial uh legacy small businesses in neighborhoods that are community owned, it's kind of like their SOL, right? Because they can't afford to stay in the neighborhood even though they've cultivated the customer base, right? Uh, they're also a member of the community. And so this applies to small businesses and brick and mortar that are in our neighborhoods too.
SPEAKER_01And you got into this race because of your your background uh as a as a tenants attorney. Talk a little bit about that, but but also sort of contrast with what we've seen uh the the the big donors and the people behind your opponent.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean the rent being too high uh, you know, was the starting point for me moving into the housing space. Uh, because I've born and raised Highland Park and lived here all my life, I've seen what it has done to my neighbors, my classmates, you know, whether they're renters or small businesses having to move out. And so I became an eviction defense attorney to stem gentrification in low-income communities of color throughout the city. And so, in this race, you know, this being a launching off point to to talk about what are the failed policies and how can we fix them, given that what we're doing right now isn't helping. And so I'm proud to represent residents in this campaign uh by not taking a dime from corporate developers that are seeking to displace communities wholesale. And I can't say that about my opponent, right? My opponent has been taking big apartment money, like Blackstone money, like all of those developers, even though he says in the same, you know, to your face, he said, I'm for renters' rights, but he's funded by these folks that are slum lords, uh, corporate developers, and and doing all those things.
SPEAKER_01And and people who've converted uh residential apartments into uh illegal hotels. It's it's really been shocking to see who his donors are. And I'll I'll link to some stuff in in the show notes because it's been wild.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, bursted pipes, like feces, like rodent issues. It's just awful that that's who is funding his campaign. And I will say, like, I think in the last uh reporting period, he had zero donors that were in the district.
SPEAKER_01That's that's incredible.
SPEAKER_05So he's who is he beholden to? And for me, you know, being a grassroots campaign, not taking a dime from those folks. We were in the primary the number one candidate to receive community grassroots support, small dollar donations. And and when I say for the community, from the community, I mean it. It's not just I'm walking the talk.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. All right, I'm gonna go to the next song. Uh, and I'll I'll cue it up and I'll give you a little bit of a hint on this one. Uh, the the song that has been in in the news last week is uh a question about policing. This sort of hits on uh on the same subject, uh, but I want to prompt you a little bit uh differently.
SPEAKER_03I can't breathe. You're taking my life from me. I can't breathe.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's her. I can't breathe.
SPEAKER_01Yes, it is. Yes, it is.
SPEAKER_05She's so beautiful with her voice conveying all that emotion.
SPEAKER_01That was a that was a a big anthem of the of the movement that came about uh after the murder of George Floyd. Uh really moving video as well. That has a lot of images of not only uh George Floyd murals, but the the demonstrations and and other people who've been victims to to police violence. Policing has been a big issue in this campaign, but but not just in the way that it sort of been discussed in the past week. Um but it but it's an issue that has motivated a lot of progressives in Los Angeles in terms of the budget, terms of the nature of policing in Los Angeles. Tell me, let's just start from the beginning. What's your view on how to keep Los Angeles safe?
SPEAKER_05I mean, the safest cities in America invest in their communities, whether it's recreation and parks, libraries, uh, youth development and city services, all of those things keep our community safe. I mean, you know, when we look at the street lighting and the cleanliness of a street, studies show a direct correlation between perceived or actual safety of the street, which is important, especially in this district where downtown, what, 40% of the lights downtown are out. Uh, you know, and and even if you drive down Figaro, you'll just see a sign instead of actual street lighting.
SPEAKER_01Since uh the the murder of George Floyd and since since this song came out, there has been this perception that police have been defunded. Uh what's how do you view the reality?
SPEAKER_05I mean, the police have been fund in LA have been funded more than they've ever been funded. And uh because of that, you know, I even even in spite of that, folks don't feel any safer. And right now, the way that the money stands at the city, we've spent the for I think the first three months, first three months of the year dipping into the city's emergency fund, I think uh to the tune of $300 million to pay for police liability payouts, in addition to what we already pay them, which has put us into a fiscal deficit for the next four years, so 2028. And if we continue having to dip into our reserves at this rate, which it looks like we might be, next year city council is gonna have to vote for a fiscal emergency. And if we do that, every single city expense is gonna have to go to a 15-member vote, which means if you thought our city services were bad now, they were just gonna get even slower and worse than they were before. And so I think it's just a matter of priorities. There are so many things that we could be doing and being, you know, we ask working class people to get better with their budgeting, you know, save $5 on their Starbucks. Uh, what we're trying to do at the city budget, we should be doing the same, but you know, maybe save $300 million by cutting our liability expenses to a department. What has been, you know, defunded and underfunded have been streetlighting and youth development and even senior meals programs, right? Uh street lighting and youth development programs are less than 1% of the city budget. In voting for the city budget, we reduced um the Department of Aging funds and Department of Disability. And so our free senior meal programs was cut. And now folks in our district, which we know there are many who rely on these food distributions, which let's just say that's the bare minimum that council offices should be providing, and every single one does, but have to fill in that gap because we cut the free senior meals. And it's just awful when we know that how we can care for our community, but we actually need to fund all the things we care about and not just talk about it.
SPEAKER_01And and to put a very fine point on it, one of the members of the city council who voted to defund street lighting and sanitation and street repair and senior services is My opponent. Yes. Very much so.
SPEAKER_05My opponent, yes, yes. I mean, when you vote for a budget that prioritizes uh one department over all the others, like the LAPD in this instance, they have actively voted to keep the lights off in CD 14.
SPEAKER_01And and then make an issue about it. Right? It it's a little bit like what it reminds me of, and your opponent reminds me of Donald Trump in a lot of ways, but it reminds me of of Donald Trump and the the immigration bill that he killed, right? Because as as as Harris says, he doesn't want to solve a problem, he wants to campaign on a problem. And that's exactly what what KDL is doing here. He voted to cut this, and then he talks about it as if he's gonna be the hero for it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01One of the other things that that this song touches on, obviously, is police violence. And I I've been struck, and I I recently wrote about um how we're we're going through this process of selecting a new police chief, and you know, all we're talking about is officer morale and the Olympics, and we almost seem to have forgotten everything that we were talking about two years ago. U what what are your thoughts on what we need to do to sort of change the nature of policing, police violence, police discipline?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean, in this district, people haven't forgot about police brutality because that is a lived reality for many, many people in this district. I mean, when you look at the deaths, like unhoused people deaths or deaths, or you know, interactions with folks with police that are black and brown, it's in this district. Um, and so when we think about policing, we're thinking like, okay, we have to reduce police interaction to save lives. You know, um, like what was it? Filando Castile was only a 32 years old, um, probably only of driving age at 16, but yet for most of his life, he was pulled over over 40 times. For what? And then he died.
SPEAKER_02Yes, he did.
SPEAKER_05And so when we we've done the study at the city about removing police off of traffic stops, and that's just one way you can reduce, you know, uh police violence and really save lives. To me, taking police officers off traffic stops is you know, stopping preventable deaths. Like those are preventable deaths to me. And it also saves the city money. Like those could be good civilian, I don't know if it's a Teamsters or ST SCIU, but those could be good uh union jobs at the city to do those with an arm unarmed response, right? And so reducing those interactions and having them just focus on the most violent of the crimes, which is, you know, gang violence or these smash and grabs, which are, let's be clear, organized crime. Those aren't just random incidents, and really focusing in on those that require an armed response. But really at the city, investing in unarmed crisis response, you know, having non-uniformed or just like, what is it, to do the homelessness outreach checks and marriage, like sometimes they get, you know, in domestic disputes. Like police officers don't need to do that. But you have trained people who can do that. And we should delegate those jobs to them.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Next song. Uh this one, uh, I didn't know this one until I discovered it the other day. So this might be a little bit more obscure, but you're also uh considerably younger and uh hipper than I am. So you may maybe you do know it.
SPEAKER_02Maybe This is where the party ends. I can't stand your listening.
SPEAKER_01That was uh Your Racist Friend uh by They Might Be Giants. Uh the lyrics um uh I can't stand here listening to you and your racist friend. Um remind you of anybody that you know or anybody that you're maybe running against.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, ma'am. Yeah, yes, yes, yes, yes. I uh yeah. No need to say more.
SPEAKER_01So uh let's actually talk about this just a a little bit though, because the the Fed tapes uh were a a sort of a defining moment for Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And there were uh calls around the world, really, for the the the participants, including Kevin Dalion, to resign, uh which he you know shamelessly resisted. Uh and uh he has, depending on the audience, said different things about the racist tapes, right? In some places he says uh he apologized, and other places he says I really didn't have anything to apologize for. Uh and um in in other places it seems to me that he's actually sort of doubling down on a lot of what he was saying on on those tapes. Uh and he's certainly been doing some of that in in the debates. How have you seen that issue playing out in the race?
SPEAKER_05I mean, you know, for a while it was like racial dog whistling, but then it became just obvious and blatant by the end. I mean by now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, now it's a bullhorn.
SPEAKER_05No, it's a bullhorn, like uh, you know, text messages saying that I'm a threat to Latino leadership, 40 years of Latino leadership, and that I won't serve Latino in interest, which you know is offensive to me as someone who's been raised in a multiracial community. Um and then, you know, at the at the debates, you know, he's been, you know, inviting supporters that are MAGA Trumpers, that are openly racist, and let's just add sexist and misogynistic too, uh, to the events, and you know, even rallies them to say things like all lives matter uh in response to maybe you know uh folks showing up who are silently protesting.
SPEAKER_01Yep and saying that directly in the face of Black Lives Matter demonstrators, exactly.
SPEAKER_05And like they are not saying anything, they're doing silent protesting. I don't think just because you're black and you come to an event that you're you're a threat or you're protesting. Um, but that's kind of what he was saying to his folks, and so they were chanting things like all lives matter. I think that's so dystopian to to LA and such a regression, and he's just been he's he's holding on to whatever he can. So he's doubling down on the racial division for sure right now. And he's has folks coming to the doors and saying that she's not Latino, don't vote for her, or she's actually Chinese and she's gonna evict you because she wants all her like white hipster Chinese friends uh to come and and and stay here instead of you, like it's all kind of these varied messages that's wild coming from a guy who's part Chinese.
SPEAKER_01Uh I mean the the the way he does shit, man. Um you mentioned the misogyny uh and and and and other things. What kind of stuff has been uh thrown at you? Like what what are you becoming up against?
SPEAKER_05I mean, it's like uh it's everything. Uh it's everything that you women know. He interrupts you, he talks over you. Uh what does he say? He says I'm not experienced enough, that I've never represented anybody in court. He's just so dismissive of me. Uh he called me a kehona, which it just means a complainer. Uh, and it just really undermines my lived in professional experience at every turn with his arrogance and um, you know, and and it's just I I I that's just what they that's what men historically, patriarchal men uh historically have done to women, which always frustrates me because he's like talks about being raised by a strong single mother and the amount of fortitude that it takes to raise a child. Um, and yet, you know, he doesn't it he just wants to talk down to me all the time and as if I'm not pedigreed enough or that I haven't done anything. And so, you know, that and also one of his supporters at one of our uh debates like went in for a handshake and then actually grabbed me afterwards and was like threatening me and then threatened my staff, like another member of my staff after she disrupted that, and it's just like it's so invasive and uh you know and so much of that obscures the the the real difference between you.
SPEAKER_01You know, I mean there's so many differences between you. He said the two of you could not be more different, and I I think that's the the the best thing he could say about you in so many ways. But um, you know, you're a native of this district, right? You were you were born here, you spent your life here. He he's a a kid from San Diego, yeah. Right? You grew up rooting for the Padres, I think we should note, even though he's wearing his Dodgers jacket a lot this time, uh Padres fan. And he spent, you know, most of his adult life in Sacramento, right, hanging up with lobbyists and courting the favor of of wealthy donors. Whereas you were here, you know, standing up for your community, fighting for your community, fighting for tenants. And your lived experience uh is is so much more uh comparable to the people of this district. Right. So you talked earlier about uh the rent being too damn high, and that's how that led you into housing issues and being a tenant advocate. Uh, but the rent being too damn high also sort of led you into the the the living situation you're in now, right?
SPEAKER_05Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, I still live at home with my dad uh and my daughter as a single mom and a public interest attorney. It's so expensive out there that this was kind of the best and most affordable option. Now we're like three's company right now, but uh it wasn't my first choice. Uh, but I had to do it because that was what's best for me financially.
SPEAKER_01And tell me a little bit uh about your dad. Um I I I was hoping he and I would have had a chance to meet today, but uh the circumstances changed a little bit. Yeah. Uh tell me about your your dad and and what his life has been like and what you've learned from him.
SPEAKER_05Oh, my dad is a quirky old immigrant dad. Um he's very once uh when people meet him, they're like, oh yeah, that's uh he's got some big dad energy. And I'm like, yeah, he really, really does. But my dad came here migrating from the Philippines uh following the love of his life because my mom now famously uh gave him an ultimatum. And so he like got a thousand dollars, so I think borrowing from a bunch of people, flew to Burbank, and you know, they he they went to Macy's to get the rings and and the suit. They got married in South LA and like I think a mass wedding or something, and then they ended up in a basement. And so without his paperwork, my dad really worked really hard to achieve the American dream, working multiple jobs, until, you know, he they could get the house in Highland Park. Much of my upbringing, I didn't know that his he hadn't gotten his citizenship yet. And it wasn't until the 2008 recession when I was like pregnant and trying to go to work in school, needed help because I um, and he was unemployed that we actually had so much time together. And he said I was adult enough to know the stories that of the things he'd been through, which was you know, his wage discrimination, like, you know, when he was celebrating my mom being pregnant, uh getting fired on the spot because his manager heard him and was like, You're gonna ask for more money, get out of here. Or yeah, that was with my brother, or like looking at his paycheck and being like, Why am I getting medical insurance deducted? This I'm not even a citizen. Um, or even at one point when ICE had come to get him at work, and my Lola, my mom's mom, had called him and he had to go into hiding for a while. Um and so, like, all of these stories were really what motivated me to want to go into labor and employment, start at workers' rights and worker centers and work under Victor Narrow. And so that my dad has been my inspiration. He taught me how to be an organizer, even though he still doesn't know what that means. Um, and he is such a charming, funny guy that I I admire so much. And he, you know, his love language is acts of service. And so, you know, we're the same.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. Um, okay, next song. Um uh this one is much more from my era, I must admit, but um yeah, um something I want to discuss with you.
SPEAKER_05I love it. We love Diana Ross.
SPEAKER_01I'm coming out.
SPEAKER_05Apparently, yeah. I really am. I really am. So this song, I didn't know how what it would mean to me today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Um, when we talked the first time, uh, we really didn't talk uh about the fact that you're part of the LGBTQ plus community.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh and I wanted to spend a couple minutes on that today. Yeah. Uh uh tell me about what your journey of discovery was and how you identify.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I identify as queer. It was during the pandemic. Uh, you know, my daughter was telling me how all the kids are queer and like really, or no, not queer. That's not her word. Bye. All the kids are baseline by. And I was like, what? I was like, what does that mean? And like thinking about it more and you know, rediscovering what my sexuality meant to me and exploring that after the pandemic, and now I am out more than I've ever been, even though you know it's a campaign will do that to you. Yeah, but it's also like in retrospect, I'm like, oh, it's okay. I was like, people kept saying that to me, and I was like, nah. Um, and so now it just I feel like there's so much in my life that has come to fruition after realizing who I am and hardening on it because I've been so challenged. Like on the campaign, it's like you get yeah, people are gonna, and I'm like, stand firm on firmer on my values, and you know, I get a Stanley girlfriend now, so that's cool. Congratulations. But I think um, I think my dad, I had come out to my dad, but I don't think we really like he was aware, it wasn't really a conversation, and I didn't want to bring up anybody I was seeing until it was like serious, right? You know, in any circumstance. So uh I had brought him into the kitchen and I was like, Dad, I have something to tell you. And he was like, You know what I told you, and I was like, What? And he was like, You know what I said, and I was like, What, dad? And he's all like, You gotta take care of Stella before you bring a new life into this world.
SPEAKER_04And I was like, Oh my god, Dad, I'm not pregnant. Also, I'm old enough to have a child now, and I was just like, I'm not pregnant, and he was like, Oh, okay, what is it?
SPEAKER_05And I was like, I have a girlfriend, and it's like and he was like, Oh, and it's like you can see the wheels turning in his head. It's like, so she can't have a baby, and then the next question after that was, um, are you happy? And he and I said, Yes, and then he said, Good. And then he talked to me about gay people in Palm Springs that he knows, and was like, Okay, cool dad, cool dad. Thank you for trying to relate to me. I appreciate it. And so ever since then, um, you know, my dad is like, your kids change you. And I at the last uh campaign event, he like wore rainbow glasses, and I was like, in my head, I was like, Oh my god, you know, and he was all like, see, I wore these for you. They're LGBTQ. And I was all like, Thanks, dad, you're the best.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. I mean, that that that conversation, I had that conversation in like 1986 or 87. Doesn't get any easier to have that conversation. Yeah, but you know, mine has the the the same ending where my parents are are are freaking phenomenal, you know. Yeah, I'm I'm so glad you get that. And if when you get elected, you will be the only elected official in LA City government who who's part of the the queer community.
SPEAKER_05I know. It's such a responsibility, and it's like, wow, we're gonna have a lot of fun. I was like, let's I was like, let's make pride, let's make pride every day.
SPEAKER_01All right. Yeah, uh, yeah. Uh and uh how's your girlfriend handling uh dating a candidate?
SPEAKER_05I don't know. It's fun, it's fun and exciting.
SPEAKER_01When you get elected, I will set her up with my husband who does a a sort of orientation for political partners. Oh yeah. Uh live a little support group.
SPEAKER_05Oh yeah, support group, that's great. Yeah, there's also the partners of the movement support group. Yes people that are in like uh justice organizing. Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_01Okay, uh, a couple more songs. Uh next one. Uh I know you're gonna know this one.
SPEAKER_05Love that song. Fight the power.
SPEAKER_01Yes, it is. Bye.
SPEAKER_05Public enemy.
SPEAKER_01You got it. You got it.
SPEAKER_05My brother's older. That's how I know all these rap lyrics.
SPEAKER_01Ah, I see. Uh so in in so many ways, that's kind of like a a theme for your campaign.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean, I started off in like social justice circles, and it's always been fighting the power, whether it's a big corporate interest, a racist uh, you know, bigot or big corporate interest, it's always been about being the David and the Goliath, right? And so realizing that whomever's in power or the dominant, you know, the person in the dominant position doesn't represent me. And so we do have to fight uphill to make our experiences uh, you know, known and to defend our communities, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And in this campaign, who are the who are the big powers you feel like you're up against?
SPEAKER_05I mean, big corporate developers, slumlords, uh, the police union, prison industrial complex, uh, big oil and gas, like those are the big powers that we're up against that displace or exploit our communities or hurt us in some kind of way.
SPEAKER_01And and how has that uh uh impacted the dynamic of your campaign to have all of this this this big money, these attack ads, which are not uncommon for a progressive at this phase of the election, right? I mean it happened to Nithy Rahman, it happened to uh uh UNICES, Ugo. It's just it's it's it's sort of a predictable dynamic. But uh, how has that either challenged or motivated or or or fueled your campaign?
SPEAKER_05I think at this point it's fueled, right? Uh luckily, you know, this is not new, right? I'm not the the first candidate this has happened to. So at least, you know, there's some experiential knowledge and how to deal with it. But I think for folks that are on the, you know, as I'm knocking on doors, like that message isn't resonating with voters and they see right through it, or they look at the source and they're like, oh, that's not or like the criticism that they may be attacking at me. Uh, one voter last night was like, your opponent is saying these things about you in public safety, and that can't possibly be true because I don't trust that source. So what do you really think? And then we had a conversation and we talked about it. He was like, Okay, that's what I thought you, you know, but I wanted to ask you, but I can't trust what that guy says. Yeah, and so it's kind of like yeah.
SPEAKER_01For someone or for an organization to spend that much money attacking someone, they've got to be afraid of them. What are they afraid of?
SPEAKER_05A four foot eleven little girl, a little girl, a mom. She wears ASICs and she's so scary because um, I think they're just afraid of their status quo being challenged, right? Um, people don't like conflict, they don't like to be challenged, especially when they're in a dominant position, and that's where they're afraid of. And for me, um, I'm you know, I said this to my opponent's face at one of the last debates. I was like, nothing at a miedo, we're not afraid. You know what's scarier than this? Uh, you know, folks that were raised in the projects and boil heights having to watch their back all the time, either for gang members or police. That's scarier. And so for me, like even what's happening to me personally or even on the campaign, that's just like a a taste of what people actually have to go through in their daily lives, whether they're living on the street or you know, or being, you know, profiled. And so I think it just hardens our position in terms of like what like it has us refocus on what we're fighting for and why it means so much. But I think that's what's scary is that we're willing to fight for it and not be. Scared of them.
SPEAKER_01For for people who are hearing all that that that crap that they're throwing at you, all the all the slurs, all the distortions, all the lies, that you don't have an opportunity to talk to, right? You can't talk to every voter.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, for those people, uh, what do you want them to know about you?
SPEAKER_05That at the end of the day, um, what I want to bring to CD 14, the things that I I want are not radical. You know, it's about bringing city services back, voting to keep the lights on for our constituents and that our streets won't be so shoddy here and they're actually clean, equitable city services distribution so that not just the wealthy neighborhoods get all of it, but our communities do as well. And that that's like the pragmatic part. Like, this is what I want to do. I want to do the hard work of serving our community, which we just haven't gotten in this district for maybe the past two members. And I think that's important for people to realize because that's the baseline of what this job is. And to do that, we have to look at our city budget and be fiscally responsible with all the problems that are ahead. And then we can go for our big lofty goals and values, but we can't even meet our constituents' bare minimum needs at this time. And so for me, I'm someone who wants this job, willing to do the dirty work. And at the end of the day, really listen to the constituents and what they want, whatever it may be. Uh, you know, I may have my own values, but at the end of the day, what I'll be deciding on affects them more than it will affect me. And at the end of the day, their lived experience in those instances mean more than mine.
SPEAKER_01Amen. Uh okay, our final song that I chose. See if you know it. Because this is this is the song I think of when I think of you.
SPEAKER_05This girl is on fire. This is very clear.
SPEAKER_02This girl is on fire.
SPEAKER_01What song is that?
SPEAKER_05Uh, this girl's on fire.
SPEAKER_01Yes, it is. Do you feel like you're on fire?
SPEAKER_05Sometimes, yes. Definitely. I've been very itchy lately because I've been stressed. Uh so I am on fire. Uh, the movement has caught fire. I mean, we've gone viral. There's so many things that are happening. We're just barreling to the finish line and knocking on doors, and it's really like we started. It was just been so heartening to see see all of it, you know, catch fire, bloom, whatever you want to say.
SPEAKER_01So there there are there are times when history and movement and a candidate all sort of come together, right? And that that to me is is sort of the fire. D do you get a sense of that in this campaign that that that so much is coming together and that you're you're sort of the right person for this moment?
SPEAKER_05Ugh, that sounds like a big responsibility. Um, I don't think it's just it's it's me singularly, right? It's like we're cresting, we're heading towards something. Um, and I think it's starting to get there, you know, being the fourth council member with uh progressive council member there, uh hopefully another one as well. Uh, and then also our city controller, I think we're moving in the right direction, right? And we can keep moving forward, you know, even getting the inroads of being a progressive candidate that was able to get the LA County Fed endorsement and the Democratic endorsement. Um, you know, those endorsements are important for us to have this foot in these organizations to push the agenda to things that are truer to what our constituents' values are and continue to move the progressive uh movement forward.
SPEAKER_01You you mentioned something that I'm glad you mentioned the LA Times and the Democratic Party endorsement. Uh at one of your events a few weeks ago, uh Councilmember Hugo Sata Martinez spoke about that. And it sort of fits under the theme of this girl is on fire, is uh he talked about how when previous progressives have run, they haven't gotten that support. Right. Right. Um that even he, who is a union organizer and worked for Unite Here and was a member of the the the voting committee for the County Federation of Labor, even he didn't get it. And he reflected that that you're sort of the the the next step in the progression of progressive candidates in that you're you're a progressive and you have not compromised your your ideas or your values, but you have also been able to to do things that previous candidates haven't done and and bring in institutional support.
SPEAKER_05Um how I mean like what we said, it's a progression, it's a wave, a wave, it takes little waves to crest into the bigger wave, right? And so without Nithya or Eunicis or you or Ugo um showing folks that we're not just crazy, like you know, we've been painted as crazy radical people that all our ideas are too, too, too, are not good enough for governance, and and through that showing the winds after wins and the good great policy making we've been able to do, whether it's the best renter protections, you know, that we've been able to ever accomplish, whether it's challenging the budget that pro you know, uh has policing, and a lot of these organizations also stood up to the racism, right? And doubling down on that in this election, it was just the right moment for all of them to turn that corner with me. And I think something that I do want to tell people was that it was not easy. They think that, like, just because it was like, oh, he's your opponent, now everyone's gonna come around. And I'm like, no, I still needed to get to know people. I still needed to show them that I could win, I still needed to show that I'm like lucid and can do this. And and continuing to build that even in that room is just like a big opportunity for us in the next elections, in the next cycles, to continue to build that wave until we can get to that majority vote and finally have our budget reflect our values. And so I really think that this is not the end for us. We're just gonna keep it going. Um, but it is a lot of hard work, a lot of people making a lot of calls during the Democratic Party and listening and meeting people. And I mean, not I think one of the things was like not being closed off.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Like, you know, when I law uh when I launched into the general, there were so many unions that didn't give me the time of day or just plain didn't endorse me, but I didn't, you know, get leave it at that. I called all of them, even ones that maybe don't agree with me. I called all of them and reached out to them because I was like, I want to be a partner and made those paces and efforts. And even in the Democratic Party, called all the people, had all the conversations, you know, some of them were challenging, some of them uh folks had my views, but um, but you know, having those conversations and being open and just had continuing to have that dialogue so that we can keep the door open for other folks in our movement as we continue to build.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think there might be some people who say, Oh, you know, she just got those endorsements because she's she's running against a world world-class asshole. But it gave you, it may have given you a foot in the door to have a hearing with people, yeah. But you still had to do the work. You still had to sell them on you and on your vision.
SPEAKER_05Right. I did. I did. I earned, I had to earn these people's respect and their time and their energy and endorsement. And that's something I was committed to doing and you know, committed to building these relationships, but not being clear also on who I am and what my values are too and what concessions I'd be willing to make, but you know, for the most part, I told them who I was.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh you just use the the term dance. You said you had to take to the dance. You also used the term dance at at one of the the forums or after the forums. Yeah, yeah, I did. Uh where you know, you're like, let's dance. Um and and you've brought this sort of spirit of dance and and and joy to the campaign. That that's hard to do given all the stuff going on. How do you do that?
SPEAKER_05Oh, my mom was the best dancer I knew. Uh, in fact, I've gotten votes because people knew me as her daughter and was like, your mom the dancer. And I was like, Yeah, yeah. So she dances really well. Um, but that's my mom. And so she's always was the life of the party, dancing all the time, music is on. It just has been always been part of my life. And so for me, even in speeches or the way I envision things, I always think it's a dance, right? And not one that you do by yourself. There's always, and my parents love ballroom dancing in particular. So it's like you always have a partner and there's an ebb, there's a flow, there's uh, and it goes to the music, and you know, it's all this like it's just like poetry in it. And for me, whether it's it's it's going into these interviews where it's like uh I'm gonna, you know, shimmy in, and then I gotta shimmy out because someone's gonna give me something. I gotta figure out how I'm gonna receive it and then you know, reflect back to them. And that's what best dancing is, is like, you know, you're reflecting back with someone and creating harmonious movement. And so, you know, even at the debate, it was just like watching it go back and forth, back and forth. And for me, you know, the back and forth of done well uh turns into music or or something that can entertain and and educate people. And and that's just how I think about all of this. Even when I was like doing litigation, I was like, you know, is I thought of it as fencing, but it to me, instead of fencing, like some of my teachers, like it's a parry and a thrust, a parry and a thrust. And there's a routine to it all. And I'm like, oh, to me, it's just like I was like, it's like dancing. There's a routine to it, there's a cadence, and if I like the song, then I do really, really well. And so this has been fun for me.
SPEAKER_01That will serve you well as a legislator. I I am one of the world's worst dancers. When when I started dating my husband, I said, you get one dance. I said, That's at our wedding. And um, and I did not uh legislate like a dancer, I legislated like a sword fighter. Oh right. Uh uh, it wasn't fencing, it was like real swords and stuff. And uh I think that spirit of of that that metaphor of of of dancing is actually gonna serve you really well in in City Hall and working with your colleagues and in in in pushing pushing legislation forward. You've been at this now for almost two years. Yeah. Uh you've gone from being unknown to being really well known. Uh you have gone from uh sort of a tiny little group of supporters to a huge movement. You've had ups, you've had downs, you've had lots of in-betweens. What has surprised you most about being a candidate?
SPEAKER_05Oh wow. Um like I knew all the chaos that comes with being a candidate, having worked on a campaign before, but now it's like happening to me. They always said politics was dirty, but there've just been so many things on this campaign trail. I really picked the race that was difficult. And I and then ended up with the opponent that is like the pit me of what's bad in politics. And I was just like, oh, this is what everyone's talking about. So now I understand, and now how do I deal with it? Right. And so for me, I guess the other surprising thing is I guess, you know, my risk tolerance and being able to move on from like this this part of it doesn't scare me. And and part of all the things that have happened, whether it's difficulty and challenges, it's almost like the fire that is thrown at me just like welds me into a stronger sword. Or that like all of these hits that were intended to weaken me actually just like have strengthened me. Yeah. I forgot what I was trying to ask my brother. I was like, what's like an animation or a thing that that? I was like, is it chimera? Like, what is the thing that you attack in video games that instead of hurting it, you just make it stronger? Because that's what I feel like has been happening during this campaign.
SPEAKER_01Uh you you've definitely been a girl on fire, a campaign on fire. Um, to whom do you owe that to?
SPEAKER_05I mean, I think I owe it to, you know, my two Lolas, my seven Titas, my mom, of course. Um, my dad who cooks, who's a feminist, would never use that word, but he is. Uh but uh and to the women of color on this campaign, all the senoras and titas that have really helped me out that don't have like a logo or an organization or C3 to be behind, but have been spreading the word and our message even before anybody knew about us. Just yesterday, one of my aunties who, you know, we helped give them a soft landing, migrating here, uh, came up at the doors. And one of the late the voters was like, I heard about you from your auntie. I helped pass out flyers at my church for you. I already voted for you. And it was just like one of those things where it was so amazing that this, like, under, not even underground, right? But these are women that don't give the credit that they deserve. And so they're the ones that have been pounding the pavement from the beginning to help us get to where we are today.
SPEAKER_01Final question. Uh closing argument to to voters. It's your your last door, your you're you're knocking on night before the election. Uh, what what what's your what do you say to a voter or what's your final message? What's your pitch?
SPEAKER_05I mean, at the end of the day, you know, we can't keep doing the same things and expecting different results. We can't trust another career politician to take care of your communities because all of the things that folks are talking about, homelessness, public safety, lack of city services, that's been at the hands of our current incumbent. And what we need is someone who's from and for our communities. And I've shown folks three things since the primary is that I work hard, uh, that when I make a mistake, I cop to it and I work to with the community and and revise my positions. And the last thing is that I listen. And I think that has been missing in our council office for the last decade or so, and want to bring that back to being in city council. And so it's time that we have one of us up there, you know, homegrown candidate. And I'm ready to turn the page on the curse in CD 14.
SPEAKER_01Uh so we've played Name That Tune today, and you've done exceptionally well, especially since I gave you some songs from like before you were born and stuff. Um if you were gonna pick a campaign theme song, what is it?
SPEAKER_05Uh the Ellie Golding song, anything can happen.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna have to listen to it because I have no idea what it is. Okay, thanks, Mike. All right, thanks, Isabel.
SPEAKER_03Anything could happen.
unknownAnything could happen, anything could happen, anything could be a lot of things.
SPEAKER_01And that does it for this episode of What's Next Los Angeles. Thank you so much to Isabel for joining me, and thank you to my friend Marta Ivery for editing this podcast. My thanks, of course, to LA Forward for partnering with me and sponsoring this podcast, and for producing the LA Forward Progressive Voter Guide, which you can check out at the links in the show notes. It will give you information on this race and almost any race in Los Angeles County. It's a phenomenal resource you should check out. And later this week, check out your podcast feed for the return of LA Podcast. Yes, LA's most popular political podcast is back with a special pre-election episode. Join Alyssa Walker and Rachel Reyes and me and David Levitis and Godfrey Plata from LA Forward. It's very informative. Hopefully you'll find it very entertaining as well. That's later this week. LA Podcast is back. Thanks for listening to this podcast and for spreading the word. I will be back later this week with more election themed episodes. Until then, thank you. Take good care and peace.