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
SION ROY: State Senate Candidate Spotlight
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Our in-depth conversations with candidates seeking your vote continues . . In this episode, more on the race for the State Senate seat held by Ben Allen, who is termed out of office after 12 years representing a sprawling district that includes the South Bay the coastal Westside, Malibu and Santa Monica, and neighborhoods like Fairfax and Hollywood.
Today’s guest is Sion Roy, a physician and member of the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees.
Roy is a cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he treats patients and trains future doctors. He was first elected to the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. Roy is the son of immigrant parents and has described himself as a first-generation American whose family’s experience with education and opportunity helped shape his career in medicine and public service. He has also served as president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association and has been active in efforts to expand healthcare training and workforce programs through Santa Monica College.
His campaign website is: https://drsionroyforsenate.com/ and IG is https://www.instagram.com/drsionroy
What's Next, Los Angeles? is produced and hosted by Mike Bonin, in partnership with LA Forward.
A cardiologist, a community college trustee, and a candidate for state senate. Cheyenne Roy joins me to talk about healthcare, education, and the cost of living on the West Side. That's on this episode of What's Next, Los Angeles. Hi everyone and welcome. I'm Mike Vaughn. Thank you for joining me. As I mentioned in our last episode, between now and Election Day and June, we'll be doing frequent episodes spotlighting and interviewing candidates for various offices. We're also going to be taking some time to focus on some of the issues impacting those races in your daily life. Today we continue our look at the race for State Senate District 24. That seat is held now by Ben Allen, who's turned out of office after 12 years representing a sprawling district that includes the South Bay and the coastal west side, and neighborhoods like Fairfax and Hollywood. Today's guest is Cheyenne Roy. He's a physician and a member of the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees and a longtime Democratic activist on the West Side. Roy is a cardiologist and an associate professor of medicine at Harbor UCLA Medical Center, where he treats patients and trains future doctors. He was first elected to the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. Roy is the son of immigrant parents and has described himself as a first-generation American whose family experience with education and opportunity helped shape his career in medicine and in public service. He's also served as president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association and has been active in efforts to expand healthcare training and workforce programs through Santa Monica College. I sat down with Shai Roy recently to talk about his campaign. Here is that conversation. Shine Roy, thanks for joining me on What's Next Los Angeles?
SPEAKER_01Thanks so much for having me, Mike.
SPEAKER_00Great to have you here. Let me dive right in and start as I do with all candidates running for office. Give me your pitch. Speak directly to voters and tell them who you are and why they should vote for you.
SPEAKER_01So my name is Shai Roy. I'm the official California Democratic Party endorsed candidate for SD-24, which is a district that runs from Westlake Village all the way into Hollywood and then down the coast around the Santa Monica Bay to Pallas Verdes, and currently is represented by Ben Allen. And I'm a physician at Harbor UCLA, big public hospital that serves South LA. And the number one reason that I'm running is Medi-Cal. The patients that I serve in South LA through Harbor are from communities of color, vulnerable populations, and almost all of them get their health care through Medi-Cal. And right now we are facing, you know, drastic budget cuts, not just from the federal government, but also from the state government. And it's an inflection point, and we need people who have healthcare backgrounds to be in Sacramento to help navigate the next decade forward for our most vulnerable Californians. More than 50% of California children are on Medi-Cal. And it is, it was a system that was already in crisis, and it is going to be, you know, it's going to be cut, and we're basically going to be seeing an environment that preceded the Affordable Care Act. The most recent Republican dismantling of Medicaid funding was basically the last, you know, sort of attack on the Affordable Care Act, which doesn't really exist in any meaningful way any longer. And what we're going to be seeing is, you know, 40% of my patients probably roughly are undocumented and they've been cut from, you know, state Medi-Cal. And we're going to be seeing basically those patients come through our emergency rooms, you know, getting primary care. And, you know, not only is it socially unjust to me, but it's fiscally unwise because basically it's a cost shift. The federal government has cost shifted it to state government, and now the state government is cost shifting it to local government, where so many vulnerable Californians are going to be getting more expensive care through the emergency room. And then what um, and that's gonna affect everybody because it's gonna increase the cost on taxpayer, um, more expensive care for worse care. Um, and the taxpayer, the taxes are just gonna be going up on local government. Um, and then B, it's gonna affect every Californian, not just our most vulnerable Californians, but um, you know, patients who are on Medicare and private insurance as well, because when they go to a hospital like mine at Harbor UCLA, their wait times are gonna go from hours to days. Um, and and and so the quality of care is gonna be worse and and and the access to care is gonna be worse for everybody. Um, so that's the you know, number one reason that I'm running. Uh we're losing two physicians in the estate assembly, uh, leaving just a singular physician, Akila Weber, um, in the uh state senate. And so that's the number one reason. One A is uh fire. Um, you know, our district was drastically affected by the Palisades fire. And um, you know, my our family lost our home um in uh in the Palisades fire. And um, you know, after that happened, you know, my wife's the physician at UCLA, she's a radiologist. We have a seven-year-old at the time, now an eight-year-old. And I thought very much, you know, we thought very much, is our family really gonna, you know, take this challenge on to run for state senate? Um, and we find the healthcare access and that very meaningful, but are we ready to do this? And and Mike, you've been a candidate. You know this is a family, you know, family commitment. And um it takes everybody. And, you know, we got to February and March, and I think um what added meaning in addition to healthcare as we're going through this um just this strange upheaval to our lives that is such a unique experience, uniquely bad experience to go through, being a voice for our um, you know, community, our fire-threatened community, you know, not just the people who lost their homes, but the people who live in, you know, high fire um uh threat zones, uh the people who live in the district that have been affected by this, you know, uh every part of our district has been affected because people were displaced into communities around the district um, you know, by the fires. So things like evidence-based fire mitigation, um, insurance stabilization, um, you know, making affordable uh rebuilding uh affordable in a fire-safe way for all Californians, making sure that all aspects of living in high fire zones, you know, that includes mental health and you know, school effects, um, making sure that that voice is up in Sacramento because it's not just our district that's affected, it's all districts in California in California. It's Southern California, Central California, Northern California, another, you know, another town is going to burn down this year. And we need to have best practices of how to, you know, for these communities to exist because they're long-standing communities and thrive. And so that's the one and the one A of why I'm running. Additionally, I'm Santa Monica College, I'm chair of the Santa Monica College uh Board of Trustees, uh, former PTA president for my son's school, former president of the LA County Medical Association. Um, and so, you know, weighing in on education issues is something that is going to be critical for me as well.
SPEAKER_00Uh, voters really like to know who they're voting for as a person. You just told us a little bit about yourself. Uh you're a doctor, you're a husband, you're a dad, uh, you've been with the PTA, uh, lost your home in the fire. My condolences on that. I was unaware of that. Um, fill in a few more of the blanks for our listeners. Like what what's your story?
SPEAKER_01Sure. Yeah, so I grew up in um in Phoenix, Arizona, um, the son of Indian immigrants. My dad is a uh college professor at Arizona State University. Uh, he's been there for more than 40 years, um, and and he teaches uh there still. Um my mom's a uh certified public accountant. I uh, you know, I grew up in Phoenix and then I went to the East Coast for um college. And I went to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, and then I did a year of a mayor corps service um in inner city, Baltimore. And the highlight of that is I played, I played tennis in college, and um we built an inner city tennis program in urban Baltimore. Um, and that was the highlight of um sort of my mayor core year. Then I went to medical school in Virginia and um my residency at Georgetown, and I loved the East Coast, and I thought I was gonna be there for a long period of time, and then I met my girlfriend who was an intern at Georgetown, um, who was moving out to LA, whether I came or not. And um, you know, I followed her out here to a place that I really never thought I would live. And um uh soon after I moved out here, um, you know, Kathy and I, we moved to uh Santa Monica. And um, you know, I was president of my high school democratic club, my college democratic club. And so politics was, you know, something that was really um important to me and advocacy. Um, but I got away from it, you know, during medical school and during medical training. But we moved to Santa Monica, and I remember very specifically, you know, Kathy's saying, like, you know, you should re-engage in our community. It's something that's really important to you. You know, don't wait. And she totally regrets saying that now. But, you know, I think I very generically looked up Santa Monica in Democratic Party, and I found the Santa Monica Democratic Club and got a lot of great mentorship there and became president of the Santa Monica Dem Club. And then I found um organized medicine um through the LA County Medical Association and California Medical Association, something I'd never participated in before, um, got a lot of mentorship there. And so those are sort of my two advocacy worlds. And um, you know, one thing led to another. I eventually ran for office, uh, local office, and became board member at the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees, became president of the LA County Medical Association. Um, and that has been sort of um my foothold of uh of advocacy, and it's really been centered at the local level. Um, you know, PTA president, LA County Medical Association president, local Dem Club president, Santa Monica College Board of Trustees with a constituency in Santa Monica and Malibu. Local leadership in our district has been the focus of my advocacy and my work. And I think that that experience is gonna pay dividends as I go to, you know, if I might be able to go to Sacramento, um, because most answers I do feel like come at the local level. And so it's really important for the person who represents these the district in Sacramento to know how local government works, how local community uh leadership works.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's a great segue to my next question because it's a it's a subject where uh there's been a lot of conflict about who should make a decision, the state or the locals. And that's the subject of housing. Uh over the past few years, really over the past 10 years, the state has increasingly been passing more aggressive uh pro-housing legislation that sometimes clashes with, sometimes removes local control uh over development. I'm curious where you fall on that tension between local and state. And, you know, when should state housing mandates override local or coastal restrictions? And when should local government be able to say no to housing?
SPEAKER_01So, you know, in terms of building housing, I have become more familiar than I've ever been after going through the experience in our community um, you know, with the fires. And so, and as we um, you know, look to rebuild our house, our as our as our community members look to rebuild their homes and you know, businesses look to rebuild, school, schools look to rebuild. And um I'm familiar with the um, you know, so many barriers to that um, you know, that that exists. And so, you know, we're we're still awaiting our own um permits um in the city of Malibu um as we come across as we come on um, you know, 13, 14, 14 months uh since since the fire. And um, you know, I I do believe in local control. In our our our district, you know, there are three very distinct parts that have different um, you know, different challenges. One is Santa Monica Mountains, fire is the biggest threat. Then you get into the more dense areas of, you know, Santa Monica into Hollywood that have um, you know, a big uh part of the affordability is rent stabilization. Um that that's a big part of the um the driver of affordability in otherwise uh pretty unaffordable, you know, uh whether you're renting or owning uh you know, district to live in. Um and then you go down to the South Bay that has some comp a combination of you know increased density, but also um, you know, um uh natural threats like fire and and landslide. And um, you know, with the SB9, SB 10, SB70, SB79, which are you know the most landmark laws that have come into effect, they're into effect. Whether anybody supported them or not, you know, and and I was not a proponent most recently of SB79, mostly because, you know, there's a lot of um aging, you know, rent control um housing around transit corridors in our district. Um, and I didn't think that the, you know, um, that those residents were protected quite enough um in SP 79. Um, but it but it was signed into law. It's in law. And I think that the next step is making sure in a district like ours is to, you know, work together to make sure that housing is built so that people can live near where they work. And so, you know, I'll I'll give you a few examples. I uh, you know, I'm a big proponent of housing at Santa Monica College. You know, when I came onto the board um uh in 2018, I think me and um, you know, uh my co-college member, now city council member at uh Santa Monica in Santa Monica and Barry Snell, me and Barry, I think were the only major proponents of uh of housing on the on the college. There was, you know, the board wasn't united on it, administration was not united on it, and the neighborhood around um the college also, you know, what was not for it. And um, you know, the solution from the state was let's let's support students who are unhoused living in their cars in parking lots and making that safe for them. You know, that's not no way to gain an education. That's not a solution. And so we've built a coalition now that I'm confident, you know, we've the board is on board, the administration is on board, um, you know, the community is supportive. Um, and now we just have to find the funding to build the housing on our West LA campus. And, you know, I'm very confident that that's going to happen within the next five years or so. It's just a you know matter of finding the putting the money together. And similarly, it's making sure that you have to have local input because otherwise, what we see is throughout our district, housing projects get tied up in litigation. And um, you know, you can have all of Sacramento, all the bills from Sacramento you want, but you do have to get neighborhoods to support it because otherwise, you know, the drive, the, the, the cost of these housing projects go way up because they're delayed. There's a lot of litigation, and you have to get people on board that, you know, these housing projects are important and they make sense for the community around it. And so I think from a you know, next step standpoint, as this senator from this district, um, what I will be a proponent is of is, you know, really targeted housing projects, um, workforce housing, um, you know, uh working with you know entities like Community Corps, which has built, you know, um, hundreds of you know, buildings in West LA and Santa Monica that are, you know, truly affordable. Um, and of course, private development is part of it as well. Um, and you know, they can build for less, and market rate housing is absolutely part of the solution. And so it's a multifactorial solution. And I think what I can do is bring people together around housing projects so that they can actually get somewhere.
SPEAKER_00You have a job uh that that really focuses on people who are underserved in in Los Angeles at Harbor UCLA. There's a lot of people uh who work on the West Side, uh, service workers and hospitality, retail, the gig economy work in the West Side and on the South Bay, um, but they they're they're sort of locked out of the housing market in those communities, right? They can't afford to live anywhere near where they work. Uh as a state legislator, what sort of policies would you look at that would help make the housing in the district more affordable for them?
SPEAKER_01So I I you know, as I kind of mentioned in my previous answer, I do think that bringing funding for workforce type housing is something that I'll be a big proponent of. And um, you know, I'll uh uh give you an example, you know, in the Santa Monica Mountains, you know, school teachers and and staff members, they can't afford to live near the schools where they work. And so um, you know, building workforce housing in some of those communities where, you know, where teachers and you know, staff members of school districts in the city, you know, where they can live near where they work. Similarly, you know, in places like Santa Monica, I, you know, we're starting with student housing. I wish we could include our classified staff and and our faculty members as part of that. Um, and so uh, you know, I think part of it is, you know, I think my major impact will be to bring people together to be able to finance, you know, finance these projects because it's usually a combination of private and public, or it can be a combination of private and public money. And then number two, I think that one of the things that Sacramento can do is incentivize that, you know, whatever the answer it is, you know, in terms of, you know, permitting, we need the answers within months, not years. And so I think that that is one thing that we're, you know, if the projects can't be developed, we just need the answer, you know, and that's what we're seeing for some of the permitting process, um, you know, with the the the rebuilds that that we're seeing is sometimes it's easiest to instead of saying yes or no, just to punt it on down the line. And that doesn't help anybody, you know, that doesn't help anybody. And so, you know, I think that we need a little bit more transparency and let let let's get to the answer so we can move on. You know, whether that answer is yes or no, let's get to that answer and move on. And Sacramento does have a role in that.
SPEAKER_00This district is a is a a coastal district, right? Huge stretches of uh of the coast faces enormous environmental challenges, right? You've got sea level rise, you've got coastal erosion, you've got uh in some parts of the district, you've got an extreme heat problem during the summers, and as you know personally, uh a huge risk of of wildfire in the Santa Monica Mountains area. As a state legislator, what are the top climate adaptation strategies or investments that you'd be fighting for specifically for this district?
SPEAKER_01In terms of uh, you know, climate the impact of climate change on our district. I mean, it affects every district, but I mean they're you know such unique challenges, particularly in our district because of the Santa Monica, the communities around the Santa Monica Bay. And um, you know, Ben Allen has, I respect him so much because he's been such a critical voice on issues that affect this environment. And what I would say is that I will be a voice that's a little bit different than him, his, because I will be a public health voice. And not that Ben, you know, Ben's background is just different. Um, you know, there's very few people who um uh are in Sacramento that come from the public health world in terms of legislators. Um and you know, it's it's it's a single-digit number. And what I can help um do is bring to bring voice to the public health effects of all of these different issues. So, you know, number one, you know, um, you know, there's great data on, you know, depending on where you live in our district, you know, a lot of some of my research is um, you know, coronary calcium scoring, heart calcium scoring. And so, you know, depending on the zip code that you live in and, you know, where you live and proximity to things like ports, um, you know, your that modifies what your risk of having heart attacks is. And so bringing voice to those types of issues in a different way than most, you know, environmental activists. I think that that's where gonna, that's where um I will really have an impact. And that's where I'm gonna focus is, you know, let's start with what are the health impacts of all of these, um, and then work our way backwards and where can I find ways to find legislation that makes a difference on these? And that and and that's that's gonna be my strong voice, I think, that's that's unique up in Sacramento.
SPEAKER_00One of the big environmental pressures that that we face in the coastal district is emissions from transportation, right? It's one of the largest sources of emissions uh uh that we have in in Los Angeles. Uh, and we have some pretty heavy emissions. along certain corridors in this district, especially along the 405, PCH, some of the other major arterials. What state level changes would you pursue or support that would shift more trips from cars to transit, walking, and biking?
SPEAKER_01I think some of that is going to be, again, it's fighting for the money. You know, the state, the state budget is, you know, unfortunately we've a we've cut across the board with this, you know, a difficult physical situation, you know, on things like healthcare, education, all of those. But I think for some of these transportation projects, it's finding money to make sure that they actually happen because they're pieced together, you know, from multiple pots of money. And so that's where I think that I can make a difference in terms of, you know, transit that gets, you know, gets down to the South Bay, and making sure, you know, LAX is accessible and making sure those projects get finished, not just finished, but finished in a timely fashion. And so, you know, but you know, in terms of biking, I think that that's a huge key, making sure that safe biking is big. And a lot of these things are what you're talking about, and you know this as a former civil councilperson, it's more from a local executive, you know, leadership role where it really makes a difference. And so from a state senate standpoint, it's really about um you know finding the funding for projects and then making sure that local leaders are elected who really have pragmatic views on building out this infrastructure that I think that that I think we all know is necessary in Los Angeles because of the gridlock that we live in. And especially as we are inevitably going to be have more density, you know, we need to have SP 79, you know, I I'm not supportive of every single thing, but that housing around transit is critically important. And so I I think that finding the money for these types of projects I think is going to be clear and supporting people in local executive local city council races, things like that that uh that are supportive and help move these projects forward.
SPEAKER_00Education, a subject you know a ton about uh this district has some major UCs, it's got community college campuses, it's got some really great affluent K-12 systems, and then it's got some other more fragile and underperforming public schools. How would you use state policy to tackle the inequality and inequity between schools that are in some cases just a few miles apart from each other?
SPEAKER_01That's a great question. And you know our school outcomes are um you know inadequate um you know for California families. I think number one coming from a community college standpoint, I'm very associated with UCLA. I love the UCs they're great institutions. We need to make sure that community colleges and Cal states are also well funded. You know, they serve both of those institutions um serve so many middle class and vulnerable California families. And particularly with the changing evolution of the cost model of you know education, you know, we're already seeing that it doesn't make sense for most people to accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and then not necessarily have a job on the other side. And that's where you know community colleges in Cal States can really play a big role um you know whether that's you know somebody figuring out what their pathway is going to be early in their life or somebody who is mid-career and looking for a you know a different pathway. And so we're already seeing you know with the state budget community colleges particularly are underfunded and um and so finding the finding the funding for that and and also changing the way the funding formulas work. You know a lot of times the funding formulas you know portend to incentivize quality but what they really do is they they undercut the funding to the institutions that need it work the most. And so that's where um you know I will you know hope to make a difference and you know what's going to be critical is who's the next governor and what they think about the you know those issues. And so um and and hoping that there's a the next governor whoever it is is going to you know really prioritize that. And then from a you know K through 12 standpoint, you know, what I learned the most as a PTA president in an affluent school district is in Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District is that I learned a lot about things that I had previously thought were you know state funded, but they're really funded by PTAs and volunteers and the surrounding communities. And so it was a really rewarding and eye-opening learning experience going through that PTA process. And so that's number one. And then B, the funding formulas in K through 12 don't all work all that well either. And so one of the big things that I would look to is you know I think you know leaving aside attendance based reimbursement for attendance based but really enrollment based funding for schools.
SPEAKER_00We talked a lot about health care. I wanted to go back and ask a more narrowly tailored question about mental health. State law really shapes how how cities can use tools like care courts, conservatorships, involuntary treatment where do you stand on whether or not we should be expanding or limiting those tools and if expanding what safeguards would you insist on?
SPEAKER_01So you know my the biggest reason I'm running is the safety net. I come from a the safety net um it it that serves South LA and um you know a lot of the things that are big problems in Los Angeles, you know homelessness, um you know uh the issues around um you know crime and safety um you know you can't and and as I travel around the district, you know, those are the biggest things that come up you know in terms of you know how do we fix find solutions to these complex problems. I'll tell you how you don't do it. You don't pull the rug uh out of the safety net. You know, that's not going to make things better. And so what unfortunately what we're seeing is you know cuts to the safety net coming from the state that are I think going to make some of these problems worse. And um and so you know it's not just Medi-Cal um you know it's mental health services it's housing services and and all of that. And what I hope to do is be an advocate for coming from these programs that don't work all that well in Los Angeles County. They don't interact well with each other um and they don't you know they don't serve they don't work as efficiently as they could. And I'll give you one example um is you know some of so many of our patients that come to Harbor UCLA, um, they come on buses and they come, you know, a couple hours it takes to get to an appointment and maybe they're they make their appointment on time, maybe they're late. But the no-show rates for our healthcare appointments in our system are higher than they are in private systems. And when you don't when you miss your um uh appointments for because it's because you're late for whatever reason you don't get an appointment you know in a week or two in our system it's like months to years from now. And so um you know and and that's true for all kinds of appointments in the safety net. And so what's you know what can Sacramento do? Sacramento can incentivize local safety nets to to to work better. You know so for example you know one of the things that I think would be really useful in in LA is having you know transit that goes from homeless shelters and affordable housing to local you know local healthcare um uh facilities you know at Harbor UCLA we have a great one-stop shop it's a big big campus and people can can coordinate appointments with they should be able to coordinate appointments where they can get their healthcare appointments, they can get their mental health appointments, they can get their housing appointments, drug addiction, all of that all of those those, those appointments are are available here. And so investing in the infrastructure where people can more adequately invest access those types of appointments I think that's something that you know the federal government Medicare incentivizes quality to get paid. Sacramento can do something you know similarly and so thinking through that and I can bring my experience working in the safety net up there. And then you know you mentioned care courts you know that that's something you know that's another safety net program that you know works really well you know in in in in in terms of you know keeping families together in in terms of being able to um keep people unnecessarily out of jail. I was just at the care court in Redondo Beach a couple of months ago um you know these these types of programs work really well um they accomplish the goals that I think my constituents want that you know to accomplish um in terms of having an effect on um keeping people on the streets, keeping families together. And so I, you know, I I I really think that my experience coming from working in the safety net, from working in local government and bringing him up to Sacramento can help you know bring ideas on how Sacramento can make a difference on these types of issues.
SPEAKER_00I got to ask about immigration this primary will fall on the the the same week as the anniversary of the start of the ICE raids in Los Angeles. District has a very large immigrant population, all sorts of immigrant populations documented immigrants, undocumented immigrants, mixed status families the state has passed uh some legislation uh dealing with ICE enforcement or immigration enforcement things like a uh a mask ban. Um the state is considering other things like legislation that would prohibit people who work for ICE from working for the state. Curious where where you are on what sort of restrictions the state should be placing on cooperation with ICE and uh and and protecting immigrant communities.
SPEAKER_01So I I think that um you know this has come up so many times in our forums it's something that people care deeply about and um and it affects all Angelinos because this isn't just about the people that ICE are purported to be you know trying to you know go after it's a terror causing you know sort of situation um where the real result is causing terror amongst everybody in the in the community. And um and so where I think I can be most effective is working with local government. You know we've had ice outside of our emergency rooms at uh at our county health facilities we've had ice that show up um in you know uh in our educational institutions um you know outside K through 12 and and community colleges uh in the district um we've had ice that have shown up at parks uh you know you know looking for for immigrant nannies and you know things like that and it affects everybody and what I would want to do you know most effectively and most uniquely is work with local government and our local institutions to make sure that number one we protect people and make them feel safe that we're that these local institutions are working together to make sure that you know we warn that you know ICE is present here you know um uh and and and make sure that they know that protect the data that's a huge thing and working with local government to protect the data um and so you know it's I I I actually think it's beyond legislation from Sacramento it's having it's having an expertise in how all of these local institutions work and how they can be used to protect people from ICE terrorism. And so and that's where I think my you know my experience as a you know local physician you know local um you know PTA president community college you know trustee can help because I can work with you know local governments, local institutions to to to protect people in a really practical way um uh and and make sure that's it's transparent to our immigrant population.
SPEAKER_00Another community that has really felt terrorized over the past few years is the is the trans community. This is a district with a a a large LGBTQ plus population.
SPEAKER_01You've got West Hollywood which is sort of the you know in many ways the gay capital of of Southern California in addition to the the assault on on trans rights there's been you know fights over textbooks and and and sort of gain lesbian inclusion in in curriculum you get elected uh representing this district what are you going to do to uh expand safety access to care uh and fight for full inclusion of of people in the queer community my biggest thing is going to be fighting for healthcare LGBTQ access to healthcare um even prior to the Medi-Cal cuts um you know specifically the trans community the access to care um was inadequate um you know um and and what we've seen after Trump is that institutions are um going away from their gender affirming care um you know uh uh uh programs and so number one is um Medi-Cal you know uh disproportionate um uh amount of LGBTQ uh population is on Medi-Cal. And so any cuts to Medi-Cal is an attack on LGBTQ plus um you know populations. And then B specifically you know not to capitulate to the Trump administration and making sure that the programs that existed before um which were still inadequate but continue to exist and really fighting for that and really bringing voice to those issues up in Sacramento but really more locally. And so but we've seen that the access to care, it's going to be about access to health care. But all of these things, you know, safety net programs, you know, homeless homelessness, you know, you know the the cares about affordability, you know, LGBTQ plus you know populations in our district have those same concerns and all of this can we can work together to to help. And then also you brought up the schools issues and making sure that people in our district feel safe in our schools and not targeted and attacked because at the you know at the federal level you know not just LGBTQ plus vulnerable populations, but so many different vulnerable populations are feeling attacked and making sure that they feel safe going to school making sure that their freedom of speech and their voices are heard that's going to be critically important.
SPEAKER_00This is a big diverse state uh this is a big diverse district. Both the state and the district have some powerful people in it who have no problem getting their voices heard. And then there's other people who are not heard and who are underrepresented. Who would you identify as groups that are underrepresented whose voice needs to be elevated and what will you do to to hear them more and and speak for them?
SPEAKER_01You know I I think that uh you know the the most vulnerable uh among us you know I I think that um our system is the voice of our most vulnerable communities communities of color the communities that live in South LA are that voice is not heard enough up in Sacramento and it's not exclusive to those communities um you know every rural and urban area um you know just it there is an outside outside corporate influence you know on you know the nature of what we talk about. And so you know the issues that I talk about you know affordability enhancing the safety net you know I think that those issues um really bring voice to the concerns for the vulnerable communities are probably not adequately you know um adequately voiced you know locally or at the state level um and you know there's so many vulnerable communities that live in our in in our district you know you mentioned LGBTQ plus you know huge huge part of our district huge part of you know West Hollywood um and Hollywood um you know just this these iconic places um in in in western the the Western United States not just you know the Southern California uh where you know uh this this vulnerable population lives um you know communities of color that live in South LA that I've you know served for so long um the issues of anti-Semitism um that have you know been huge um over the last several years um you know that affect so many of so much of our population in the district all of these different types of vulnerable populations um you know I hope to to to to bring voice to up in in California um and you know I'll say this you know it can't all be legislated some of it is just bringing voice so that we can work together as communities and neighbors together you know to to you know sort of um be kind to one another and and and help one another yeah I don't think that all of it can be legislated in Sacramento but I can use my voice to make sure that people in our community feel heard and heard with each other.
SPEAKER_00One of the the hardest parts about being a candidate is raising money. And one of the the sort of dynamics about raising money is that there are are are groups or interests that like to donate money that often gets a negative reaction from members of the public or or members of the Democratic Party when you're seeking an endorsement.
SPEAKER_01Are there any uh groups or interests that you have uh refused to accept money from you know so so you know um tobacco companies you know uh uh and and then probably uh oil companies and and I say oil companies not that they're not a critical part of there's oil refineries in my district and they they are union jobs and all of that and so but you know I don't want it it ever to be thought that I'm influenced by the money that's given in this you know you've been in the system running for office about raising money and you know you know campaign finance and so um I you know I think those are the probably the two biggest entities um that um you know that I'll talk to anybody but I you know I I I don't want to you know perce I don't want anyone to perceive that there is a conflict of interest in there.
SPEAKER_00Quick lightning round uh Calcare uh in favor or opposed?
SPEAKER_01So I will say um I am for single payer um and any sort of medical system that will help bring um uh community standard care to the vulnerable populations I serve in South LA and so regarding Calcare um when I'm up there if it doesn't pass this year you know people ask me that all the time do you support or don't support Calcare? If it doesn't pass this year I hope to be part of a voice of a system that will you know that will pass um uh that brings people together to bring better healthcare to South LA um and so I will remain neutral because um I'll remain neutral on Calcare currently uh proposed ballot measure that would uh put a uh one time 5% tax on billionaires in California. So I would be a no on that currently similar to the governor um I have concerns that it would actually end up um hurting our taxpayer base you know more than it'll help our taxpayer base, particularly because it's a one-time fund. Aaron Ross Powell proposed ballot measure that would require uh proof of voter ID and citizenship anything that impacts um accessibility to the vote is something that I disagree with.
SPEAKER_00Aaron Ross Powell And proposed ballot measure by Howard Jarvis Taxpayers association that would make it uh raise the threshold to raise local revenues um also tell me a little bit more yeah yeah it would it would uh repeal measure ULA in Los Angeles uh among other things uh and it would uh create go go back to creating a supermajority for voter approval of certain local revenues as opposed to the 50 percent let me so I I think I would uh educate myself a little bit more on the on the measure um it doesn't sound like something that I would support but it you know I I don't want to uh I would educate myself a little bit more and final question uh and and this might be a political one it might be a personal one but uh this is uh this has been a a really tough couple years for for most people really uh with the ice raids with the assault on on democracy um uh uh with with economic stressors you know with the the huge natural disasters that you and your family have have suffered through but I'm I'm I'm struck by people who who run for office because running for office is sort of an act of of faith and of hope and of optimization Optimism, uh, you you believe in something better. So where where from where do you draw uh your your your strength and and your faith and your hope?
SPEAKER_01You know, I I think that um going through these difficult experiences that all so many people in our district have gone through over the last decade, you know, you know, impacts of the Trump administration through COVID, um uh you know, the effects of climate change and wildfires. Um you know, you need people who go up there with the right kind of experience, know how government works, because government is a unique institution, and to make sure that you can, you know, appropriately, you know, um wield the levers of government so they can help people and go back to um you know helping your constituents. And um I just I believe that government can help people, and I believe that I can bring the experience um with the career background and the advocacy background and the leadership background that I have that that I think can make a difference for a few people. I am not so uh naive to think that the state senator from this district, you know, one out of 120 legislators is gonna go up there and change everything for everyone and and change the world. I know that that's not the case. But I can bring uh a science public, you know, science background, um, a you know uh somebody who's uh able to um interpret statistics. Um I can bring a um a background that is unique up there. You know, there's not a lot of healthcare people, there's not a lot of people who come from the safety net, there's not a lot of people who are scientists up there. And I think I can have a voice up there that can result in policy that at the end of the day goes back to help the constituents that I serve. And that's the kind of um thing that we need back in government. We need, we need to just really, it's about finding small problems and finding a lot of it is just finding small solutions to small problems that make a difference. And I think that that's the voice and that's the why. That's the why.
SPEAKER_00Shai Roy, thanks for joining me on What's Next Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_01Thanks so much, Mike. I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00And that's it for this episode of What's Next Los Angeles. My thanks to Tanya Vistias for editing and producing, and my thanks to LA Forward for sponsoring this podcast. Please also tune into our sister podcast, LA Podcast, where I am part of a stable of co-hosts discussing and analyzing the latest news about politics, policy, and government in the Los Angeles area. You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts. And stay tuned for more episodes of What's Next Los Angeles. We're going to be talking with more candidates running to succeed Ben Allen on the West Side, the candidates running to succeed Marielena Carrasso on the east side, the candidates running for city council in the West San Fernando Valley, and the candidates running for mayor of the city of Los Angeles. Until then, thank you for joining me. Peace and take good care.