He has been knocking on doors in the 28th district for Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena, Hollywood and the Crescenta Valley.
Jennifer Barbosa, wants to be the first Latina congresswoman for the 28th district of California to deal with serious problems such as the disproportionate increase in homelessness, but to achieve this, she must first remove the current representative Adam Schiff, who has been in Congress for almost 19 years .
"In the last year, homelessness increased 12%, but since (Adam Schiff) was elected to Congress in 2000, it has increased by 75%", it states.
“Definitely in my neighborhood in Hollywood is a big problem. We are not talking about the glamorous area in the mountains but about the poor part where at least half of the population are immigrants who live in rental units for the low-income, ”he says.
And he adds that these people have no political power to demand and remove from their positions not only the federal representative but other local leaders who do nothing. "But I think we can," he says.
A few days after the primary election on Tuesday, March 3, this independent candidate is very optimistic about defeating Democrat Schiff in Congress.
“My odds are fabulous. We have been campaigning since March 2019 because we knew it would compete as an independent and that it would be more difficult. We have been able to collect a decent electoral amount, ”he adds.
And there is no day that does not go out to visit the voters of your district. "I have knocked 20,000 doors to introduce myself and answer questions”, Precise.
"For me that is very important because many candidates do not take the time to go knocking on doors," he observes.
Congressional District 28 of California is in the heart of Los Angeles, encompasses Hollywood, Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena and Crescenta Valley.
It has been through those tours of the neighborhoods of her district that Jennifer has realized that in general, people are very concerned about the growth of helplessness, substance abuse and mental illness that overwhelm this population, and which have also contributed to the increase in crime.
"They wonder why their congressman (Adam Schiff) has ignored this problem, and only now that he is seeking re-election, he is interested when he has really done nothing, and does not live here," he says. “In fact, he moved to Maryland, where he has a beautiful home and took his family there. It only maintains a small apartment in Burbank. He is very focused on the things in Washington that are very important, but he must also serve his district, maintain connection and go for a walk in the homeless camps. ”
“Since he is a congressman, none of his legislation has become law. As for the homeless, he has basically supported a Maxine Waters law that essentially repeats the same failed policies of Mayor Eric Garcetti. ”
What would she do differently?
“First of all, I live here and I want to address the problem of helplessness. It is true that it is not entirely up to us to solve it, but partially it is. I would work with political parties not only in terms of the homeless but in infrastructure to obtain funds to repair the deteriorated streets and bridges, in trade agreements, and issues that matter in our district. ”
Another of its priorities would be to end the abuse of scholarships for accessible housing through the supervision of Congress, since currently an economic housing in Los Angeles costs between 500,000 and 700,000 dollars per unit, which it considers exacerbates the crisis of the homeless
Regarding the tax issue, he wants to work to reduce them to small businesses, the middle class and eliminate tax gaps for large corporations.
Jennifer grew up in Florida, and moved to Los Angeles in 2001. She is the daughter of a Bolivian immigrant and her mother was born in New York.
“My family is very diverse. My parents met in Spain when my father went to study there, ”he explains.
In the last five years he has worked for several community organizations. He was vice president of the Neighborhood Council of the Hollywood Studio District.
She is convinced that we need immigration reform to fix the status of immigrants. "We absolutely have to reform the broken system," he emphasizes.
And she acknowledges feeling very excited about the March 3 election. “People think there are only Democrats and Republicans. I am competing as an independent and if I am successful, I will show that you do not have to join a particular match, you can, you can work with all the matches and get the majority support you need to win. ”
Adam Schiff is the holder of the seat for the 28th district of California in Congress since 2012, when the constituencies were redesigned. However, he is currently serving his tenth period as a congressman. He has been in office since 2001, in different districts, 27 and 29 that later became the 28th California Congress.
