The primary election for district 14 of the Los Angeles Council is Tuesday, March 3, 2020
The former president of the California Senate, Kevin De León is very clear that if he wins a seat in the Los Angeles Council for the 14th district, his number one, two and three priority will be to address the homeless crisis.
"District 14 is the national epicenter of all the homeless not only because of Skid Row – the neighborhood where they concentrate most -" he said during a meeting with editors of The opinion.
"It is a disgrace that homelessness is our biggest problem when we live in the city, state and the richest country in the world"He added.
De León is a strong candidate to keep the seat for the 14th district of the Los Angeles Council, which includes historic Latin neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Highland Park, Eagle Rock and Glassell Park.
The proposal of the former Democratic legislator is to build housing, specifically small houses of prefabricated materials on land in the city and Los Angeles County that cost around $ 100,000 to respond more quickly to the demand for a roof among the homeless.
“I have to remind you that I’m the author of Proposition 2, No Place like home (Nothing like home) that was approved by voters to provide 2,000 million dollars, and build permanent housing for the homeless with mental illness, ”he recalled.
"That figure is expected to reach 800 million dollars in Los Angeles," he said.
But he also spoke of the need to build vertical housing for low and middle income workers; and to make the processes to develop housing complexes more agile.
It will also give priority to public transport and electric buses.
"Day after day, people living in the 14th district have to breathe pollutants because we are surrounded by the largest number of highways in the city," said De Leon, who lives in the Highland Park neighborhood.
He pointed out that the District 14 is crossed by nine highways, the 2, 5, 10, 60, 101, 110, 134, 210 and 710. “You can not expand the highways anymore. FIt was a scandal to have spent 2,000 million dollars to expand Highway 405 to gain seven seconds, ”he said.
As a councilor, he will focus on the micro affairs of his district such as potholes and trash, but also on macro problems such as homelessness and home construction.
De León is the son of a single mother who brought her family forward with her work as a maid in luxury hotels in La Joya, in San Diego County.
It emerged in politics after having an active role in the fight against proposition 187 which in 1994 sought to deny social services and education to undocumented immigrants.
In 2006 he obtained his first political position by winning a seat in the California Assembly. In 2010 he went to the Senate. He made history on October 15, 2014 by becoming the first Latino to be president of the Senate in more than 130 years. Position he left in 2018.
Among his most important achievements are the AB60 law that gives driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, which he rescued after being frozen by the author of the measure; the Sanctuary law that ensures that state and local resources are not used to increase mass deportations and separate families.
But he also got the minimum wage raised to $ 15 per hour; SB588, the Fair Payment Act to combat worker theft of wages, was made law; and SB674 to expedite police certification for victims of crimes that qualify for the U visa. He is the author of other environmental measures so that by 2045, only renewable and clean energy is used in California.
He is currently engaged in university teaching.
District 14 has been represented since 2005 by Councilman José Huizar, whose term is expired to remain on the Council at the end of 2020.
Also competing for the position is Mónica García who has worked on the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
Also included are Cindy Otteson, president of the nonprofit Miry’s List; CalTech researcher Jamie Tijerina; Marcus Lovingood, a member of the Neighborhood Council of downtown Los Angeles, and Hal Bastian, a business consultant at the center.
De León has the support of the Los Angeles County Federation of Trade Unions, Senator María Elena Durazo, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Councilors Mitch O'Farrell, Curren Price, Paul Krekorian and Mike Bonin, among others.
The primary election will be held on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. “If no candidate obtains a majority, the two who obtained the highest number of votes will go to a second round on November 3 during the general election.
