Incumbent City Councilmember Kevin de León and tenants rights attorney Ysabel Jurado participated in the CD-14 Candidate Forum to address questions residents had concerning community needs.
The event was rescheduled from Oct. 5 to Oct. 9 and provided both Spanish and English translations.
Attendees at the forum included residents primarily from the Boyle Heights neighborhood. The residents expressed concerns about affordable housing, safety and parking availability.
Antonio Garcia: 71 years old, Boyle Heights resident
Garcia said in Spanish that he immigrated to Boyle Heights — where he has been living for the past 51 years — and that he believes de León will win the race because of his greater political experience and wider platform.
“Jurado has never held public office, so she does not have the experience that Kevin de León has, and he knows how to direct resources to address community needs,” Garcia said in Spanish.
According to Garcia, he appreciates de León’s efforts to address homelessness and clean up trash in the neighborhood.
“Imagine how our neighborhoods would look like, they would be filled with trash,” Garcia said in Spanish. “There will always be trash because of the large number of people who reside in Boyle Heights.”
According to Garcia, these actions attest to de León’s commitment to serving his community.
Garcia said in Spanish that he disagrees with Jurado’s lack of support for law enforcement.
“Ms. Ysabel Jurado does not support the police, how is that possible knowing that if we do not have police officers, we will see an increase in crime? We need more police officers,” Garcia said in Spanish.
Liliflor Flores: 53 years old, artist and business owner, Boyle Heights resident
Flores said she has been a resident of Boyle Heights since 1997, and that her concerns now are the same as they were in previous elections: gentrification and community violence.
“The building of fast developments in our city allows developers to build without certain protocols and they’re waiving a lot of things that used to have community input,” Flores said.
Flores said she believed that there has been no progress in the community for as long as she has lived in Boyle Heights. She said she would like to learn more about how the candidates will implement solutions to address community violence. This includes violence originating from homeless encampments and elsewhere, she said.
“We have violence against women who are being sexually harassed or even abducted at this point,” Flores said. “Here in Boyle Heights you also have drive-by shootings, our youth are dying in the streets and crime has gone up rapidly. That’s a big concern.”
Flores said she believed that increased community programming is key to youth empowerment.
“One big thing for me, being an artist, is art programming — and I’m not talking just doing art. I’m talking art, music, dance, theater and poetry as an outlet to get the youth off of the streets,” Flores said.
Omeatl Tonahtiuh: 45 years old, Boyle Heights resident
Tonahtiuh said he has been a resident of Boyle Heights for 35 years. He said his main concerns are basic road maintenance, air quality and family safety.
“The candidates are so focused on their political agenda and I haven’t heard a single one of them talk about family development,” Tonahtiuh said.
Tonahtiuh said he has not noted any significant progress under de León. He said he commends Jurado for being able to defend herself from de León, as well as calling him out on racist remarks. He said that although de León is a seasoned politician, he distrusts him because of his political ambitions.
“I don’t think he’s here because he wants to be, he’s here because he lost [the 2022 LA mayoral election]” Tonahtiuh said. “If the state were to offer him the Senate, he would go right back and just leave the community.”
De León was president pro tempore of the California State Senate from Oct. 2014 to March 2018.
Tonahtiuh said he hopes that candidates implement long-lasting change, such as planting more trees to alleviate bad air quality.
“I’d like to see 50,000 trees planted, so even though I’ll be long gone, future generations can enjoy clean air,” Tonahtiuh said.
Valeria Aviles: 46 years old, security guard for nonprofit Proyecto Pastoral, Boyle Heights resident
Aviles said in Spanish that she has lived in Boyle Heights for the past 11 years.
“Right now I am working as a security guard for the [CD-14 Candidate Forum], but I am also listening attentively to Mr. Kevin de León and Ms. Ysabel Jurado, because it is important for me to know what both candidates have planned for the future of the Boyle Heights community,” Aviles said in Spanish.
Aviles said in Spanish that her main concerns are how the candidates plan to limit crime and help the elderly.
“There have been some changes, but there is still a lot of change left to do,” Aviles said in Spanish. “The candidates have to make a commitment to improve our communities.”
Aviles said in Spanish that for her to gain trust in the candidates, they should go beyond speaking about action and instead take action.
Jamaal Muwwakkil, PhD: 38 years old, academic researcher, University Hills resident
Muwwakkil said he has been a resident of University Hills for three years. He said his main concerns for this election are how the candidates will approach affordable housing, parking and the plan to allocate funds to support efforts for the 2028 Olympics, which are to be held in LA.
“I’m interested in how the community [is] orienting to that increased investment, what community members are isolating as issues that need to be solved and how they solved them,” Muwwakkil said.
Muwwakkil said that when he first arrived at University Hills, there was concern over a large amount of RVs parked in the area. He said this was an immediate remedy for those who are housing insecure, but also limited an already restricted amount of parking space.
Muwwakkil said one of the approaches to housing insecurity that he likes is the building of tiny homes. The Tiny Homes Village shelters serve as interim housing and aim to alleviate homelessness.
“I appreciate more engaged conversations around what are sustainable answers to that [affordable housing] question,” Muwwakkil said. “I would, of course, love to see more long-term and large-scale affordable housing being built.”
Muwwakkil said he wanted to hear more about new proposals from both candidates, because it would help clarify a vision for the future.
“You have a lot of possible answers for fixing and addressing homelessness, housing insecurity and parking,” Muwwakkil said. “There’s a lot of options. I don’t know which ones each candidate wants to do.”
Crista Campos: 37 years old, marketing manager, Boyle Heights resident
Campos said she has resided in Boyle Heights for the past 15 years. She said that this year, she became a citizen and voted for the first time.
“I definitely wanted to see Kevin de León and Ysabel in the same room and see how they connect with the community,” Campos said.
According to Campos, one of the positive changes she has seen was the installation of a traffic light in between 4th Street and Clarence, which came after multiple car accidents.
Campos said her main concerns for this election are immigration, safety and homelessness.
“Boyle Heights has a great population of Mexican Americans,” Campos said. “We have immigrants from Latin America and from different places of the world.”
Campos said she was pleasantly surprised by the passion that voters have demonstrated in being vocal about community needs.
“People came out wanting to either change something or keep something,” Campos said. “That shows that people can really make a difference in the community.”
CD-14 residents will be able to cast their vote in the general election Nov. 5.
Contact Karen Palacios Echeverria at palacioseche@oxy.edu
