Sunrise Oxy, an on-campus climate action group, endorsed Ysabel Jurado, one of the eight candidates running for City Council District (CD) 14 in the election March 5. Jurado said that her campaign focuses on addressing the housing affordability crisis, ending homelessness, reimagining public safety, fighting for accessible and reliable public transit and delivering climate action. If elected, Jurado would be the first Filipino American to serve on City Council and the only openly queer member of the current City Council, according to her campaign.
Jurado said she graduated from UCLA School of Law and currently works as a tenants rights attorney. According to Jurado, her work as an attorney focuses on combatting gentrification-driven displacement, which is inspired by her lived experience in CD 14 where she has witnessed skyrocketing rent prices force neighbors out of their homes.
According to Jurado, her experiences as the daughter of undocumented immigrants, a single teen mom, a working-class Angeleno and an advocate for housing rights make her understand the struggles that CD 14 communities face.
“My message resonates with the communities in CD 14 because I’ve lived through the struggles they experience daily,” Jurado said via email. “Unlike establishment politicians who pander to the working class, I understand intimately how much the system has failed them.”
Jurado said that she is running for City Council to mobilize the people of CD 14 who have been historically excluded from political processes.
“This race isn’t just about winning an election; it’s about building a movement that centers the voices and needs of the working class,” Jurado said via email. “It’s about mobilizing the people in this district who have long felt left out of the political process and empowering them with the tools and skills they need to continue organizing — both electorally and otherwise — for decades to come.”
Unlike her opponents, Jurado’s campaign is grassroots. According to Jurado, she does not accept any money from corporations and that all $400,000 she has raised for this campaign have come straight from the community.
Jurado said that unlike her predecessors in CD 14, her goal is to include community voices as much as possible. According to Jurado, her campaign is centered around the principles of co-governance, which she describes as maintaining open, honest and transparent collaboration with every resident of CD 14.
“I’ve watched as my district’s councilmen have historically betrayed my community. That ends with me,” Jurado said via email. “As a councilmember, I will bring both the institutional and professional knowledge of a legal housing expert and the lived experience of a queer, immigrant-raised, working-class woman of color — a battle-tested representative for and from the community.”
Jack Elfenbaum (first year) is a member of Sunrise Oxy, an organization that endorsed Jurado. Elfenbaum said that Jurado appealed to them because she is climate-friendly.
“We are hoping she can defund city investments in corporations that pollute LA or CD 14 specifically,” Elfenbaum said.
According to Elfenbaum, Sunrise’s leadership is entirely horizontal, so when endorsing a candidate, all members of the organization must come to a unanimous decision. Due to Sunrise Oxy’s small size, Elfenbaum said that members were able to have in-person in-depth discussions about who to endorse and ultimately decided on endorsing Jurado.
“The reason Ysabel stands out is because she’s a grassroots candidate, she’s never run before, she grew up here in CD 14 and she’s a housing tenant organizer and lawyer,” Elfenbaum said.
Sunrise Oxy’s main mission is to organize for a Green New Deal and more sustainable practices at Occidental College, according to their website. Sunrise Oxy is a part of the larger Sunrise Movement, a national social justice movement founded in 2017 that focuses on fighting against the climate crisis.
Sadie Spletzer (sophomore) is a member of Sunrise Oxy and has been volunteering for Jurado’s campaign. Spletzer said since that volunteering with Jurado they have seen Jurado’s dedication to effective and long-term movement building and mobilization.
“I have had the opportunity to volunteer with Ysabel for the past few months in which I learned about her dedication to seeing a better Los Angeles,” Spletzer said. “A better Los Angeles entails a City Council in which the representatives have knowledge about the communities they are responsible for representing. Ysabel does that and more.”
Jurado said that ultimately, she is running for City Council to serve the community in CD 14, which she has been a part of her whole life. Jurado said that no Angeleno should be suffering the injustices they have had to. According to Jurado, these stories inspire her to give this race her all.
“I am running for City Council because I am driven by a deep sense of responsibility to uplift, protect and strengthen our beautiful, resilient and unique community,” Jurado said via email. “CD 14 is my home and my whole heart.”
This article went to press before the results of the March 5 election were announced.
Contact Eliza Bodden at bodden@oxy.edu
