My Values and Commitment to Change

Throughout my career as a legislator, city council member, civil rights organizer and teacher my top priorities have revolved around helping working families struggling to pay their mortgage or rent, educate their children and care for their elderly relatives to improve their quality of life and share in the American dream. That means ensuring that ladders of opportunity in pursuit of their education and career development exist for all to access. Opportunity requires public investment in our youth from pre-school and K-12 education to career technical and job training.  Opportunity requires, home care for the elderly and disabled, the foster care system, and the safety net of emergency, preventive and mental health care services--the absence of which can derail a career.   Opportunity requires a transparent governmental administration that processes applications efficiently and facilitates access to businesses seeking permits, licenses and contracts with the County.  Opportunity requires a civil administration that is outcome-oriented, customer-friendly, and promotes merit, respects collective bargaining agreements and demands accountability.

Government cannot do everything, but it can do a lot.  It can serve as a catalyst for economic development, stimulate job creation and promote neighborhoods. Leadership must strategically wield public capital to complete housing and commercial development projects and code enforcement to prevent neighborhood decay. Among the most significant such efforts is the task of reopening of Martin Luther King Hospital.  This medical facility is more than a provider of health care.  As a magnet for employment, local enterprise and traffic, the King hospital anchored many local small businesses that have lost business since its closure.

No other candidate in this race has the breadth of experience or record of delivery I possess. I have assisted entrepreneurs and championed the rights and causes of California’s working families with the goal of strengthening our middle class. Whether in my leadership on commercial projects in the aftermath of the civil unrest in 1991 or my work to establish the Sports and Entertainment District south of downtown Los Angeles, I have worked with organized labor, developers and small business owners to accomplish shared goals. 

My commitment to community extends beyond any elected office.  It is part of my core belief that we have a responsibility to work together to create safe neighborhoods and well functioning communities that can produce and sustain enterprises that prosper and provide jobs.  I am a consensus builder capable of bringing people together to achieve results.  That is why I enjoy the endorsement of prominent Los Angeles entrepreneurs like Ed Roski, Frank and Jamie McCourt and Rick Caruso as well as the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, United Teachers of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.  

Working for Change, My Record of Results

Prior to my career in elected service, I was a high school teacher and served as Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference-LA for more than a decade. While there, my team and I led local campaigns to increase economic investment in South Los Angeles by challenging redlining practices of financial institutions.

While on the City Council, I created and led initiatives to protect workers by developing the City’s landmark worker retention ordinance (pre-cursor to the Living Wage ordinance) that required retention of the employees of an old contractor for 90 days when a new contractor received a contract to avoid the abrupt, sometimes life changing circumstances associated with a lay-off.  In the aftermath of the 1991 Civil Unrest, my leadership delivered $500 million in economic development projects and investment and led to more than 2,800 new jobs. Well before the current mortgage meltdown, I sponsored an ordinance that addressed predatory lending practices that was eventually preempted by less effective State legislation.  

While in the legislature, I have had the privilege of representing some of the most ethnically and economically diverse districts in California and I have worked for a number of years on creating parity and equity of services. My legislative accomplishments include passage of measures addressing a broad range of policy issues, including jobs and economic development, health care, housing, human services, public safety, consumer protection and transportation.  

My Plan

On accessing County resources:

• Establish a mini county hall of administration to serve as a constituent service center in the unincorporated area of the county that will give residents greater access to municipal services provided by the county and provide information to residents interested in accessing services, contracting, employment and procurement opportunities. 
  

• Host procurement workshops to educate small business operators about contract opportunities with county government.
  

• Conduct a comprehensive review of county policy decision-making with an eye toward making governance more transparent and accessible to the public.
  

On employment:

• Create a 2nd District “Green Industries Tech Center” to promote new business development and attract new private investment in the environmental sector as part of a Green Jobs Initiative (see Sustaining Our Communities).

• Work with job placement and training programs to ensure they are accessible to residents in all parts of the district and enhance their effectiveness.
  

• Seek access to philanthropic, community college, state and federal resources to ensure that the Second District receives its fair share of funding for job placement and training programs.

• Ensure that public works projects address the need to hire and contract locally.
  

• Ensure that County employment opportunities are publicized and the application process is accessible.
  

On housing:

• Work with the California Housing Finance Agency to implement Senate Bill 870 by identifying homeowners and lenders willing to work to refinance sub-prime loans.
  

• Work with private sector developers to identify projects that can be built with catalytic assistance from the public sector and try to secure the necessary resources to build them.

• Convene local government partners to periodically assess the impact the foreclosure crisis is having on neighborhoods and beef up code enforcement and nuisance abatement efforts to minimize crime and vandalism.
  

More Key Issues

Seniors, the Disabled and Foster Care

Public Safety

Sustaining our Communities

Healthier Communities