As soon as I took office in the beginning of 2021, we got to work transforming our district’s approach to homelessness – and in the next Homeless Count, we were able to deliver the first reduction of unsheltered homelessness in our district since 2016. We did it by bringing completely new resources to the district, and we built all our work around getting people on their most direct and sustainable path into housing and care.

Since then, I’m honored to have become the Chair of the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, where I have the opportunity to work deeply on developing major new policy to end homelessness throughout Los Angeles.

• Moved more than 500 people off the streets in our district and into shelter and housing.

• Built the largest Homelessness Team of any Council District, even though our district had the second-lowest unsheltered population in the last Homeless Count.

• Doubled the shelter capacity of the district and opened a multi-year city-run hotel shelter facility, the first of its kind in LA.

• Secured an Encampment Resolution Grant for our district from the California Governor’s Office – the only one granted in LA County last year – to bring about 100 people indoors from the LA River, with additional funding from Congressman Adam Schiff.

• Implemented Encampment to Home efforts across the district, bringing every single residents indoors at more than a dozen encampments

• Worked with Mayor Karen Bass on the first implementation of her Inside Safe program, bringing 31 people indoors from Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood.

• Expanded mental health and substance use services to supplement programs offered by LA County, bringing street medicine, treatment beds, and Multi-Disciplinary Teams into our district and passing legislation to expand street medicine across the city.

• Wrote, fought for, and passed motions to improve LA’s homelessness system citywide – including motions to fix voucher allocations, make our shelter and housing priority system more efficient, and establish a citywide program to address RV homelessness.

After years of rising housing costs and debilitating pressure on renters, I’ve held it as a priority to make Los Angeles a city where people can find real stability – where workers can live near their jobs, generations of families can stay near each other, and people of all incomes can share thriving neighborhoods.

That work has culminated in an achievement I’m very proud of: this spring, working hand in hand with tenants rights organizations, my staff and I developed, fought for, and secured the most sweeping expansion of tenants’ rights in forty years.

• Passed universal just cause protections so that more than 400,000 additional tenants in LA cannot be evicted without reason.

• Passed a rent debt threshold for eviction, so that no tenant can be evicted if they owe less than one month’s fair market rent for their unit.

• Passed relocation assistance for tenants who receive an excessive rent hike to discourage rent gouging.

• Passed legislation to implement more effective enforcement of LA’s Home Sharing Ordinance.

• Passed an ordinance to require transparency on tenant utility bills.

• Strengthened LA’s Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance and helped secure new funding to help the ordinance be better enforced.

• Brought forward and advanced legislation to offer tenants the right to counsel in eviction cases

• Knocked on doors and sent texts to thousands of renters in the district to inform them of available emergency financial assistance.

I have seven-year-old twins, and I want more than anything for them to be able to live healthy lives in this city – so improving our air quality and reducing the emissions that cause climate change are of enormous importance to me. Changing how we get around is a big part of the solution, so I’ve put a lot of work into making our Council District a safer place for cyclists and pedestrians.

I’m so grateful to have been able to work on these issues as a member of the City Council’s Energy and Environment Committee and Transportation Committee, and as Mayor Garcetti’s appointee to represent the City of LA on the South Coast Air Quality Management District Board, the air pollution agency for about 18 million Californians.

• Passed legislation making LA the largest city in America to make all new construction carbon-free - meaning no new gas lines.

• Built the first protected bike lane in Council District Four.

• Opened 2.25 miles of new bike lanes across the district

• Made almost a mile of Griffith Park Drive car-free, the first closure of its kind in LA in ten years, with many more protections coming for active transportation users in the park.

• Expanded the ability of the South Coast Air Quality Management District to regulate polluters across Southern California.

• Worked with Assemblymember Laura Friedman to achieve $4 million in funding for major street safety improvements in Griffith Park

Part of my decision to run for Councilmember was a sense I had that there was a serious disconnect between the people of LA and their city representatives. Since I ran, we’ve heard outrageous, heartbreaking audio of some of our City’s leadership engaging in racist, anti-democratic conspiracy, and multiple former Councilmembers have been convicted of crimes of corruption.

I’m one of the first incumbents in the city of LA to refuse any corporate donations, and I don’t accept money from developers, oil and gas interests, or law enforcement – when I make decisions on these issues, I want you to know with certainty that they weren’t influenced by money.

Government reform also means changing how Los Angeles city workers protect our residents – making sure immigrants are safe from unjust deportations, reproductive rights are sacred, and that our public safety response works for everyone.

• Passed legislation to develop the Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Governance Reform, on which I now serve as Vice Chair

• Introduced legislation to develop a truly independent redistricting commission that is anticipated to go on the city ballot next year.

• Championed the first expansion of seats on the City Council since 1925 in order to offer constituents better representation and services – also anticipated to go on the ballot next year.

• Passed legislation to establish LA as a safe haven for abortion care.

• Passed a motion to create a multi-year transition plan to fully shift responsibility for non-violent calls to unarmed civilians rather than armed officers.

• Passed legislation to improve reporting processes for hate crimes.

• Co-presented legislation to make Los Angeles a true sanctuary city.

• Passed a motion to make Spanish translation available at all Council committee meetings.

• Advanced the first significant changes to the Municipal Lobbying Ordinance in almost 30 years.

For too many, one of Los Angeles’ crown jewels had become just a shortcut on their daily commute, speeding through it at dangerous speeds. We made Griffith Park a better, safer park for everyone by eliminating car cut-through traffic – the first such achievement in thirty years.

Right now, we’re building the future of the LA Zoo, adding pickleball courts throughout the district, and creating a regional wildlife connectivity plan.