Preserve and promote affordable housing on the Westside

Protect renters from displacement and eviction

Finance and purchase publicly-owned, mixed-income housing

Rents in LA are rising twice as fast as the median income. As a result, young people, students, artists, seniors, low-income workers, and people of color are being evicted and displaced, forced to leave our city or -- for those without a safety net -- cast onto the streets.

Indeed, cities where residents spend over 30% of their income on housing suffer far greater rates of homelessness, and LA is the third most rent-burdened city in the entire country. The only way to keep LA vibrant and diverse, while stemming the tide of Angelenos into homelessness, is to double down on affordable housing and tenant protections.

I’ve used the full weight of my office to build affordable housing on the Westside, negotiating record rates of affordable units near the Expo Line and offering the West LA Civic Center as a site for hundreds of additional units of affordable housing. I’ve pushed the city to enact stronger tenant protections, and I’ve fought on behalf of renters during COVID-19, securing the strongest eviction moratorium and largest rent relief program in the entire country. In addition, I won approval for an ordinance cracking down on the proliferation of short-term rentals that are displacing so many long-time residents.

But there’s so much more we must fight for.

We need to stop treating housing like a Wall Street commodity and make it a basic human right. We must curb state laws that permit the demolition of affordable housing and introduce a new tax on vacant homes. We must push the city to finance, purchase, and build mixed-income housing, or Social Housing. And we must guarantee free legal counsel to anyone facing eviction, so they don’t have to go it alone.

Expand our supply of permanent supportive housing and services

Promote faster, lower-cost housing solutions, like shared housing and master leasing

Enact our successful encampment-to-home outreach model across our city

Nearly everyone agrees that homelessness is the moral crisis of our time, and the status quo, in which nearly five unhoused people die on our streets every night, is horrific and unacceptable. But Angelenos are sharply divided on what to do about it.

One the one side, there’s the temptation of quick fixes and wishful thinking, in which it is imagined that by criminalizing the problem, it will go away. LA has pursued this option for decades, employing law enforcement to push unhoused people from street to street, neighborhood to neighborhood, succeeding only in wasting money, spreading misery, and kicking the can down the road.

On the other side, we can tackle the problem head on, fighting homelessness with the only solutions that have been consistently proven to be effective: housing and services. This route requires patience, trust-building, compassion, and a lot more supportive and transitional housing. It will not happen overnight, but it is the only hope we have of making a difference.

I have been fighting since 2015 for LA to acknowledge this crisis and devote the appropriate amount of resources to solving it. I’ve overseen the opening or approval of hundreds of units of supportive housing, bridge housing, and safe parking sites on the Westside. And I’ve been pushing for years for faster, lower-cost solutions like shared housing, master leasing, and the purchase and conversion of old buildings and motels -- all of which the city is now beginning to explore.

These new resources are starting to make an impact.

After years of devoting only a tiny fraction of its total spending to homelessness, City Councilapproved a budget for 2021 that is finally in line with the scale of the crisis. And in just six weeks at the Venice Boardwalk, our Encampments to Homes program moved over 200 people off the street and onto a guaranteed path to permanent housing.

We now have a proven model to get people off the streets quickly and permanently by leading with services and housing instead of policing. All that’s required to keep moving forward is the patience and political will to keep doing this vital work.

Build a 100 percent renewable energy and transit system

Shut down all oil drilling and every gas-fired power plant in LA

Conserve water and grow our urban forest

Climate crisis is no longer an abstract idea, but an immediate threat to the families and neighborhoods I represent. Six of the seven largest wildfires in California’s history have occurred in the last two years. We just experienced the hottest June in history, and the Colorado river and its key reservoirs have dipped to record lows. We must move towards a sustainable future like our lives depend on it -- because they do.

I’ve led the charge at City Hall for LA’s Department of Water and Power to commit to 100 percent green energy by 2035, and I’ve committed the city to completely electrify its bus fleet by 2028 and LA Metro by 2030. I’ve also called for the closure of the So Cal Gas facility in Playa del Rey, led on efforts to end fossil fuel production in LA, and forced LAX to reduce its carbon footprint.

When it comes to water conservation, I’ve pushed LA to recycle 100 percent of its wastewater by 2035 and I’ve overseen the completion of Prop O water quality projects across my district. I believe in protecting and expanding our urban forest and I’ve strengthened LA’s protected tree ordinance, securing stiff penalties for offenders.

Right now, many of these commitments exist solely on paper. Going forward, we must hold our city agencies accountable and keep them to their ambitious promises. We must keep fighting until all oil drilling and every gas-fired power plant in LA is shut down. And we cannot rest until LA runs on 100 percent green energy and recycles 100 percent of its wastewater.

Make our public transit fast, reliable and free

Reimagine our system though bus rapid transit, a north-south rail connection between the Westside and the Valley, and a connection to LAX

Make our streets safer for pedestrians and bikes

LA is getting closer to powering its electric grid with 100% green energy, but our traffic, air quality, and tailpipe emissions keep getting worse. Transportation accounts for 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in California -- there’s simply no way we can combat climate change without ambitious investments in new ways to get around our city.

The only way we’ll succeed in getting Angelenos out of their cars is if we focus on what public transit riders most want and need. That means our buses and trains have to be more frequent, go more places, and move faster than traffic. Lastly, as our city’s low-income workers depend on public transit the most, bus and train service should be free.

Through my chairmanship of the city’s transportation committee and my seat on the LA Metro Board, I’ve fought to reimagine our system through bus rapid transit, a north-south rail connection between the Westside and the Valley, and a connection to LAX (now under construction). I pushed for fareless bus service during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I won’t stop fighting until our entire public transit system is free and accessible for all Angelenos.

I’ve also fought for safer and less congested streets through the #WestsideFastForward initiative, which created on-demand neighborhood shuttle services, new left-turn signals, and a series of pedestrian safety improvements throughout the 11th district, as well as expanding the City’s bike-share program to the Westside.

Deploy unarmed, trained professionals to address mental health crises, homelessness, and traffic enforcement

Invest in violence interruption and youth programming to get at the root causes of crime

Continue to lead on fire safety and emergency services

We all want nothing more than our children, our parents, and our partners to be safe. Public safety, in this way, is everyone’s number one goal, but it can mean different things to different people. The death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the protests that followed served as a strong reminder that for far too long we’ve asked armed law enforcement to solve every social ill in our city -- and the results for Black, Indigenous and other people of color, unhoused people, and those suffering from mental illness can be deadly.

Instead of this one-size-fits-all approach, LA must expand its capabilities to deploy unarmed, trained professionals to safely de-escalate situations with people experiencing homelessness or mental health crises. Not only will these interactions be more effective and less deadly, but they’ll free up time for police officers to respond quickly to violence and investigate crimes. We’ll also save money, which we can devote to proven violence-interruption interventions and after-school programs for vulnerable youth.

Throughout my time on city council, I’ve pushed for LAPD reforms to enhance neighborhood safety for all. In 2017 I called for shutting down specialized militaristic police details and moving officers to neighborhood patrols, adding hundreds more officers for crime prevention and faster 911 response. In 2020 I supported innovative programs where unarmed professionals will handle calls related to homelessness and mental health, and I co-authored a proposal to remove armed officers from traffic enforcement. My next term will be devoted to shepherding these small pilot initiatives into full-fledged city programs that honor LA’s commitment to reimagining public safety.

Public safety in LA is also about being prepared for natural disasters -- especially fires, which are only expected to get worse as climate change intensifies. The hillside neighborhoods in my district are especially vulnerable, and as a result I’ve led efforts to revitalize LA’s fire department after it sustained large budget cuts during the Great Recession. I have secured more than $60 million in LAFD funding for the 11th District alone, resulting in hiring more firefighters, restoring engine companies, adding ambulances and firefighting helicopters, and updating equipment so that LA stays prepared and neighborhoods stay safe.

I’m a devoted Westsider who has lived in the community for nearly 30 years. My husband Sean and I are raising a son in Mar Vista, and I’m a member of St. Monica’s Church in Santa Monica. From Sawtelle Japantown to Mar Vista Gardens, Pacific Palisades to Westchester, I love the diversity of my district and I’m always seeking to better know its needs and fight for its fair share of resources.

Sensible Development

My office has focused on sensible development on the Westside, prioritizing affordable housing near the Expo Line and stopping oversized luxury development in Playa del Rey that violated coastal development rules. We brokered a landmark agreement that stopped LAX’s proposed expansion of the North Runways, and fulfilled a promise to Westchester and Playa del Rey neighbors to create a community-developed plan to bring ballfields, open space, and neighborhood-serving retail to the LAX Northside. We have approved limits on mansionization, proposed tough new protections for affordable housing near the coast, and launched long-delayed updates of community plans on the Westside.

Fire Safety

We’ve been proactive on fire and community safety, adding new ambulances at several LAFD stations, bike medics at Venice Beach and LAX, and restoring a critical Fire Engine company in Pacific Palisades. We also won approval for the purchase of an LAFD helicopter, which has proved crucial in saving lives and property in the canyons and hillsides of the 11th District.

Fighting Gridlock

We’ve tackled traffic through our #WestsideFastForward initiative, which created on-demand neighborhood shuttle services, new left-turn signals, and a series of pedestrian safety improvements throughout the district, especially around schools. We’ve also focused specifically on easing gridlock at the Sunset/405 choke point, and we created a “Sunset Standard,” which forces any development on Sunset Boulevard to reduce its traffic impacts.

Enhancing Green Space

We’ve fought for greater green space everywhere, including the new George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon, a new kids playground at Via Dolce Park, a new passive park on Milton Street along the Ballona Creek, and a new dog park at Glen Alla Park. We’ve won approval for open space and recreational space on the LAX Northside, and we’ve secured funds for improvements at our existing parks, including Westchester Park, Del Rey Lagoon Park, Culver-Slauson Park, Stoner Park, Penmar Park, and Venice Beach.