Voters in City Council District 14, which includes downtown, Boyle Heights, Eagle Rock and other communities on L.A.’s eastern flank, have a stark choice on Nov. 5.
They can give another four-year term to Councilmember Kevin de León, who has stubbornly refused to resign since being caught two years ago participating in a racist, secretly recorded conversation that laid bare the political establishment’s us-versus-them machinations. Or they can give the job to Ysabel Jurado, an energetic and idealistic tenants rights attorney who promises to turn a new page on the corruption and neglect that has plagued this district for years.
Jurado is the best choice, by a long shot.
Jurado, 34, a lifelong Highland Park resident and the daughter of Filipino immigrants, won the most votes during the March primary election, besting De León, two state lawmakers and five other contenders for the seat.
It’s rare for incumbents not to win primaries. In this case, it speaks to the lingering distaste for De León over his role in the 2022 scandal and his failure to resign, as he was urged to do by colleagues, constituents and prominent Democrats including President Biden.
Jurado’s strong performance over better-known and better-funded politicians speaks to both her strength as a grassroots organizer and the community’s desire for a council representative who can restore trust and address an array of pressing issues, including the high cost of housing and the struggle to get basic city services.
Jurado, who describes herself as a progressive running an insurgent campaign, shows a refreshing humility and willingness to listen and learn to solve problems. That will serve her well in a district with some of the city’s most acute challenges, including homelessness and housing affordability, gentrification and displacement, a struggling downtown and the daily, open-air humanitarian tragedy that is Skid Row.
Her professional, political and lived experience indicate she will be a strong advocate for the district. She got involved in local politics a decade ago, working on John Choi’s unsuccessful 2013 run for City Council, then worked as a scheduler in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office before going to UCLA School of Law in 2016. Garcetti appointed her to the Human Relations Commission in 2021. Jurado brings valuable legal and advocacy experience, having worked to defend workers from wage theft, protect tenants from eviction and represent small businesses at risk of losing their leases during the pandemic.
Jurado would join a growing bloc of progressive council members, including Eunisses Hernandez, Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martínez, who have shaken things up at City Hall by unseating incumbents. Jurado does not support Mayor Karen Bass’ plan to expand the Los Angeles Police Department and wants to redirect its budget toward unarmed crisis response and other priorities, such as fixing broken streetlights and funding youth development and gang intervention programs. She says she will push to repeal Municipal Code 41.18, the city’s controversial anti-camping law to sweep homeless encampments.
Jurado says she would pursue policies, such as a right to counsel program, to keep renters from losing their housing to eviction and sliding into homelessness, and to provide better services to homeless people and making it easier for them to get into permanent housing. She also supports efforts to fast-track affordable housing projects and strengthen rent control and other tenant protections.
We don’t fully agree with Jurado’s positions on every issue, such as police hiring or homelessness, but we think it’s healthy for the City Council to have a range of views, including members that will question long-held assumptions and challenge status quo policies if they are no longer working.
We believe that Jurado will be, first and foremost, a thoughtful leader whose primary focus is on making the city a better place for every resident, no matter their ZIP Code or economic situation. We expect that once in the job she will balance her ideals with the realities of running the second-largest city in the nation, as the other progressive council members have done.
Some voters may be inclined to give De León a second chance. In a bid for political survival, he has apologized, sought redemption and has focused on improving constituent service. But his constituents deserve more than contrition. His thin-skinned refusal to speak to some journalists shows he is not willing to be an open book and face tough questions to regain the public’s trust. Case in point: He declined the editorial board’s interview requests, turning down the opportunity to answer questions or make the case for his reelection.
L.A. can’t fix its broken city government without moving beyond the zero-sum approach that has made it a hotbed of political corruption and dysfunction. Jurado is the candidate best poised to deliver the change residents sorely need in a district that for two decades has been used by politicians as either a steppingstone to higher office or a playground for corrupt activities. Voters should give her the job, and send De León packing.
