Knock LA

Ballots have arrived and I’ve heard many say “I’m not sure who I’m voting for yet… I’m going to check out the endorsements.” Why? Because when all else fails, we look to those we trust for guidance. Trust is sacred, to have and to lose. But during this election season, with some of our leaders in the highest offices continuing to function in a business-as-usual manner, rubber stamping endorsements to maintain the status quo, I’ve lost trust in a majority of our leaders.

With Project 2025 in full effect as planned, the Democrats have been operating in defense mode since Trump was elected. What does this have to do with our local elections? Everything. My city councilmember, Traci Park for District 11, went on record saying she opposed making Los Angeles a sanctuary city after abstaining from a vote about it. She also doesn’t support unions, as she voted against the Olympic wage hike that was nationally hailed as a huge win for labor. For someone supported by real estate, corporate interests, police unions, and notable MAGA and Epstein class donors, none of this is surprising — it all checks out. So why are Democratic leaders endorsing her? 

As a social worker in this city serving our most vulnerable students and families, I hoped that the moment Traci Park turned on immigrants and the working class, people would see her for what she represents. I thought that she had crossed a line that exposed her true allegiances in a way that was indisputable. I was wrong and I’m equally saddened and disgusted to see that none of this seemed to matter — in a time when it absolutely should. 

Los Angeles has a political dynamic that allows the city to “stay blue” with Democratic leaders who espouse Republican and conservative values. They’re Democrats in name only. In this day and age, being labeled as a Republican or conservative can generate a defensive response that communicates “I am not like those bad people.”” Yet these rhetorically Democratic lawmakers’ behaviors and political actions reflect alignment with MAGA, Project 2025, and similar harmful policies. 

For example, Senator Ben Allen is the chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, and in his legislative priorities he notes, “California ratepayers have experienced increasingly higher insurance premiums and reduced options as climate change causes more severe weather events. The 2025 January fires were the latest example of how disasters are becoming increasingly catastrophic.” Further analysis by UCLA and World Weather Attribution shows “the fingerprints of climate change in these wildfires, which made some of the extreme conditions worse.” Yet, Allen endorsed Councilmember Park, who said the Palisades Fire “wasn’t climate change, and don’t let anybody try to tell you otherwise.” 

LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin said he’s “committed to standing up against the inhumane actions of immigration enforcement under the current Administration … as we support the safety and wellbeing of our immigrant students and families,” yet supported the councilmember who won’t support a sanctuary city and has installed Flock cameras in her district, known to surveil and share information with ICE. 

Congressmember Ted Lieu stated, “ICE has been targeting people based on what they look like … terrorizing immigrant communities and targeting people without proper justification. It’s mass racial profiling and the Supreme Court just ok’d it.” He vowed to “pass legislation to stop this racist crap,” yet he endorsed Park, who stood against the immigrant families and organizations fighting for the most basic protection our city government should provide. 

In December, Senator Adam Schiff introduced the Housing BOOM (Building Occupancy Opportunities for Millions) Act, in which he stated, “We need to jumpstart a housing boom in America and massively increase the supply of new homes … Nothing less will address the crisis of housing unaffordability in America … We need to take action, and to make it possible for families to achieve the American dream.” Traci Park is making it impossible for families to achieve that dream, as she has been using our tax dollars to fight a 100% affordable and approved supportive housing project called Venice Dell her entire time in office, even at the state level. Yet Senator Schiff endorsed her. 

In February, Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez stated, “Immigration enforcement agents, when they invade our communities, when they kidnap neighbors, when they choose VIOLENCE over PEACE, and when they shove the cold barrel of a gun into the back of a head and execute innocent people in the streets … [are]  not serving the public … We are not going to abandon my community; not ever.” With all due respect, Assemblymember Gonzalez, it appears you have abandoned your community, along with every other Democrat who endorsed Councilmember Park. Although I appreciate the efforts of our leaders to create policies that support the people, I don’t understand how they would endorse someone who aims to do the exact opposite when there is an alternative clearly more aligned with the needs of the people. This conveys the message that they don’t truly care about the needs of the people and are more concerned with politicking to maintain the status quo. Or they haven’t vetted their candidate — either case is problematic.

Just recently, Park was the only councilmember who didn’t participate in the unanimous vote to ban the Los Angeles Police Department’s use of pretextual stops, a policy which disproportionately affects communities of color. On a rare, historic occasion, the entire council came together “to do the right thing,” as Councilmember Hernandez noted, and Councilmember Park was notably absent from the vote, just as she was for the sanctuary city vote. To learn that LAPD poured over $600,000 into her reelection campaign provides context to further illustrate her allegiances. When I’ve asked why she is still garnering support from so many elected Democrats, I’ve been told that’s just what they do. Perhaps not. Perhaps instead that’s what they chose to do. 

Personally, I’m one of the millions of Americans who do not believe that we should be functioning in a business-as-usual manner. We need courageous leaders to lead with action and who have a record of doing so, not those who uphold the same rhetoric and operations that got us here. We should reject those who vote against our interests, not reward them. Thankfully, there are several organizations — like LA Forward, LA Voice, and POWER — who are doing excellent work to educate our communities, advocate for policies that help our people, and support leaders in this work who actually support the people. This time around, I urge you to look beyond the endorsements. If anything, please take note of those who do not deserve your support, since they are not supporting you.