Posted inGovernment

LA & Elections: Voter Game Plan

CALÓ NEWS is pleased to publish this voting guide made by LAist for the upcoming elections. See below for information on voting, voting guides, useful Q&As, and an opportunity to ask timely questions. Also check out the interview with Sheriff Alex Villanueva and challenger Robert Luna, a retired police chief from Long Beach.

Posted inJustice

EDITORIAL: CA needs more diversity in statewide appointments of power

Researchers at UCLA’s Latino Policy & Politics Institute released a report this month that analyzed appointees across California’s executive branch, including those on the state’s governing boards, commissions and departments. The report found that Latinos make up 18% of appointees from the governor and legislative leaders even though Latinos are 39% of the state population. Whites are over-represented at 36% of the state population but 48% of all appointees.

Posted inPolitics

CAROLINE MENJIVAR, daughter of Salvadorian parents, now a top candidate in State Senate District 20

Menjivar grew up in San Fernanco Valley, where her mother cleaned private homes and her father worked as a waiter at a Studio City country club. Menjivar recalled attending Encino Charter Elementary School, a public school in the high-priced suburb of Encino, CA. She immediately felt out of place, she said. “I was going to an affluent school where my classmate’s homes were big and they had big screen TVs,” Menjivar said. “That’s when I started [wondering] why my classmates had so many cool things, big houses, expensive things and we didn’t? As a kid, you don’t know what all that means. You just know that the inequity doesn’t feel right.”

Posted inElections

CALÓ Q&A: CAROLINE MENJIVAR, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley as the daughter of Salvadorian parents, is a top candidate in State Senate District 20 race

Menjivar grew up in San Fernanco Valley, where her mother cleaned private homes and her father worked as a waiter at a Studio City country club. Menjivar recalled attending Encino Charter Elementary School, a public school in the high-priced suburb of Encino, CA. She immediately felt out of place, she said. “I was going to an affluent school where my classmate’s homes were big and they had big screen TVs,” Menjivar said. “That’s when I started [wondering] why my classmates had so many cool things, big houses, expensive things and we didn’t? As a kid, you don’t know what all that means. You just know that the inequity doesn’t feel right.”

Posted inElections

EDITORIAL: We back California SEN. STEVE GLAZER’s bill supporting local news media outlets

Many of these small local newspapers and online media outlets report on school boards, city councils and community challenges in diverse communities that would go ignored if there weren’t journalists holding civic and community leaders accountable. This is especially important as disinformation and fake news, such as conspiracy theories, are spreading rapidly online and on social media.

Posted inElections

CALÓ EDITORIAL: We back California SEN. STEVE GLAZER’s bill supporting local news media outlets

Many of these small local newspapers and online media outlets report on school boards, city councils and community challenges in diverse communities that would go ignored if there weren’t journalists holding civic and community leaders accountable. This is especially important as disinformation and fake news, such as conspiracy theories, are spreading rapidly online and on social media.

Posted inElections

ADRIANA CABRERA, Grew up in South LA, now running to represent District 9

Adriana Cabrera said that she began organizing and getting involved in her South LA community as a 12-year-old after losing a boyfriend, cousin, neighbors and classmates to gang violence. In addition, she believes that her experiences sharing a one-bedroom with family, being a first-generation college graduate and surviving “extreme poverty” make her an ideal candidate to serve the neighbors she grew up with. “Me running has nothing to do with me and everything to do with my community,” she said. “It means the world to me that young people believe in me.”

Posted inElections

CALÓ ELECTIONS: ADRIANA CABRERA, Grew up in South LA, now running to represent the District 9

Adriana Cabrera said that she began organizing and getting involved in her South LA community as a 12-year-old after losing a boyfriend, cousin, neighbors and classmates to gang violence. In addition, she believes that her experiences sharing a one-bedroom with family, being a first-generation college graduate and surviving “extreme poverty” make her an ideal candidate to serve the neighbors she grew up with. “Me running has nothing to do with me and everything to do with my community,” she said. “It means the world to me that young people believe in me.”