Individuals, 15 years of age and older, who live, study or work in Boyle Heights, Mission Hills-Panorambggta City-North Hills, and Southeast LA will have until April 30 to vote and help decide how an estimated $3 million of the Los Angeles city budget will be spent to benefit their communities.
Category: Government
COMMENTARY: Don’t allow Gov. DeSantis to define Western Civilization
Under the guise of promoting academic freedom and civil discourse, Ron DeSantis’ administration is suppressing drag shows, purging library books, and censoring content in AP African American Studies. Now, Florida’s self-styled “education governor” is promoting legislation to ensure “Florida’s public universities and colleges are grounded in the history and philosophy of Western Civilization” while banning critical race studies and courses dealing with gender and LGBTQ identities. Cuban Americans and Puerto Rican Floridians who handed Mr. DeSantis a landslide electoral victory for governor may want to think twice about whether their culture, their lives, and their experience counts as part of “Western Civilization.”
EYVIN HERNANDEZ, LA lawyer wrongfully detained, family holds vigil
Eyvin Hernandez was wrongfully detained in Venezuela last March. He is currently being held in a maximum-security military prison in Caracas, Venezuela. his family and colleagues are asking for President Bidens’ help to bring him back home.
Fill out this survey by KPCC/LAist and help hold Mayor Bass accountable
KPCC/LAist promised during the election that they would not stop paying attention to voters’ concerns once the ballots were counted. Now they’re asking Angelenos to fill out a 5-minute survey to let them know what feels most urgent as Bass takes office. The responses will help KPCC/LAist set the agenda for their reporting in the year ahead and help them hold the new mayor and city council accountable to top concerns. They’ll also share the survey results widely, including with everyone who responded and with organizations such as CALÓ NEWS.
EDITORIAL: Let LA voters decide de León’s fate at City Hall
There is a democratic process and the voters who are disgusted with de León, or Breed, or any other politician can start a recall. We support the recall as it is part of the democratic process. Let the voters of the 14th District decide if they want de León to represent them.
LA City Hall scandal aftermath, Latino academics talk about future
Having Bass as the new mayor of LA has sparked a conversation about whether she will hold the council members accountable for their actions and support honest and adequate representation in City Hall and the city’s districts. “It’s too easy of a political campaign,” said Alexandro Hernandez, associate professor of Chicanx Studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). “I don’t think electing Bass as Mayor of LA is something [City Hall and voters] can use to sweep everything with the audio leak under the rug and act like everything is better now.”
JORGE NUÑO, political activist on what needs to be done about LA scandal
During the 1980s and 90s, Nuño grew up in a house nestled near Vernon and Main street in South Central Los Angeles with his sister and their two immigrant parents from Jalisco, Mexico. “I grew up adjacent to the [LA] Coliseum,” Nuño said. “When you grew up in the hood, you’re like, ‘Where you live?’ ‘Ah, I live by the Coliseum,’ so that you can give people some context of what part of LA you live in.” Nuño founded The Big House, a small business incubator housed in the 10-bedroom mansion that Nuño purchased in South Central, where nonprofits can have physical offices in their community.
COMMENTARY: It’s past time for Kevin de León to resign
It’s past time that Kevin de León resign. Regardless of who is at fault in this shameful altercation witnessed by children, his presence on the City Council is a continued distraction and offense.
Kevin de León’s physical fight at holiday event reignites calls for his resignation
Ongoing efforts to push de León out of office in LA turned into a physical confrontation on Friday, December 9, at a toy giveaway and Christmas tree lighting event in Lincoln Heights. While de León says he was assaulted, others say he was the aggressor. As police launch an investigation, community leaders continue to call for his resignation.
LA METRO revises fare hike proposal, Latinos call for free transportation
On Dec. 1, Henriquez and other community leaders and organizations such as Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), Alliance for Community Transit-LA (ACT-LA) and Community Power Collective (CPC) gathered outside of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) headquarters, to demand universal fareless transit in LA. Oscar Zarate, director of Building Equity and Transit at SAJE, said fareless transit is something obtainable and feasible. “The next steps are pretty clear,” Zarate told CALÓ NEWS.
JOSE TRINIDAD CASTAÑEDA, first Latino on Buena Park Council
History has been made in Orange County this midterm election as Castañeda is the first Latino, Native American and LGBTQ person to be elected to the Buena Park City Council. Castañeda beat out his other opponents, winning 43.4% of the vote in a three-way race, according to the Orange County Registrar of Voters. He will fill one of the two open seats on the Buena Park City Council board representing District 2.
LA METRO fare hike will harm Latinos community activists warn
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority introduced a new plan that would restructure LA Metro fares. The Latino community is the largest ethnic group, representing 58% of LA Metro riders, in comparison to Black/African Americans representing 14% of riders, followed by 12% who are white and Latino organizers say the increases will harm the community.