The Brief

Many people seeking elected office in Los Angeles County are running unopposed this November compared to four years ago — about 87% more, according to data from the county Registrar of Voters.

While it’s not unusual to see races with only one candidate, it does raise questions about why it's happening: Are people losing interest? Do other responsibilities, like child care and salary needs, stop them from running? Are they dissuaded by the current political climate?

Whatever the answers, the result means voters won’t have a choice about who fills seats on a variety of government bodies, including school districts, water districts and city councils, all of which affect residents’ daily lives.

Antwone Roberts, director of democracy and equity for California Community Foundation, told LAist that civic engagement isn’t just about getting involved when an election is approaching.

“It's really understanding how being civically engaged becomes a tool for the betterment of the individual and the community at large,” he said.

Some experts say there are parts of Southern California that are known as “civic deserts,” areas that have disproportionately low participation in local elections when compared to the county at large.

Roberts noted that this disparity can make it more difficult to address severe inequities and systemic problems.

Which L.A. races are impacted

This year, there are 144 local races in which a candidate is running unopposed, according to the Registrar’s Office. In November 2020, there were 77 unopposed candidates on the ballot, including two races with no candidates at all.

This issue isn’t confined to L.A. County, said Neal Kelley, former registrar of voters for Orange County. It’s seen across Southern California.

“It's certainly a lot more common than the general public is probably aware of,” he told LAist.

The seats in which only one candidate is seeking office include:

• 95 school district races in L.A. County, including seats in Burbank, El Segundo, Palmdale, and West Covina
• 3 state water district races in Walnut Valley
• 10 county water district races
• 10 municipal water district races
• 4 water agency races in Antelope Valley-East Kern 
• 11 city-level races, including council seats in Glendora and Santa Clarita
• 8 irrigation district races
• 1 health district race for Beach Cities
• 1 library district race for Altadena
• 1 recreation and park district race for Westfield 

Local government races, rather than national ones, have a much larger impact on our everyday lives. These elected officials are who’s making decisions about housing, parks, and the kind of things that affect a neighborhood on a day-to-day basis.

A polling station worker prepares to hand out 'I Voted' stickers in Burbank, California.

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Justin Sullivan

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Why are there so many unopposed seats?

Experts say there are many reasons why people may not be running for elected office — including transportation issues, child care concerns, and work responsibilities.

Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California, told LAist that fewer people may be interested in running for office because they don’t see local politics as a sustainable career option.

The pay can be low, and the jobs can be time-consuming and difficult. For example, Downey City Council members made nearly $12,000 last year, and Burbank City Council members earn around $19,000 in regular pay, according to the State Controller’s Office.

A candidate who comes from a lower-income community, for example, may not be able to afford to take on the expense of running for office or the ability to take a job that pays less than others.

The political climate can also have an effect, especially as personal attacks and public feuds seem to become increasingly common.

“It's always a conflict,” Kelley said. “But at the end of the day, that's what politics is, right? It's consensus and sometimes it is conflict. So I think it does impact it for sure.”

Almaluz Miranda, left, talks to Julia Brito, right, at the Boyle Heights Senior Center.

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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Grose added that many local newsrooms have shuttered, and more news outlets are focusing on directing their stories to a national audience. That drop in coverage and attention to issues closer to home can affect interest, and awareness, in local governance.

H. Eric Schockman, a professor emeritus at Woodbury University in Burbank, agrees.

He told LAist that the media, often referred to as the fourth branch of government, has been “swatted away” — meaning its access and impact for some audiences has weakened — which affects democracy. Younger audiences may be used to getting information for free, and everyone has fewer places to go to for the information they need to stay informed.

“And that is such a scandal,” he said. “We all know it, but we don't admit it because everybody wants news cheap.”

What about ‘civic deserts’

Roberts said the California Community Foundation has identified “civic deserts” in Southern California, areas that have disproportionately low participation when compared to the county at large.

They include South, East, and Southeast L.A., as well as the San Fernando, San Gabriel, and Antelope valleys.

Broadly speaking, Roberts said, participation has been statistically lower among historically underrepresented communities, including Black, Latino, Indigenous, and Asian American and Pacific Islander populations.

Research has shown that people are more likely to engage if they have a direct call to action from someone they trust, whether that’s a local elected official or community-based organization.

A flag is taped to the door as voters cast their ballots at the Boyle Heights Senior Center.

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Allen J. Schaben

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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“When elected officials represent the diversity of their constituents, they're more likely and better positioned to really champion equitable policies that address those systemic inequities,” he said.

Civic engagement is the backbone of a healthy democracy, and Roberts noted that more people participating strengthens representation, increases diversity, and fosters a more inclusive political process.

How to get involved

If you’re curious about running for office, experts say start off by seeing who is in the seat, study the issues, do some research, and meet voters.

Going to the city council or district meetings, engaging in public comment, and talking to your elected officials are also important stepping stones. You can see if there’s a need that's not being met in the community in which you could make a difference.

A lot of people who end up running for local office get started because they’re unhappy with something, or their elected official isn’t responsive to their concerns, Grose said.

But you have to be engaged to figure out what matters.

Roberts recommends looking at civic engagement as a spectrum, not just voting or running for office. That can include going to community events, connecting with service organizations, or participating in other opportunities, like the census, as a jumping off point.

Find what lights a fire in your belly, and follow your passions. Realize that you can have a bigger role to play, and identify what you can offer the people around you, not just those who support you.

LAist also has the voter guides you need to make your most-informed vote ever, and you can access all of them here.

Lines stretched around the block Sunday at the Original Saugus Cafe in Santa Clarita. It was supposed to be the restaurant's last day before closing after 139 years — making it the oldest continually operated restaurant in Los Angeles County.

But earlier this week, a sign was posted on the door saying, "Reopening under new ownership soon," although there were few details about who would be running it.

The sign was a surprise to the Mercado family, who have operated the restaurant for nearly 30 years. The family now is in a legal dispute with the Arklin family, who owns the property, about the potential re-opening and who owns the historic name.

The background

Alfredo Mercado worked his way up from bartender to restaurateur, purchasing the business in 1998. Since then Mercado and his daughters have operated the restaurant, leasing from the Arklin family. For most of that time, according to the Mercado side, the two families maintained good terms. Property owner Hank Arklin Sr., a former state assemblyman who owned other properties in the area, kept a verbal month-to-month agreement with the Mercados — no written lease required.

That changed when Arklin died in August at age 97.

New terms, failed negotiations

Larry Goodman, who manages multiple properties for the Arklin family's company, North Valley Construction, took over the landlord relationship. In September, the Mercado family say they were presented with a new written month-to-month lease.

Yecenia Ponce, Alfredo's daughter, said the new terms included various changes to the existing agreement, including a rent increase and charges for equipment.

Months of back and forth negotiations about different options, including selling the business, ultimately fell apart. Their attorney, Steffanie Stelnick, says they are being forced out, without proper legal notice, and has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Goodman saying the family has plans to continue running the business.

LAist reached out to Goodman for comment repeatedly Wednesday and Thursday by phone but did not hear back.

Goodman told The Signal, a Santa Clarita valley news outlet, that Alfredo Mercado had changed his mind several times in recent weeks about keeping the business.

“I said, ‘Fine,’ then I got out and got someone to take it over,” Goodman said.

He said he'd been in contact with Eduardo Reyna, the CEO of Dario's, a local Santa Clarita restaurant, and that the cafe could re-open as soon as Jan. 16.

Who owns what?

The dispute also focuses on who owns the rights to the Original Saugus Cafe name.

Ponce said when her father purchased the restaurant in 1998, it was called The Olde Saugus Cafe, but the name was then changed to The Original Saugus Cafe. State records show that name registered as an LLC under Alfredo Mercado.

After Arklin’s death, however, the Arklin family filed a pending trademark application to lay its own claim to the name.

The Mercado family is resisting.

"As long as they don't buy the name from us, we're not handing it over," Ponce said.

Ponce said the family had no idea the landlord planned to continue operations.

"We truly did think we were closing," she said. "We were not aware that they had plans to continue."

She apologized to customers for the confusion.

Whether the decades-old restaurant name survives — and under whose control — may ultimately be decided in court.

Community leaders and politicians in Los Angeles are responding in outrage after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota on Wednesday.

The fatal ICE shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good has sparked anger and fear in Los Angeles, which has been an epicenter of federal immigration enforcement since the summer.

Jorge-Mario Cabrera with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, says the killing was upsetting but not surprising.

" Los Angeles has been witness of the escalating aggressiveness of these federal agents against the community," he told LAist.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the shooting, saying Good was trying to run agents over with her car. That account has been disputed by eyewitnesses, the mayor of Minneapolis and other officials. Bystander video also challenges the federal narrative, according to MPR News.

L.A. politicians have joined a chorus demanding justice for Good. Mayor Karen Bass posted on X, saying that ICE agents are waging "a purposeful campaign of fear and intimidation" on American cities.

"The senseless killing of an innocent and unarmed wife and mother by ICE agents today in Minneapolis is shocking and tragic and should never have occurred," she said in the post.

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn called on Noem to withdraw ICE from U.S. cities.

“These ICE agents are undertrained and trigger happy and everyone who has seen this video knows ICE murdered this woman,” she said in a statement.

Some protesters also gathered outside the federal building in downtown L.A. Thursday morning to condemn the killing.