Ysabel Jurado pledges to stop 'eviction to homelessness pipeline,' and says LA can't police its way out of problems

Los Angeles City Council District 14 will soon have a new representative in Ysabel Jurado.

She defeated incumbent Kevin de León earlier this month after a tense race, scooping up 57% of the vote in the district that includes parts of Boyle Heights, Highland Park and downtown L.A.

Jurado — a tenant rights attorney, daughter of undocumented Filipino immigrants, and single mother — spoke with LAist's Morning Edition host Austin Cross about her top priorities as the newly-elected councilmember. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Housing issues in CD14

LAist: Let's talk about housing because your background as a tenant, your background as a tenant rights attorney gives you a unique perspective. What are the most urgent housing issues that you're seeing in your district right now?

Jurado: We have to stop the eviction to homelessness pipeline, strengthen our renter protections, actually fund the departments that can enforce it to make sure that folks like our seniors can stay in the housing that they've stayed in for the majority of their lives.

That is a huge issue for us. So making sure that renters have a place to stay, using the ULA funds that we all voted for to make sure that seniors can still stay in these low income affordable units for the duration of their livelihood, right? Making sure that folks can age well in the neighborhoods in which they're choosing.

And when it comes to homelessness, this district is home to Skid Row and we haven't had a City Council leader that's been able to corral all of the agencies, non profits, mutual aid groups that are coordinating in that area. And so wanting to work hand in glove with Supervisor Hilda Solis to really attack Skid Row's homelessness problem and try out new things.

They may not always work out, but we can't keep doing the same things and expecting different results.

Public land for more housing

LAist: In the past, you've pointed to Hilda Solis' Care First Village as an effective, more affordable model for housing. You've also spoken about community land trusts. That was a part of your housing platform. What kind of housing solutions will you prioritize? What do you think is going to bring the most change the most quickly?

Jurado: I mean, one of them is the Care First Villages, right? Supervisor Solis was able to use public lands to build transitional and interim housing for unhoused people, whether it's women, whether it's seniors, whether it's young folks who are just newly unhoused, and able to stand that up in less than six months using rehabbed shipping containers, and that's something that we can be doing in the city.

LAUSD, the county, and the city — we have all of these unused parcels that are underutilized. We already know which ones they are, we should really start leveraging them in that same way to create more interim housing, especially in this district. Comparatively to other districts, this district has less interim housing sites, based on sheer location and numbers.

The second thing is, yes, working with community land trusts, using the public monies we raised through ULA, in order to help give tenants a pathway to homeownership, promising them permanent affordability, making sure that's embedded in the covenant for the housing.

Obstacles to combatting homelessness

LAist: Just looking at some of the numbers, councilmember, L.A. city's latest point in time homeless count saw a 10.4% drop in unsheltered homelessness in the past year. We're still talking about close to 30,000 people living on the streets in L.A. city alone, about 75,000 in the county. What's not happening in your view, though? And how do we speed up the change?

Jurado: Part of it is even just looking at the numbers of shelter beds that we have. The city controller has put out a great briefing on this and showing how we're just not meeting the demand and the need.

CD14 is one of the districts that has the most, and I think there's a lot of discretionary funds that they could be using to tackle these crises head on and yet isn't. I think part of it has to do with priorities and failed leadership and, you know, lack of interest. And so looking at the inspiration from the Care First Village of like innovating through shipping containers, using public lands, we all have the opportunity in this district and we should really be doing that to meet the moment right now with our homeless crisis here in LA.

"F— the police" controversy

LAist: I want to go back to a time during the campaign. There was a moment in that campaign that made national news, and that was your response to a question about police budgets during a public forum at Cal State LA. You quoted a song by N. W. A. Would you have handled that question differently?

Jurado: I mean, I was talking to students and I was reflecting back the sentiment of folks in this district in which, you know, they are concerned with over policing. I think, you know, if anybody knows a parent or someone that's talking to you, or even a group that maybe you're not necessarily a part of, you start from a point of reference in which . . . we'll do something that's familiar to them and then drift off to a further point.

And at the end of the day, we were having a conversation about how neighborhoods like Boyle Heights and El Sereno, you know, they want more policing, but at the same time, they don't want to be over policed. They don't want to call the police when they're the victim and then suddenly be arrested for being the suspect, which is a reality that is far too common than we care to admit, right?

And so, I think we can all have a conversation, a mature one at that, about public safety and also about accountability at the same time. And so, that's what we were having that day, and we can continue to have that as we continue moving forward and looking at our city and trying to figure out what's best for, you know, the constituents in CD14 and greater L.A.

LAist: I mean, a lot of people would say, "Yeah, there's a real benefit to connecting with your audience, meeting them where they are at," — the lyrics of that song, is that your personal view of the police?

Jurado: No. . . you know, the song is a criticism. Like when we think about the song and why it was created, it was created [in] the wake of the violence of Rodney King in an L.A. that was torn.

That's where I grew up. That is, I grew up in Highland Park before it was cool and public safety was a real big issue for me and even one of my cousins joined a gang and got caught up in trouble and struggles with recidivism. And so I think the reality of that is still here. Part of why I ran was, you know, the racial reckoning we were promised post George Floyd, that doesn't feel like it's been reckoned with — really.

And so I think when we look at public safety, it looks different for every community, and my constituents do want more police, and it's about public safety and police accountability. And also thinking about the bigger issues, right? What we've been doing has not been working.

On the LAPD

LAist: I'm sure there will be some efforts to invest in those but looking at topics such as the LAPD staffing levels, they have hit their lowest mark in more than two decades. In your view, should the size of the LAPD grow, shrink, or stay the same?

Jurado: The department has been funded more than it's ever been before. But when we look at departments like street lighting, it's funded less than 1% and has been continued to be cut over the years, especially as we head into a financial deficit. We're looking at CD14 where downtown nearly half of all the lights are out, where every main street in this district, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, El Sereno, down the street from my house, every light has a sign that says out of service call this number, you call the number, and it goes to no one, and the reality is 70% of these lights are out because of lack of maintenance.

Because we've underfunded a department. And so when we think about safety, I really think we should be broadening it, because we know the studies show that lighting industry cleanliness contributes to the safety of a neighborhood.

LAist: I will say on the topic of street lights, that is a topic that we have covered extensively here. There is a task force involving the LAPD regarding those lights because some of the wiring has been removed possibly for profit by individuals. I do want to come back though to my question about LAPD and their size and their budgets. Should they grow, shrink, or stay the same?

Jurado: At the end of the day, we have to look at what's been working and we can't keep doing the same things and expecting different results. And they have already, you know, they've been spot on. They've been paid more than they've ever been before. I don't know if you know this — in the past year, due to bad policing and the liability claims from that, the city has had to dip into 300 million of its reserves.

That's our emergency funds and that was in the first three months of the year, 300 million. And if we continue on that rate, we are going to bankrupt the city, and next year, the city council may need to declare a fiscal emergency, and so every expense after that declaration would have to be voted by a 15-member council. . . So I think we really have to be critical about the choices that we're making in funding departments in this next year, especially with a lot of our responsibilities as council members to our constituents, but also with these global events that are coming up in our city.

LAist: Although you did say that the people within your district, they do want police. How do you find that balance when it sounds as though they might need more police, more hiring might be necessary at this point? It sounds to me as though you aren't really in a position right now to say that you want to put more money toward the hiring of more LAPD officers.

Jurado: When we look at our budget, how can we allocate more money that we don't have? And reimagining public safety and widening what that view means, means different things for every community.

And so part of our first 100 days, in addition to lighting up CD14 . . .doing some deep listening and deep canvassing, which is what we intend to do in our first 100 days, to talk to all of our constituents and see what that is.

The budget cycle is going to come again as it does every single year, but we're in a big fiscal deficit and it sounds like we're not going to have enough money to fund many things this next year.

Street safety and reducing traffic fatalities in CD 14

LAist: What are your plans to improve street safety? Maybe what recommendations would you make to reduce those fatalities?

Jurado: Increasing the multi-modality of downtown is important, but even in neighborhoods like Boyle Heights, which is a neighborhood that is considered a hot spot because it's bordered by a lot of freeways, it is one of the areas where there are a lot of traffic fatalities. So looking at how we can reduce the distraction of drivers, increase the ability to have reliable, accessible transit, and make sure that we do have the cleanliness and the city services to make sure the streets are actually safe for folks and pedestrians alike.

What gives Jurado hope about LA's future?

LAist: My last question, you're entering office at a challenging time for the city. What gives you hope about LA's future? 

Jurado: I always said on the campaign trail, we always find joy in the struggle. Whether we're singing at the picket line or, you know, we're going to organize a party to raise money for someone who needs legal funds.

And I think that this group of people that have elected me have always been able to find joy and work and living in community with one another. And I think that will continue no matter who their elected is, but being elected can uplift that joy and make it easier for people to feel that has always been kind of the thing that brings me joy, right?

And throughout this campaign that has been a through line for me, and everyone that has chipped in has always provided me with some hope that they have for CD 14. So starting a new chapter, having radical colleagues who are willing to join me in the struggle, and all the people that we are serving who still are resolving the problems on their own, creatively and without a budget all the time.

And making sure that working class voices are heard and we'll do it alongside them.