I served as Los Angeles City Councilwoman for the residents of District 9 which includes Downtown, Little Tokyo, and South LA. During my 12-year tenure I led catalytic projects such as LA Live, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, and the new Police Administrative Building. I brought in $15 billion in investment, $52 million in net new tax revenue for the City of Los Angeles, and approximately 90,000 full-time jobs.
The creation of good public policy is a foundation and a place to begin. Nothing gets done in a vacuum. The only way to be relevant is to listen to what people say, understand what they need and make an all out effort to fulfill their dreams. The feedback I get from communities and opinion leaders is invaluable. I have the lived experience to bring dreams into reality based on a background of action in planning and land use, legislative development, community organizing, finance and a deep well of understanding of social issues.
The development of good public policy is a constant evolving process that should be fueled by the passion to always do better.
As an example I coauthored Proposition O, a clean water bond, which was designed not only to protect the environment and our water source but to rebuild our infrastructure. It enabled me to create a multi use facility that brought 2 wetlands that I developed in South Los Angeles where previously there was blight now sits two wetlands at Slauson and Compton and the other at for the benefit of communities in those areas.