Municipal law attorney Traci Park is currently on track to defeat her opponent, civil rights attorney Erin Darling, in the bid to replace Councilman Mike Bonin, who decided not to run for reelection, in Los Angeles’ District 11.
Park is leading with 53.34 percent over Darling’s 46.66 percent, a gap of more than 5,300 votes, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar’s numbers as of 4 p.m., Nov. 16.
“I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about the race,” Park told The Epoch Times. “I think what it says about CD11 is that the majority of us are well past ready for change and interested in seeing pragmatic, common-sense policy coming out of City Hall.”
City District 11—which covers the westside communities of Brentwood, Del Rey, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Palms, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Sawtelle, Venice, West Los Angeles, and Westchester—has been the center of a media firestorm over the last year due to its homeless crisis.
Particularly in Venice Beach, a neighborhood spanning about three miles, the homeless population increased during the COVID-19 pandemic after the city declared itself a safe zone for people to dwell publicly in encampments to mitigate the spread of the virus, rolling back its anti-camping ordinance.
This year’s point-in-time count by the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority (LAHSA)—the county and city’s primary hub for homeless resources—painted a grim picture for Los Angeles, with over 41,000 people experiencing homelessness in the city and 69,000 in the county.
If elected, Park plans to increase mental health and substance abuse services to Angelenos suffering from addiction on the streets, and “adopt a policy of compassionate enforcement,” according to her campaign website.
Her opponent Darling advocates for more affordable housing and for less reliance on law enforcement when handling homelessness.
“We should not divert law enforcement to address non-violent situations that could be more suitably handled by trained clinicians (i.e. psychologists, social workers) who have experience assisting individuals experiencing mental health crises,” his campaign website reads.
Darling was not immediately available for comment by press deadline.
