Ahead of the November general election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.
MORE: Read all the candidate responses in our Voter Guide
Name: Kevin de León
Current job title: Los Angeles City Councilmember
Political party affiliation: Non-Partisan
Incumbent: Yes
Other political positions held: ● CA Assembly, District 45 (2006-2010)● CA Senate, District 24 (2010-2018; Senate President Pro Tempore in 2014)● Los Angeles City Council, District 14 (3/2020- present)
City where you reside: Council District 14
Campaign website or social media: www.kevindeleon.com
What top two priorities would you focus on if elected? What specific actions would you take to achieve your objectives? (Limit response to 250 words.)
Below are my top two priorities if re-elected:
Tackling homelessness: Since taking office I have created six interim housing sites that were needed to bring our unhoused CD14 residents indoors while permanent housing is built. In fact, I’ve created the largest amount of interim housing in the city while moving the most number of people indoors than any other district. Consequently, CD14 is one of three districts citywide to have seen homelessness decline two years straight. Having created the highest amount of homeless housing during my term, I intend to expand that work in a second term and work closely with Councilmembers to expand cost-effective housing solutions citywide. Additionally, to stem the inflow of people falling into homelessness, it’s imperative to dramatically increase our affordable housing stock which I have already begun to do by making Downtown L.A. the first community in the city to mandate affordable housing in new future developments.
Increasing Public Safety: Every Angeleno deserves to feel safe walking down the street, using public transportation, or playing in the park. Public safety is increased by removing guns from the streets which is why I worked so hard in the Legislature to pass historic gun safety legislation to track and trace who is buying ammunition and fight the proliferation of ghost guns. While serving on the council I have secured millions of dollars for community foot patrols, and created heavy metals task force to fight cooper wire theft.
What do you bring to the table that’s different or that would make you an asset not only to residents in your district but to the City Council as a whole? (Limit response to 250 words.)
I bring proven experience to get things done. Too often people entering politics prioritize their political agendas above people. I have always put people over politics. Experience has guided me in making decisions that have made CD14 the leader in moving people off the streets and into housing and building the most interim housing units. I believe in working together to bring solutions which is why I dedicated my own discretionary funds and worked with law enforcement to implement foot patrols to combat smash-and-grab robberies and to create a heavy metal task force to catch those stealing copper wire that have plunged our neighborhoods into darkness. Using my experience and long-standing relationships locally and in Sacramento, I’ve secured over $200 million in outside grant funding for critical projects that will meet the future needs of my constituents. This funding supplements our city funds and gives hard working taxpayers the support they need to improve our communities and make our neighborhoods safer.
Given the numerous scandals at L.A. City Hall, including some that put councilmembers in prison, why should voters trust you? (Limit response to 250 words.)
I understand and empathize with the people who feel discouraged by the recent demoralizing events that have unfolded in our local government. From day one, I owned my role in last illegally recorded audio leak two years ago and took full responsibility for my role in those recordings. One of the most important life lessons is that when you make mistake you learn from it and move forward as a better person. That’s what I’ve done. That’s why my team and I have led the city in housing the most people experiencing homelessness and built the most interim housing units. It’s why we’ve driven down homelessness two years in a row while expanding tenants rights protections and changing laws to expand affordable housing. Working hard and keeping our nose to the grindstone, we secured $200 million in outside funding for CD14, built 14 new playgrounds, 2 new parks, and drove down crime in CD14.
That’s leadership in action. As a leader, I have never flinched from delivering real results for my constituents. At the end of the day, Angelenos need their city to provide the basic services so that they can thrive and that is what my staff and I have focused during my entire first term. If voters want to know if they can trust me, they need only look at the results of our work.
Do you support the package of city charter reform measures on the November ballot? Which ones do you support or don’t support and why? (Limit response to 250 words.)
I believe this is a decision for the voters and I have every confidence they will make the right choice.
Do you support Mayor Bass’ goal of building the police force back up to 9,500 sworn officers? Should the city redirect money from the LAPD to other programs? (Limit response to 250 words.)
Yes, I fully support Mayor Bass’s goal of restoring the police force to 9,500 sworn officers, which is why I voted for her budget. Currently, our rank and file officers and first responders are stretched thin, facing mounting pressures as they work to protect our city’s residents. Many are working excessive overtime, which places an unsustainable burden on the force and challenges their ability to curb crime. We need to focus on active recruitment, robust training, and providing our officers the resources they need to keep our communities safe. Redirecting funding away from the LAPD would only exacerbate the challenges we face. It’s not only bad policy, it’s downright dangerous. Ensuring public safety isn’t just a priority—it’s a responsibility, and I am committed to investing in the future of our police force so they can continue to deliver the protection our residents deserve.
One of the most frequent complaints about copper wire thefts is the resulting street light outages and other safety issues. What’s your solution for addressing these safety issues and, more broadly, for combating copper and other metal thefts? (Limit response to 250 words.)
The city of Los Angeles is being picked apart by criminals who are stealing our cooper wire from street lights, telephone poles and other infrastructure, plunging entire neighborhoods into darkness and costing the city tax payers tens of millions of dollars. This is not a victimless crime. Seniors are afraid to go out at night and our youth don’t have basic internet connections for school needs. They’re starting to steal fire hydrants and cemetery markers. It’s simply shameless. That is why with my discretionary funds, over $600,000, I created the Heavy Metal Task Force to combat this skyrocketing crime. Since the task force was created we have already made approximately 100 arrests and recovered over 2,000 pounds of stolen cooper wire. Moreover, we’re making inroads to unmask the organized crime groups behind this scheme.
This is not simply a matter of replacing wire which ends up getting stolen all over again. And solar solutions are not feasible since each city light would cost about $3,000 to install. With 37,000 city lights in CD14 alone, the costs would easily reach over $100 million. Ultimately, we are repairing and re-engineering lights to make it harder for criminals to steal, but getting to the criminals is key. If re-elected I would expand this task force and work with Street Services to find ways to secure our infrastructure to prevent these types of thefts.
Everyone agrees that L.A. needs more affordable housing. But there is debate as to whether multi-story affordable housing developments should be allowed in traditionally single-family residential neighborhoods. What do you think? What else should the city do to provide more affordable housing or tenant protections? (Limit response to 250 words.)
I believe we can protect our single family neighbors and increase our destiny in areas like Downtown Los Angeles. That is why when my team and I pushed for the Downtown Los Angeles 2040 plan we increased how tall you can builds while requiring 20% affordable housing. Our new plan will mandate an increase of over 70,000 units by 2040. More importantly, I led the effort to make Downtown LA the first community in the city to require affordable housing in all new developments, ensuring a steady addition of affordable units. Tearing apart single family neighborhoods is not the solution. In fact, in some parts of CD14, like Boyle Heights, it would only accelerate the threat of gentrification from greedy developers and destroy the character of this historic community – forcing families who have lived there for generations to leave.
The global pandemic put hundreds of thousands of tenants in Los Angeles at risk of eviction and even homelessness. Over the past two years, I have worked alongside my council colleagues to help pass historic tenant protections, like the right to counsel and expansion of Just Cause protections. In the current Boyle Heights Community Plan, we’re expanding affordable housing opportunities and enabling local residents the first-right-of-refusal to ensure families have a chance to remain in the community they’ve called home. These are just some of the things I’ve done and will continue to expand if re-elected.
