Less than a year ago, Imelda Padilla won a special-election race for Los Angeles’s 6th District seat after former City Council President Nury Martinez’s resignation.
Now she’s running in the March 5 primary for a chance to win a full four-year term in November, but she faces two challengers.
All three cite homelessness and public safety among their main concerns.
Ms. Padilla, who has raised $140,000 in campaign contributions, according to the city’s Ethics Commission, would focus on RVs parked along industrial corridors, which occupy spaces that could be used by business owners, workers, and customers, she says on her campaign website.
She said she would also reduce homeless encampments by helping those living on the streets find housing, jobs, and healthcare.
To boost public safety, Ms. Padilla says the Los Angeles Police Department should police preventatively rather than reactively.
“The community has not been there with resources to help our vulnerable individuals, but I truly think our public-safety officers can be a partner to change that culture,” she says on her campaign website.
Ms. Padilla has been endorsed by Mayor Karen Bass.
Challenging her is real estate broker Ely de la Cruz Ayao, who said, if elected, would address homelessness by creating a response unit within the LAPD that would respond only to “business and citizen calls involving homeless individuals who are causing a disturbance and possible threat,” he says on his campaign website.
Participating officers would be paid overtime in his plan.
Mr. Ayao’s public safety proposals include enhancing neighborhood watch groups. He has the backing of the Los Angeles Hispanic Republican Club and has raised $10,000.
Also vying for the northeast Los Angeles area seat is respiratory care practitioner Carmenlina Minasova, who says, if elected she would reduce homelessness by creating a “centralized help system” to streamline services for the homeless.
Ms. Minasova’s public safety proposals listed on her campaign website include “involving residents in decision-making processes, meetings, and discussions through new communication systems.” She has raised no funds in campaign donations, according to the Ethics Commission.
The council seat opened up in October 2022 when Ms. Martinez resigned after an audio recording was leaked online in which she was heard making racist remarks. The district had no representation until June 2023, when Ms. Padilla won a special election to serve out the former city council president’s term.
The district’s neighborhoods include North Hollywood, Sun Valley, Panorama City, Van Nuys, and more.
