What's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin
Los Angeles is at a turning point. We are living in a defining moment. What happens next is up to us. Over the past few years, problems and challenges have shaken this city -- and tremendous opportunities for change have presented themselves. How do we rise to this moment and emerge a better place to live? What will it take to create a more just and a more equitable community? Working together, how are we going to create a stronger, forward-thinking Los Angeles? Mike Bonin, writer, teacher, progressive activist and former City Councilmember, looks at the issues and problems facing Los Angeles, examines ideas, and talks with the people who will lead us to a brighter future.
Produced in partnership with LA Forward.
What's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin
CD6 Candidate Spotlight: Imelda Padilla
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When Nury Martinez resigned from the City Council in October, it left 270,000 residents of the east San Fernando Valley without representation. The special election to fill the seat is April 4, and Mike is talking one-on-one with each of the candidates. In this episode, he talks with Imelda Padilla -- a lifelong valley resident who has worked for Pacoima Beautiful, LAANE, the LA City Council . She is president of the LA Valley College Foundation board. In 2016, Padilla unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the L.AUSD Board.
Website: https://imeldapadilla.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imeldapadillaCD6
Twitter: @ImeldaPad
IG: @imeldapadillacd6
What's Next, Los Angeles? is produced and hosted by Mike Bonin, in partnership with LA Forward.
Last fall, Los Angeles City Councilmember Nuri Martinez resigned in disgrace, creating a vacancy on the Los Angeles City Council. There's a special election to fill that seat on April 4th, and I am talking one-on-one with each of the candidates. Today I talk with Imelda Padilla on what's next, Los Angeles. Hi everyone and welcome. I'm Mike Bonham. Thank you for joining me. When Nuri Martinez resigned from the council in October, it left 270,000 residents of the East San Fernando Valley without representation. The district includes the neighborhoods of North Hollywood and Sun Valley, Van Nuys and Lake Balboa and Panorama City, and North Hills and Arlita. It is majority Latino and largely working class. Historically, the district has been underserved compared to other districts. There will be a special election to fill the seat in April. There are seven candidates who have qualified for the ballot, and if none of them gets a majority, there will be a runoff election. I am interviewing each of the candidates one-on-one on this podcast. I'm not necessarily doing a deep dive on policy issues. Instead, I'm asking broader questions to let them introduce themselves and to see how they think about the issues, about the district, and about the city. Listening to what they say and to what they don't say says a lot. My guest today is Emilda Padilla. Emilda is a lifelong Valley resident who's worked for Pocoima Beautiful, for the Los Angeles Alliance for the New Economy, for the LA City Council, and for Los Angeles County. She's currently president of the LA Valley College Foundation Board, and in 2016, she unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the LA Unified School Board. Okay, and I'm pleased to welcome Emilda Padilla to What's Next Los Angeles. Hello, how are you? Hi, I'm well. Thank you for having me. You bet. As I start these interviews, I give all the candidates an opportunity to give their pitch as they would to the voters, explaining who they are and why they want to be the next council member for the 6th district.
SPEAKER_01Okay, well, uh, my name is Emilda Padilla, and I identify as a uh Mexican-American who grew up in this great place of Los Angeles. I come from parents that are immigrants from Jalisco, Mexico. They met in Sun Valley and they raised me here. I am also somebody that uh strongly uh identifies and is proud of being a little sister of the family as it shaped a lot of my story and a lot of my activism in uh activism within the community. Um, my sister's an educator, my other sister runs a very successful nonprofit, and I have an older brother who showed me uh exposed me to community and neighborhood love even in his own way. Um and I am a graduate of my local schools, from you know the elementary that was assigned to me all the way to my local high school, Polytechnic High School Magnet. Very proud of my school. Uh, Polly got me to UC Berkeley, where I got a uh bachelor's in political science with a minor in philosophy and Chicano Studies. And I also have my master's from Cal State Northridge, uh master's in public administration. And my entire career has been dedicated to working in the um local governance political science spaces in the capacity of getting people who sometimes don't understand how systems work, maybe don't uh have the opportunity to make their voices heard in halls of power. My role has always been to connecting them to that. And I've been able to do that through working for two very well nonprofits of Los Angeles, uh Pocoima Beautiful, fighting for environmental justice, uh, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy when I was part of raising the minimum wage. And I did work for the city of Los Angeles for a total of two years as a field deputy. So I loved it because I got to see, you know, exactly what the mechanics and the uh to-do list is in order to get things done to clean up the neighborhood. Um, and I also did work for three years as a consultant at the County of Los Angeles on the Women and Girls Initiative, um, very much in the beginning of what exactly that initiative was going to turn into, you know, for the next generation. Um so long story short, is I uh I want to run because I bring to the table uh a holistic understanding of how not just um you know what are the bet the the assets and flaws of Los Angeles and what could be next for Los Angeles, uh city of Los Angeles, but also uh bringing the lens of of working with more than just city partners, but also nonprofits, um, the county, um, community, and related stakeholders.
SPEAKER_00How long have you lived in the 6th district?
SPEAKER_01It's the only district I've ever lived in. Um, so I was I'm 35. The only time I've I've ever left was for college.
SPEAKER_00Where did you grow up?
SPEAKER_01Sun Valley.
SPEAKER_00And um where do you live now? Is still in Sun Valley? Um in Sun Valley as we speak. Uh and uh do you own or do you rent?
SPEAKER_01I'm in multi-generational housing. So this is a house that my uh father, who was a gardener, worked very hard to he purchased it in the 90s and worked very hard to pay it before uh you know leaving us. Uh I lost him 10 years ago, and um I'm living out his dream of not leaving home and taking care of my mom while he's gone.
SPEAKER_00Who would you say uh your mentors in life are or have been?
SPEAKER_01Where should I start? Um, well, I would say my first mentor is include my mom and my two older sisters. They um the thing with me is and a lot of teachers, a lot of teachers, uh in elementary from my counselor Ms. Rosen to my fifth grade teacher, Ms. Noel, um, and Miss Sutherland played a big role in my life too. I was a special needs kid. Um, I have something called Rickets. I'm a Shriner's hospital um alum. And um so I've always I've always I was always that um that loud kid, right? That loud kid that I always had to defend myself because I was picked on. So a lot of teachers gravitated to helping me uh trigger that energy into something positive. So I'm very much, even to today, keep in touch with a lot of those teachers from elementary. Um in middle school, I was very uh, it would definitely have to be my between my P teacher, Mr. Hackett, and um who else? Uh my math teacher, Ms. Borden, who, you know, were my educators when I had my cosmetic surgery to fix the rickets in my legs. And they really helped me similar, you know. Um, Melda, you're you're a tough cookie, you need to be a tough cookie, but start triggering that energy into you know getting yourself into some productive things. And it was the best advice they could have given me because by the time I got to high school, I was all about get the grades, be a well-rounded student, you know, be in sports, uh, be involved in your community, and and get into a good school. And I I did, I went to UC Berkeley, and um it was my high school teachers who were my mentors that really um coached me through surviving uh a place of privilege um like Berkeley. Mr. Lahave, Ms. Martin, it's been a lot of teachers.
SPEAKER_00Uh, what is the angriest or most frustrated you've ever been with city government? Where should I start?
SPEAKER_01With city government, well, um just within the last two years, um there is a there was a grocery store that burned down in Sun Valley, and under the excuse of the pandemic, building and safety wasn't coming through with making the uh property owner clean up the mess. So um at that point, I just felt like the downtown region of my community was falling apart, and I got involved, and within two months I took care of it.
SPEAKER_00And what is the most um satisfied or optimistic you felt about city government?
SPEAKER_01When I was part of the raising the wage campaign, um, and I was at Lane, and I believe you were there when all of that went down, um, the momentum was just great. You know, it very it very much felt like a team effort across Los Angeles, right, with so many members of labor, community, uh, business associations. Um, and you know, it felt great to see City Council um uh do the right thing because it wasn't just about raising the wage, but you guys also um put together the wage theft bureau, which was our request, and something that didn't die was the request of also providing the three three days of sick days for some of our lowest wage workers in the city.
SPEAKER_00Well, we got that one in common because I would definitely say that was one of the moments I was most satisfied with with city government as well. Yeah. Let me switch over to some questions about the district. Um, how would you describe the sixth council district to someone who's not familiar with it?
SPEAKER_01Well, um, more than over 60% is Latino, working class Latino, um close to 35% renter, right? That's just some basic demographics. But you know, I would say it's very family-oriented. A lot of people that um it's a combination of both uh a very transient community, right, that has maybe just arrived five years ago, it's probably not gonna be here, it's probably gonna be here for maybe just another five years, but there is also a lot of people that have been here for a very long time, um, and whose homes are similar to my home, right, where it's multi-generational housing. Um, and those are the the families, the the constituents, the core of the folks who want to see this place um get cleaned up, feel safe, um, bring better jobs, you know, better um opportunities for recreation. Uh they know the potential that this community has because they also saw it once upon a time where they believed it was thriving.
SPEAKER_00Uh aside from your family home, where in the district do you spend the most time?
SPEAKER_01Um I spend a lot of time between downtown. I have a good amount of friends in Long Beach and San Pedro. Uh I have family in Santa Clarita that I'm very close to. And um, when I was at the county, I think I uh it kind of showed that I have uh a lot of love too for the Annelop Valley.
SPEAKER_00What about places in the 6th district? Any special places that you spend a lot of time at?
SPEAKER_01I go a lot to the Panorama Mall because I really like their uh restaurants there. I was really sad when they recently uh changed up uh Tortas um to something else. Um but um it's where I you know buy all my stuff for my cell phone. Uh so the mall for sure, uh Sun Valley Park a lot. Um let's see. Arlita, a lot of friends in Arlita. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay. What would you say are some of the elements of a successful and thriving neighborhood, and which of them are lacking in the 6th district?
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm really excited that one of the things that was lacking for a long time, but is gonna uh you know be addressed, is uh more transportation options, right? I'm excited for the Van Nuys uh corridor and what's gonna come there, as well as the improvements on Roscoe and Balboa. Um what I also think needs to thrive, and this is something that I've been trying to elevate for a while now, is we're a community that is very hot. The valley is hot, it's hotter than most regions in Los Angeles, and we need to get serious about addressing tree canopy and climate uh change consequences and the opportunity we have if we were to just clean up our tree canopy. Lots of great nonprofits in the last five to ten years have been planting and doing the concrete cuts and planting these trees, but the city has failed to become a partner.
SPEAKER_00So um, as a candidate, you get to go around the district, you get to meet a lot of people, you get to see neighborhoods in a different way than you had before. As you do so and you learn about new issues and in different parts of the district, are there any specific issues or projects that you're particularly interested in tackling as a council member?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I was actually just reflecting on this the other day as I was talking to some constituents in the campaign process was uh, you know, I I see the homeless issue and similar to my neighbors, we just don't want to see RVs uh all over the place anymore. But as I started to talk to constituents, they're they tell me more personal stories related to how they themselves um have interacted with with the homeless, the the unsheltered, as well as the agencies that are supposed to be helping them. And it just kind of reinforced in me how how badly I want to start to ask more difficult questions related to uh accountability and how our homeless dollars have been utilized because no one sees a change.
SPEAKER_00And um what do you think that the sixth district needs most from its uh council representative?
SPEAKER_01I think they need accessibility and the ability to know um how to contact the office and what the office's jurisdiction is.
SPEAKER_00Okay, let me move to a few of the the more citywide issues. You just mentioned one of them, uh top issue in the city, top issue in every district, which is homelessness. Uh what do you think is the cause of homelessness?
SPEAKER_01What do I think is the cause? I mean, we know what the causes are, right? Um, there's plenty of reports and and and stakeholders out there that have been telling us what it is. One of them has to do with affordability, it has to do with the lack of housing in Los Angeles, um you know, the the inability to to find a job. If you lost your job during COVID, I mean, there's a lot of things that lead to it, right? Um, but in my neighborhood, what I see is that these individuals um have never been uh uh uh approached and asked Um, how can we help you with your mental illnesses and how do we help you get off of addiction? Um, I've talked to some of these uh folks that live in the RVs in my district, and they tell me I have my Section A voucher, my you know, I'm in the RV, my family's in the hotel, but we don't want to go get uh an apartment out in you know another part of the county. We want to stay here because our family's here. So um, you know, I I just think we we we need to build. And we I could tell that he was also very um I just by looking at his arms that he didn't want to admit to having some kind of addiction problem. And you know, I think um we need to we need to help them. We need to really figure out ways of how to help them get off of addiction and how to you know address their mental illnesses that no one's ever helped them, you know, come to to treat.
SPEAKER_00So flip side of the question is what do you think the the biggest impediments are to solving homelessness?
SPEAKER_01Um lack of accountability of those who um are getting the tax dollars uh to to get it done.
SPEAKER_00And uh a flashpoint issue over the past couple years on the city council has been constant debates over uh enforcement strategies like you miss municipal code 4118 prohibiting camping on sidewalks. Is that something you're in favor of or opposed to?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I I supported that um 4118. I do think um we need to have you know respectable boundaries um to where we um ask ourselves where we start in terms of you know um creating like a uh a way to prioritize those who are on the street. So if I see someone that for whatever reason is more uh attached to or gravitates to being near a school, that's who we should reach out to first. Um, because I truly believe that they pick a spot because they're close to a family member or someone that is within their network to survive. Um, you know, I here in Sun Valley, I I my my elementary, Roscoe Elementary, is very close to what used to be people in progress. So I've always been around um people that need help when they're down. But what I've noticed is that you know, people in progress is not around anymore, but those who are around, like you just don't see them in the community. You know, I have never seen some kind of brigade style of uh resources coming to the chronic homeless locations in my region. I just haven't seen that. And I'm around the district a lot. So um, and it's fascinating to me because this is in an era where LA voters have actually chosen to tax themselves to make it happen. So, you know, I think we really need to ask those questions related to who's working on it and who's not. And because those who have the funding to take it on are not coming through, you know, the city is prioritizing um to say we just don't want it around certain locations, and that's where we should start. Shouldn't be around schools, shouldn't be around daycare centers.
SPEAKER_00Let me ask about uh housing more generally. Uh a lot of people say that there is a housing crisis or an affordable housing crisis in California in Los Angeles County. Do you think uh that that's simply about uh supply or is it something bigger?
SPEAKER_01I definitely think it has to do with supply and demand. Um, but I also think uh we need to create uh different types of housing, right? There hasn't been uh emergency interim housing in my di in this district for many years. And um I think that's part of the problem in district six is that we haven't invested in different types of housing as it pertains to uh increasing the demand.
SPEAKER_00Uh let me ask now about public safety. Um what do you think it takes to make neighborhoods safe?
SPEAKER_01What do I think? Invest in young people. Uh plain and simple, invest in young people, teach them about the dangers of drugs, um, give them things to do after school while their parents are at work, and you will have a much safer community.
SPEAKER_00Uh in Los Angeles nationally, there's been a problem with police violence. In Los Angeles, first few weeks of the year, there were three people killed by uh LAPD. Um there's a couple different approaches to police violence. One says that this is just a case of a few bad apples, uh, and we need more training and and better recruitment. And the other says that this is something that's really more uh systemic, something that is just part and parcel of the nature of policing. Where do you fall on on that that scale? Either end or somewhere in between.
SPEAKER_01Um I think I definitely fall somewhere in between. Um you mentioned um systemic to policing in general. I think that's a pretty bold uh statement and very uh creates a very large large range. Um so I definitely think that it's a case. I I don't want to say that by being in the middle, I'm not gonna uh admit to there is some bad apples and that there definitely needs to be more training. I definitely think there is. Um and I also think that there could be components to different departments throughout the country where it might, where it is systemic. But um for Los Angeles, I hope that these atrocities can stop, and I hope that we can start to reflect on how we can be better. And if uh training isn't uh the only way to um to clean it up, per se, uh then let's be uh open and malleable to to what other people are saying can work. I'm all about innovation.
SPEAKER_00Um another huge issue globally is the climate crisis. What role do you think the city has to play in addressing the climate crisis?
SPEAKER_01It has every role to addressing the climate crisis. That's why I brought up tree canopy, and how disappointed I am in our ability to, at minimum, you know, take care of the trees. Um we need to do more when it comes to our critical infrastructure and the built environment and making sure that everybody has um a work plan and a master plan related to um, you know, addressing climate change and um, you know, the sustainability of our existence for future generations.
SPEAKER_00Uh when I joined the council about 10 years ago, uh the word equity wasn't very often used around the building. Now everybody talks about equity, but not everybody has the same understanding or the same definition. What does equity mean to you?
SPEAKER_01Well, an example of equity to me would be that in the process of um you know greening up our infrastructure, um that we recognize that there's some communities that have been historically affected by climate change a lot more than others, such as the Northeast San Fernando Valley, which I'm trying to represent. Um, the Sun Valley um generating plant has you know been getting in a lot of trouble lately for gas leaks and things of that sort. So if the city really wants to show um an example of you know celebrating equity, then they would start with greening up that plant first because it has historically our region has been historically affected by these uh sort of um bad options more than others. Um and it's not just because of the plant, but because of the entire cumulative impacts of the land use decisions that happened there. Um, so to me, that that would be an example of equity is that we recognize that different regions, different folks, different neighborhoods have been affected by things more than others. And in addressing those issues, let's start with those that have been impacted the most.
SPEAKER_00So the seat you're running for the 6th district, it's a special election. It's vacant because uh Nori Martinez resigned as a consequence of the tapes that came out last October. Uh, what do you think the lasting damage of those tapes has been? And what do you think you, as the elected representative of the 6th district, can do to help fix it?
SPEAKER_01Well, I what I think it I did it is it um it took back Latino, the the work of unity building and coalition building between the Latino and Black community. Um it took us back a while. Um and um my role is to help my community heal from the sadness, the hurt, um the disappointment and the embarrassment that came with this audio. Um by listening and by providing the space to be able to talk about it, to heal from it, and then transform that healing into um a proactive agenda of rebuilding coalitions and making sure that we come back stronger than ever.
SPEAKER_00Uh let me move into a final few questions, uh sort of quick questions. One is about the the the campaign. Um are there any groups that you are not taking money from?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's a lot. Um predatory lending, um private prisons. Yeah, there's a whole bunch. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Uh next one. Uh, which member of the city council would you say you are most politically aligned with?
SPEAKER_01Monica Rodriguez.
SPEAKER_00When was the last time you used public transit and where did you go?
SPEAKER_01I used the red line to go downtown. I use that one a lot.
SPEAKER_00And uh what is a uh fun activity you enjoy in Los Angeles?
SPEAKER_01I really like Broadway, downtown. Place Almera.
SPEAKER_00Okay, and the last question uh that I ask people is give me three words to describe Los Angeles Diverse, uh down and um I was gonna say, like no weather, that's a phrase. That'll work. I accept phrases. Okay, phrases are as good as words.
SPEAKER_01Alright, cool. So we're diverse, we're down, and we're cool. This is LA.
SPEAKER_00And cool, all right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we're just cool.
SPEAKER_00Did uh did you want to go back and take another stab at the question about uh a mistake you've made and a lesson you learned?
SPEAKER_01Well, I've I made mistakes um when I was in middle school um a lot. I um I didn't want to to go to the middle school that I went to. I wanted to go to um because they placed me in the local magnet uh for middle school. I went to Bird Middle School, but I really wanted to go to Sun Valley Middle School. And um, you know, I was really upset with my family for a long time for doing that to me. Um, it was a mistake, and um I regret being so upset with them because there was a lot of hate in my heart as a child when that happened, and I regret it because it was actually a beautiful experience. Don't let hate linger in your heart.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Uh, and as we wrap up, uh is there anything that we didn't discuss that you would like uh voters or listeners to know about you or your campaign or your candidacy?
SPEAKER_01Uh well, about me, you know, I uh I've never prided myself as being someone that is very articulate at talking about myself. So please check out my website, emaildepadia.com, to see uh learn more about my story and my vision. But when I what I can say is that I am someone who's who um is who likes to get things done, uh, has a lot of love um for the people and the streets and the region. And I hope to be able to go to City Hall and you know bring the skill set of coalition building and um accessibility and my love of diplomacy to the table.
SPEAKER_00Excellent. And if people want to uh get involved or find out more, uh, what was the website again?
SPEAKER_01emeldapadilla.com.
SPEAKER_00All right, great. Well, Imelda Padilla, candidate for the 6th District. Thank you for joining me on What's Next Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00All right, that wraps it up for this episode of What's Next Los Angeles. To hear me speak with the other candidates, follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Until next time, thank you for joining me. Peace and take good care.