I can’t believe it’s only a week until Election Day. What a crazy, exciting, rewarding year-and-a-half it has been as your candidate for LA City Council! I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the journey, and thank you for joining me on it.
Never, ever did I imagine running for office. I was happy in my career as an attorney, but like many of you, I was tired of watching the Westside fall apart, and I was done with Mike Bonin’s failed leadership. So when friends and neighbors here in Venice asked me to consider running, I decided to accept the challenge head on.
This was never going to be easy. I was a first time candidate, running against the establishment and the power of incumbency. When I started the campaign, I had no name ID, no call list of donors, and no ties to City Hall. We were just a group of neighbors and volunteers dedicated to making change, cleaning up the Westside, and ending Mike Bonin’s time in office. I was always the underdog in this race, and I still am.
We got here through old-fashioned hard work. I hosted over 100 community meetings and held town halls in every neighborhood. I listened to what people had to say, and designed pragmatic policies responsive to YOUR concerns.
That hard work paid off with the strong grassroots alliances we built across the entire District, and it earned me all the first responder endorsements, including firefighters, paramedics, nurses, lifeguards, police, and park rangers, as well as support from women’s organizations, business and labor groups, neighborhood and community leaders, and many more.
There have been a thousand happy moments along the way, and it has been an honor getting to know you all. From rallies in parks, to local parades, new restaurant openings, and community events across the district, I’ve done my best to show up and support you. Your excitement and enthusiasm have motivated me to work even harder.
Thank you for believing in me and thank you for joining me in this journey. Let’s all keep doing our best, and let’s go win this election!