City of Los Angeles Council District 2 It extends from Toluca Lake and Studio City in the south through North Hollywood and Valley Glen to Sun Valley in the north. Despite having some major industrial corridors, film and television production studios, two subway stations, and a growing center of skyscrapers in North Hollywood, CD 2 is largely considered an automobile-centric suburban area.
That's changing, and there's a tension in the district between preserving the character of the Valley's older neighborhoods, with their single-family homes and gardens, and making room for denser housing and bikeable, walkable and transit-friendly developments. The next council member will need to be someone who recognizes the need for the district to evolve and has the experience and political skills to bring the communities on board.
Councilman Paul Krekorian has represented the district for 14 years. He has finished his term and his race to replace him has attracted a large field of candidates for the March primary, many of whom are running for public office for the first time.
The Times recommends Adrin Nazarian, an experienced lawmaker who represented the area in the state Assembly for a decade until 2022. Nazarian was Krekorian's longtime chief of staff, first in the Assembly from 2006 to 2010 and then on the City Council when Krekorian took over in 2010. His experience means he will be able to hit the ground running.
Nazarian is a thoughtful and collaborative leader who is willing to address difficult and complicated issues. In the Assembly, for example, he repeatedly introduced bills to increase seismic safety, an unremarkable but essential issue in a state where an earthquake can level homes and businesses but few private homeowners have the money or inclination to voluntarily invest in them. modernizations.
He was persistent and focused on making changes, sometimes only small ones, to improve earthquake safety. This attribute would be an asset to the Los Angeles City Council, where big changes (such as increasing housing affordability, alleviating homelessness, improving public safety, and reforming City Hall) will require years of consistent and committed leadership from of elected officials.
Nazarian wants to facilitate the construction of rental and for-sale housing in the district, especially in transit areas and commercial corridors. He supports Mayor Karen Bass's efforts to clear encampments by moving people into temporary housing and eventually permanent housing, and emphasized the need to solve homelessness by helping people, not pushing them into low-income or industrial neighborhoods. She supports expanding the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department while hiring more crisis intervention and mental health workers to respond to nonviolent calls for service instead of police officers.
Six other candidates are in the race. Jillian Burgos is an optician and theater company owner who joined the North Hollywood Neighborhood Council in 2021, where she helped organize support for tenant protection and unarmed response pilot programs. Manny Gonzalez He is policy director for the nonprofit environmental group TreePeople and has worked on policy and policy. Jon Paul bird is a marriage and family therapist who decided to run because he was concerned about the safety of the community. Sam Kbushyan is a small business consultant who worked at Bass' transition advisory team. Marin Ghandilyan He is a lawyer and Rudy Meléndez is a worker and artist.
It is not easy to qualify for municipal elections and run a campaign for public office. Candidates bring good ideas and a desire to improve their community. In this race, Nazarian has experience and a history of leadership that makes him the best choice for voters.
