LOS ANGELES – Asian American groups have made it easier for voters to follow and learn about candidates in the upcoming May 21 election for the City of Los Angeles.
The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), in partnership with Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander organizations in Los Angeles, compiled responses from the candidates for mayor, city attorney, and city councilmembers for Council Districts 1, 9, and 13.
Candidates were given a questionnaire that touched on a number of issues important to their Asian American constituencies. The answers are aligned side-by-side for easier reading and comparisons.
“This is the first time the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities have developed candidate questionnaires for the city elections,” said Karin Wang, vice president of programs and communication at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. “We hope this will be a useful tool that voters can use to inform themselves about where the candidates stand on the issues that are important to our communities.”
The survey aims to help those Asian Americans who have already registered to vote and also attract those that may have not yet signed up to learn more about their future representatives.
The Asian American voter block has risen considerably over the past several years.
According to APALC, the number of APIAs registered to vote in the City of Los Angeles grew 12 percent over the four-year period between the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.
By comparison, the city’s Asian American population grew 19 percent over a te10-year period between 2000 and 2010.
Filipino-Americans represent the largest electorate, with over 39,000 registered to vote, accounting for 29 percent of all Asian Americans registered to vote citywide. Korean-Americans rank second, with over 29,000 registered to vote, making up 22 percent of all Asian Americans registered to vote citywide.
Major issues
Among the several issues highlighted in the candidate questionnaire is affordable housing and community redevelopment, which has a significant impact on Asian ethnic enclaves such as Thai Town, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, and Historic Filipinotown, said officials.
“More and more of our community members need affordable housing, but the wait lists are long for people to get a unit,” said Chancee Martorell, executive director of the Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC).
“The city is also undergoing many transformations through different development projects, many in our Asian ethnic enclaves. We want our city elected officials to understand that any developments that happens within the city should provide for good jobs and affordable housing for the communities that have historically lived in those neighborhoods,” said Martorell.
On the affordable housing issue, mayoral candidates Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel each responded:
“I spearheaded the creation of the nation’s largest affordable housing trust fund, wrote the law to prevent the demolition of RSO housing without the construction of re-placement housing, and wrote the nation’s first tenant foreclosure eviction moratorium,” said Garcetti. “We must find creative ways to make our cities more livable. I made strategic partnerships to triple the number of parks in my district from 16 to 4731 new parks in the district with the least land.”
Greuel responded: “I will make sure the City consolidates all departments that are involved in economic development to streamline and expedite job development and affordable housing.”
“We need to reinvest dollars that are returned from the State from the dissolution of CRA to invest back into our communities, so we can meet the needs of our neighborhoods. I will ensure that the federal dollars we receive are spread throughout the City, to create jobs and walkable communities,” she said.
APALC officials said all candidates were approached three times to respond to the same set of questions.
Those who did not submit their response by a given deadline were indicated as “failed to respond.”
In Council District 13, which serves Historic Filipinotown, candidate John Choi participated while his opponent Mitch O’Farrell failed to provide answers.
The responses are available for viewing at www.apalc.org.