We have 42 days until what is, for so many reasons, one of the most important Election Days of our lives.

I want to share again why I’m running for Los Angeles City Council -- something I never thought I would do -- and why I believe this moment in LA is so urgent. (thread)

I am running because LA has one the largest populations of unsheltered people who are homeless in the world -- growing larger every year.

I’m also running to address the racist housing policies that have led to a hugely disproportionate number of Black Angelenos without homes.

I’m running because LA’s leaders have not responded to homelessness with the outreach, services, and housing options proven to get people off the street.

I’m running because they've continued to focus on criminalization, and laws that effectively make poverty itself illegal.

I’m running because my children, along with all Angelenos, are forced to breathe the most toxic air of any US city.

And instead of moving to clean our air and fight climate crisis, our leaders are relaxing emissions standards for LA’s biggest polluters. https://www.dailybreeze.com/2020/08/14/la-city-council-oks-environmental-study-for-port-terminal-but-activists-vow-to-regroup/

I’m running because the city of LA currently allocates more than half of its discretionary budget to armed law enforcement.

I’m running because, while so many essential services are cut, our leaders have refused to ask police to even delay the salary increases they’re getting.

I’m running because hundreds of thousands of Angelenos took to the streets to demand a public safety system that does not brutalize and kill Black and Latinx people.

I’m running because hundreds of thousands of Angelenos *shouldn’t have to* protest to force our leaders to act.

I’m running because the COVID-19 pandemic is poised to bring a tsunami of evictions, even more homelessness, an unemployment crisis, and business closures on an unprecedented scale.

I’m running to forgive rents, keep people housed, and bring back small business.

I’m running because Los Angeles has some of the most dangerous streets in America, and our children are killed by cars far too often.

But because a small number of residents would complain, our leaders have avoided implementing street safety improvements that would save lives.

I’m running because, in a city that is more than half women, 16 out of 18 elected officials in LA are men.

I’m running to do something about our local government’s culture of silence, flagrant corruption, and deference to special interests who want to profit off the city.

I’m running because the vast majority of Angelenos -- people of color, low-income workers, undocumented people, unhoused people, and the young -- have been excluded from our local political system.

I’m running to help bring Angelenos into power, and govern alongside them.

I’m running to implement transformative, compassionate, evidence-backed policies to tackle the most urgent issues facing LA.

I am not running so our current leaders can adopt a watered-down version of those policies for their own political purposes.

Our campaign has brought in more than 1000 volunteers: a coalition of organizers, community groups, and people who just want a better city.

It will take movements like that to get to transformative policy change in LA. It won't be easy. Change will not happen without all of us.

We’re part of a larger movement in LA that is so much bigger than this race.

The movement to build a just, sustainable Los Angeles -- a city that welcomes everyone.

We’re building that city together now.