Ahead of the November general election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.
MORE: Read all the candidate responses in our Voter Guide
Name: Ysabel Jurado
Current job title: Tenants Rights Attorney
Political party affiliation: Non-Partisan
Incumbent: No
Other political positions held: None
City where you reside: Council District 14
Campaign website or social media: ysabeljurado.la
What top two priorities would you focus on if elected? What specific actions would you take to achieve your objectives? (Limit response to 250 words.)
Firstly, I’m laser-focused on stopping the eviction to homelessness pipeline. As a tenants rights attorney, I’ve witnessed too many families displaced due to the skyrocketing cost of rent — and unfortunately, CD-14 is the eviction epicenter of Los Angeles. I want to work with my City Hall colleagues to strengthen renter protections, limit rent increases, prevent evictions, and ensure more affordable units are built.
Secondly, I’m determined to deliver the essential city services we all rely on, like street lighting, sanitation, and road repairs. I’ve talked to countless residents while door knocking who say that their calls and emails for basic city services go unnoticed and dismissed. That’s unacceptable. We all pay our taxes. We deserve walkable streets and well-lit neighborhoods. District 14 has been neglected for years — that’s why I’ll work to make sure that streetlights are repaired and installed where needed, roads are fixed to protect pedestrians and cyclists, and our neighborhoods are kept clean, because I understand the direct link between well-lit, clean communities and increased public safety. Unfortunately, our city budget has failed to prioritize these basic issues, which is why I intend on fighting for a budget that reflects our values and our need for a safer, healthier neighborhood.
What do you bring to the table that’s different or that would make you an asset not only to residents in your district but to the City Council as a whole? (Limit response to 250 words.)
For decades, this district has been led by men who have resigned in disgrace, used our community as a stepping stone, or been embroiled in scandal. That ends with us. I’m not a career politician—I’m the daughter of undocumented immigrants, a former teen mom who relied on public transit and food stamps, and a working single parent who still lives with her dad because the rent is too high. My story reflects the struggles of so many people in this district, and that’s why I’m running—so that people like us are at the table shaping policy to improve our lives.
Throughout my career, I’ve helped form housing and worker co-ops, supported Community Land Trusts, and fought to protect tenants and small businesses. But what makes me different is my belief in co-governance—making decisions with communities, not for them. I’m excited to partner with local residents, stakeholders, grassroots organizations, community coalitions and city-wide movements, to collaboratively develop transformative legislation.
We’ve seen grassroots victories with leaders like Nithya Raman, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez, but it’s clear that three progressive voices on a City Council of fifteen members aren’t enough to make the sweeping changes our communities deserve. I’m running to expand the progressive bloc so that we can move closer towards a progressive majority on council and truly deliver a people-first agenda.
Given the numerous scandals at L.A. City Hall, including some that put councilmembers in prison, why should voters trust you? (Limit response to 250 words.)
Voters have every right to feel skeptical, disengaged, or demoralized. CD-14 has been betrayed time and again by career politicians using this district as their personal piggy bank or a stepping stone for higher political aspirations. I’m not a career politician—I’m a community organizer, a tenants rights attorney, and a working mom. My record speaks for itself: I’m here to serve, not to enrich myself or protect the status quo. Whether it’s standing up to developers who displace working-class families or pushing for rent control and tenant protections, my loyalty has always been to the people. The scandals we’ve seen at City Hall are exactly why I refuse to take money from luxury developers, corporate landlords or special interests — unlike my opponent. I believe in transparency, honesty, and accountability, and I’m committed to bringing those values to City Hall. People are tired of empty promises and corruption — I know because I’ve heard it again and again on the campaign trail as we’ve knocked thousands of doors. Our people want real change, and that starts with leadership that’s grounded in service and integrity. I’m from this community and for this community, unbought and unbossed.
Do you support the package of city charter reform measures on the November ballot? Which ones do you support or don’t support and why? (Limit response to 250 words.)
I support several aspects of the proposed city charter reform measures on the November ballot but also see room for improvement. While the package includes positive changes, like raising fines for ethics violations and setting a minimum budget for the Ethics Commission, it doesn’t go far enough. There are two essential reforms missing: empowering the Ethics Commission to place measures directly on the ballot and adding independent commissioners. These reforms would have given the Ethics Commission much-needed power to bypass a council that has repeatedly failed to regulate itself. I would push to restore these reforms and strengthen them further. For instance, the good government coalition has proposed expanding the definition of conflicts of interest and banning stock trading by council members—both of which I support. I sincerely do hope that this package gets passed so we begin to get the ball rolling toward good governance in LA, but we have a long way to go before restoring trust. These measures are just a start, and we have to explore further reforms including, of course, expanding the size of the City Council to improve representation.
Do you support Mayor Bass’ goal of building the police force back up to 9,500 sworn officers? Should the city redirect money from the LAPD to other programs? (Limit response to 250 words.)
Public safety is a top priority of mine, and we have to be smart about how we allocate resources. Right now, the LAPD receives over a quarter of our city’s general fund, but even with all this funding, we aren’t filling the vacancies—we’re pouring money into a department that’s stretched too thin and consistently unable to meet its staffing goals. Officers are being asked to do jobs they aren’t trained for—responding to mental health crises, social work, etc. That’s unfair to them and the community. Officers should focus on violent crime, while we invest in professionals trained to handle these other issues, like mental health crisis interventionists and social workers.
Meanwhile, essential services that keep our neighborhoods safe—like street maintenance, lighting, and youth programs—are being underfunded. It’s time to rethink our approach. Instead of continuing to overspend in areas that aren’t delivering results, we need to invest in solutions that actually make our communities safer, such as well-lit streets, well-maintained infrastructure, and programs for youth development. The safest cities in America invest in community: parks, libraries, public transit, infrastructure, and people. It’s time we do the same.
One of the most frequent complaints about copper wire thefts is the resulting street light outages and other safety issues. What’s your solution for addressing these safety issues and, more broadly, for combating copper and other metal thefts? (Limit response to 250 words.)
Copper wire theft from streetlights has increased dramatically in L.A. from 500-700 cases five years ago to nearly 7,000 cases in 2023. Under my opponent’s watch, DTLA and Boyle Heights are among the most affected neighborhoods. This is a real safety concern, but focusing solely on punitive measures, as my opponent has done, isn’t getting the lights back on — just look at the Sixth Street Bridge. We spent millions of dollars on it and Boyle Heights has been in the dark for months, despite the copper wire task force. Rather than continuing to throw money at band-aid solutions, we need to take a more forward-thinking, proactive approach. We should be prioritizing the electrification of our streetlights. By transitioning to more modern lighting infrastructure, not only do we make our neighborhoods safer by reducing the likelihood of copper wire theft, but we also move closer to our climate goals and cut down on long-term energy costs.
Everyone agrees that L.A. needs more affordable housing. But there is debate as to whether multi-story affordable housing developments should be allowed in traditionally single-family residential neighborhoods. What do you think? What else should the city do to provide more affordable housing or tenant protections? (Limit response to 250 words.)
We simply do not have enough housing in L.A. that’s affordable, and because of that, we’ve seen a dramatic rise in homelessness and housing insecurity. To alleviate the supply issue, we have to build vertical, aka multi-story affordable housing, and the evidence strongly suggests we need to move beyond exclusively single-family zoning to address our housing crisis. Restrictive single-family zoning has historically been used to segregate communities and exclude lower-income families from high-opportunity areas. By allowing multi-story affordable housing in all neighborhoods, we can create more inclusive communities with diverse housing options. Studies show that over 75% of residential land in many cities is zoned only for single-family homes, severely limiting our ability to build enough housing to meet demand. This artificial constraint on supply drives up costs and exacerbates our affordability crisis. Allowing denser, multi-family housing in all residential areas is a key strategy for increasing housing production and improving affordability.
But building more housing is just part of the solution. We also need stronger tenant protections so that we can stop the eviction to homelessness pipeline that has created a humanitarian crisis in this city with CD-14 at the epicenter. As a tenants rights attorney, I’ve seen the impact of our elected officials hanging tenants out to dry. That’s why I’m fighting for stronger rent control, eviction protections, getting a right to counsel across the finish line, a tenant bill of rights, and legal assistance for tenants. We also need to pass laws that prevent corporate landlords and speculators from buying up housing and displacing longtime residents, because affordable housing and tenant protections go hand in hand. The scale of L.A.’s housing crisis demands solutions at every level – we need more funding for affordable multi-unit housing, stronger tenant protections, and zoning reforms to allow more homes to be built across the city.
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