Late one afternoon, at the intersection of South La Brea Avenue and Obama Boulevard, Shirley Dace cold-called fellow Angelenos and encouraged them to give L.A. Mayor Karen Bass a second term. I’ve seen her around at different events.” Meanwhile, roughly 10 miles to the northeast, Christian Perez and Marium Mohiuddin organized a night of door-knocking for Bass challenger Nithya Raman in Boyle Heights.
Given the ICE raids and general denunciations of immigrants, Mohiuddin, a Muslim and Canadian immigrant, said he’s been impressed by Raman’s outreach to minority communities. And Raman is an immigrant, too. I figured that with just hours to go before election day, you’ve heard plenty from me and others about City Hall dysfunction, about each mayoral candidate’s flaws, and about undecided and uninspired voters here in the land of budget-busting rent, broken sidewalks and blue tarps.
It appeared for a while as if Raman wouldn’t even make it out of the primary, and then it looked as though she had a comfortable lead over Bass in the runoff. But if the latest poll can be trusted, it’s hard to pick a winner. So today I’m going to shed every cynical bone in my body — only temporarily, I promise — and hand the megaphone over to people who unabashedly like either Bass or Raman.
And to be honest, in connecting with these folks on the phone, by text and in person, I was inspired by their interest in civic affairs (if only there were more like them), and their belief that their vote matters. So here goes, and I’ll start with the incumbent. Shirley Dace, as she worked the phones at Bass headquarters, referred to a five-page list of personal achievements and positive developments during the mayor’s first term.
Violent crime is down, solar street lights have been installed by the thousands, Metro rides are free for students, thousands of affordable housing units are on the way and thousands of homeless people have been brought indoors. I reached him by phone, and the West L.A. College professor told me he volunteered for Bass four years ago, too.
Green said he was once in the foster care system, and said Bass has supported foster youth initiatives dating back to her time in Congress. Bass is the first Black woman, and first female, to be elected mayor of Los Angeles. Given the history of the city’s power structure, economy and racial makeup, Green said, “that is not something we should take lightly.” One of Green’s students in African American studies, 23-year-old Kioi Shropshire-Maina, also works as a Bass volunteer.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
