Your guide to the L.A. City Council District 5 race: Katy Yaroslavsky faces two challengers
Los Angeles City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky is fighting to retain her 5th District seat against two challengers who say she is resisting efforts to create more housing in the city.The district includes some of the priciest real estate in Los Angeles, such as Bel Air and Holmby Hills, along with more historically middle-class enclaves Palms and the Fairfax District.The challengers, Henry Mantel and Morgan Oyler, both fault Yaroslavsky for voting with other City Council members to delay implementation of Senate Bill 79, last year’s state law aimed at increasing housing density near transit hubs.“You can’t just keep kicking the can down the road and doing nothing about this,” said Mantel, a tenants’ rights lawyer who lives in Park La Brea.
Oyler, an accountant who lives in Westwood, supports upzoning large parts of the 5th District and other parts of the city, saying it will help address both high housing costs and the homelessness crisis.Yaroslavsky, who lives in Mid City, defended her position on housing, contending that SB 79 was deeply flawed and that she is working to minimize its negative impacts.California California’s primary election takes place on June 2.
Learn about L.A.’s city and county races and others for state offices.Yaroslavsky, 45, was named the council’s budget committee chair at the beginning of last year, a job that carries immense influence over city spending and that requires her to balance lofty political expectations with fiscal reality.Yaroslavsky began her career as a land use attorney and lobbyist and later worked as a top aide to former Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl for more than six years.
She is the daughter-in-law of former Fifth District City Councilmember Zev Yaroslavsky, who later served on the county board of supervisors.“We need people in office who are interested in problem solving, not focused on gotcha politics.
Who are not super ideological but are just really there to solve problems.And ...