LA’s Top Issues Are Here

"This is just one of many important issues, but it has affected me and many others. LA needs more trees. I moved from an unshaded LA neighborhood to a very shady Pasadena area, and the difference is life-changing. Trees and shade are better for the environment, for humans, for children, for animals, for physical and mental health. Trees and shade should not be a privilege of the wealthier classes, but should be a part of any democratic and just place."

"The local issue that matters most to me is the accelerating climate reality we are living in. Heat that lingers longer each year, deepening drought, and wildfires that reshape both landscape and memory. Los Angeles is surrounded by an extraordinary yet fragile biodiversity, from coastal ecosystems to mountain habitats, all under immense pressure. I see this as the most urgent issue we need to address with the help of emerging technologies and data collection methods. We must learn to sense, protect, and coexist with these living systems, because the future of this city is inseparable from the health of its environment."

"Both growing up and now as a parent, access to afterschool programs has been incredibly impactful in my life. While my parents were hard at work, my sister and I had a safe space to go. Now my sons have that same support. These programs keep kids safe, active, and off screens during critical hours while providing relief for parents who might otherwise have no support during those hours.

"We live in one of the most diverse cities on earth: a place built by immigrants, sustained by refugees, and enriched by stories that crossed oceans and borders to get here. For us, this issue is not abstract or political. It’s personal. Our own family history carries migration, displacement, risk, and reinvention. We know that behind every policy debate is a human being who loves, works, dreams, and contributes. Living in LA reminds us daily that welcoming newcomers is not charity, it’s a privilege and a responsibility. It’s how communities grow stronger, more creative, and more alive."

“Immigrant and refugee support matters deeply to me as I was born in a refugee camp and have spent my life walking alongside families rebuilding after displacement. Los Angeles is shaped by the courage of those who cross borders in search of safety, dignity, and opportunity. When we invest in immigrant and refugee families, we strengthen small businesses, preserve culture, and build more resilient neighborhoods. Yet systemic barriers still limit access to housing, employment, and education. LA thrives when we create meaningful pathways to belonging and economic mobility for people who have already shown extraordinary resilience.”

"What matters the most is the people and the children and how they are fed. Ground up is my lens on everything and especially food, nourishment, and the kitchen. It applies to how you run a kitchen and how you feed the city. We can't be full if we're hungry and we can't advance if the basics are not accessible. It's the fundamentals of life. Baseline."

"Afternoon walks are a rarity in my southeast LA community of Huntington Park. It's no coincidence that communities with the highest rates of mental illness are also the same areas with improper green spaces. I believe that, in addition to expanding accessibility to parks and national parks, schools should implement a more robust environmental science curriculum. This would expose the next generation to green careers and propel them to strive for cleaner, healthier communities."

"As a proud second-generation Angeleno, I believe supporting local entrepreneurs is crucial to our city’s future. Whether it’s simplifying permitting or providing multilingual legal clinics for business owners, this kind of support helps keep neighborhoods not only unique and vibrant, but equally important: economically stable. Support for local businesses also helps our city lift up women, BIPOC, immigrants and other Los Angelenos who face genuine economic equity barriers. These are some of the people who bring the most dynamic ideas, flavors and creativity to LA, and we need to make sure they are here for generations to come!"

The earthquake is inevitable, but the disaster is not. When we can let go of our fixation on the timing – the part of the earthquake problem we cannot predict - we can focus on what we need to do to be ready, whenever the earthquake occurs. The most effective preparedness is to prevent the damage in the first place, and that happens when a community works together. When we come together with the courage to imagine the future, we can work together to create the stronger communities that will weather the challenges from earthquakes, fires, and floods together.

"The most significant issue is reforming public procurement–the process through which local officials convert taxpayer dollars into private sector contracts. It’s the mechanism through which companies have progressively securitized local governance and defunded social services. If surveillance is truly the need of the hour, we need more CCTV cameras in corporate boardrooms and government offices."

"Los Angeles is one of the richest cities in the world. It’s also “imagination” generating, mostly for entertainment. Let’s use our imagination not to entertain, but to break the un-natural disaster of homelessness, which at its depth is a system failure. Everyone pays to reside in this country, this state, this city. That’s not what a decent economy should do. To transform this, let’s draw on the unhoused themselves—no one knows its realities, and solutions, like them. Uplift the most impacted. Let them lead the massive shifts needed to align our vast resources to fully address our housing needs."