An election is coming in just a few days, on March 3rd, and, though it’s “just a primary,” it’s an important one. In District 14, we have José Huizar facing off with Gloria Molina, who has been termed-out of her County Supervisor’s seat. Huizar has been consistently supportive of livable streets and local businesses, and since Molina repeatedly puts herself on record as opposing bike infrastructure and being 100% in favor of more and meaner traffic, there’s no contest there…but you should study up on it anyway, so you can talk to your district 14 neighbors. Read about in the LA Times, where Molina proclaims that what downtown really needs is more parking lots, not housing and foot traffic— while Huizar touts road diets and vibrant neighborhoods.
The third candidate, Nadine Diaz, stands little chance of advancing against established heavyweights such as Molina and Huizar, but looks to be a better choice than Molina, who will stop at nothing to choke the streets with more traffic jams, and the air with more smog.
Molina was also pushing heavily for the 710 “Gap Closure” fiasco, which would have brought more traffic, more congestion, and more deadly pollution to the district, as it already does to the unfortunate neighborhoods along its present dreary route. You can read about what the 710 does to the families who live beside it here. In a telling turnabout, Molina, upon hearing how stridently the district’s population opposed the 710 expansion, suddenly claimed to be against it. But then, District 1’s Gil Cedilllo claimed to favor “Copenhagen-style” bike infrastructure when he was pandering to voters—then reverted to type after he was safely elected. He has been a disaster for the our streets and people. I have no faith whatsoever in Molina’s similarly situational “conversion.”
Do we really need another carpetbagger in NELA?
Here’s Bike the Vote’s guide to the primaries: BIKE THE VOTE L.A. VOTER GUIDE – MARCH 2015. Covers the whole region, so you should read it no matter where in the county you are.