Endorsement: Eddie Anderson for Los Angeles City Council District 10
Residents of the 10th Council District have had more than their fair share of political upheaval recently. The district, which includes Koreatown, Mid-City, Baldwin Hills and Leimert Park, has had three different representatives since Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas was elected in 2020.
He was suspended from the council less than a year later, after he was indicted on federal corruption charges (for which he was convicted in 2023). Former Councilmember Herb Wesson was brought back for the interim but sidelined a few months later by a lawsuit challenging his ability to serve again. Finally, political staffer Heather Hutt was appointed in 2022.
Now voters will choose a council member for themselves.
While the presidential contest will garner the most attention in 2024, there are many important races and measures on state and local ballots.
Five people are running for the seat on the March ballot, including Hutt. They are all worthy candidates who would bring different strengths to the job. The Times recommends Eddie Anderson, an ordained minister and progressive activist with an appealing vision for a safer, healthier, more equitable district and the community organizing skills to make it happen.
Anderson, 33, is the senior pastor at the McCarty Memorial Christian Church in West Adams — a historic church with a tradition of civil rights organizing. Anderson was hired in 2016 to bring new energy and members to the aging congregation. He’s done that by focusing on social justice issues, such as police reform, and creating community programs that offer job training, after-school activities and urban farming.
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He’s also an organizer with the LA Voice, a multiethnic, multi-faith organization that helped pass ballot measures for affordable housing and to redirect county dollars to mental health care, job training and alternatives to incarceration.
People who have worked with Anderson describe him as an experienced coalition builder — someone who knows how to bring disparate groups together to accomplish a common goal, and who works hard to elevate the voices of ordinary Angelenos. He’s pragmatic and able to work within government bureaucracy while staying true to his values.
He’s also experienced pushback from communities concerned with homeless housing in their neighborhood. In 2017 his church tried to turn its gymnasium and some classrooms into a winter shelter for homeless youth. The neighbors, he said, “ripped me to shreds.†He eventually gave up on the shelter but continued to work with the community to build support for other programs on the property.
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It was a lesson in how to deal with conflict. “We don’t have to always agree,†he said, but the job of a council member is to bring together opposing viewpoints, “have those deep, tough conversations and then pick a decision point, stay by your convictions and move forward.â€
That’s important because the next 10th District council member has tough issues to deal with. Community members say they are frustrated by broken sidewalks, overflowing trash cans, illegal dumping, homeless encampments, dangerous drivers and speeding — and a city government that doesn’t seem capable of fixing these long-standing problems. There is also concern that the 10th District’s building boom is fueling gentrification and displacement of longtime renters and businesses.
Hutt has been a capable caretaker for the seat, focused on bringing stability to the office and restoring constituent services. She’s worked with Mayor Karen Bass to move people from two homeless encampments into temporary and permanent housing, and she’s backed tenant protections. Colleagues say she is thoughtful, hard working and a collaborative presence on the council. But she doesn’t appear to have a vision for the future of the district or the city.
The ballot measure would force L.A.’s leaders to enact their own visionary Mobility Plan, which aims to make the city’s car-dominated streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users.
Also running for the seat is Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), a champion for criminal justice reform and police accountability during his 11 years in the legislature. Previously he was a longtime L.A. City Hall staffer, working on economic development and property management among other issues. But his proposals to improve city government tend to look backward rather than forward.
The two other candidates, attorney Grace Yoo and environmental consultant Aura Vasquez, ran for the seat in 2020. Both have served as city commissioners and have experience in making change in City Hall. Yoo was part of a lawsuit that stopped the city from cutting down mature trees during sidewalk repairs. Vasquez helped push the Department of Water and Power to move faster toward 100% renewable energy.
But none matches Anderson’s vision and on-the-ground community experience. He is the candidate who has the best chance of bringing people together to confront the challenges of the moment and work together for a better district and city.
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