Traci Park
Member of the Los Angeles City Council from the 11th district
Incumbent
Assumed office December 12, 2022
Preceded by	Mike Bonin
Personal details
Born	1976 (age 47–48)
Political party	Republican (formerly) Democratic
Education	Johns Hopkins University ( BA) Loyola Marymount University ( JD)

Traci Park (born 1976) is an American attorney and politician, who is the Los Angeles City Councilmember for the 11th district since 2022. ^[1] Having entered the race to challenge incumbent Mike Bonin, ^[2] Park became a frontrunner for the open seat upon Bonin's announcement of retirement, and defeated civil rights attorney Erin Darling in the general election. ^{[3] [4]}

Early life and career

Park was raised in Downey, California and Apple Valley, California. ^[5] Her mom was a school secretary. ^[5]

Park graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1997 with a Bachelor's degree in History, later graduating from Loyola Law School in 2001 with a Juris Doctor. In 2009, she started working for Burke, Williams and Sorensen, a law firm specializing in public entities. ^[6]

Los Angeles City Council (2022—present)

Park entered politics in 2020 when she organized to block the city of Los Angeles from converting a Ramada Inn on her street into housing for homeless people. ^[5]

Election

In July 2021, Park announced her candidacy for Los Angeles City Council, hoping to unseat incumbent Mike Bonin of the 11th district. ^[7] After Bonin announced his retirement, the seat became open with Erin Darling becoming the progressive candidate in the race. ^[8] Both Darling and Park advanced to the general election, with Park narrowly behind Darling in the results. ^[9] Park was a registered Republican before switching to the Democratic Party years prior to her campaign. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

During the campaigns, Darling criticized Park for representing the city of Anaheim against a city employee who accused a supervisor for their use of the N-word, with Park criticizing Darling for representing "unsavory criminal defendants." ^{[13] [14]} Park also criticized Darling for his association with Bonin, as well as Bonin's record with homelessness in the district. ^[15] In the election, Park defeated Darling by a four-point margin. ^[16]

Tenure

During her swearing-in ceremony, protesters were removed after trying to interrupt Park's speech. ^[17] She voted in favor of the 41.18 ordinance, a measure which aimed to curtail homeless encampments by banning sitting, sleeping and storing property within 500 feet of schools, day-care centers, parks, recreation centers, in a contrast to her predecessor's refusal to support the ordinance. ^[18]

In 2024, Park expressed opposition to Measure HLA, which would create hundreds of miles of bus lanes and bike lanes. ^[19]

Actions on housing

During her election campaign, Park opposed converting two city-owned parking lots on Venice Boulevard into 140 housing units for the homeless. ^[5] She opposes California state legislation that restricts the ability of localities to ban new housing. ^[20]

In 2023, she assured NIMBYs who were protesting plans to build apartment buildings in Westside, an affluent neighborhood of Los Angeles, that "there's going to be a lot of meetings" about the plans. ^[21] That same year, she expressed opposition to tearing down the Marina Freeway and replacing it with housing. ^[22]

In 2024, Park took no position on whether a four-story apartment for low-income and moderate-income renters in her Westside district, which the landlord of a neighboring property filed a CEQA lawsuit against, should be allowed to be built without delay. ^[23]

Electoral history

References

External links

• Traci Park for Los Angeles City Council District 11