Your guide to the L.A. City Council District 6 election to replace Nury Martinez

Residents in Los Angeles City Council District 6 lost their representative after council President Nury Martinez resigned last year following the leak of audio that captured her incendiary remarks.

Now, seven candidates are running in the April 4 special election to fill the vacant San Fernando Valley seat. Although the race is nonpartisan, all the candidates except one is a registered Democrat. All are under the age of 40, and none has been elected to a major office.

Mail-in ballots are being sent to voters starting this week. If no candidate gets more more than 50% of the vote, a June runoff between the top two finishers is planned.

The winner will face another election for this seat in March 2024, when Martinez’s term was due to expire.

Street vending regulations, a lack of green space and complaints about noise and fumes from Van Nuys Airport are some of the major issues in the race. For this guide, The Times focused on homelessness and policing, which are also hot-button topics.

The district takes in all or part of the neighborhoods of Lake Balboa, Van Nuys, Panorama City, Arleta, North Hills, North Hollywood and Sun Valley. Major job centers include Van Nuys Airport and the Anheuser-Busch brewery. The Sepulveda Basin lies in the southern portion of the district.

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Marisa Alcaraz, 38, pitches herself as an advocate for working families and is deputy chief of staff and environmental policy director to L.A. Councilmember Curren Price. She’s worked on several antipoverty programs, including one that gave “hero pay” to grocery store employees who worked during the pandemic. She grew up in Lake Balboa and is a single mom.

Los Angeles City Council District 6 candidate Marisa Alcaraz during a debate in Panorama City on Thursday.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Rose Grigoryan, 37, emigrated from Armenia a decade ago. A North Hollywood resident, she started a marketing company and is a former journalist at the Armenian TV station ARTN-SHANT. She has also helped educate the Armenian community about mental health issues. Her voter registration says “no party preference,” and she described herself as having liberal views.

Isaac Kim, 34, said he wants to redefine the role of a City Council member to be less political and more of a “good and helpful neighbor.” A Van Nuys resident, he is active in in his church and regularly volunteers to help homeless people. Kim said his parents, who were born in Korea, inspired him to start a men’s hair and skin care company.

Los Angeles City Council District 6 candidate Isaac Kim during a debate in Panorama City on Thursday.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Imelda Padilla, 35, is a longtime community organizer who has worked on raising the minimum wage, the environment, and women’s economic and health issues. Her background includes working for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and Pacoima Beautiful. Padilla was raised in Sun Valley and lives in the home she grew up in, she said.

Marco Santana, 32, touts the community work that he’s done in his professional career, which includes helping create a shelter for homeless women and doing healthcare outreach. He’s worked for former state Sen. Bob Hertzberg and Rep. Tony Cardenas. At L.A. Family Housing, he leads a department that places families and individuals into housing. Santana, who lives in Van Nuys, has talked about the housing insecurity his family faced when he was growing up.

Antoinette Scully, 38, has a background in racial justice. She is a national organizer at the Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation. She’s also worked as a field caseworker and housing coordinator at NoHo Home Alliance. She founded the Valley Justice Coalition/Collective, which has led food distribution drives, fought for environment justice, and protested against transphobia. Scully lives in Van Nuys.

Douglas Sierra, 37, touts his background in business and education. Until recently, Sierra worked at management consulting firm Monitor Deloitte, he said. He also was an educational services coordinator at A Place Called Home in South L.A., according to his resume. He grew up in Sun Valley. At points in his life, he and his family have struggled with financial insecurity, which has pushed him to succeed, he said.

Alcaraz wants to increase funding for “Solid Ground,” a city program she worked on to help families and individuals avoid homelessness. She’d look at raising the city’s minimum wage and wants a by-right program to approve supportive, affordable or workforce housing. She supports 41.18 — the city’s anti-encampment law — in targeted areas. “As a mom, we shouldn’t have encampments near day care centers and schools,” she said.

Los Angeles City Council District 6 candidate Rose Grigoryan during a debate in Panorama City on Thursday.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Grigoryan would focus on creating jobs and building affordable housing and “tiny home” villages. She wants both mental health and entertainment services provided at the villages. Homeless people should “feel cared [for] and feel that they are part of the community,” she said.

Kim supports tenant protections and wants to ensure that all homeless-related street and sidewalk cleanings are publicized so homeless people can prepare for them. He wants to pursue more state funding for homelessness. He would vote to repeal 41.18. “I don’t believe Jesus would sweep a homeless person off the street just because they are 500 feet from a school,” Kim said.

Los Angeles City Council District 6 candidate Imelda Padilla during a debate in Panorama City on Thursday.

(Myung J. Chun /Los Angeles Times)

Padilla wants to audit Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to better understand who is being served. She wants more types of housing, including emergency interim housing, in District 6. She said she has relationships with county officials that will help with the city’s handling of homelessness. She supports 41.18.

Santana wants to turn publicly owned land into housing. He wants faith-based organizations to turn their unused land into housing. He’d look at creating a city public health department and would seek to expand a city program that gives cash to residents at or below the poverty line. He opposes 41.18.

Sierra wants to cancel all city fees for any developer or nonprofit that builds 100% affordable housing. He would focus on adding emergency shelters, “tiny homes” and permanent housing. He would ensure that there isn’t a “bottleneck” of one type of city housing. He would audit Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. “I don’t want to enforce 41.18 unless we are offering housing,” he told the blog Up in the Valley.

Scully wants to create a drop-in service center program to let unhoused people sign up for mail addresses and ID cards. She also wants to apply the rent stabilization ordinance to rental homes. Scully would seek to include homeless and low-income people in discussions about city policies. She would work to repeal 41.18, which is “definitely a reason why I decided to run,” she said in an interview with former Councilmember Mike Bonin.

Alcaraz said that she wants to “double down” on alternative policing models, including using mental health experts to respond to homeless people in crises. She also wants to see the LAPD hire more officers and enough civilian personnel. She wants to expand both the city’s Community Safety Partnership program and the “safe route” schools program.

Grigoryan said she would hold LAPD accountable for any misconduct, including racial profiling and excessive force. She also wants to ensure that the LAPD doesn’t do any work with immigration enforcement agencies to deport immigrants. At the same time, she wants the LAPD to “have the resources” to be able to do its job.

Los Angeles City Council District 6 candidate Marco Santana during a debate in Panorama City on Thursday.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Kim wants to review the city’s LAPD budget. If he finds that LAPD policies aren’t working, he wants to redirect those funds to preventative services such as youth development and drug rehabilitation. He has called the phrase “defunding” the police “terrible marketing.”

Padilla supports Mayor Karen Bass’ goals on policing, including increasing the size of the LAPD force. “I want to be a partner with her,” Padilla said. At the same time, she supports reforms. She talked about her brother, who is incarcerated, and said she supports anti-crime policies for youths, such as summer job programs.

Los Angeles City Council District 6 candidate Antoinette Scully during a debate in Panorama City on Thursday.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Santana said the LAPD should be adequately staffed and trained so that a gun is a “last resort.” He wants to look at using unarmed officers for traffic stops. He’ll focus on “natural deterrents” to crime, such as adding more lighting along Sepulveda Boulevard to stop sex trafficking.

Scully is a police abolitionist. Scully wants to put more money into departments that deal with homelessness and sanitation to “help reduce what police officers are being called out for.” Scully will vote against increasing the LAPD budget if elected.

Sierra wants to make it easier for the city to hire LAPD officers and suggested the department do more outreach to schools and the community. He also wants officers to live in Los Angeles neighborhoods. He wants both the community and the LAPD to work on building trust. “People should know who the officer is who patrols the streets,” Sierra said.

Los Angeles City Council District 6 candidate Douglas Sierra during a debate in Panorama City on Thursday.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Alcaraz has the support of Councilmembers Curren Price and Heather Hutt, the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, Unite Here Local 11, ILWU Local 94, UFCW Local 770, among others.

Kim is supported by Youth Climate Strike and Sunrise Movement at Occidental, among others.

Padilla is supported by Rep. Tony Cardenas, Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, Apartment Association Of Greater Los Angeles, Central City Association of Los Angeles, East Area Progressive Democrats, Laborers Local Union Local 300, and Los Angeles Unified School Board members Scott Schmerelson, Rocio Rivas and George McKenna, among others.

Santana is endorsed by City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, Jane Fonda Climate PAC, Los Angeles Unified School Board member Kelly Gonez, Painters and Allied Trades District Council 36, Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters, L.A. Forward, Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, and The Times editorial board, which is independent from the news department.

Scully is endorsed by East Valley Indivisible and Feel the Bern San Fernando Valley, among others.

Sierra is endorsed by the L.A. Daily News’ editorial board.

Times staff writer Hamlet Nalbandyan contributed to this report.