Your guide to the L.A. City Council District 3 race: Gaspar vs. Worth Girvan

Voters in the southwest San Fernando Valley will elect a new representative to the Los Angeles City Council on Nov. 3, and it will be either businessman Tim Gaspar or local government veteran Barri Worth Girvan — the top vote-getters in the June primary for the 3rd District council seat held since 2013 by Bob Blumenfield, who is termed out.

The candidates are campaigning on issues including improving public safety, reducing homelessness, providing more affordable housing and spurring economic development.

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Voter guide to the 2026 California general election

California’s general election takes place on Novemer 3. Learn about L.A.’s city and county races as well races for state office.

Oct. 1, 2026

Gaspar founded Gaspar Insurance in 2008 and sold it in 2021 after he built it into one of the largest independent insurance companies in the Valley, and worked with several nonprofit and community groups: Discovery Cube Los Angeles, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, Viewpoint School‘s board of trustees and the West Valley/Warner Center Chamber of Commerce.

He would bring a pro-business perspective to City Council and help it make decisions that support business owners and residents alike.

Gaspar came in first during the primary election with 46.1% of the vote. He is running with support from groups including the Valley Industry & Commerce Assn. and the Los Angeles Police Protective League, a union representing LAPD officers. He’s also been endorsed by Blumenfield, L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, real estate developer Rick Caruso and former Democratic state Assemblymember Bob Hertzberg, Worth Girvan’s former boss.

Worth Girvan meets voters during a neighborhood event in Canoga Park’s Lanark Park.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Worth Girvan is a longtime city and county employee, with nearly 20 years working in public service. Prior to running, she was L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath’s district director for three years, handling constituent services on the Westside and in the Valley.

Before that, she spent eight years as an aide to Hertzberg, who failed to take Horvath’s seat in 2022.

Worth Girvan secured 42.5% of the vote in the primary, only 4% shy of her opponent.

Worth Girvan said her two decades of experience at the city and county levels have helped her build relationships and gain deep knowledge of the communities she works with.

“It allows me to be able to make a phone call and to be able to know how to bring about the change that we need,” she said.

She’s been endorsed by the L.A. County Democratic Party and labor unions including the local chapters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Service Employees International Union. She’s also been endorsed by Horvath and former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Fundraising data will be updated regularly until the election.

Council District 3 includes the southwestern San Fernando Valley communities of Woodland Hills, Reseda, Tarzana and Canoga Park. It also includes the Warner Center, a commercial hub in Woodland Hills with a massive development plan a decade in the making.

They disagree on the mayor’s Inside Safe program, a housing-first project that offers motel or hotel rooms to people living on the street. While Worth Girvan supports Inside Safe as a good starting point, Gaspar doesn’t; the housing-first approach doesn’t work, he said.

Gaspar at a charity bowling event in August.

(Arwen Clemans/Los Angeles Times)

Gaspar said he has no tolerance for human suffering or for encampments. It’s critical that people are offered “wraparound services” including mental health treatment, rather than just putting a roof over their heads at high cost to the city.

“As long as someone is on the street, sleeping in a tent or whatever the case is, they’re not getting help,” he said.

Worth Girvan said the housing-first mentality works, but there should be more permanent supportive housing built instead of relying on interim hotel housing.

“We can’t afford to stop there,” she said. Follow-up with new tenants should come from partnerships with the county’s Departments of Public Health and Mental Health, she said, and her experience and relationships with those departments will be key.

Both candidates raise concerns with State Bill 79, a state law that allows high-rises near transit centers, but for different reasons.

Gaspar said removing the community from shaping decisions about its future is detrimental and the state shouldn’t determine where or when such projects happen.

“When it comes to something getting built or any significant change within a community, the community deserves a right to be at the table,” he said.

Worth Girvan supports SB 79 but would advocate for local carve-outs for hillsides and high fire-severity zones to better balance the need for housing and community safety.

The southwest Valley needs more affordable housing near transit, Worth Girvan said, not luxury apartments or market-rate living. Any project in the district should have a clear plan for fire mitigation in the wake of the nearby Palisades fire and the Woolsey fire, she said.

Both candidates support the Warner Center’s 2035 development plan, which Gaspar called a “mini-SB 79.” The area plans to add thousands of housing units, all with the community’s support.

Worth Girvan supports Mayor Karen Bass for reelection over her challenger, Councilmember Nithya Raman, saying she agrees with Bass on key issues.

“I believe that, you know, there’s alignment there,” Worth Girvan said.

Gaspar declined to say who he supports, saying he wants to have a good relationship with whoever wins and to be able to work with the next mayor to serve his constituents. He’s “rooting for the city of L.A. at the end of the day,” he said.