Growing up, my mother and I relied a lot on community support. As the child of a farm worker, I saw my mom work in the fields earning $4 per hour and having trouble putting food on the table. Thankfully, our community was always there to support us. Strangers who became family friends shared their food, gave us rides (as undocumented people could not legally drive then), and even helped my mom fill out forms because she didn't speak English. I grew up in a community that taught me from an early age what it means to be there for each other and how to make everyone feel at home.  

When I moved to Los Angeles and saw the number of unhoused people living on the streets, I knew it was time to put my values into practice. I learned about KtownForAll, an all-volunteer mutual aid group in Koreatown, one of the densest neighborhoods in the city. Koreatown has one of the highest per capita unhoused rates in the entire city.  

Together with KtownForAll volunteers, I help care for unhoused people. Every Saturday, we go out and provide essential supplies like baby wipes, masks, blankets, tents, tarps, and food. During heat waves, we drop off frozen water bottles at encampments, and during fires, we're out distributing masks. No matter what the conditions are, we are always out there checking in on unhoused people. And at the same, we advocate for unhoused people at rallies, public hearings, and by speaking to our representatives. None of us are professionals but we know what it takes to be there for each other and help each other out.  

As a volunteer, I've seen firsthand the horrible consequences of rent increases and rising cost of living have done to working class people. I hear the same stories week after week of people who have faced hurdles like hospitalization, ageing out of foster care, domestic violence, and job loss that led them to losing their houses. I also hear people talk about how long they have been on the waitlist for public housing support and Section 8 voucher waiting lists. Some have been waiting for decades. There are simply not enough vouchers or units, and people lucky enough to get vouchers quickly find out that landlords don’t want to accept vouchers. Some pass away on the streets before ever hearing back from any of those long waiting lists. This is unacceptable.  

Many people may not know but the largest growing demographic of people becoming unhoused are seniors. Seventy-five percent of seniors struggle to pay rent and could be in danger of becoming unhoused in L.A. Many are on fixed incomes relying on programs like Social Security or Social Security Disability payments to survive. Sadly, these fixed incomes have not been able to keep up with ballooning rent increases, leading a lot of seniors to end up on the streets. Angelenos deserve better.  

We need every eligible Angeleno to vote YES on Measure ULA by Election Day, November 8. Measure ULA will protect all Angelenos by:

• immediately buying, building, and preserving affordable housing; 
• providing emergency financial support to low-income seniors, people with disabilities, and individuals at risk of losing their housing due to falling behind on rent;  
• investing in vital tenant protections, including legal representation for individuals facing evictions; and  
• programming that informs people of their legal rights. 

The City of L.A. has more than 42,000 unhoused people living on the streets. We need to pass Measure ULA now. This measure taxes the sale of properties valued at $5 million or more to fund desperately needed affordable housing and renter protections.

The solution to the housing crisis is a "housing first" policy approach, where people have access to decent and safe housing as an immediate and first response. Other supports and services like nonemergency medical attention and resources should follow. Measure ULA would bring us one step closer to providing housing to Angelenos.  

We need to vote YES on Measure ULA now.  

Learn more about Measure ULA.

In 1991, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) framed me for a murder I did not commit. I was 16 at the time, and I ended up serving two decades in prison.  

This all started when a terrible crime took place on a residential street in Lynwood — home of the notorious sheriff's deputy gang called The Vikings. A man by the name of Donald Sarpy came out to tell his son and friends to keep it down when a car suddenly drove by and gunshots flew. The boys took cover, and when the car was gone, they saw Donald on the ground bleeding. He was shot and rushed to the hospital where he later died.  

The tragedy didn’t end there. The boys were interviewed and offered conflicting information about the shooter — one stated the car was white, another said it was black. The investigation was going nowhere until LASD Deputy Craig Ditsch pressured one of the boys to select my picture out of a photo lineup. The investigation, which up until that point was looking like a cold case, was now solved. They had an eyewitness positively identifying that I was responsible for Donald's murder. 

I was arrested in front of my father, who was just as scared as I was when the sheriffs raided our home. We asked what was happening. The deputies ignored us. My father, an immigrant from Mexico, was made to feel invisible and insignificant. He watched while I was handcuffed and taken away. At the station, I was expecting him to be there when I was interrogated since I was a minor, but they continued without him. Interrogating a minor without a parent or legal guardian is illegal.  

Law enforcement finally told me I was being accused of murder and pressured me to admit I had done it, even though I had no clue who did it. They told me if I admitted to the crime, they would let the judge know I cooperated. I told them I knew nothing about the crime and that I didn’t do it. I told the truth, but this proved to be pointless. I was soon taken to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall and was later tried as an adult. After two jury trials, I was found guilty.  

I told my truth. My father told his truth. Somehow, this wasn’t enough as the deputies and witnesses lied. LASD won, and my family and I lost. My family and I believed in the system, and the sheriff's department was abusing its power to get the outcome it wanted. I was sentenced to 30 years to life, with an additional six life sentences. I was sent to prison where I was expected to live out the remainder of my life. I refused to live like this and fought hard to prove my innocence. 

After serving 20 years in prison, I did the impossible and proved my innocence. I worked with the Northern California Innocence Project and Morrison & Foerster to fight for my innocence. Finally, on March 16, 2011, I walked out of the L.A. County Men’s Central Jail a free man. 

That day was so special for me. I was greeted by my family and friends who I hadn’t seen in decades. Sadly, my father wasn’t alive to be there when I walked out into the sunlight and began my new life. 

I was no longer that 16-year-old boy my family and friends remembered. I was now 37, and I didn’t know who I was or what would await me. All I knew was that I wanted to continue fighting for justice and fight against those who abuse their power. 

I remember that day, a reporter asked me what message I had for the community so that this tragedy doesn’t happen again, and I said: “For those listening, in order to prevent this from happening again, we have to vote for just laws and fair representatives.”   

This election, voting Yes on Measure A gives us the opportunity to create oversight for a sheriff’s department plagued by decades of corruption and scandal. Measure A gives the L.A. County Board of Supervisors the power to remove a sheriff if they commit serious violations against our communities — like breaking the law, stealing county funds, or obstructing investigations into deputy misconduct.  

We waited decades while LASD repeatedly said it would solve corruption itself, but the sheriffs have failed us, and we can no longer wait. Sheriffs have spent more time protecting their deputies than addressing the problems they actively cause in our communities or the corruption in their own ranks.   

Measure A is the hope and vision I have for the future of our county. We will finally have a mechanism to pressure the sheriff and LASD to do the right thing. Since proving my innocence, I have used my pain for good. I call on my fellow Angelenos to recognize all the pain caused by the hands of those sworn to protect us and use it to give the power of oversight to our communities. Vote YES on Measure A.  

Learn more about Measure A.  

Learn about other endorsements by the ACLU SoCal in our 2022 Ballot Guide.