• Listen to this segment

• Listen to the entire program

In official results released last Thursday, a progressive slate of candidates swept nearly all nine-seats of the South Central Neighborhood Council. Under a banner of “We are not politicians, we are community organizers,” eight of the nine members of the slate were elected by voters who cast their ballots on June 26th at the All People’s Christian Center. Only the slate’s youth representative Erica Montelongo lost by a margin of just two votes. Turnout in previous Neighborhood Council elections have been historically low, however, more than two-thousand votes were tallied in last month’s election. Jose Lara of the National Educators Association received the most votes as seven members of his slate, including Celina Benitez of CISPES and Ron Gochez of Union del Barrio, rounded out the rest of the electoral victory. The successful slate of progressive candidates ran on a platform that included various stances aimed at what they saw as the most pressing issues affecting the community. In it, they called for an end to ICE raids, stopping the impounding of vehicles taken at DUI checkpoints when drivers are not intoxicated, stemming the influence of drugs and alcohol in their neighborhood, and ending foreclosures, among other things. Elected to three year terms, the incoming South Central Neighborhood Council has a unique opportunity to implement a progressive agenda.

GUESTS: Ron Gochez, Newly Elected Representative of the South Central Neighborhood Council, Community Organizer with Union del Barrio, South LA Educator, Julia Wallace, member of the LA March 4th Committee

Find out more about the campaign on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=110770505636515&ref=ts