Olympics

The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games present a defining opportunity to build a legacy rooted in equity, sustainability, and community benefit. Yet, without strong community engagement and enforceable safeguards, the Games risk deepening inequality, driving gentrification, and heightening policing and immigration enforcement in already overburdened neighborhoods.

i will fight to reinvest Olympic and tourism revenues into housing, green spaces, and transportation systems that serve local residents, ensure that workers receive living wages, union protections, and safe working conditions, and protect our people from harm and criminalization.

My platform calls for a model of co-governance with residents and workers to shape all major Olympic decisions and guarantee tangible benefits for South Central and other impacted communities. By centering human rights, affordability, and shared prosperity, Los Angeles can transform the Olympics from a temporary spectacle into a long-term investment in its people.

Establish Community Control and Co-Governance

I will work hand-in-hand and co-govern with community residents and workers to ensure the Olympics uplifts the people who actually live here.

  • I will require major decisions regarding the planning and implementation of the Olympics to be approved by a committee of labor and community representatives that represent marginalized communities, lower-wage workers, and neighborhood leaders in communities hosting Olympic events like South Central.

  • I support creating legal protections that allow the City to cancel the Games if there are significant unforeseen budget impacts or threats to human rights violations.

Guarantee Union Jobs and Equitable Economic Benefits

Los Angeles is a union city and should not work for large corporations. I will continue fighting so that jobs related to the Olympics are union jobs that pay living wages and prioritize local workers. I will also ensure that there is increased access to opportunities for Black- and brown-owned small businesses and street vendors.

  • The Olympic Wage ordinance will raise the wage of workers in airports and hotels in the city of Los Angeles to $30 by 2028. I will defend this huge victory and expand the $30 minimum wage to other industries as well.

  • I will prohibit any company with wage theft violations from benefiting from direct or indirect Olympic contracting and increase wage theft enforcement.

  • I will promote and champion policies that allow service and tourism sector workers to access retirement and healthcare benefits.

  • I will prioritize Olympic contracting for local small businesses, businesses that engage in local hiring, cooperatively-owned businesses, and minority-owned businesses.

  • I will ensure street venders benefit from increased tourism during the Olympics by creating a designated areas for street vendors and assisting vendors in obtaining any necessary permits.

Protect Immigrant Communities and Civil Rights

Every Angeleno, regardless of their citizenship status, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. I will stand firm against any attempt to criminalize or target our immigrant communities and other residents whose civil and human rights come under attack, full-stop. 

  • I will require LA2028 and the City to adopt a community-based safety plan developed in partnership with local residents most impacted by over-criminalization and the community-based organizations that represent them.

  • I will require any companies benefiting from the Olympics to commit to essential protections for immigrant workers.

  • I will work with international organizations to bring a network of legal and human rights observers to the City during the Olympic games. These independent, third party observers can monitor and report police behavior in order to ensure transparency and accountablity.

Prevent Displacement and Secure Affordable Housing

In one of the most expensive cities in the country, I will fight to stop displacement in South Central and ensure that the investments we get from the Olympics provide stability for working families by increasing affordable housing production and preserving our existing affordable housing stock.

  • I will protect our housing stock by supporting a moratorium on short-term rentals to prevent the conversion of homes into hotels and keep residents rooted in their communities.

  • Leading up to the games I will explore prohibiting Ellis Act and no-fault evictions in areas near the games and increased outreach and education services to connect tenants to Know Your Rights education and legal aid services.

  • I support Fair Games’ demand for a $5 billion contribution from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and LA28 to build and preserve housing for workers, a $1 billion contribution from tourism industry employers to build housing for workers and their families, and a gross receipts tax on companies that pay their CEOs or other executives more than 100 times their median worker.

  • I will fight to ensure that housing investments from the Olympics benefit the lower-income communities near megavenues by investing in new affordable housing developments within a mile of Exposition Park and expanding Community Land Trusts in South Central to preserve existing affordable housing.

Invest in Parks, Green Space, and Public Recreation

Los Angeles deserves world-class open space and recreation facilities that serve residents beyond the Olympic Games. I will champion major investments in green spaces & recreation programming so families in the community can benefit from cleaner air, safer streets, and more places for children to gather.

  • I will enact policies to require revenue from ticket sales, concession sales, and visitor parking to fund green space and recreation programming in South Central.

  • The State has allocated $351.5 million to convert the existing parking lot at Exposition park into a six-acre green space with underground parking.

    I will also champion the completion of the park and ensure that the project benefits the needs of residents first.

  • I will require LA2028 to continue the PlayLA program that provides $10 recreation classes, particularly at parks and recreation centers in South Central and other low-income areas of the city.

  • I will also seek ways to leverage the Olympics to improve access to public pools and swimming lessons in South Central by funding staff and lifeguards and enacting more accessible hours, policies, and systems.

Build Transportation That Serves Residents

I will push to require long-term transportation investments that serve the daily needs of District 9 residents.

We deserve faster, more frequent bus service, safer streets, and improved sidewalks. South Central is full of community members who walk and bike to work – mobility investments should serve these working families, not just tourists.

  • I will support implementing needed mobility, transportation, and street investments in and around Exposition Park like the Vermont Bus-only Corridor, MLK bike path and bus only lane, sidewalk and street safety improvements, and street trees.

  • I support legacy investments in bike-sharing programs that provide accessible, eco-friendly mobility options both during and after the Games.

  • I will work to eliminate bus fares on the City’s DASH network and Metro buses to ensure free, accessible public transit for all riders.