Traci Park (born 1976) is an American attorney and politician, who has served as a member of the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

for the 11th district since 2022. Having entered the race to challenge incumbent

Mike Bonin Michael Bonin (born March 19, 1967) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the Los Angeles City Council District 11, 11th district from 2013 to 2022. A Progressivism in the United States, progressive ...

, Park became a frontrunner for the open seat upon Bonin's announcement of retirement, and defeated civil rights attorney Erin Darling in the general election.

Early life and career

Park was raised in

Downey, California Downey is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program and Taco Bell. It is ...

and

Apple Valley, California Apple Valley is an incorporated town in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Its population was 75,791 as of the 2020 United States census. The town is east of and adjoining to the neighboring cities of Victor ...

. Her mother was a school secretary. Park graduated from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

in 1997 with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in History, later graduating from

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

in 2001 with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

. In 2009, she started working for Burke, Williams and Sorensen, a law firm specializing in public entities.

Los Angeles City Council (2022—present)

Park entered politics in 2020 when she organized to block the city of Los Angeles from converting a Ramada Inn on her street into housing for homeless people.

Election

In July 2021, Park announced her candidacy for

, hoping to unseat unpopular incumbent

of the 11th district. After Bonin announced his retirement, the seat became open with Erin Darling becoming the progressive candidate in the race. Both Darling and Park advanced to the general election, with Park narrowly behind Darling in the results. Park was a registered Republican before switching to the Democratic Party years prior to her campaign. During the campaigns, Darling criticized Park for representing the city of

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

against a city employee who accused a supervisor of using the

N-word In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...

; Park countered by accusing Darling of representing "unsavory criminal defendants." Park also criticized Darling for his association with Bonin, as well as Bonin's record with homelessness in the district. In the election, Park defeated Darling by a six-point margin.

Tenure

During her swearing-in ceremony, protesters were removed after trying to interrupt Park's speech. She voted in favor of the 41.18 ordinance, a measure which aimed to curtail homeless encampments by banning sitting, sleeping and storing property within 500 feet of schools, day-care centers, parks, recreation centers, in a contrast to her predecessor's refusal to support the ordinance. In 2024, Park expressed opposition to Measure HLA, which would create hundreds of miles of bus lanes and bike lanes. During her election campaign, Park opposed converting two city-owned parking lots on Venice Boulevard into 140 housing units for the homeless. She opposes California state legislation that restricts the ability of localities to ban new housing. In 2023, she assured residents who were protesting plans to build apartment buildings on the Westside, that "there's going to be a lot of meetings" about the plans. That same year, she expressed opposition to tearing down the

Marina Freeway A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or ...

and replacing it with housing.

Electoral history

References

External links

Traci Park for Los Angeles City Council District 11
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Traci 1976 births 21st-century California politicians 21st-century American women politicians Johns Hopkins University alumni Lawyers from Los Angeles Living people Los Angeles City Council members Loyola Law School alumni