A Conversation + With Luis Lopez or "You Go Luis!"

I leave the meet and greet I went to on March 3 feeling just a little bit unsatisfied.  The candidate I met while impressive didn’t quite connect with me.  So it only makes sense to explore the rest of the field.  A quick search online leads me to the names of three other candidates.  All three have websites, but only one has an event for me to attend on March 10.  One guy’s website looks like little more than an online solicitation for donations.  The other one has events, but his upcoming events involve precinct walking.  I’m not even sure if I support him and he expects me to volunteer for his campaign before I even meet him.  I find that just a tad bit odd.  The last candidate is Luis Lopez and he has a meet and greet in Echo Park.


Driving up and down the steep hills of Echo Park I find myself at Mi Alma off Echo Park and Avalon.  It’s early still so I smoke a cigarette across the street and attempt to observe the event objectively.  I don’t see much in the way of activity, but there wasn’t much happening at the last event I attended before the candidate began speaking.  A few people arrive and then depart shortly after.  I’m sure I’m in the right place, but I’m not sure of what exactly is going on.

I enter a peaceful garden setting.  Softly flowing fountains set the mood for a low key and comfortable experience.  I am greeted by Luis’ partner Hans and invited to sit and chat a spell before Luis arrives for the event.  It’s a remarkably better experience than before.  I don’t feel at all nervous in my conversation with Hans.  He is friendly and excellent at conversation.  We cover quite a range of topics; a few of them are even political in nature, but I never feel any heavy handed pressure.  It’s just two fellow citizens talking about the city and state we both live in.  It’s a dialogue that leaves me impressed with Luis Lopez even before I meet him.

When Luis Lopez arrives I expect a standard presentation, but because of circumstance I have the unique opportunity to engage in a one on one conversation with him.  It’s an enlightening experience that makes me wish more politicians were able to speak so directly to their constituents but political realities make that merely a dream.  And anyways I’m sure few other politicians are as skilled as Luis is at this sort of interaction.

You have to admire someone so committed to public service.  Luis Lopez is a well educated man who having gone to Harvard for his Master’s in Public Policy had his choice of jobs.  He’s worked in Washington for HUD.  He could have stayed there moving up the ranks of that organization setting policy at the Federal level, but he came home.  He came home to serve the community that birthed him in his own unique way.

Luis Lopez could have joined the Southern California Labor Machine, but he played to his strengths instead.  He worked and continues to work in the healthcare industry advocating for those who don’t have as loud a voice as others.  He’s dedicated his career to making healthcare more accessible for all of us even if it happens one person at a time.  I’m sure he had the option to organize for one of the many powerful local labor unions, but he chose a better path.  He sits as co-chair of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council directly asking his fellow citizens how the city can make their lives better.  He brings parks to under served areas of the city with his service on the Parks Oversight Committee.  As President of the East Area Planning Commission he hears the many, many grievances we have with the city when it refuses to cooperate with the citizens the city serves.  He serves each of us in this unique way.

If all of my fellow constituents had this special opportunity, I’m certain choosing who we should send to the  Assembly for the 51st district would be easy.  These two paragraphs cannot describe how effective Luis Lopez can be at building coalitions to get things done for all the communities in the district.  Because of time Luis needs to leave to attend to other tasks, I can’t imagine how busy he must be and wish him farewell.  This should be the end of this but Hans steps in again and invites me to Luis’ next event in Angelino Heights.  How could I refuse?

This event on March 14 is ostensibly a fundraiser, but Hans assures me that there’s no expectation that I make any kind of donation.  I arrive early for this event, but I walk along the nearby streets admiring the Victorian homes.  Some are well done and others are still works in progress, but all are historical artifacts that I appreciate for their mere existence.  The event is set to begin and I enter Heretic House hoping to see Luis Lopez in action.

Shortly after I enter Hans welcomes me into the event and introduces me to Bobbie Kirkhart the owner of Heretic House.  Her home is a historical artifact and I very much appreciate her opening it to us all for this event.  I don’t get many chances to walk into history and I wander about admiring all the fascinating details of her home.  I engage in chit chat and small talk before Luis begins to speak, but I’m trying to remain focused on the task at hand.  I quietly observe Luis speaking to other guests and I’m happy to note how capable he is at that task.  He meets new people like they were old friends and old friends like they were family.

Al Ballesteros, director of JWCH a community health clinic, introduces Luis highlighting his many years of service to the community and in particular his focus on healthcare.  Luis starts his presentation with himself.  His personal story isn’t unique, but it is compelling.  He was born here in East Los Angeles.  He went to Pomona College.  After Harvard he returned to his home committed to a life of public service.

This event is focused on healthcare, and Luis talks about his own experiences in that industry.  He relates his hopes that healthcare be someday recognized as a fundamental human right.  He tells a story of his own mother who passed away when he was young how he would wait for her to return from dialysis.  Luis Lopez is definitely committed to healthcare in a way his opponents are not.

Luis Lopez moves on to discuss his experiences serving the community.  He relates how his campaign, save for funding from a couple of PACS, is funded solely by individual donors.  It’s not surprising how much he’s raised this way, but we can only hope it will be enough.  He doesn’t go negative, but he does note how much money his opponent has raised through the various unions and other interest groups.  And he reminds us that when he arrives in Sacramento, the only people he will be beholden to are the residents of the 51st district.

When Luis moves on to education he talks about “pathways to opportunity.”  It’s an interesting turn of phrase that leaves me thinking about education even now.  He talks about how he was mentored and given the chance to become the person he is by librarians and teachers.  Without that the path he’s chosen for himself would have been far more difficult.  He’s determined to make sure that more children are given the same opportunities he has been given.

The only real issue I have with the whole presentation happens when Luis moves beyond his chosen priorities. He talks about funding and how revenue is generated in the state.  He’d move to change the rules to make it easier to fill the state’s budget deficit.  He proposes an “oil severance tax” and changes to Prop 13.  He wants to raise taxes on corporations and make them pay their fair share.  It’s remarkably similar to his opponent’s positions.  It’s not surprising that they share so many of the same priorities, but I’m concerned that the similarities will make it difficult for voters to differentiate between him and his opponent.

His presentation winds down with a short Q&A.  Everyone seems reluctant to present him with challenging questions.  The questions themselves are masqueraded compliments more than anything else.  And despite these last two critical paragraphs, much of this is a big “You Go Luis!” I ‘m surprised that even I am hesitant, but who would want to be adversarial to such a nice guy?  And anyway I can always walk up to him and put him in that spot if I needed to.  He feels that accessible to me.  I can also be patient too.  On March 15, he’ll be at a candidate’s forum where Luis will have no choice but to be a little bit adversarial.  I can’t wait to see how he handles that, but I’m certain he’ll take care of business in his own unique way.

After the presentation, Luis continues with his conversations and I graze at cheese and crackers while enjoying a particularly tasty cinnamon cider.  The hour gets late and I need to get home before nine.  I patiently wait to say my goodbyes, but Hans and Luis are both deep in conversation with other guests and I’m loath to interrupt them.  I’m so sorry for leaving so abruptly, and I really wish I could have stuck around longer to just listen, but if I don’t return home I won’t find the ‘good’ parking on my street because Thursday is street cleaning.