Former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry announced her candidacy to represent residents in LA County’s 2nd District. The seat was previously held by Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke and Mark Ridley-Thomas.
Perry played a key role in both driving the Downtown Los Angeles renaissance and in guiding the community’s response to homelessness
Perry represented the Ninth District on the City Council from 2001-2013, when she left office due to term limits. For much of her tenure the district included a large portion of Downtown, and she helped spark numerous projects that led to the residential upswing and cultural revival in the Central City. According to a statement announcing her candidacy, she helped bring $52 million in net new tax revenue to the community. She has also launched a website, janperry2020.com.
Related: With Jan Perry’s entrance, race to replace Supervisor Ridley-Thomas could be contentious
Perry was also known in Downtown for her efforts to address homelessness, including working to foment the creation of low-income housing projects and other services facilities, among them an expansion of the Downtown Women’s Center. She helped create 1,000 affordable units in the Ninth District — a territory that includes South Los Angeles — according to the statement.
Perry stepped down from her EWDD role at the end of last year and now serves as executive director of the Infrastructure Funding Alliance, a statewide group that seeks to propel different levels of government to create environmentally and fiscally responsible infrastructure projects.
Other projects Perry worked on include the South L.A. Wetlands, a nine-acre park at 5413 Avalon Blvd. funded in part by a voter-approved water bond that Perry authored. The park opened in 2012.
“I am running because I believe every family in the 2nd District should have a pathway to economic prosperity,” Perry said in the statement. “I see tremendous potential in our communities, if we are creative and tenacious, we can attract good-paying jobs, build affordable housing, ensure every child in the district receives a quality education and has access to social services that can help them meet their full potential.”
The primary is next March, and if no one wins a majority of the vote, the top two finishers will advance to a November runoff.
The Second District encompasses a 162-square-mile swath of Los Angeles and has about 2 million residents. It contains portions of Skid Row, and also encompasses Athens, Carson, Compton, Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lennox, Watts, Willowbrook and other areas.
