José Huizar

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
(Redirected from Jose Huizar)
Jump to: navigation, search

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

José Huizar
José Huizar and his family during a Chinatown parade.jpg
Member of the Los Angeles City Council from the 14th district
Assumed office
2005
Preceded by Antonio Villaraigosa
Personal details
Born (1968-09-10) September 10, 1968 (age 55)
Zacatecas, Mexico
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Richelle Ríos
Residence Los Angeles, California
Alma mater UC Berkeley (B.A.)
UCLA School of Law (J.D.)
Princeton University (M.P.P.)
Website cd14.lacity.org

José Luis Huizar (born September 10, 1968) is an American elected official in California. He is a member of the Los Angeles City Council representing District 14.

His district covers central Downtown Los Angeles, as well as Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Hermon, Monterey Hills, Highland Park, Eagle Rock, and Glassell Park.

Huizar was elected on November 8, 2005 in a special election to fill the seat vacated by the then new Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. He was reelected to a full four-year term in 2007 and again in 2011. In 2015, he was re-elected but to a 5 1/2 years, due to the passage of Charter Amendments 1 and 2. The amendments will change elections in the city of L.A. and the LAUSD to even-number years beginning in the year 2020, thereby extending his new term by 1 1/2 years.

Early life and education

Huizar was born in a village called Los Morales in the municipality of Jerez, Zacatecas, Mexico,[1] son of Simón Huizar, who was a migrant farm worker and later a machinist. His mother Isidra Serrano was a meatpacking plant worker.[2]

He immigrated with his parents to the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles at the age of three, attended Euclid Elementary, Stevenson Junior High School, Hollenbeck Junior High School and Salesian High School before attending University of California, Berkeley as an undergraduate. He received a master's degree in Public Affairs and Urban Planning from Princeton University and a Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law.[3] In 2004, he became the first Latino to serve on the Princeton Board of Trustees.

Los Angeles Unified School Board

José Huizar won a seat on the Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District on April 10, 2001, as a candidate supported by then Mayor Richard Riordan, defeating Ralph Cole with 75 percent of the vote.[4] He served as member and President of the Board until 2005.

Los Angeles City Council

In November 2005, Huizar ran against Nick Pacheco for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council vacated by Antonio Villaraigosa and won.[5] He was reelected to a full four-year term in 2007 and again in 2011.[6] On March 3, 2015, he defeated former Supervisor Gloria Molina, along with 3 other candidates, to be re-elected to the Los Angeles City Council for a historic 4th time.[7] José Huizar's victory over Gloria Molina by a 42-point margin is her first defeat in her political career. He is the first Mexican immigrant elected to the L.A. City Council.[8]

Committees

  • Planning & Land Use Management (Current Chair)
  • Rules, Elections & Intergovernmental Relations (Current Vice Chair)
  • Energy & Environment (Chair 2012-13)
  • Economic Development[9]

Environmental issues

Huizar chaired the Los Angeles City Council’s Energy & Environment Committee in 2012 and 2013. Under his leadership, the committee pushed forward the single-use plastic bag ban[10] and worked to expand recycling efforts in commercial and apartment buildings.[11] Huizar also oversaw two of the largest solar projects in the country,[12] advocated for a coal-free Los Angeles by 2025,[13] and ensured that the Council adopted a $120 million annual budget for energy conservation. In 2013, Huizar received the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters Environmental Champion Award [14] and the Sierra Club’s Political Leadership award.[15] He has also worked to preserve open space and improve parks, especially in park-poor areas of the City of Los Angeles.[16]

Complete Streets

Huizar has advocated for the complete streets model of city planning, where streets are safe for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and public transportation users. In 2012, Huizar and then-Councilmember Jan Perry wrote a City Council motion that created a parklet program for the City of Los Angeles. According to the motion, parklets would encourage “pedestrian and ground-floor activity [and provide] much-needed open space.”[17] In 2013, the city’s first parklets were installed in the Highland Park, El Sereno, and Downtown Los Angeles.[18] Huizar has also worked to grow bike infrastructure in the City of Los Angeles, including a green bike lane Downtown.[19] The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition recognized Huizar in late 2013 for his complete streets efforts and forging a compromise to ensure Downtown’s Spring Streets bicycle lanes remained in place.[20] In 2010 and 2011, Huizar worked to install the City's first bike corral on York Boulevard in Highland Park.[21]

Transportation

In 2009, Huizar was appointed to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors.[22] While on the board, he pushed for extended Metro hours,[23] increased funding for pedestrian and bicycle projects,[24] and greater attention to civil rights in transportation planning.[25] He served on the board until 2013.

Bringing Back Broadway

In 2008, Huizar created the Bringing Back Broadway initiative, a ten-year plan to revitalize the historic Broadway Theater District in Downtown Los Angeles.[26] The plan includes reactivating historic theaters,[27] as well as more than one million square feet of vacant commercial space.[28][29] As part of the vision, Huizar has also led the campaign to bring back the Historic Downtown Los Angeles Streetcar.[30]

Support of the arts

In August 2013, the Huizar-authored Mural Ordinance was passed by the City Council, ending an 11-year ban on murals on private property.[31] In October 2013, Huizar commissioned nine murals to be painted on utility boxes on First Street in Boyle Heights.[32]

Historical preservation

In 2011, Huizar authored a motion to help extend the Mills Act, which incentivizes historic preservation by offering lower property taxes to those restoring historic structures.[33] Also in 2010, Huizar also helped expand the Highland Park Historic Preservation Overlay Zone.[34][35] Historic preservation is also a key aspect of the Bringing Back Broadway initiative.[36]

Awards

In 2005, Hispanic Business Magazine named him one of the “100 most influential Hispanics” in the United States.[37] Huizar was also named by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the 25 figures in the Los Angeles Area that “stand out for their potential to shape lives.”[38] In 2013, Huizar received the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters Environmental Champion Award[39] and the Sierra Club’s Political Leadership award.[40]

Personal life

Huizar married Richelle Ríos in 1999 and the couple has four children named Emilia, Isabella, Simón Luís and Aviana Rose.

Sexual harassment lawsuit

On October 17, 2013, Huizar was sued for sexual harassment, and subsequently confessed that he had been engaged in a "consensual relationship" with former female staffer, Francine Godoy.[41] Huizar reportedly reduced her duties, in response to her refusal to grant him sexual favors. In addition, during her campaign for a seat on the Los Angeles Community College District Board, Huizar promised to support her campaign in exchange that she give in to his advances.[42]

A City of Los Angeles investigation overseen by an independent panel of retired judges and other law experts found no evidence supporting Godoy’s harassment claims.[43]

The lawsuit was dropped against Huizar and the City of Los Angeles in September 2014, but not before the Los Angeles City Council voted in closed session to cover up to $200,000 of Huizar's legal bills.[44] With the lawsuit being dropped, the City of Los Angeles will pay no money to Godoy. However, Huizar did pay an undisclosed sum to Godoy in exchange for the dropping the lawsuit.[45]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Template:Newspaper=Huffington Post
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Los Angeles City Councilmember,
14th district
2005–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=José_Huizar&oldid=2584393"