ON THE FENCE
We wanted the City to permanently remove the fence around Echo Park Lake and return a formerly free and open space to the community. We believed that could most easily be accomplished by defeating incumbent Councilperson Mitch O’Farrell and electing a more compassionate leader to represent District 13.
AND WE WON!
On March 20, 2021, Councilman Mitch O’Farrell staged a raid with 750 police officers at the cost of over $2 million to fully displace the Echo Park Lake unhoused community. Over the course of the previous year, O’Farrell refused repeated requests to engage in any meaningful dialogue with unhoused constituents, outsourcing the job to contractors. On the night of the raid, O’Farrell erected a “temporary fence” and initiated a curfew in the park.
Over a year later, the fence and curfew were still in place, and community members were unable to freely make use of the green space their taxes pay to maintain. And after that $2 million raid, only 17 of the 180+ unhoused residents at Echo Park Lake were been placed in permanent long-term housing. Councilman O’Farrell failed his community.
On November 8, 2022, we had a chance to make our voices heard in the race for Los Angeles City Council. Six months later…
HOW DID WE DO IT?
WE VOTED!
CHECK TO SEE IF YOU’RE REGISTERED TO VOTE and WHICH DISTRICT YOU LIVE IN.
ELECTED NEW LEADERS!
ON THE FENCE endorsed these progressive candidates for a new vision of LA:
HUGO SOTO-MARTINEZ for Council District 13
EUNISSES HERNANDEZ for Council District 1
KAREN BASS for Mayor
EDUCATE YOURSELF
Check our facts and learn more about the situation at Echo Park Lake by READING THIS ARTICLE.
For a more in-depth look, CHECK OUT THIS REPORT on Echo Park from UCLA’s Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy.
EXPLORE THE ART
Did you see one of our artist-activists performing at Echo Park? Learn more about the Protest Acts here…
A protest song by Mason Flink. READ THE LYRICS…
“Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell, with additional lyrics by Bob Dylan.