City Council District Seven Candidate Questionnaire: Carlos Ovalle

What is your background and how does it inform your decision to run for election?

I am an immigrant from Latin America, mostly indigenous, and part Black from a Jamaican grandfather; the embodiment of BIPOC. I come from a very poor working class family who immigrated to the U.S. under difficult circumstances not unlike many of my district’s residents.

I know what it’s like not to speak English, or understand the customs. I know what it’s like to live in substandard and overcrowded housing conditions. I know in the flesh what it means to live in the diesel death zone / asthma alley / cancer corridor. I know what it means to juggle medical bills and housing payments.

Yet I don’t see much more than shoulder-shrugging or performative activism from our elected officials in response to our plight, whether it is the highest level of ozone pollution or the highest level of regressive taxation in the nation.

These are all reasons I am running for City Council.

According to the city’s latest Housing Element, the City Council could take up the issue of creating a rent stabilization ordinance next year. What are your thoughts on a citywide rent stabilization ordinance in Long Beach?

In an ideal world, without Costa Hawkins and the Ellis Act I would support rent control. In fact I support repealing both laws. Until that time, in general I support rent stabilization vs rent control. The reason for that is that under rent control, big developers who generally own newer buildings are exempt from Costa Hawkins, whereas the landlords who own the smaller and older apartment buildings that are still somewhat affordable have to comply.

The smaller landlords already operate at a smaller profit margin and their only options are to create slumlord conditions or sell to the bigger developers. Either way it’s bad news for the 60% of our residents who are renters. Rent stabilization on the other hand would apply to all rental units under a certain rent limit regardless of when they were built.

That said, given that under the current administration our councilmembers receive generous campaign investments from developers,  I would want to see the specifics of the rent stabilization ordinance and I would work with tenant advocates before committing to full support.

Would you support the creation of a citywide rental data registry that would require landlords to report lengths of tenancies, rent amounts collected, and whenever they begin, alter, or end a tenancy?

Yes.

Tenants rights advocates across the country have called for a codified right to legal counsel for tenants facing eviction and have been successful in San Francisco and New York. Would you support a right to counsel ordinance in Long Beach?

Yes.

Is housing a human right?

Yes.

Tell us about an approach, policy, or program that has been successfully implemented in another city to reduce homelessness that you would like to introduce in Long Beach.

I have my own program based on my experience in affordable housing, transitional housing, and homeless shelters for the last few decades. The reduction of homelessness can work at two levels, one is at the source, to prevent the conditions that cause homelessness to begin with, the other is at the tail end, to get people housed and treated for conditions that resulted from the traumatic experience of being unhoused for long periods of time.

During the last few homeless counts it has been apparent that at least half of the unhoused are first-timers, meaning people who are on the street because they no longer have the ability to pay rent at all or to pay huge rent increases. Recent news reports point to Long Beach as having one of the highest levels of rent increases in the nation. Clearly the city cannot build sufficient housing to address the deficit at the rate that affordable housing is being built.

In my experience one affordable housing unit in a multifamily building will cost about $600,000 to build and will take at least 5 years from funding to occupancy. Perhaps a better way to solve the problem is to supplement rent payments so that (an) individual or family can remain in their existing units and not worry about getting evicted. Given a pot of money it’s simpler, less expensive, much faster, and less overhead, to subsidize than to build.

During the homeless persons count I encountered individuals that said that even $200 extra per month would’ve saved them from landing in the streets. Let’s say we take the $600,000 that would’ve been spent on building one housing unit. That money is sufficient to provide a $400 per month supplement for 12 families for 5 years. In addition, it is also sufficient to provide an education, medication, or food stipend (depending on need) of $400 per month for those 12 families.

To house those who have already fallen into homelessness will simply require a different reallocation of those funds combined with county and health department funds set aside for treatment and counseling.

Of course at the very beginning is the issue of housing affordability. How do we ensure that a working person can afford to live? I propose a living wage, or as close to it as possible, with no exceptions for the number of employees, as well as supporting a well-crafted rent stabilization ordinance.

As part of a plan for all new buildings to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, the Los Angeles City Council is considering a proposal to bar all new commercial and residential construction projects from including gas line hookups in favor of all-electric appliances. Would you support a similar undertaking in Long Beach? Editors’ Note: Since the asking of this question, the Los Angeles City Council voted in favor of banning most gas appliances in new construction. 

Yes.

A recently drafted city memo proposes to end oil drilling in Long Beach by 2035, when local oil fields will no longer be financially viable. Should the city end oil drilling operations before 2035?

Yes.

Have you taken campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry and, if so, do you plan to continue taking contributions from that sector?

I have not taken donations from the fossil fuel industry. I signed the Green New Deal pledge except I modified it for zero dollars in lieu of the $200 maximum it allows.

The Long Beach Police Department currently employs approximately 800 sworn police officers. Do you think the current number of sworn police officers should:

Decrease.

A city-hired consultant recently recommended changes to the Citizen Police Complaint Commission that would create an inspector general position to investigate the LBPD. However, the inspector general could only investigate police shootings, in-custody deaths, and complaints against command staff with the approval of the City Manager. Past commissioners and community members have argued that the CPCC’s current subordination to the City Manager has rendered it toothless. Would you be in favor of an Inspector General position with the unfettered authority to investigate officer misconduct and use-of-force?

Yes.

Please explain what changes, if any, you would like to see implemented to better hold LBPD officers accountable for misconduct and/or excessive force?

It’s better to not have to deal with misconduct and/or excessive force to begin with so before getting to the issue of accountability I would significantly limit overtime—a source of stress, frustration, and poor decision-making—by relieving police officers of duties involving homelessness, mental health, drug addiction, and domestic violence. Second, I would significantly increase training and education to be on par with much of the developed world.

Concurrent with the above I would move to end qualified immunity.

Long Beach has been working to implement an alternate crisis response (ACR) program that dispatches mental health professionals instead of police officers to calls for service related to mental health crises. Would you support expanding the criteria for the ACR to divert calls away from LBPD beyond mental health crises? If so, which types of calls for service?

In addition to mental health, police should not be the first line of response for issues of homelessness, drug addiction, and domestic violence. I would go a step further and consider moving detective work out of the realm of sworn officers, something that is being done successfully in other departments.

The city’s Technology and Innovation Commission recently issued a full-throated recommendation to put a citywide moratorium on the use of Facial Recognition Technology until privacy and civil rights safeguards are put in place. Do you agree with this recommendation?

Yes.

Have you taken campaign donations from the Long Beach Police Officers Association and, if so, do you plan to continue taking their contributions? 

I have not taken donations from the LBPOA. I oppose the practice of the LBPOA functioning as kingmakers in the city.

According to county data, accidental overdose deaths have spiked over the pandemic, especially in Long Beach. Harm reduction has become a key public health intervention in preventing overdose deaths and cities like New York and San Francisco have opened safe consumption sites to address the problem. Should Long Beach open a safe consumption site?

Yes.

Several cities have decriminalized psilocybin mushrooms, otherwise known as ‘magic mushrooms,’ including Detroit, Santa Cruz, and Oakland. What are your thoughts on decriminalizing magic mushrooms in Long Beach?

The criminalization of certain substances dates back to President Richard Nixon’s “War on Drugs,” which has disproportionately hurt Black and Brown people and the poor, and to date I’ve seen no logical reason why these substances were criminalized to begin with.

Long Beach’s minimum wage is currently $14 an hour for businesses with 25 or fewer employees and $15 an hour for all other businesses. Los Angeles’s minimum wage, which increases annually based on the Consumer Price Index, will rise to $16.04 in July. Should Long Beach adopt an annual minimum wage increase to keep pace with cost of living?

Yes.

Fare collections accounted for 12-15% of Long Beach Transit’s operating revenue pre-pandemic, totaling roughly $14.8 million. Should Long Beach consider investing more funds into LBT in order to transition it to a fare-free transit system?

Yes.

Seeing as councilmembers are only employed part time, what would be your other area(s) of employment if elected?

I’ve been in architecture since 1977 and a natural option would be to continue in that field. However, my goal is to work full time in my elected office regardless of compensation. I also intend to continue work without compensation as an environmental and housing advocate.