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EASTSIDE TREE LIGHTING - You can’t pull the plug on generosity or joy, especially for kids. That’s the message community leaders in Eastside and Northeast L.A. aim to send with their rapid response to troubling news that defeated Councilmember Kevin de Leon canceled funding for several holiday-themed community events.
On November 5, voters in Council District 14 ousted de Leon after one term dominated by negative headlines. These included his scheming captured on recordings leaked in 2022 about how to deprive Black Angelenos of representation. Highland Park resident and housing attorney Ysabel Jurado bested the incumbent by 15 points, becoming the first woman and first openly LGBTQ+ person ever to represent District 14 and the first Filipina ever elected to city office in L.A.
Soon after the election, community leaders aiming to carry on the December ritual of holiday tree-lighting ceremonies learned that taxpayer money disbursed on a discretionary basis by the 14th District Council office for such events in years past would not be provided this year. De Leon had canceled the funding.
The outcry was swift, and so was the counter-organizing. Within a week, in mid-November, L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernández and School Board Member Dr. Rocío Rivas, who represent Northeast L.A., stepped forward alongside Councilmember-elect Jurado to show support for conveners of local holiday events. Together they shook the trees for resources to keep the community events from going dark.
One organization that rose to the occasion is East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD). Members voted at the organization’s monthly meeting on November 20 to set a goal to collect at least 75 unwrapped new toys for kids age 5 to 12. Drawing on its large, diverse base of local supporters, the club will gather the gifts at its awards reception on Saturday, December 7 for delivery to kids in the following days.
Along with EAPD members, residents of Eastside and Northeast neighborhoods from Boyle Heights and El Sereno to Highland Park and Eagle Rock are rallying to show resilience in the face of a final disappointment by the outgoing Councilmember.
"Ysabel and her team reached out and asked what could be done, so they were a huge asset in making sure we were connecting to the right people," Sara Vasquez told CBS News. Vasquez is a member of the neighborhood council in the small Northeast L.A. community of Hermon, whose annual tree-lighting event was threatened when de Leon withdrew funding.
Holiday spirit and “hell, no!” determination touched the hearts of many in equal measure. “We're going to fight for our Christmas for the community,” Memphis Perez, a small business owner in Lincoln Heights, told CBS. “And we're going to make it happen," he added.
De Leon’s last day in office is December 8. No word yet on whether bells will ring that day across the Greater Eastside in a celebratory sendoff.
EAPD Toy Drive: Any volunteer inspired to contribute an unwrapped gift of a new toy for kids age 5 to 12 in Eastside and Northeast L.A. can send an email to [email protected]
EAPD Toy Drive part of club’s annual Heart & Soul Awards on Saturday, December 7. The large community-based club endorsed Ysabel Jurado in Council District 14. To get tickets to the awards reception, go to www.EAPD.LA/donate
(Hans Johnson is a longtime leader for LGBTQ+ human rights, environmental justice, and public education. His columns appear in national news outlets including USA Today and in top daily news outlets of more than 20 states. A resident of Eagle Rock, he is also president of East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD), the largest grassroots Democratic club in California, with more than 1,100 members.)
