City attorney candidates speak to USC

Los Angeles city attorney candidates Faisal Gill and Hydee Feldstein Soto participated in a virtual candidate forum Monday held by the League of Women Voters of Greater Los Angeles. Los Angeles Valley College, National Council of Jewish Women – Los Angeles and the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future sponsored the event.  

Gabriel Romero, a fifth-year student majoring in political science and environmental studies, attended the forum. Romero said Gill is viewed as the more “progressive” and “reformist” candidate, while Feldstein Soto is “moderate” and “pragmatic.” 

“The city attorney has a significant amount of power in bringing lawsuits against companies or other organizations,” Romero said. “The city attorney is an underrated position in terms of power.” 

Gill was born in Pakistan and raised in Virginia. He later served in the Navy and was a spokesman for the American Muslim Council. His campaign’s top priorities include police reform, criminal justice reform and addressing homelessness and housing. 

Feldstein Soto was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Los Angeles nearly 40 years ago. She previously served as vice president of Interim General Counsel for Kin Community, an entertainment company that produces content for female audiences. Homelessness, protecting community values and rooting out corruption are top priorities for her campaign. 

During the event’s Q&A session, Romero asked the candidates about how they plan to protect disadvantaged communities and bring environmental justice to the community. 

In response, Feldstein Soto, who is endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club, said she would focus on oil leases and the California Environmental Quality Act. 

Gill said he would address corporate polluters to ensure they are held accountable. He also said oil wells affect people of color disproportionately, and that he will keep that in mind when serving environmental justice.

Teya Hisel, who serves as the president and policy director of advocaSC, a student organization that participates in policy advocacy, education and direct service for unhoused individuals in L.A., then asked the candidates how they would enforce laws targeted towards unhoused individuals and if they think these laws worsen the housing crisis. 

“I absolutely believe [the laws] are an inhumane targeting of houseless people. I think that they are not practical,” Gill said. “We are not going to solve the homelessness problem through the criminal justice system, and I’ve been very clear about that. We need to provide people with services.”

Feldstein Soto said her focus on addressing homelessness is to lower the cost of housing and enlist buffer zones between people experiencing houselessness and schools. 

“I understand the concern of wanting to protect kids in schools from crime. I think it does come from an assumption that folks who are unhoused are going to be violent, that there is an issue with mental health and crime,” Hisel, a senior majoring in global studies and philosophy, politics and law, said. “I think whenever things like that are said, we need to challenge the assumptions that are behind that.” 

Gill and Feldstein Soto also said that the city attorney’s office has a role in preventing corruption amongst government officials when questioned about a leaked recording featuring L.A. City Council members Kevin de León, Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo during a redistricting meeting.

“I appreciated the unity in what is happening in city council now with the leak,” Hisel said, referring to both of the candidates’ disapproval of what was said in the recording.

Specifically, Gill said the L.A. city attorney should be leading the corruption investigation. Feldstein Soto said ethics commissioners should have independently appointed terms to address corrupt government officials.

In response to a question about what actions the candidates have taken to demonstrate their ability to succeed as city attorney, Feldstein Soto said her community involvement and Gill said his previous collaboration with the city attorney’s office.

Both candidates were asked about the coronavirus eviction moratorium, as city council voted to phase out the protection . Gill said he would enforce protection against tenant harassment. Feldstein Soto said she would empower tenants to bring claims and provide them with habitable apartments. 

The event ended with closing statements from both candidates on the reasons behind their campaigns. 

“I hope everybody has heard why I want to run [for city attorney], and it is for criminal justice reform,” Gill said. “It is to hold the city accountable, not just the police department, but other departments to make sure we root out corruption. It is to make sure that we come up with real solutions to the homelessness issue and not to use the criminal justice system as a sword against homelessness.” 

Feldstein Soto’s closing statement focused on her vision for the community.

“I want to make sure that we protect the diversity. I want to make sure that we give all of our residents a voice, and I want to make sure that we make the city work for all of us,” Feldstein Soto said. “That sometimes requires details, not just vision and values about unspecified ways of holding people accountable. It requires the commitment to get down into the nitty gritty and to come up with a plan.”

Hisel said it is important for voters to participate in smaller elections.

“[Races like this] seem small, but they are not. They are really, really important for the day to day of how the city operates,” Hisel said. “If you are a registered L.A. voter, vote in the local small elections.”