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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - First time progressive challenger Faizah Malik, a civil rights attorney and advocate for renter's rights is for the most part the polar opposite of incumbent Councilwoman Traci Park, with the one exception that they both reside in Venice here in CD-11.
For Malik, the DSA backed Democrat and Park, the common-sense moderate represent two different approaches and wings of the Democratic Party in what is officially a non-partisan affair.
Malik is the favorite of most democratic clubs and public employee unions and has also landed the endorsement of LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia, while Park has the backing of private sector labor, LA Police & Fire, and more traditional Democrats like US Senator Adam Schiff and US Congressman Ted Lieu.
Park has generally been best recognized as making an honest and comprehensive attempt in solving the current homeless crisis in terms of real reductions of the street population, and the numbers provided seem to bear that out.
Both agree for the most part on what the issues are but have far different opinion when it comes to public safety, homeless encampments, charter reform and how to best move Los Angeles forward.
A resident and renter in East Venice, Malik is married with two children aged 7 and 9 and will be celebrating her 13th anniversary ironically on Primary Day, June 2nd. A graduate of Brown University and the University of Michigan Law School, her story is the American Dream of sorts as the eldest daughter of South Asian Muslim immigrants, her family came to LA over 50 years ago.
A public policy wonk, Malik prefers data over ideology in seeking long range solutions that currently plague Los Angeles and is a former staffer for the New York City Council. Reform minded, Malik says she could support an expansion of the size of the LA City Council from fifteen if it expands the public policy discussion from fiefdoms to a broader discussion of the city's big issues like homelessness.
"We need to do it right," the candidate offered.
Malik believes capital infrastructure needs to be better coordinated to construct clarity in overall city governance. Malik says seniors need to be heard, and that neighborhood councils should be the "eyes and ears on the ground" for the council district.
The driving differences are in the area of homelessness, crime, and public safety, as Malik noted that patrolling sensitive areas of crime is the expectation of the general public. Malik was critical of discretionary budgets of council members, and seeks a comprehensive, overall plan regarding the restoration of the Palisades including the underground installation of power and the creation of a Rebuilding Authority while noting that 770 rent stabilized apartments were lost in this human disaster.
Malik noted that "affordable housing is not a dirty word," and continues to endorse the Venice Dell project and other initiatives in the district that she believes address affordability. Malik maintains public housing is a permanent source of affordable units which offer security to low-income individuals.
Malik emphasized that the chief concern is to keep tenants from falling into homelessness.
While conceding that the current cost of construction is too high per unit, she would support modular units as a cost-cutting alternative.
"The anger is real" regarding the current inability to solve this encampment crisis noted the progressive challenger.
In the end, Malik leans on her personal story as a daughter of immigrants, and that making the Westside more affordable a resonating theme for the campaign.
Below is our interview with the candidate and the election is Tuesday, June 2nd:
There are vast policy differences between you and Councilwoman Park, please compare the three major differences.
There could not be two more different candidates in this race. One important policy difference is tenant rights. Councilmember Park has not only consistently opposed renter protections, she allowed the largest mass eviction in the history of our city to happen while she was the Councilmember. Douglas Emmett, a major contributor to her campaigns both in 2022 and currently, evicted hundreds of tenants from Barrington Plaza. I on the other hand have spent my career as a tenant-rights attorney and coalition leader helping win Universal Just Cause, the largest expansion of tenant protections in 40 years, which has kept millions of Angelenos housed. On housing, my opponent stalled the Venice Dell affordable housing project after it had received all required approvals, prompting lawsuits and wasting public resources. I on the other hand will unblock this project and other affordable housing projects on the Westside. Finally, we have major differences on immigration. My opponent went on record saying she would have voted against our Sanctuary City policies, and described such policies as “harboring violent criminals,” while I, the proud daughter of Pakistani and Indian-Burmese Muslim immigrants, will strengthen our Sanctuary protections, expand funding for immigrant legal defense, and fight for more resources for families who have been targeted by the Trump administration.
You are opposed to LA City Ordinance 41.18, why is that and what are you proposing as an alternative?
As a mom of small children, safe streets and parks are a top priority for me. No one wants to see tents and encampments everywhere. But the question is what are the policy tools that will truly solve this crisis?
41.18 has become something of a political litmus test and I often see the issue of homelessness reduced to just a discussion of 41.18. I think that’s unfortunate because homelessness is a complicated issue and real solutions exist that the city is not currently implementing. What we have seen in CD11 and across the city is that 41.18 is just not an effective tool to fight homelessness in the long term, it merely serves to move homelessness out of one area and into another, costing taxpayers an enormous amount of money and never actually solving the issue. I invite readers to watch a recent video our team made explaining why this ordinance mainly serves to kick the can down the road, rather than actually help people get off the street permanently and invest in the long term solutions that we know we need to actually end street homelessness in our city. What we see now in the district are encampment sweeps without providing unhoused residents connections to housing and services, which means that the city is simply moving people from one block to another. As a result, 81 percent of encampments are repopulating right away.
LAHSA is being phased out as a multi-tiered, governmental agency. Many feel radical change is necessary to seriously combat homelessness. How would you grade the performance of service providers that are reaping millions in fees with little in actual results? Would you call for greater accountability and fire underperforming providers?
We must provide transparency of all funding earmarked for homelessness solutions. Service providers receiving public dollars must be evaluated based on real outcomes, housing placements, shelter utilization, and service delivery, not just contract compliance on paper. If providers are not delivering results, we should restructure or terminate those contracts and reallocate resources to organizations that can perform. We should also recognize that there are many service providers that are doing exceptional and important work.
Oversight of all shelter and permanent housing providers is also essential. I will dedicate resources and staff to work closely with housing operators in Los Angeles to verify that the services they provide meet the standardized quality of care, and we will work with the City Controller’s office to ensure that regular audits are conducted and acted upon.
I will build a homeless spending public dashboard. Working closely with the new Bureau of Homelessness Oversight within the Los Angeles Housing Department, I will require every City department to tag homelessness-related spending in their existing budgets and financial systems, and publish a real-time, public dashboard that shows total City homelessness spending. This will move the City beyond fragmented reporting toward real transparency, and give us an opportunity to demonstrate the utility of the Bureau of Homelessness Oversight and render it a permanent part of how Los Angeles City governs homelessness spending, not just a time-limited pilot.
You have promoted yourself as a voice for renters. What are you proposing regarding affordability and what reforms would you seek regarding rent stabilization?
In CD11, just like in Los Angeles as a whole, renters are the majority. Neighborhoods like West LA/Sawtelle, Venice, Mar Vista, and Del Rey are home to high concentrations of renters, as well as some of the City’s largest concentrations of rent-stabilized housing. These communities have remained stable because of strong renter protections, but rising rents, speculation, short-term rental conversions, and weak enforcement are pushing more families toward displacement, eviction, and homelessness. CD11 renters have been severely underserved by our current Councilmember in comparison to other districts.
As a Councilmember, my priority will be keeping people housed and strengthening tenant protections. I will work to expand access to rental assistance, legal support, and income assistance programs funded through Measure ULA so that struggling renters can stay in their homes. My district office will help residents directly access emergency assistance and city services, and my team will proactively identify tenants at risk of eviction or displacement before a crisis occurs.
I also believe we need stronger enforcement of existing tenant protections. Too many renters still face illegal rent increases, harassment, unsafe living conditions, and unlawful evictions with little accountability for landlords. I support creating a public rent registry so tenants can easily verify whether rents comply with stabilization laws, strengthening enforcement of the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, modernizing code enforcement for habitability issues, and publishing a bad landlord watchlist to hold repeat offenders accountable.
On rent stabilization specifically, I will fight to preserve and protect rent-stabilized housing stock in CD11. That means preventing abuse of the Ellis Act, which has been used to remove affordable units from the market and displace long-term tenants. CD11 has seen some of the highest rates of Ellis Act evictions in the City, including the mass displacement Councilmember Park allowed at Barrington Plaza. I will not rubberstamp Ellis Act applications and will push for stronger verification requirements to ensure landlords are not misusing the law.
I also support stronger regulation of speculative practices that drive rents higher, including cracking down on illegal short-term rentals and banning algorithmic rental price-fixing software that allows landlords to coordinate rent increases. Housing should be treated as homes for people, not just as investment vehicles for corporate landlords and speculators.
Keeping people housed is one of the most effective ways to prevent homelessness, preserve stable neighborhoods, and protect the long-term diversity of CD11.
You have been supportive of charter reform. What reforms do you support and why?
I support the work the charter commission has done to restructure LA government so that it is more accountable to Angelenos. This is a good step toward rebuilding trust. People in LA have lost faith in government and part of the reason for that is that the current structure creates bureaucratic hurdles to basic efficiency. Good government policy is a priority for me, and I have also outlined a detailed Transparency and Accountability platform on my website.
I support a two year budget and I support codifying a Capital Infrastructure Program (CIP). Today, the City lacks a comprehensive, multi-year infrastructure plan, resulting in fragmented decision-making, inconsistent priorities across departments, and inefficient use of public funds. A CIP lets us plan for the next 5-10 year horizon. I support the creation of a Director of Public Works position to better oversee the Capital Infrastructure program to ensure we stop falling behind on basic needs like streets, parks, and public facilities.
I support reforms to our City Attorney’s office. As someone who was a legislative attorney for the City of New York, I have seen firsthand how other cities legislate, and our city would benefit from reform in this area.
I support the reforms that would increase representation for everyday Angelenos like council expansion to 25 council members, language access embedded as a right in our city charter, democracy vouchers and expanded means of public financing for elections.
Quality-of-life issues relating to homelessness continue to plague the district. How will you address this concern with concrete policies that eliminate street encampments & RVs during your term? Like the incumbent, you are a resident of Venice. How would you specifically tackle the proliferation of RVs along Washington Blvd?
Quality-of-life issues relating to homelessness continue to be a serious concern across the district, and they require a response that is both compassionate and effective. The goal cannot simply be to move people from one block to another or rely on enforcement alone. We have to manage public space in a way that addresses health and safety, for everyone. I will invest in toilets, showers, and handwashing stations across the district. Not only is access to water and hygiene a basic human right, but research confirms that lack of hygiene infrastructure creates serious health risks for people experiencing homelessness and the broader community. This is a public health strategy as much as it is a humanitarian one. It is an important part of a continuum of care designed to protect health while we pursue long-term housing solutions, rather than simply punishing visibility. Beyond their use for people experiencing homelessness, everyone benefits from having clean, accessible public hygiene infrastructure.
People are living on our streets, or in their vehicles because of our affordability crisis. Instead of continuously telling people where they cannot park, we need to create areas where they can park and then proactively manage public space. Many people living in RVs simply have nowhere else to go, and enforcement alone will not change that reality. I will expand dedicated 24/7 safe parking sites on publicly owned and underutilized land, including sites that can accommodate RVs, so that people have a safe and stable place to stay while they are getting connected to housing and services that isn’t disruptive to residential neighborhoods. I will remove unnecessary barriers to accessing safe parking programs, that many unhoused residents cannot meet, and pair safe parking with real services. I will ensure these sites include on-site case management, housing navigation, mental health support, and outreach teams focused on moving people into permanent housing.
Where do you and the incumbent agree?
We agree that the survivors of the Palisades fires must be given the resources and support that they need to be able to rebuild their homes and their lives and feel safe coming home to their community. Many Palisadians have felt supported by the Councilmember in their recovery process and it is a top priority for me to ensure that these residents have no gap in care around their recovery should I win the election.
The cost to permanently construct homeless housing is outrageous. Do you support rapid modular alternatives and eliminating prevailing wages to build what is needed, and can be turned around quickly to address the crisis?
We need all tools on the table to address the housing and homelessness crisis. Faster, lower-cost solutions that can bring people indoors quickly should absolutely be part of the system, but we have to ensure that we are getting people into permanent housing if we want to truly solve homelessness.
There are many factors that contribute to the cost of building housing. Construction labor standards, including prevailing wage requirements, exist to ensure that public dollars are not used to create poverty-wage jobs or unsafe working conditions. Rather than underpay workers or create unsafe working conditions, we should focus on reducing the bureaucratic costs of compliance and obstruction. With a clear city process that has objective standards and is depoliticized, we can both streamline building and reduce costs.
Is Los Angeles structurally prepared to host the FIFA World Cup, Super Bowl & 2028 Summer Olympics? Why or why not?
There are still important structural issues we need to address for the city to be truly ready. Overall, major events should not serve to extract from our city or exploit residents. A good first step would be more city oversight over LA28.
I’ve spoken about the importance of creating more housing opportunities, but we also need to think not only about where people will stay, but how they will get around. Right now, our transportation system is not well connected which is why I have a robust platform focused on transportation.
Importantly, as we prepare to host the World Cup and Olympics, we should make sure Angelenos see long-term benefits, not just short-term disruption. I am also proud to have stood with the Fair Games Coalition who fought for the Olympic Wage Ordinance, as it illustrates the opportunities mega events offer.
Finally, we have seen our communities terrorized by the Trump administration’s ICE and CBP raids repeatedly, and many Angelenos are rightly concerned about their safety during these major events. We must make sure that Angelenos are protected from the overreach of the federal government.
You support the Venice Dell project, yet many locals here in Venice oppose the location. Is Venice being unfairly assigned the brunt of homeless accommodations in comparison to other neighborhoods? Should this be a shared & equitable responsibility in the district?
CD11 has historically underbuilt affordable housing in comparison to other districts in the city. The need for affordable housing to be fairly distributed across the district and the city is part of why I support the Venice Dell project.
People are being displaced from CD11 because we do not have enough affordable housing here, and when we talk about affordable housing we have to be clear about what we are talking about. Affordable housing refers to housing for people at many different income levels from $80k/year to $15k/year. I want our communities in CD11 to have housing that is affordable for our teachers, our new college grads, our service workers and emergency responders.
Do the homeless have an expectation that if they are homeless in Venice, they are entitled to housing in Venice? Should they have the right to turn down accommodations elsewhere? Do you support mandatory drug & alcohol programs for those in homeless accommodations?
Unhoused people are not a monolith, so I cannot speak to the expectations of such a diverse group of people with a range of experiences. I can say that people should have a meaningful opportunity to remain connected to the communities where they already live, work, attend school, or have family support. Stability matters, research consistently shows that people are more successful exiting homelessness when they can remain near existing social networks. At the same time, we need housing solutions across the entire city so that no one neighborhood disproportionately bears the burden of either homelessness or affordable housing production. When appropriate housing or shelter is offered elsewhere, people should absolutely be encouraged to accept it. But we also have to be honest that many people turn down placements because the options available are often temporary, overcrowded, unsafe, separated from family, or disconnected from work and support systems. The solution is improving the quality and availability of housing and shelter.
I strongly support expanding access to voluntary, drug and alcohol treatment, including mental health care and supportive services. But mandatory treatment as a blanket condition for housing is often counterproductive and can discourage people from coming indoors at all.
We have contentious races for both governor and mayor. Who are you supporting and why?
I am not supporting a specific candidate in either election.
While you are a registered Democrat, you pride yourself as a member of the DSA. What is the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist and are you more in tune with the politics of say Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) or NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani?
I am very proud to have been a Democrat since I first registered to vote, and I believe that we need strong Democratic leaders at all levels right now to combat the Trump administration. I know that other Democrats are with me on that. I think that is a big part of why I have earned the endorsement of 15 Democratic Clubs, including the West LA Democratic Club and the Westchester Playa Democratic Club.
I also am endorsed by DSA-LA, an organization that is focused on building power for the working class people of Los Angeles and inspiring more people to get involved in local politics. DSA-LA has been particularly effective at bringing young people into the political process, something that is very important to me. As someone who has spent my career building coalitions to make progressive change, I am proud to be a member of an organization that is bringing more Angelenos into our political process and making sure that the voices of the workers of LA are heard.
Both Representative AOC and Mayor Mamdani have proven to be effective leaders, as evidenced by their many successes in office, one as a legislator and one in an executive capacity. In Mayor Mamdani’s case in particular we have seen many successes despite his very short amount of time in office. I think that is an excellent model for how we can make big changes here in LA if we have elected officials that are willing to push for them.
Who are your political or governmental mentors? Who do you believe is a model for municipal success in a place like LA?
One of the things that I bring to the table as a candidate is that I have experience making policy from both inside of government and from outside of government, giving me a comprehensive understanding of the policymaking process and what works and what doesn’t. When I was living in New York after law school, I had the opportunity to work for the New York City Council, writing transportation and housing policy and advising Councilmembers. I saw up close the effectiveness of leaders like Letitia James, Brad Lander and Jumaane Williams. For the past 8 years in my position at Public Counsel, I have successfully advocated for policy change in Los Angeles and worked closely with LA elected officials at all levels to win things like Universal Just Cause protections for tenants, a lower rent cap for rent stabilized tenants and zoning changes to create more affordable housing. Working in these two cities, I see challenges and opportunities for Los Angeles, which is a big part of the reason I decided to run for office.
There is a continuing city budget crisis, and you have been critical of certain public safety spending priorities. Would you support the hiring of more police officers, or would you seek other spending initiatives? Is there wasteful spending? Have you identified areas that can be cut? Would you have supported the Bass budget if on the council?
If I had been on council I would have fought for more funding for city services and other departments that are not meeting the needs of residents at their current funding levels.
Community Safety is hugely important to me, particularly because I am the mom of two young children. My team and I have worked hard to develop a very detailed Community Safety policy proposal on my website, and I hope that voters have a chance to take a look at it. Given the city’s budget crisis, we need to prioritize what actually works to create real safety. I will not support blank-check increases to policing without clear evidence of effectiveness and accountability. I believe we should shift more resources toward alternative response programs, violence prevention, homelessness outreach, housing, and mental health services, all of which have been proven to improve public safety while reducing strain on law enforcement. We should also scrutinize spending on overtime, legal settlements stemming from misconduct, and other areas where the city is paying enormous costs without improving outcomes.
With only weeks remaining, this election will be decided on June 2nd. What are three closing arguments you want to make to CD-11 voters?
I understand that people are frustrated with the government right now, and I share in those frustrations. I think everyone is tired of fear-mongoring and finger-pointing about who’s to blame for what’s happened in the past. We need competent leaders who will roll up their sleeves and do the work of making our government function and deliver for everyone. I want the Westside to be a place where everyday working people can afford to live and thrive, where everyone belongs and feels safe, where we preserve our culture and the diverse communities that have made the Westside such a vibrant and welcoming place. That is what people on the Westside want, which is why I decided to run in the first place. A vote for me is a vote for a hopeful future for the next generation of Angelenos and I would be honored to serve as the next Councilmember.
(Nick Antonicello is a thirty-three-year resident in the Venice community and is covering the numerous municipal and judicial races on the June 2nd Primary ballot. A regular contributor to City Watch LA, he can be reached online via e-mail at [email protected])
