In anticipation of next year’s City Council election in District 14, Boyle Heights Beat requested interviews with the 14 people who have declared their intention to run in what is expected to be a heavily contested race.
Of the 14, nine were interviewed by Beat reporters and their profiles have been published in recent days. The remaining five either turned down the interview or did not respond to repeated requests for an in-person meeting. They include two high-profile elected officials who are considered frontrunners, and three individuals with little-to-none political experience and no apparent connection to Boyle Heights.
All of the three lesser known-candidates have run –or attempted to run– for elected office in Los Angeles County. Here’s a look at them:
Sandy Sun
In her Declaration of Intention to run for CD 14, Sun identifies herself as a Director of a Labor Union. The website for the California Association of Professional Employees, a bargaining unit for some county workers, lists Sun as a member of its elected, volunteer board of directors. Campaign materials for her 2022 board race indicate she is a longtime employee of the Office of the Assessor.
In 2022, Sun ran for the Office of the Assessor, a Los Angeles County race, and came in second place in the June primary. Her 22.5% of the vote was insufficient to force a runoff with incumbent Jeffrey Prang.
Sun has not published anything on her campaign website, but in her 2022 campaign website she published the statement: “We all deserve to be treated with honesty, integrity, respect, and goodwill.”
She has no endorsements listed on her current website, but in 2022 she was endorsed by the Chinese LA Daily News/Zhong Guo Daily News.
As of September 30, Sun had not raised any funds for her campaign.
Barry Boen
Not much is known or can be verified about the individual who uses the name Barry Boen and identifies as a “City Council Candidate” in his Declaration of Intention to run for CD 14. In another filing document, he identifies himself as Count Barry Boen “Villa” and lists his campaign as “Boen Villa for Council 2024.”
A Tik Tok post from February, 2022, appears to show that Boen intended to collect signatures to get on the ballot in that year’s mayoral race. City documents show he was unable to get on the ballot. In an Instagram post dated Nov. 15 he makes a pitch for signatures to get him on the 2024 CD 14 ballot.
In a Facebook profile that appears to belong to Boen, he uses the name Barry Boenvilla and claims to be the Reverend of All Walks of Life Church, but it’s unclear if that institution exists. The profile says Boen is a law school graduate and a former photographer.
An opening statement of his campaign website reads: “the campaign is about the real people and local businesses represented democratically by a human being from the fourteenth district.”
The website lists the candidate’s name as Barry Boenvilla and says that he belongs to the Naked Party. “He is running on the Naked Platform and will represent the party in the City Council race,” a section reads.
As of September 30, Boen had not raised any funds for his campaign.
Juan Marcos Tirado
Very little is known about the candidate listed by the Los Angeles Ethics Commission city elections page as Juan Marcos Tirado. His intention to run document uses the name Mark Tirado and identifies as a “director, business development” but does not mention an employer or enterprise. It appears that the candidate has run for office using both names in at least two separate occasions.
City records show that Juan Marcos Tirado ran for City Council District 14 in 1999 and garnered 160 votes or less than 1% of the total. That 1999 election was won by Nick Pacheco, who is again a candidate for CD 14 in 2024.
A Boyle Heights Beat article from 2014 shows that Mark Tirado unsuccessfully ran against incumbent José Huízar in CD 14 in 2015.
Tirado does not have a campaign website and has not published any statements regarding the 2024 race.
As of September 30, Tirado had not raised any funds for his campaign.
Kevin de León and Miguel Santiago
The two other candidates who did not respond to repeated requests for interviews were the incumbent councilmember Kevin de León and state assemblymember Miguel Santiago, whose 54th district includes all of Boyle Heights and other parts of the 14th city council district.
Despite multiple calls for resignation following last year’s scandal over a leaked racist conversation, de León announced his intention to run in late September. A few days later he announced that as of Sept. 30 his campaign had raised more than $117,000.
With some visible support among his constituents, de León maintains a high profile in the district attending numerous public events at various communities, including a holiday tree lighting ceremony in Boyle Heights this month.
De León has not published any statements about his intention to run for reelection on his campaign website, which only has a link to a fundraising page.
When Santiago announced he was running for CD 14 in April, he cited de León’s refusal to resign to the city council seat as his reason for running against his former ally.
“The current councilmember’s refusal to respect the overwhelming calls to step down… is holding back the progress we need on homelessness, housing, and the economic recovery we need in our neighborhoods,” Santiago said in a published interview.
On his campaign website, Santiago lists the endorsement of three major Southern California major unions. As of September 30 he had raised nearly $360,000, more than any of the other 13 candidates attempting to get on the ballot.
BOYLE HEIGHTS BEAT CANDIDATES PROFILES
Here are the nine candidate profiles published so far, in alphabetical order:
Samir Bitar: ‘I see what’s not being done and I know how to do it’
With a background in museum management, the CD 14 hopeful says his top priority is bolstering the district’s civic arts profile, including creating more affordable housing for local artists and restoring historic sites
Wendy Carrillo: ‘We need a fighter… somebody that’s from here’
The Salvadoran immigrant and assemblymember hopes to bring change to Council District 14 – including Boyle Heights, the community where she grew up
Nadine Diaz: ‘I’m running again because the corruption hasn’t stopped’
Born and raised in Boyle Heights, the 61-year-old educator and healthcare professional looks to lead CD-14 from a health and social-worker perspective
Genny Guerrero: ‘I address what’s actually happening and bring solutions to it’
The El Sereno native and CD-14 hopeful talks about mobilizing voters for the March primary, better ways of handling the city’s housing crisis and her ideas for being ‘transparent and receptive’ as a councilmember
Teresa Y. Hillery: ‘I can be a bridge between communities’
The lawyer and public transportation advocate says she wants to empower neighborhood councils in CD-14, which she aims to represent
Ysabel Jurado: ‘I am in tune with what people are saying on the ground’
Touted as the go-to progressive among CD-14 candidates, the Highland Park attorney believes in ‘development without displacement,’ increasing renter protection and a more holistic approach to public safety
William ‘R’ Morrison: ‘It’s all about neighbors caring for neighbors’
A veteran of multiple political races, the conservative Republican vying for CD 14 is focused on homelessness and public safety as his campaign’s core issues
Nick Pacheco: ‘I have the experience; I’ve done it’
The former CD 14 councilmember is trying once again to recapture his seat, rallying for community involvement but relying mostly on past accomplishments
Eduardo ‘Lalo’ Vargas: ‘I have nothing to lose’
The youngest aspiring candidate to CD 14 –and only Socialist running– believes the city should do more for its working class, including affordable housing and free public transportation
