CD9 forum turns heated and it wasn’t just the weather

Despite the scorching heat, more than 400 community members attended the Los Angeles CD9 & Mayoral Candidate Forum on Saturday, October 03, 2026, at A Place Called Home in South Central L.A.

The event was co-hosted by 23 community organizations that are part of the CD9 Coalition. In-person attendees had access to interpretation services, as well as those live streaming from home, voter registration resources and children’s programming. Tamales, water, aguas fresca and champurrado were also provided for free at the forum.

As the campaigns heat up to elect the next mayor of L.A. on Nov. 3, CALÓ News reporter Brenda Verano moderated a dialogue with Mayor Karen Bass and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman and discussed topics on public safety, housing, immigration and more.

Raman emphasized the essential need for Black and Latino leadership within City Hall when questioned on how her administration plans to ensure authentic representation for these Angelenos communities.

“I will ensure that these neighborhoods have Black and Latino leaders with real leadership positions in my administration,” she said. “I want to make sure we are putting people who know these communities, not just in the mayor's office, but across the many commissions and across the many departments that are designed to oversee and serve these neighborhoods.”

As CD9 has been one of the neighborhoods hit the most by ICE raids, Bass was asked about the Los Angeles Police Department’s role in these operations. 

“LAPD should not have any role in terms of ICE or immigration enforcement, as it is not only city law but state law,” Bass responded. “The LAPD role is crowd control; if there is a crowd around an arrest, then LAPD is involved because we don’t want to have the federal government doing that, especially these ICE agents, Bass emphasized.

The CD9 debate featured Jose Uguarte and Estuardo Mazariesgos and was moderated by LA Local News reporter La Monica Peters and youth journalist Charli Padilla. A victory for either candidate would mark the election of the district’s first Latino councilmember since 1963. 

Things got heated between the two candidates when they spoke about their plans for homelessness, public safety, transportation, street cleanups and local business. 

This year, the number of people experiencing homelessness in LA increased by 3.3%, according to the 2026 Homeless Count. Uguarte shared about past propositions that helped obtain money to tackle homelessness. 

“Seven years ago we had about 40,000 homeless people; now we have about 45,000 people, so it hasn't been working,” he said. He added that he would tackle it differently with a three-step approach.  

Uguarte first pointed out the need to prioritize individuals’ mental health by providing them with the resources that they need, such as detox and job training, before offering housing. He also wants to ban RVs, campers and trailers on residential streets.

Mazariesgos, on the other hand, said that the reason why homelessness has increased is due to the fact that public dollars are not being utilized the right way.  “The first step is holding accountability at the top by auditing and making sure that every homeless service and every dollar is being spent the right way,” he said. He also wants to raise wages and lower rents to create housing affordability.

Peters asked both candidates about their plans to protect residents while expanding access to trusted legal services and ensuring families can seek city resources without fear amid continuing ICE raids in the city. 

Mazariegos shared with the audience about his experience growing up undocumented and his process of becoming a U.S. citizen. He said it can be frightening when individuals don’t have the right legal representation.

“I want to make sure that we are fully funding legal support for anybody that is facing any legal processes regarding immigration by ensuring that we are funding those programs here in Los Angeles,” he said.

Uguarte also shared a similar experience as his opponent about growing up undocumented and understanding what it is like to be affected by immigration policies. He said that the first thing he would want to do is enforce Special Order 40, which is a policy that bans LAPD officers from asking about citizenship or residency. “I want to update that; I want the LAPD officers to be away from any kind of federal agent [by] at least 200 feet,” he said.

The candidates were also asked how they plan to prevent history from repeating itself during the upcoming 2028 Olympic Games. Pointing to the 1984 Olympics, Mazariegos described the lasting trauma on local communities by mass incarcerations of Black and Brown residents, calling it a primary motivation for his city council campaign.

“We cannot repeat that; we need to ensure that first and foremost that we have a human rights commission that oversees the Olympics as they come into our neighborhoods because there is a pattern of abuse of local poor Black and Brown folks throughout the globe, throughout the world, when the Olympics come in,” he said. Mazariesgos also added that the district does not need ICE walking down the streets enforcing a security zone in the community. 

Uguarte agreed with his opponent that the 2028 Olympics need to be done right by the community. “That’s why I have asked the Olympics committee to clean up the district for two years after they are gone,” he said.

He also highlighted the current work he is doing to protect local communities before the Olympics. “Right now what I’m working on is making sure LAPD is reformed. That LAPD knows our rights as human beings as immigrants and ensures they don’t help anybody,” Uguarte said.

L.A. County residents must register to vote by Oct. 19 in order to cast a ballot for this election. CALÓ News has put together a guide on the issues and candidates on the ballot to help you decide your vote for the midterm elections.