If elected, the city council candidate says he will live in a trailer in Macarthur Park
MacArthur Park epitomizes some of Los Angeles’ most unsavory stories.
Homeless people filled the park and nearby streets. Pentanyl drug dealers in the community. Businesses struggle to stay afloat. The mayor and other city officials have sought answers.
Now, the City Council-elect is vowing to live in a trailer park if elected.
Raul Clarsos, a 45-year-old community organizer hoping to Helnake Herises Eunisses in Hernandez, said he will use the trailer as his home and office, and removed from there, until it is cleaned. ”
“We need to do something outside the box,” Clarsos said. “Macarthur Park itself and the surrounding area has now become a disaster site, a multi-faceted disaster.”
Clarsos, who lives in Chinatown, admitted that his program is a victim of the community but hopes that the community will get results.
“We definitely want attention,” he said. “We want the attention of every department and resource.”
The spokesperson of Hernandez, in his district including the park, shot down Clarsos’ plan.
“Our Office is always focused on delivering results, not exploiting low-income neighborhoods to be victimized by low-level stunts or misleading residents about how cities work,” said Department spokesperson Naomi Villagomez Roochnik.
Problems with drug dealing and drug use in and around the park have worsened in recent years. Norm Langer, owner of the iconic Linger’s Delicatessen on the park’s southeast side, said he might be closer, saying crime and homelessness keep customers away.
On Labor Day a dead man was pulled from a park pool, and last year a man was stabbed to death nearby.
The city has made significant improvements to the park, from hiking trails and tree planting teams to a $2.3 million fencing project. Mayor Karen Bass said in March that those conditions had improved, with patrols and mental health workers helping people who find people experiencing drug overdoses.
“The results are starting to show,” he said at the time.
Community organizer Raul Clazse hopes to be elected to the City Council and Promises Changed.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Claras, who was the executive director of the American Red Los Angeles region, recently founded a non-profit called California, which describes itself on Instagram as “questionable DSA policies” – Index of American Socialics.
Claras said the city’s actions in Macarthur Park were not enough, noting that the area has always been known as the “skid row of the west” by some.
“There are drug addicts living in the park and around the park,” he said. “It’s a free-for-all for organized crime. It’s human trafficking and sex trafficking.”
He hoped that by staying there, he would bring more attention and investment to the park. If he holds meetings there as a council member, all city departments will have to come to the park to talk to him.
“If any department wants my vote on their budget, they will have a list of things that need to be fixed before they vote,” Clarfagram wrote.
Villagomez Roochnik said Hernandez brought cleaning teams, anti-violence workers and street drug teams to the park. In total, the council office has invested $27 million in the park and its surroundings.
“Attractors cannot hold the entire share of the city’s budget in excess of personal needs – the charter does not allow it, and ideally it would not be acceptable,” Villagomez Roochnik said.
Claros is one of eight constituencies to vote for Hernandez that did not represent Council District 1, including Westlake, Koreatown, Lincoln Heights and more. Claras raised the third money in the race, after Hernandez and Sylvia Robledo, who previously served as councilor in the district.
Claras works on a social security agenda. He wants to bring the Los Angeles police department up to 10,000 officers and supports an increase in the budget of the LA Fire department.
He called the lapd to protect him while he stayed in the park, saying they would bring other officers to the area and make the park safe. He said he would use anti-tent camping laws to drive homeless people to the park and hoped to work with the district attorney to implement the proposals passed by 2024 that trained drug dealers.
Andrew Wolff, Macarthur Park Circular Council’s corresponding secretary, said he supported Clarcos’ bid to bring life to the park.
“We need as much attention as possible,” Wolff said. “Right now, the park is X-rated, and we want the park to be G-rated.”
