By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
SOUTH LOS ANGELES — Three months after voters narrowed the race for the 9th City Council District to two Latino candidates, Jose Ugarte and Estuardo Mazariegos are sharpening competing arguments over experience, accountability and how to preserve Black political and economic influence in a district represented by Black council members for more than six decades.
Ugarte, a former deputy chief of staff to outgoing Councilman Curren Price, finished first in the June primary with nearly 40% of the vote. Mazariegos, a longtime community organizer, advanced to the runoff with about 26% of the vote.
When The Wave interviewed both candidates following the primary, Ugarte presented himself as a builder of Black-Brown political coalitions, while Mazariegos framed the contest as a choice between established City Hall politics and grassroots change.
With the Nov. 3 election approaching, both say they have broadened their support since June.
Ugarte said this week that his campaign has held nearly 40 community meetings since the primary and gained endorsements from organizations that stayed out of the crowded June contest, including Black political and community groups.
He said his campaign message has been distilled to three priorities: a “clean, safe and affordable South Central L.A.”
Mazariegos said his campaign has continued building labor and grassroots support, pointing to endorsements from Assemblywoman Sade Elhawary and SEIU Locals 1000 and 2015 and SEIU-USWW. Those endorsements are currently listed by his campaign.
He also said his campaign has assembled more than 900 volunteers who have continued canvassing throughout the district.
“We keep door knocking,” Mazariegos said. “We keep getting out there into the community and reaching out to the grassroots.”
The district has been represented by a Black council member since Gilbert Lindsay took office in 1963. Regardless of who wins in November, either Ugarte or Mazariegos will become the district’s first non-Black council member in more than six decades.
Both candidates offered specific commitments to Black residents when asked how they would navigate that transition.
Ugarte said the change places a particular responsibility on the next council member.
“It’s not easy losing a Black seat,” he said. “Times are changing, but I want to make sure that their concerns are addressed. I want to make sure that they can count on me to support their issues, their initiatives.”
Ugarte said that commitment would extend to the people running his council office.
“I committed to making sure I have African American staff at the highest levels, from the chief of staff to district director — management positions, not just deputy positions, not just field deputy positions,” he said.
He also said he wants to work with Black churches facing declining congregations and development pressures and preserve cultural events including the Central Avenue Jazz Festival and Kingdom Day Parade.
“As a Latino council member that had doors opened for me by African American council members, I want to give that back,” Ugarte said. “I want to make sure I pay it forward.”
Mazariegos pointed to economic development, homeownership and the recently established African American cultural district as vehicles for maintaining Black influence.
“For me, I think it’s really uplifting, number one, honoring the Black history in the 9th District by preserving its future and fighting for a Black future in the 9th District as well,” Mazariegos said.
He said the cultural district could be used to support Black-owned businesses while the council office works to promote Black homeownership and employment.
The candidates are also drawing a sharp distinction over Price, who is leaving office because of term limits while facing a pending criminal case.
Price faces 12 felony public-corruption charges, including five counts of embezzlement of government funds, four counts of conflict of interest and three counts of perjury. He has pleaded not guilty.
Ugarte’s years working for Price have become a central line of criticism from Mazariegos, who argues that the district needs a break from the outgoing administration.
Asked about that criticism, Ugarte said Price should be afforded the presumption of innocence and argued that his own record should be judged separately.
“Curren has not been found guilty of anything,” Ugarte said. “Curren has to go to trial. It’s going to be after the election. Hopefully he’s found innocent. I really think that he is.”
Ugarte also alleged that Mazariegos had previously sought Price’s endorsement, including before Ugarte entered the race.
Mazariegos flatly denied the allegation.
“Not at all,” Mazariegos said. “I never once entertained that.”
He said he frequently clashed with Price’s office, particularly over tenant protections.
Mazariegos has made government accountability a central part of his campaign. He said that if elected he would seek greater scrutiny of city contracts, particularly money directed toward homelessness services, and establish what he called a “co-governance structure” bringing community leaders and interest groups into regular meetings with the council office.
“I think that’s at the core of all the major issues that we have in the 9th District, from the homelessness crisis to cleaning up the streets to maintaining the street lights,” Mazariegos said.
He also criticized Ugarte over an Ethics Commission case involving Ugarte’s failure to disclose outside income while working as a council staffer. Ugarte agreed to pay a fine in connection with the violations.
The candidates also offered competing definitions of experience.
“I grew up in South L.A.,” Ugarte said. “I worked at local nonprofits. I worked in the state Assembly. I worked in the City Council. I worked on quality-of-life issues for my entire life here in South L.A.”
Mazariegos countered that his experience comes from organizing residents and helping advance city policy.
He cited his work on tenant protections and rent policy and his leadership with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.
Mazariegos also pointed to his education in labor studies and public administration and rejected Ugarte’s suggestion that he lacks relevant experience.
“I’ve dedicated my life to empowering the people of Los Angeles, and I’ve been able to get things done,” Mazariegos said.
The campaigns also differ over where their political support comes from.
Mazariegos describes his campaign as “corporate free” and said his fundraising comes from individual donors rather than corporations. He characterized himself as a “community insider, not a political insider.”
Ugarte, meanwhile, argues that his broader coalition of labor, political and community organizations reflects relationships built through years of work in South Los Angeles.
The financial differences between the campaigns have been substantial. Through June 30, Ugarte had raised about $588,000 across the primary and runoff, compared with approximately $267,000 for Mazariegos, according to campaign finance figures reported by the Los Angeles Times. Independent groups had also spent nearly $1 million supporting Ugarte, including spending by Airbnb and a California Apartment Association committee, while political arms associated with United Teachers Los Angeles and ACCE Action had spent about $118,000 supporting Mazariegos.
Those independent expenditures are made separately from the candidates’ campaigns.
Both candidates are seeking to convince Black residents that the end of Black representation in the council seat does not have to mean the end of Black influence in the district.
After 63 years, that distinction is about to be tested.
Stephen Oduntan is a freelance writer for Wave Newspapers.
LIFTOUTS
“I grew up in South L.A. I worked at local nonprofits. … I worked on quality-of-life issues for my entire life here in South L.A.” — Jose Ugarte
“I’ve dedicated my life to empowering the people of Los Angeles, and I’ve been able to get things done.” — Estuardo Mazariegos
