Los Angeles City Council candidate Raul Claros is taking his campaign straight into the middle of what many residents call the city’s biggest embarrassment: MacArthur Park.
The District 1 challenger to Eunisses Hernandez rolled a 30-foot RV into the park Friday and announced he plans to spend the weekend there.
“This is how committed I am,” Claros told The California Post. “I’m willing to stay here in MacArthur Park if that’s what it takes for people to take this seriously.”
The move comes the same day federal authorities carried out yet another arrest tied to ongoing crackdowns in and around the park.
The FBI, DEA and LAPD have spent months targeting what prosecutors have described as an open-air drug market.
But Claros says the raids haven’t changed what residents see when they walk through the neighborhood.
“The very next day after these kinds of operations, things still feel and look the same,” Claros said. “The issues don’t just disappear.”
For years, frustrated residents and business owners have sounded the alarm over drug use, violent crime, gang activity, illegal vending, homelessness and deteriorating conditions surrounding the once-iconic park.
MacArthur Park has become a central issue in the District 1 race, where incumbent Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez is facing growing scrutiny over conditions that critics say have spiraled under her watch.
Claros insists the RV isn’t a campaign stunt.
“When the community is hurting, leadership should show up,” he said.
The candidate said he selected MacArthur Park because it has become the clearest symbol of what many residents believe is broken inside City Hall.
“I’ve talked to residents and business owners who feel completely forgotten,” Claros said. “A lot of people have lost hope that anything is going to change.”
If elected, Claros says restoring MacArthur Park would be one of his first priorities.
He says his plan calls for establishing a command center inside the park and coordinating city departments, law enforcement, outreach workers and recreation staff in an aggressive effort to reclaim both the park and surrounding streets.
“We have to start with MacArthur Park,” Claros said. “Then we move into the surrounding neighborhoods. It has to be a full reset.”
The RV stop marks the launch of a five-day campaign tour through Council District 1.
“They people here are frustrated. They’re tired. They’re fed up,” Claros said. “I want them to know somebody is willing to fight for this community.”
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