Traci Park's Westchester Town Hall: A Masterclass in NIMBYism and Carceral Politics

At her recent town hall in Westchester, CD11 Councilmember Traci Park made one thing abundantly clear: she is governing for affluent homeowners, not the renters and working-class residents who make up the majority of Los Angeles. While she framed her remarks as a community update, her speech revealed an agenda rooted in exclusion, criminalization, and an aversion to real solutions for housing and homelessness. Instead of using her position to fight for affordability, renters' rights, and humane policies for the unhoused, Park doubled down on her commitment to policing, displacement, and fearmongering.

NIMBY to the Core: Protecting Homeowners, Ignoring Renters

Throughout her remarks, Park repeatedly emphasized her desire to "protect" single-family neighborhoods from increased density, demonstrating her alignment with NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) homeowners who prioritize exclusivity over affordability. She falsely framed state housing laws as the enemy, blaming Sacramento for allowing new housing developments rather than acknowledging the urgent need to expand affordable housing stock in one of the least affordable cities in the country.

• “I love Westchester. It's like a little slice of Americana.”
  • This rhetoric is a clear dog whistle to affluent homeowners who oppose new housing because they want to preserve their suburban-style enclaves at the expense of renters and working families.
• Positioning herself as a victim of state housing laws rather than an advocate for affordable housing reveals her hostility toward policies that could provide relief for renters struggling with skyrocketing costs.
• No mention of tenant protections or rent stabilization efforts, despite the fact that evictions are a major driver of homelessness in Los Angeles.

Park's obsession with maintaining the "character" of single-family neighborhoods translates to shutting renters and lower-income families out of these communities. Instead of using her power to demand more affordable housing and community benefits from developers, she positions herself as a barrier to progress.

Criminalizing Homelessness Instead of Solving It

Park spent a significant portion of her remarks boasting about the expansion of anti-homeless 41.18 zones, which criminalize people for sleeping in public spaces instead of offering them real housing solutions. She openly celebrated the fact that CD11 has gone from having “years of literally no 41.18 zones on the west side to now having over 50 of them.” This is not a victory—it’s a disgrace.

• 41.18 zones do not house people; they just push them from one block to another.
• Encampment sweeps do not work—they merely destroy unhoused people’s belongings, sever their connections to services, and make it harder for them to find stability.
• Her assertion that unhoused people “refuse help” is a dangerous myth. Many people experiencing homelessness want housing but cannot access it due to long waitlists, lack of affordable options, and barriers to entry in the limited available programs.
• She perpetuates the harmful idea that unhoused people are “outsiders” arriving from LAX rather than acknowledging that most people experiencing homelessness in LA are longtime residents priced out of their communities.

Park’s approach to homelessness is fundamentally about exclusion and optics. She is more concerned with keeping unhoused people out of sight than actually addressing the root causes of homelessness: lack of affordable housing, stagnant wages, and the criminalization of poverty.

Endless Police Funding, No Investment in Community Solutions

If there’s one thing Traci Park is willing to invest in, it’s policing. Her speech was filled with references to new surveillance measures, increased LAPD funding, and expanded police presence across the district. Rather than advocating for alternatives like community-based safety programs or mental health crisis response teams, she continues to funnel resources into a broken, carceral system.

• Allocating discretionary funds to LAPD overtime patrols instead of social services that actually prevent crime.
• Automated license plate readers and expanded surveillance as a substitute for meaningful investment in community well-being.
• Fearmongering about crime without addressing economic inequality and the systemic issues that drive desperation.

Her reliance on law enforcement as the primary tool for public safety ignores proven alternatives that reduce crime without criminalization. Studies show that investing in housing, mental health care, and job programs is more effective than increased policing, yet Park refuses to acknowledge these facts.

Traci Park’s tenure has been defined by her commitment to NIMBY politics, punitive policies, and maintaining a status quo that works for the wealthy and no one else. If CD11 wants to move forward, it needs leadership that will fight for housing, equity, and real community safety—not more sweeps, cops, and surveillance.

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