Jose Ugarte

Candidate for City Council Member, Los Angeles, District 9 · Community Outreach Director

Jose Ugarte immigrated to California from Oaxaca, Mexico, as a child with his parents; his father worked in construction to support the family, and his mother, Martha Ugarte, became a recognized advocate for immigrant communities. As a young child he attended a protest against Proposition 187 with his mother. Early in his career he worked in labor organizing and voter and civic outreach in Los Angeles. He went on to work in senior staff roles at Los Angeles City Hall, eventually serving as deputy chief of staff to City Councilmember Curren Price, where he focused on housing, public safety, and constituent services.

Ugarte supports building more affordable, student, senior, veteran, and workforce housing, expanding first-time homebuyer programs, and offering grants for property repairs, while discouraging construction of luxury housing that he says drives up rents. On homelessness, he wants the city to take more aggressive action on mental health, including allocating significantly more funding to mental-health services, paired with mandatory treatment options and job training programs. On public safety, he supports more foot, bike, and horse patrols and community-based policing, including recruiting a more diverse police force and encouraging officers to build relationships with residents, alongside broader neighborhood cleanup and added surveillance cameras. He wants to bring more good-paying jobs to South Los Angeles and prioritize local hiring on major construction projects in the district. On transportation, he supports building a rail line through the district connecting residents to jobs, education, and destinations like Venice Beach.

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