Councilman José Huizar and DTLA

Social media followers could wonder why we’re sharing news stories about Councilman José Huizar. As most know, Huizar has been a gatekeeper in DTLA since 2005. As a LatinX music and media entrepreneur, I was especially impressed and hopeful about him and reached out several times to try to get him interested in a civic minded Los Angeles Music Festival® in DTLA.

A few minutes after receiving the above email on September 26, 2018, an email from Joella Hopkins came in:

“You sent us your business plan and desire for the Council Office to support. It sounds like a great event! I hope you get it off the ground. When you do, please let us know and we will see how we can participate and in what capacity.”

Councilman Huizar and everyone on his staff were always too busy to take a moment to say hello and discuss creation of a public interest Los Angeles Music Festival®.

Was Councilman Mitch Englander the only elected official in city government who was aware of the transactional nature of securing city support for projects in DTLA? Read United States vs. Jose Luis Huizar. As a civil servant myself, I don’t want to assume the worst about anyone.

In any case, I’ve never had a bag of cash to help spark a city leader’s interest in Los Angeles Music Festival®. And even if I did, it would take all of the meaning out of it. Look forward to connecting with Kevin de León.