Olive trees are supposed to be a symbol of peace. But these weren’t planted in hope of a better future for Los Angeles. After an act of state violence, the plants were tossed out and left to die in the shadows, as a final gesture of hostility to the people who lived here.

We think it’s pretty ugly.

It took us weeks to find any of the former residents again.

Sweeps break connections between service providers (like us, or like the city’s own caseworkers) and the people they’re trying to help.

Sweeps set everyone back to zero.

Over time, we built connections with residents of the former encampment.

Some mentioned that police had directly instructed them to move to this spot.

Several women told our volunteers that they felt safer staying in this spot than shelters.

Ultimately, the city chased them away from here, too.

Recently, an encampment in Koreatown got swept by the city. Residents were forced to leave, and their belongings were thrown out.

The next day, olive trees in planter boxes were dumped onto the now-empty parking strip.

The saplings are blanketed in shade. It will be impossible for them to survive.

When we asked her what she wished people knew, she said, "We're humans too."

Others, like CD 4, have reduced street homelessness without creating 41.18 zones. Here in CD10, police tell people to move to CD 1 or CD 13. Heather Hutt is the absolute wrong choice for this committee.

The councilmember herself never meets with community groups like ours. There is no staff picking up calls at her city hall office and voicemails go unanswered. She is unaccountable and unresponsive to her constituents. She is not a leader.

Our members in public supportive housing are losing their spots due to a lack of supportive services. Affordable housing is disappearing as market and luxury units built by Hutt donors continue to pop up all over Ktown.

On the rare occasion that sweeps are canceled due to weather, the office doesn't notify people, leaving them in fear of a sweep that is not coming.

In both Housing and Homelessness, Hutt fails to protect the most vulnerable. Our members have faced displacement, property loss, and violent attacks.

She chooses criminalization every time. Unlike other CMs, she won't try alternatives to policing like unarmed mental health responders or consistent street medicine teams. She won't back common-sense sweep protections, leaving folks to brave sweeps during extreme heat or weather emergencies

Her tenure as our councilmember has meant banishing poor people from public spaces with 41.18 motions, unchecked police harassment from Officer Harris Cho and other LAPD, and increased violence towards our neighbors.

So do we! There’s so much wisdom in our collective communities, thank you for helping to spread it!

Thanks for promoting this! We are constantly inspired by the love, passion, and ferocity that Ndindi and all our comrades at PUMA bring each and every day.