This campaign will not accept any developer/real estate, fossil fuel, union, or corporate money. 100% Grassroots!
I'm So Excited You're Here!
I have a loving empathetic soul with a take-no-prisoners attitude. A fierce debater, I have held my own in fighting for what I believe in, and what I believe in is you. I believe in your resilience, your stamina, and your fortitude. Your love of family, friends and life here in LA. As your city council member, and because I will not accept any developer/real estate, fossil fuel, union, or corporate money, I will remain 100% dedicated and accountable to you!
Over the years I have spoken truth to power from LA City Council Chambers, to meetings with city agencies and departments, to the Board Of Governors at LA Care Health Plan, to meetings with developers. I stood up and raised my voice time and again in defense of what I know is to be right and will continue to do so unapologetically as your City Hall representative.
I believe each of us has within us the capacity to aspire to being the best version of ourselves if we are just given the chance to do so.
Except for the two years I spent in Reseda, I have been a resident of the 13th District since I got here more than twenty years ago.
Your Struggle is My Struggle
One grandfather made it through the Great Depression as a house painter and the other was a preacher in the mid-west who physically built churches.
My single mother was a secretary with the federal government and my father is a retired small appliance repairman.
I know what it means to be poor. I know what it means for the end of the month to come not knowing where the rent will come from, to be saved at the very last minute, then to drop the check off and say to myself, "Well, I am good for another month," and then start the process all over again.
When I first moved to Hollywood I lived in a small single unit across the street from Paramount. I had become good friends with my next door neighbor and one day he knocked on my door. He knew I had bought one of the big boxes of ramen noodle packages and so he offered me one of his last dollars for some soup. I told him I would have just given them to him but that I really needed the dollar and he understood. Good times!
Oh!...and I can't tell you how relieved I was to find the Food 4 Less at Sunset & Western shortly after arriving in Hollywood!
Hard Work
While I was going to college full time, I worked full time at an architectural firm and part time for a structural engineer as a drafts-person, worked a fast food joint, and served drinks at a Latino night club on the weekends.
When architecture work would dry up, with my carpentry and construction skills, I would strap on my nail bag and find work building houses. At one time or another, I have done just about every job there is to do on a home building construction site.
I came to Hollywood to work on movie sets. It had been a dream of mine for a very long time. I gave up my life in DC 20 years ago, drove a van full of my stuff and my dog across the country and started my life over from scratch. As anyone who has worked production can attest, the work day is normally 12 hours long most times on a 6-day work schedule. Working art department and set carpentry is especially grueling work that is physically strenuous. There were times I would sleep on-set if I could just so I could use the saved driving time to get in that precious extra rest.
All this to say...I know how to bust my butt and I will do the same as your City Council Member!
Acquired Skills: Architectural and Interior Design, Construction Management, Film and TV Production/Production Design/Video Editing, Event Planning, Contracts Guru, Carpentry, and more.
Total Immersion
I needed to know what makes it tick.
I launched headlong into a self-imposed immersion program to learn: the issues facing us and the possible solutions (and not just housing and homelessness); understanding the programs the city has to offer and where there are deficiencies; what was going on with the LA River; how the General Plan & Community Plan updates will affect our communities; and pay-to-play corruption, to name a few.
Being on my NC's board has afforded me access to meeting rooms where the tough grassroots conversations happen. I have listened to and had access to some of the most knowledgeable people in LA.
As chair of our Planning & Land Use Committee (P&LU), I have been attending PlanCheck NC pretty much every 2nd Saturday of the month. These meetings bring together P&LU chairs and committee members from NCs all over the city. During presentations from city agencies such as the Planning Department, attendees get to ask the hard questions and voice our concerns.
Because I have been involved in these conversations for years, I have in-depth knowledge around issues such as the General Plan and Community Plan Updates, re:codeLA, Sidewalk Repair Program, Billboard Blight, Urban Deforestation, Green Gentrification, and City Infrastructure. At these meetings we drill down hard and I have heard some of the solutions to our problems at these meetings.
CD13 includes a part of the LA River. As a member of the NC Alliance of River Communities, I am well versed on Federal, State, County, and City Policies affecting both the river itself, but also the gentrification target on the backs of neighbors that border it. I have a complete understanding of what is in the LA River Master Plan. Without stopgaps, this plan would accelerate the gentrification and displacement of predominantly Hispanic Angelenos, destroying the long standing culture in their neighborhoods.
On top of all that, I have digested hundreds of City Council Files, which includes numerous reports from city departments.
From these experiences, I will be ready on day one to tackle the complex issues we face as a district and as a city!
My Voice
I handed in that club card and I got a new one. This one has a T on it. To some in society, this is one of the worst cards to have.
But what I soon amazingly discovered was, this new club had some of the most wonderful loving accepting people in it. People who want nothing more than what we all want. To live in peace, raise a family, have a safe and secure home, a decent job, and be able to get medical treatment when necessary. It wasn't long before it came to my attention there were people who are transgender living in other areas of the state and the country where their experiences have not been the same as mine here in LA.
I have talked to folks who have told me they were too afraid of the very real threat of physical violence even going to the store as themselves. When some have come out publicly, they have been fired, refused emergency medical treatment, denied housing, beat up and murdered. All for being transgender.
They have no voice, they have been bullied into silence.
Sure, I have had moments here and there in LA where someone said something derogatory or looked at me funny, but nothing like what others were experiencing elsewhere. I feel so blessed to have transitioned here. Years ago, I realized with that blessing also came a responsibility, a civic duty. This responsibility included speaking out against bigotry. To give voice to the voiceless.
It was hard at first. I was not even comfortable yet in my own skin, how was I supposed to stand in the bright light in front of the public? I pushed my fears aside, stood up anyway. And each time I did, it got a little easier to stand up the next time. This is how I found my voice, by using it.
Previous(*) and Current Affiliations
Rampart Village Neighborhood Council ~ President Emeritus
Lafayette A Bring Home Advisory Council ~ Member
NC Sustainability Alliance Tree Committee ~ Member
CD13 NC Alliance ~ Member*
Los Angeles Alliance of NCs Coalition ~ Member*
NC Homelessness Liaisons ~ Member*
Congress of Neighborhoods Planning Committee ~ Member
LGBTQ+ NC Alliance ~ Member
Public Bank LA ~ Organizing Team; Finance & Policy Working Group
LA Care Health Plan
Regional Community Advisory Committee ~ Vice Chair
Consumer Health Equity Council ~ Member
Stonewall Democratic Club ~ VP of Communications*
Trans Leadership Summit ~ Executive Director
Trans Chorus LA ~ Founding Member*
Westlake Community Plan Advisory Committee ~ Co-Founder*
Contact Us
This campaign will not accept any developer/real estate, fossil fuel, union, or corporate money. 100% grassroots!
Paid For By Rachael Rose Luckey For LA City Council 2022 (ID# 1436223)
130 N. Westmoreland Ave. #204, LA, CA 90004
Additional information is available at ethics.lacity.org