(photo courtesy Angelo Lantin)

Neighborhood: San Pedro

Job: Student at El Camino Community College

Age: 19 

What are the top issues facing Los Angeles, and why?

An issue I see everywhere around L.A. is the homeless. I seriously drive by at least several homeless people every day during my commute. I know there are programs to give them food and shelter and what not, but there's always a limit to what we can do for them because it seems like it's not a priority in our government. And it should be. 

Another thing I've been shocked by recently is sex trafficking, in our own city. I have no personal connection to this issue but I always thought that LA had a great community, until I saw on the news that women are being used as sex slaves in our own backyard. I thought it only happened in Asia, and I definitely would like to see the community get more involved in solving these problems. 

Why is that such a big issue for you if you have no personal connection to it? Do the homeless or women used as sex slaves hold a special place in your heart? 

Sex trafficking hits me hard. It hits me hard because I don't understand why men like to take advantage of women. I don't get why you would use anyone's body to make money. It's frustrating for me to think about how it's okay to cause someone else pain. Even seeing the homeless struggle to live the next day hits me hard because I'm scared that one day I'll be going to school and I'll see a homeless person dead on the street. Just thinking about how they try to get through the day, compared to people who are so confident that they'll live for another year, is pretty devastating to me. Sometimes I hate community college, but I feel lucky knowing that I'm getting an education and that I won't end up homeless or sucked into the sex industry. 

What could Mayor Garcetti do to address your top priorities? 

Before he even does anything with laws and all of that, the mayor should be personally involved, that's the right thing to do. He can't just solve the issues with laws if he's not being an example. I'd like to see him give food or volunteering in a homeless shelter. If other people with busy lives can take the time out of their day to do that, why can't he? 

What about sex trafficking? What can he do about that? 

I don't have much to say about that, besides to be proactive in spreading awareness and starting community-like programs where victims of sex trafficking can help each other to strive for a better future. It's easy to think about the surface problems of a city and try fixing them, but if the mayor can't recognize and acknowledge the problems that run deep, then I don't think he'd be getting much done at all. 

Did you vote in the May election? Who did you support?

No, I did not partake in the May elections.

Why not? 

I just wasn't interested and didn't have faith that the mayor would really do anything, I guess. It's not like L.A. has gotten better in the past several years. 

How do you think LA will change for the better if Garcetti does address these issues? 

If he just shows love towards the homeless so they know that the government is aware of what they're going through, I think it'll make a huge difference. It'll make all of us less cynical and gradually work to make L.A. cleaner and more efficient. 

Reach Staff Reporter Jennifer Joh here.