I've lived in this district since 1981. Lifetime Democrat! Being self empoyed gives me flexible time. Founded the Foothill Community Democrats. Helping elect local candidates, and have volunteered on over 50 campaigns. Petitioned successfully to curb speeding on my street. Elected to the local public access TV board-Community Media of the Foothills, three years as Chair. Have done several environmental, and political shows as a producer. Publicity officer for the Monrovia Garden Club. Appointed to the Mosquito and Vector Board of Trustees. Appointed to the Monrovia Planning Commission. This will be my second term if elected to the Democratic Central Committee, thanks to great support I was the top vote getter. We need more party representation from the Valley. Being a district outside the city of Los Angeles has its challenges, I will strive to continue pushing for leadership rolls.     

I combine community activism and education with politics. We not only need to elect the best candidates, we need to help inform voters, and push for change every day. I think about every choices I make, and help others do the same. Everyone has a footprint on this one planet we call home, we can all strive to limit negative impact. Camping as a child introduced me to the natural world. In 2007 I took the Eaton Canyon Docent training. This opened my eyes locally to want to do more outside our front doors. I volunteer Ranger in in local hills, and remove invasive plants.  I’m active with the Native Plant Society, Audubon, and the Sierra Club. I help my community connect the dots with sustainability and biodiversity. 

Dr. Suzie Abajian is a school board member in South Pasadena and career educator with over 20 years of experience teaching at the high school and college levels and currently serving as a county office of education administrator. She's a fierce advocate of public education, fighting for culturally responsive pedagogy in her quest to help close the opportunity gap for students from underserved communities. Dr. Abajian immigrated to the U.S. from Aleppo, Syria when she was 12 years old. She was an English Language Learner, with English being her third language. She attended Occidental College and has a Ph.D. in Education from UCLA. She was named the Democrat of the Year for the 41st Assembly district in 2017 and Woman of the Year by Congresswoman Judy Chu in 2018.

Recent political accomplishments that she is most proud of include:

1) Getting elected to the SPUSD School Board in 2015 and serving as Board President in 2019, where she has worked to close the opportunity gap.

2) Sponsoring and helping pass an SPUSD resolution reaffirming a commitment to a safe, inclusive and non-discriminatory school environment irrespective of students’ immigration status (in the wake of Trump’s election).  

4) Raising tens of thousands of dollars for the campaigns of several local progressive candidates.

5)  Getting elected and serving as a California School Board Association delegate where she has advocated for increased funding for public schools. 

6) Working on the Beyond The 710 campaign to provide sustainable transportation alternatives rather than an extension of the 710 Freeway.

7) Serving on the board of Women Involved in South Pasadena Political Action.

8) Serving on the board of Vecinos de South Pasadena and on the Vecinos Education Committee.

9) Serving on the steering committee of the Ethnic Studies Now Coalition.

10) Providing key strategic support to the LAUSD Save Adult Education campaign in 2012.

11)   Organizing and managing Community Supported Agriculture delivery sites in Pasadena and Lincoln Heights providing California organic produce to 1000+ families over nine years.

John Harabedian (38) is a lifelong resident of the 5th District. Born and raised in Sierra Madre, he has served on the Sierra Madre City Council since 2012. John went to local schools in Sierra Madre—Sierra Madre Elementary and St. Rita Elementary School—and subsequently graduated from Loyola High School in Los Angeles as the Loyola Award Winner (highest award given at graduation). He then matriculated to Yale University, where he graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and was involved in various activities, including being a member of student government and the Association of Native Americans at Yale. John graduated with an M.Sc. in Comparative Social Policy from Oxford University, and then served as a Coro Fellow in Los Angeles, where he worked with AFSCME Local District 36 and helped Debra Bowen win her first Secretary of State Campaign over Republican Bruce McPherson. He then worked as a Policy Analyst in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office, before attending Stanford Law School. During law school, John served as a certified student-attorney in Stanford’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and led the Equality Pro Bono Project which worked directly with the National Center for Lesbian Rights in providing pro bono legal services to the LGBTQ community.

Upon graduating from Stanford, John clerked for federal district court judge Josephine Staton, and then joined the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins LLP. John also served as a prosecutor in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. He is currently an Associate Investment Manager and Legal Counsel for Bentham IMF, a litigation finance company. He is an ADEM delegate for Assembly District 41 (having served in the same capacity in 2015), and is active in local Democratic politics.

He lives in Sierra Madre with his wife Young-Gi Harabedian and his two sons, John (5) and Joshua (1). He served as Mayor of Sierra Madre in 2014-15 and was once again selected by his fellow Councilmembers to serve as Mayor in 2019. He serves on various regional boards, including the Clean Power Alliance, and also serves as a board member of the California Acupuncture Board.

Los Angeles County is facing a humanitarian crisis in addition to a public health and public safety disaster.  More than 60,000 of our brothers and sisters are living on the streets, 3 of whom are dying each day.  We need to take immediate action by:

• Declaring a state of emergency and calling on the State and Federal governments to provide immediate assistance from the National Guard and FEMA.
• Immediately starting to erect temporary shelters with beds, showers, and medical care for all 60,000 homeless residents. There are over 5,000 government-owned vacant or underutilized properties in Los Angeles County that could site these shelters. 
• Simultaneously providing economic incentives in the form of property tax rebates for existing multifamily unit owners to house low-income and homeless families and individuals. 
• Expediting the zoning and building of permanent supportive housing. Again, utilizing the 5,000 vacant County and City-owned lots.    
• Keeping people in their existing homes through robust tenant protection and rent stabilization measures.

Los Angeles County has become a model for mass incarceration, and our County jails have become our mental institutions.  This has led to dangerously high recidivism rates, wasted taxpayer resources, and decreased public safety. We need systemic reform in the form of:

• Ending cash bail and the death penalty.
• Investing in the continuum of care – rather than new jails – to promote education, prevention, and community health, which will increase public safety and end the revolving door of recidivism and early release.       
• Doubling the budget and resources for the Office of Diversion and Reentry so that we properly serve individuals suffering from mental illness and drug addiction.
• Establishing a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Mental Health Academy that will train and deploy mental health professionals with Deputy Sheriffs in the field.

The County has set the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.  Scientists say this isn’t bold enough. As a founding member of the Clean Power Alliance, I have walked the walk when it comes to delivering cleaner energy to the County.  The County must be aggressively pursuing a Green New Deal by:

• Establishing a County goal to become carbon neutral by 2030.
• Investing significantly in building green technology of all types (solar, hydro, wind, storage) throughout the County, with a concentration in the 5th District, where space is most available. I will work to establish solar-by-right areas within the 5th District to cut through the red-tape and expedite the planning, approval, and building of these necessary projects. I will also work towards allowing wind technology in areas where it environmentally makes sense.
• Phasing out fossil fuel production in the County, and working towards shutting down Alison Canyon.
• Establishing training programs with our union partners for the proliferation of green tech jobs. 
• Requiring that all new commercial and residential buildings are built with the most cutting edge, environmentally-conscious products and technology possible, such as utilizing cross-laminated timber instead of steel, mandating solar panels for each new building, and instituting an all-electric building code.
• Reducing solid waste generation by 50% per capita by 2030. One way to do this is by forbidding the County from purchasing all single-use plastics, and supporting California’s efforts to phase out single-use plastics in the next decade. As a major consumer, LA County can help drive manufacturers and producers to use only recyclable and compostable materials.
• Setting a County goal of zero days of unhealthy air quality by 2025 to address childhood asthma and assist vulnerable groups like seniors who are affected by this issue.
• Drastically reducing average vehicles traveled (VMT) per capita. 

We have children dying and being mistreated in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).  This is unacceptable and shows the system is broken. In addition, healthcare is one of the most basic functions that we provide to our citizenry, and for decades, our Supervisors in this District have torn up the vital social safety net and sought to privatize major portions of it. The County must:

• Establish an “All Children Thrive” initiative.  No matter what, our children will graduate from college and avoid homelessness, whatever the costs. 
• Lead the region and nation by building on My Health LA and instituting a robust public option healthcare option provided by the County to ALL residents of the County.  A more insured County leads to healthier, safer, and more productive outcomes, and a more efficient and cost-effective healthcare system.
• Reverse the worrying trend of the elimination of Trauma Centers, especially in economically disadvantaged areas.  We should be building more hospitals that are easy and convenient to use.       
• Commit significantly more resources to mental health well-being and end the stigmatization of mental healthcare. 
• Double the number of DCFS social workers.  Caseloads are too high and victims are falling through the cracks.
• Demand a continuity of care.  Each foster-care child should have the same social worker throughout his or her placement, rather than being subject to multiple hand-offs within the system.  As we have seen in the horrific examples reported in the news, multiple social workers handling a single child has led to inefficiency and unintended, grave consequences.   
• Utilize technology to bolster effectiveness and eliminate human error within the foster-care system

I am a public interest environmental attorney who fights for affordable housing, air quality, watershed health and against climate change. I have a law office based in Pasadena, California. Recently, my Office has won significant victories against the High Desert Corridor Freeway Project and Devil's Gate Dam Sediment Removal Project.

The Democratic Party County Central Committee is primarily entrusted with overseeing local democratic party processes, such as the primary elections, as well as determing LA County Demoratic Party candidate endorsements. If I were elected, I would work for transparent local democratic processes and for the Party to support  candidates who advocate for smart solutions for our complex social, economic and political challenges, not poltically expedience ones.

I am running on the United Progressive Democrats slate with Kenneth Armstrong, Kevin Cordova-Brookey, John Harabedian, Karen Suarez, Vickere Lee Murphy and Kathy Patterson. We are a coalition of independent, progressive, community-based Democrats. We support public schools, workers’ dignity and equal pay, women’s and LGBT equality, environmental justice, respect for immigrants, healthcare as a human right, housing for all, and efforts to end gun violence. We are powered by ordinary people to build a responsive and inclusive party and honest government that serves the public interest

I have been involved in labor compliance.  Many of my cases were against contractors on public works projects funded by our tax dollars.  In this arena many contractors take advantage of the vunerable which usually are the un-documented.  Language barriers have caused reason enough for some contractors to take advantage of these workers.  I have been interrviwed by Univision for my work in the Asbestos FIeld, and K-Love Radio station in San Diego for the compliance cases I had.  

I am very passionate about helping those that have been taken advntage of, and that same energy I bring with me to defend our values as Democrats!

My thoughts are that we as public carriers of justice need to place the poor and working class persons before any corporations or entities that have other means.  Our purpose should be to protect and defend societies most vunerable with policy.  Creating resources that can help advance us forward must be our first priority.  

Sean Abajian is an award-winning educator with 19 years of experience in adult education as an ESL teacher, advisor and is currently the principal of a public adult school. He is a public education advocate who has served as the Communications Director & Outreach Coordinator for the Ethnic Studies Now Coalition which worked successfully to get AB 2016 passed into law. Sean was the Digital Strategist for the LAUSD Save Adult Education campaign that prevented the elimination of one of the nation’s largest free public adult education programs. Sean is proud to have walked the line in the 2019 UTLA teacher strike, and as an educator he has received awards from UTLA/NEA, ANCA-WR, LARAEC and the National Coalition for Literacy. He has also worked as a consultant to help elect several local progressive candidates, and serves as Vice President of the South Pasadena Democratic Club. Sean grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (ex-Zaire) and attended Occidental College.

Patrice Marshall McKenzie is a skilled professional adept in the Legislative Process, public affairs and media relations. She is known by many in the government and public sector throughout California-and has access to many of the most powerful people within the public policy landscape.  Her professional experience is anchored by a well-rounded repertoire of experience and skills, including community relations, event management and design, public relations and communications, human resources and policy development to name a few. Patrice is also an adept facilitator, thought leader and visionary in the public affairs arena. 

Patrice has 15 years of experience working with state and local government leaders including members of the California State Legislature and the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education. She currently serves at the Deputy Chief of Staff for Hon. George J. McKenna III. She is responsible for leading the policy portfolio, community engagement, communications, and inter-agency relationship management.  Her roles have centered around serving as a direct liaison and local spokesperson between key stakeholders and elected officials. She is astute in developing, growing and nurturing strategic partnerships and collaborations that advance issues and causes for all parties. Patrice is well-known for being resourceful and innovative in consensus building and convening groups with aligned interests. 

Patrice is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in African American Studies and a Minor in Critical Pedagogy. She also holds a Master in Public Administration degree from the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College of New York.

Patrice serves her community through a multitude of organizations including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Junior League of Pasadena, The LA Trust for Children’s Health and the Los Angeles African American Women’s Public Policy Institute (LAAAWPPI).

Jordan Vannini is a long time resident of Pasadena and general contractor.  He is currently an elected assembly dsitrict delegate to the California Democraic Party and advocates for tranparency and accountability in our political system.  His passions include seeking solutions to affordable housing, ending homelessness, and justice for our immigrant brothers and sisters.

Like many I entered local politics in the wake of the 2016 general election.  I believe democracy only works when we all participate.  Transparency leads to accountability which in turn encourages good governance.  The role of big money and unlimited campaign contributions must be curtailed if we are to preserve our precious republic.  I have decided to put my shoulder to the wheel to improve the California Democratic Party from the bottom up.  People power and citizen participation is the true recipe for good government.

Korean-American and African-American social activist with a Ph.D. in Education. Living in Altadena.