City of Long BeachCandidate for City Council, District 7

From a press release:

Carlos Ovalle, a long-time resident of the Wrigley neighborhood, is moving forward with his challenge to well-funded incumbent Roberto Uranga.

Ovalle is a first-generation immigrant from Guatemala. His parents settled in western Long Beach in the early 1970s, and he has remained in the city ever since. “I am committed to this community, I am staying to fight for all of us,” he said.

Well-known for his decades of advocacy on environmental issues, Ovalle is focused on the effects of the industrial pollution emerging from the port and the refineries along the 710. “Our lifespans on this side of Long Beach are about 10 years shorter than the eastern side,” he said.

Ovalle has a strong history with environmental organizations. He is a founding member of the Riverpark Coalition, which advocates for more parks and open space in western Long Beach. “West Long Beach residents deserve the joy and health that comes with more green space,” he said.

Another key priority for Ovalle is the housing crisis. As an architect, his focus since the late 1970s has been affordable housing, including homeless shelters, and affordable housing. “We have the resources, but now we need the political willpower,” he said.

He has also shown a commitment to the principles of open, responsive government. He is a founding member of People of Long Beach and the Long Beach Reform Coalition, which advocates for transparency and accountability in local government.

Ovalle is committed to supporting the most vulnerable. During the height of the pandemic, he used his skills to invent and produce 1,000 free masks and face shields for The Children’s Clinic, Clinica Romero, Chinatown Service Center, and the Navajo Nation.

He notes with pride that his campaign is not funded by any corporations, oil companies, luxury housing developers, or police associations. “I am of, by, and for the people,” he said.

Ovalle and his wife have raised three children: an engineer, a teacher, and an accountant. “Every Long Beach family deserves a government that can help all of our children to thrive,” he said.

One of the interesting and sad things about this nation is that we only have two parties, and a philosophy of “you’re either with us, or you’re against us.”

I travel extensively in Latin America and Europe where far smaller countries have far greater options for party preference, and it is common in many of these countries to switch parties from one election to the next. Here, despite the best efforts of smaller third parties, there really isn’t much choice. Except there is the choice that many of us have made, which is to opt for No Party Preference. That said, more often than not my views tend to align with Democratic Party principles and values.

I do object, sometimes strongly, to issues of taxation, which many of my Democrat friends support. While I generally believe that taxation is necessary for a civil society, I recognize that most taxation —with exceptions— is regressive in nature. Same for fees and fines. Why is it that a minimum wage worker living in a parking-impacted neighborhood pays five hours worth of labor for a street-sweeping ticket whereas a corporate official with a four car garage might pay 1/2 an hour’s earnings? It’s not rocket science to fix this, so it’s an issue of political will.

Not being linked to one party or another gives me the freedom to vote my conscience, a decision that is being made by many Americans, particularly the youth. I am proud to say that I find inspiration among the youth in whom I see many of the traits I saw in the boomer generation of today, especially when addressing issues of the environment, civil rights, and trade unionism.