By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
Donald Galaz, Vice President of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council and longtime proponent for a sanctioned racetrack for street racing, announced his write-in bid for the Los Angeles City Council District 15 seat, Feb. 24, on Youtube.
Galaz is a protegé of Big Willie Robinson, a widely respected founder of the International Brotherhood of StreetRacers. Robinson got wayward youths involved with cars as an alternative to causing trouble in the streets.
Galaz, a San Pedro native, followed in Robinson’s footsteps when he founded Project Street Legal, an organization that similarly reaches local youths through cars. He’s lobbied City Hall to open a dragstrip in an effort to cut down on illegal street racing and the deaths that result from it.
It was that activism to open a dragstrip that led him to join the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council.
In his campaign announcement, Galaz said he wants focus his attention on public safety, the environment, port issues and vocational education.
He argued that CD15 isn’t getting its fair share of resources, particularly in regards to street services and police officers.
“After I’m elected, my plan is [to] give my constituents back the power and champion them in City Hall, not taking “no” for an answer,” Galaz said.
“All too often, the politicians say one thing and do another, leaving a sour taste in the mouths of those that elected them,” said Galaz, reflecting on his disappointment Mayor Eric Garcetti and the city council incumbent.
Galaz has less than two weeks to make his case.