Political Attacks, Social Media Trolls and a Dishonest Opponent

By Danielle Sandoval, Candidate for CD15

I have always been an advocate for the labor justice movement. I, too, have been a victim of unfair employment practices and wage discrimination as a young woman working in the hospitality industry. Last week, L.A. Times published an article alleging that I had not paid some employees who worked at my restaurant, Caliente Cantina Lounge,  eight years ago. Here are the non-embellished and non-sensationalized facts of the case: 

• • • I am not actually named in the claim.
    • I did receive an email onAugust 5 th of this year (2022) regarding the alleged wage claim against the dissolved LLC where I was formerly a partner back in 2014.
    • I forwarded the email to an attorney to handle the claim.

What is troubling is that the writer chose to quote McOsker criticizing my commitment to labor justice as if his opinion had anything to do with the case. If the writer really wanted to compare us on labor issues or understand McOsker’s “commitment” to labor,  he would have asked McOsker about his lobbying for Trapac to bring automation to its terminals in 2016. Here are the non-embellished and non-sensationalized facts of that case, verified and undisputed: 

• • • • Tim McOsker was a paid lobbyist for Trapac
      • Trapac has been the biggest promoter of automation for eliminating ILWU jobs at the terminal for the past 20 years
      • McOsker was paid during the time that Trapac was pushing for $500 million in port automation funding.
      • McOsker filed an Ethics Department form stating he was paid by Trapac to lobby the Port, the City Council and the Mayor’s office for terminal modernization.

Last week in a Facebook posting, McOsker attempted to explain away his lobbying activities as helping TraPac with getting into compliance with existing air quality rules in 2016. And that he has never favored automation at the Port of Los Angeles.

Forget McOsker’s phony explanation about what his lobbying tasks were, just examine the facts. There’s only one conclusion to draw: McOsker lobbied for automation just like he stated on the lobbying disclosure statement he filed seven years before he ever thought he would run for office. 

To make it even clearer let me offer this: “I will donate $10,000 to the Harry Bridges Institute if McOsker can pass a lie detector test stating his comments to ILWU 13 Union President Ramon Ponce De Leon were truthful.” 

If McOsker is telling the truth, then he deserves your support and the Harry Bridges Institute will receive $10,000.  Any honest person would gladly take that test and earn $10,000 for that worthy charity. McOsker will not do it.  He knows better than anyone he is a liar.

Here’s another fact the ILWU leadership should consider before continuing to support McOsker: according to the Economic Roundtable Report “Someone Else’s Ocean,” roughly 572 jobs have been eliminated by automation, and countless millions of dollars lost in our local economy. What is worse than that is the $500 million in public money the port spent on automating Trapac’s terminal did nothing to speed up the terminal or increase the velocity of the containers moving off the ships. Automation did nothing to increase the flow or efficiency of the supply chain. It only made foreign-flagged shipping companies more profitable. The port should worry more about our community and the health of our children than the health of some shipping lines balance sheets. Thank Tim McOsker for his part in selling out the union and his neighbors while making himself and MOL (Trapac parent company) a little richer.

I wish we could just debate issues. I have a plan for getting the homeless off the streets, bringing better policing, crime prevention and raising millions of dollars for local community benefits. McOsker lacks ideas or a real plan for the district. The next time you see him ask him about his plan to raise funding for schools, affordable housing, elder care and other community benefits. He doesn’t want to debate. His entire focus is to try to discredit me and misinform people about my support for the police, plans for the district or my ability to govern effectively. They are scared, they fear losing their power, influence, and the ability to use public funds for private profit.

Since his poor primary performance, my opponent and his wealthy donors and friends are in a state of panic. They know the moment I take office; I will expose the corruption within District 15, the Port of Los Angeles, and in LA City Hall this is why they are on the attack. 

Remember, McOsker was supposed to win this race in the primary but only managed 37% with 10 times more money than any other candidate. I got30% of the vote after raising  $71,000 during the primary. Tim McOsker had nearly $1.2 million and had the backing of almost the entire Los Angeles political machine and he could not come close to winning. 

The L.A. Times endorsed me. So did the other two candidates in the race: Anthony Santich and Bryant Odega. Hopefully, an unbiased editorial board and these two endorsements representing 33% of the vote will help me carry the day on Nov. 8 and I will become your next councilwoman for CD15.

McOsker will never be able to deliver for the district because he is too compromised by political favors, a lifetime of lobbying, and the millions of dollars from outside the district, the city, and the state that flows into his campaign by political leeches. 

These people know he is for sale because the last time he was in a position of influence in the City of LA as Mayor Hahn’s chief of staff.  The Jim Hahn administration was involved in a pay-to-play scandal that made him the only one-term Los Angeles mayor in the last 120 years. Two of their appointees were indicted for bribery and one went to jail. McOsker was chief of staff to one of the most investigated administrations in the history of this City, including investigations by the Department of Justice, the District Attorney’s Office, the Ethics Department and even the FBI that subpoenaed McOsker emails and phone records. I guess a grassroots outsider like me will never have enough money or backroom relationships to get that true story resurrected in time for the election.

The Councilmember in the 15th District will have oversight of the Port of Los Angeles, the San Pedro waterfront, the Wilmington Waterfront, and many development projects. These are the types of public/private projects of which developers’ and lobbyists’ dreams are made. These are the people who have been working overtime raising money and bundling donations to buy the attention and affection of Tim McOsker; because they know, just like before, everything is for sale. They also know just like Trapac,or Pointe Vista, or BNSF he will do anything for money, including turning his back on friends, neighbors, the community, and the environment.

I know I am taking on a huge corrupt political machine, but there needs to be change. I am attempting to undo the mediocre and failed vision of the councilman and his inability to improve the lives of working families throughout the district. Haven’t we suffered long enough? Why would we continue with a Buscaino clone like Tim McOsker? 

We need change. The status quo fears change. Both Joe Buscaino and Tim McOsker are hoping that making disparaging, baseless, and sexist comments about me and relentlessly attacking me on social media will deter my efforts. They are wrong. What they don’t know is I’m a fighter with grit and fortitude at my core. I didn’t grow up privileged; I had to fight bullies like Buscaino and McOsker all the time. 

People who were born on third base but go through life acting like they hit a triple. I’m seeking justice, truth, and hope for our families in need, a level playing field and a better quality of life for all. I aim to speak for those who don’t have a voice. That is something Joe Buscaino and Tim McOsker can never understand.

I hope to earn your vote on Nov. 8, 2022.