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HomeLocal NewsCarson City LimitsMichelle Chambers: A Political Upstart in Pursuit of the 35th Senate District...

Michelle Chambers: A Political Upstart in Pursuit of the 35th Senate District Seat

This story was updated to correct the date by which Michelle Chambers migrated to the California.

Michelle Chambers is a rising star in Democratic politics in Los Angeles County and has a resume that crosses a lot of “t”s and dots a lot of “i”s. She served on the Compton City Council but resigned before her term was up in 2022.

Observers have described her as being politically astute, and she has a record of working for other high-profile elected officials such as Rep. Diane Watson and Asm. Mike Gipson, while clothes have been described as difficult to work with.

Originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Chambers moved to Compton in 2009.

Her tenure on the Compton City Council began with defeating incumbent Councilwoman Janna Zurita, clashes with former Compton City Manager Cecil Rhambo, and a public spat with disgraced former Compton Councilman Isaac Galvan, who lost his seat after he was charged with vote rigging and bribery. Amidst this, her brother, Michael K. Williams, a critically acclaimed award-winning actor, died from fentanyl overdose.

Chambers is also known for her service as external affairs manager for State Attorney General Rob Bonta and also served on the staffs of Rep. Diane Watson (ret.); former Rep. Janice Hahn; and Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang.

Chambers cited all of her experiences in public service as preparatory for her run for the 35th Senate District, but in particular, she served as a staffer in the nation’s capital, where she was able to translate the needs of a constituency into legislation.

Chambers said she has a strong interest in joining committees addressing health, housing, homelessness, and workforce issues.

“The African-American mortality rate is extremely high in our community,” Chambers explained. “We see that our community has issues regarding just health issues in general from mental health, diabetes, high blood pressure, and childbirth. All those issues affect our community, especially the most vulnerable in our community.”

“I want to make sure that we create livable wages, but also retain livable wages. I would also like to look at education and childcare. We have to start early by investing in our children,” Chambers said. “Our district is one of those districts that need those resources, and be an advocate for them at the table in Sacramento and ensure that we receive our fair share of funding.”

“[Housing unaffordability] is just not a California issue, but is a worldwide issue,” Chambers said.

Chambers expressed support for Prop. 1, a two-pronged measure that would fund a $6.4 billion bond to drastically expand the state’s mental health and substance abuse treatment infrastructure, requiring counties to change the way they spend existing mental health dollars by directing them to prioritize housing for people who are chronically homeless.

A majority of the money, $4.4 billion, would be used to build 10,000 in-patient and residential treatment beds across the state. The remainder would fund permanent supportive housing with half set aside for veterans with mental illness or addiction disorders.

Citing Senate Bill 40, Chambers applauded legislation that updates Senator Scott Wiener’s 2018 Conservatorship Law, which created a new conservatorship for seriously addicted and mentally ill people. The legislation ensures that San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego counties can better help individuals living with serious mental health and substance abuse issues get stabilized and find housing.

Chamber also referenced her support for another Sen. Wiener bill, SB 4, which provides a streamlined process for religious organizations and nonprofit colleges to develop affordable housing on their property.

“That’s going to help give us some room on housing,” she said. “But also we got to work with our local municipalities on land use and zoning, I always talk about assessing our intangible and tangible properties. To make it clear, tangible is something you can touch. That’s the land [the cities and state owns]. The intangibles are our finances, grants, and funding resources. We got to assess our leverage of those two things to build affordable housing,” Chambers said.

“We have to assess our entire intangible and tangible asset portfolio to make these important critical decisions, but it has to be done immediately.”

Chambers recounted her father as a member of the Pipefitters’ union and how he began as an apprentice to talk about the importance of retraining workers and ensuring access to good union jobs in California.

“As your senator, I will make sure that I spearhead and champion getting the word out [regarding] union apprenticeships.

“We all want to live in a clean economy. We all want to live in a clean environment. We all want to live in a clean community. And I think that is one thing we all have in common, but we all could work together,” Chambers said.

Terelle Jerricks
Terelle Jerricks
During his two decade tenure, he has investigated, reported on, written and assisted with hundreds of stories related to environmental concerns, affordable housing, development that exacerbates wealth inequality and the housing crisis, labor issues and community policing or the lack thereof.

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