Katy Yaroslavsky

Why Thrive LA endorses Katy

Katy Yaroslavsky is the incumbent Councilwoman for District 5, an attorney and former policy advisor who chairs the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee and serves on the LA Metro Board of Directors. While she would not be considered a natural Thrive LA candidate, incumbency has tempered ideology with reality, and Yaroslavsky has shown pragmatic instincts where they matter most to District 5 residents. On homelessness, Yaroslavsky reports a 27% reduction in street homelessness across CD5, a number that matters more than any policy white paper. She has tripled interim housing beds in the district and moved hundreds of affordable units through the pipeline. Measurable reductions in encampments are the outcome residents demand, and she is delivering them. As chair of Budget and Finance, Yaroslavsky has real power to demand spending offsets and audits at a moment when the city faces enormous fiscal pressures. We expect her to use that authority to bring discipline to City Hall spending. Yaroslavsky is the practical choice in District 5 because the results on homelessness are real and her relationship with the housing community signals she can govern, not just legislate. Thrive LA will hold her accountable on housing production, public safety staffing, and fiscal discipline.