The board endorses Sydney Kamlager-Dove for the California State Assembly seat representing Westwood in District 54 because of her passion for education and knowledge of environmental issues.
Kamlager-Dove is the incumbent assembly member, elected in an April special election following the resignation of Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, who was elected in 2016 but had to step down for health reasons.
Despite her short term in the assembly, her resume is lengthy: She has worked her way from coordinating public art programs at the Social and Public Art Resource Center in Venice, to serving as a campaign consultant who helped elect state representative Holly Mitchell, to eventually being elected as a trustee for the Los Angeles Community College District.
Kamlager-Dove’s platforms reflect her journey to office. Her stated policy focus is on restorative justice, higher education and the arts. She plans to leverage state funding to cut down unreasonable local restrictions on affordable housing. She also said she wants to use her experience on the LACCD board to bring in elements of sexual harassment prevention and environmentalism to California’s campuses.
These are qualifications Tepring Piquado, Kamlager-Dove’s opponent, can’t seem to stack up to. Piquado, a neuroscientist and professor, certainly has numerous scientific accolades that frame her as someone who can bring diverse views to the state Senate.
But Kamlager-Dove’s experience cannot be overlooked: She has served as a college administrator and runs to represent a district with the top public university in the nation. And her platforms align with the priorities of that campus’ student body.
That’s the kind of local representation Westwood badly needs in a state legislature that has for so long ignored the concerns of California universities.