6:30am | Candidate for the 37th District House of Representatives seat Star Parker spent Tuesday morning doing something that isn’t high on the priority list of most Republican politicians: Touring and advocating for an affordable housing complex in Long Beach.
The syndicated columnist and non-profit founder has become a darling of the local Republican Party for her views on social reform, a sharp critic of the welfare system who uses her personal story as a single welfare mother who pulled out of the system to support herself. The web site of Parker’s own non-profit organization describes her life as a “personal transformation from welfare fraud to conservative crusader.”
But on Tuesday, Parker praised the work being done at the Carmelitos Public Housing Development in North Long Beach, a pristine and sprawling campus of low-cost housing which has its own garden and a lower crime rate than the neighborhoods surrounding it. If drugs are discovered in a unit, the occupants are given a three-day notice to vacate.
The candidate, who faces incumbent Laura Richardson and independent challenger Nick Dibs for the 37th District seat, met with Carmelitos leaders and members of the Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles to discuss the needs of Carmelitos and its residents. Specifically, Parker is an advocate of reforming housing vouchers to help more families in need of assistance. It’s a far cry from the issues adopted by most members of her party.
“We’ve allowed the political process to break us down into Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative. But we dont ask, Who is the person?” Parker said after touring Carmelitos.
“Any family wants their home to be safe and secure, and just be a nice place,” said Dorian Jenkins, a deputy executive director of the county Development Commission. He suggested to Parker that tax credits be made available for people who donate to local causes, to which Parker whole-heartedly agreed.
Still, Parker is far from liberal and opposes abortion, speaks out against the Federal Stimulus and favors construction of a fence along the California/Mexico border.
If elected, Parker has said that she eventually hopes to do away with the welfare system and Section 8 housing entirely. However she stresses the need for housing vouchers that would allow low-income families more flexibility in renting. She acknowledges that her current views on affordable housing may clash with those of her party.
“I get frustrated myself working with many of my Republican constituents,” she said. “They don’t see that there is a great need for the healthier communities to be integrated with those less fortunate. It’s 100% my priority, and the entire reason I’m running. Because the economy crashes and these people get hit the hardest.”
With her stance on housing vouchers, Parker supports assisting the needy but her ultimate platform is one of self-reliance. As a ten-passenger van rolls through Carmelitos, she gazes out of a rain-soaked window at the rows of affordable housing and speaks from personal experience.
“Your fate is not your destiny,” she says.
Parker (far right) speaks with leaders of the Carmelitos Public Housing Development on Tuesday morning.