Meet L.A.'s Only Homeless Politician

by Josie Raymond · 2010-01-11 11:02:00 UTC
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Jeff Page is L.A.'s only homeless elected official. He has served for the past two years on the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. People who live with him on "Skid Row," a dangerous and neglected area that many homeless call home, have nicknamed him "General."

Page, a charismatic former rap promoter, is proof that while substantive political representation (the idea of a politician advocating on behalf of a group he may not be a part of) is great, it's no substitute for descriptive representation (homeless people representing the homeless, and so on). He convinced Nike to pay for the revitalization of a local park and he's working to get local shelters to accept entire families. Violent crime is still high in the neighborhood, so working with the police is another high priority.

"Not only are the people homeless, they're hopeless," Page said of his neighbors. But here's one thing to be hopeful about: you can bet that L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa can't name any other members of the Downtown Neighborhood Council.

Josie Raymond is a Change.org editor who has reported from the streets of the South Bronx, written for several magazines that folded (not her fault) and fixed thousands of typos.
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