2020 Culver City Endorsement: Yasmine McMorrin
General Election: October 5 – November 3, 2020
Find a Ballot Drop Box: https://lavote.net/home/voting-elections/voting-options/vote-by-mail/vbm-ballot-drop-off
Find a Voting Center: https://locator.lavote.net/locations/vc
Candidate Campaign Page:
https://www.mcmorrinforculvercity.com/
Note: Three of five Council seats are set to be filled this election. Voters can select up to three candidates. See our other endorsements here.
Yasmine McMorrin has spent the last four years advocating for equity and inclusion in Culver City. McMorrin’s campaign rightfully uses an equity lens to frame decision-making on critical issues, including policing, housing, mobility, and a transition away from fossil fuels. McMorrin’s campaign is a historic one: she would be just the second Black councilmember in the city’s history and the first Black woman elected to City Council in a city that was developed and founded in connection with the Ku Klux Klan and through use of racial covenants. McMorrin is endorsed by current councilmembers Meghan Sahli-Wells, Alex Fisch, and Daniel Lee, all of whom have previously been endorsed by Bike The Vote L.A.
In her response to Bike The Vote L.A., McMorrin outlined a well-informed, thoughtful, and nuanced platform on transportation. McMorrin supports the 2020 Culver City Bicycle & Pedestrian Action Plan, an important update to the city’s decade-old Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan. She supports Vision Zero in its original Swedish model that is focused on equitable implementation of safe infrastructure and not through traffic stops, which disproportionately harm people of color.
McMorrin’s platform on community safety is nothing short of exceptional. In June, McMorrin was part of a chorus of racial justice advocates including Culver City Action Network that called for a 50% reduction in the Police Department budget. She explains, “I see public safety as a spectrum of services, rather than simply limited to policing,” and calls for traffic enforcement to be administered outside of the Police Department. At a time of financial strain for a city that spends 28% of its General Fund on policing, McMorrin’s ideas for reimagining public safety are critically needed.
Culver City is at a crossroads. After two years with a Bike The Vote L.A.-endorsed City Council majority, Culver City has started to make some important strides on becoming more bike- and transit-accessible, and to build equity and sustainability into its transportation policies. With progressive Councilmember and former Bike Culver City co-founder Meghan Sahli-Wells termed out, it’s all the more important that Culver City gains an incredible local leader like Yasmine McMorrin who is dedicated to a transformative, equity-focused platform. Bike The Vote L.A. enthusiastically endorses Yasmine McMorrin for Culver City Council.