Supervisor Holly Mitchell, a pillar of Los Angeles’ community as a county representative of the 2nd District, serves unincorporated communities. Her parents’ work as public servants planted the seed of her ‘inner calling’ to serve the public. Part of Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors, Mitchell oversees the 2nd District, serving areas such as Inglewood, Gardena, Carson, Compton, Culver City, Lawndale, Los Angeles, Hawthorne, and several other unincorporated communities.
Before her current role as Supervisor of the 2nd District, she spent a decade in the California Legislature. She was a representative of the 54th Assembly District and 30th Senate in Los Angeles County. She spoke to Our Weekly and opened up about her roots, her career path, early upbringing, and more.
From the root
Her parents’ roles as LA County eligibility workers gave her a taste of what it was like to be a public servant, and her early exposure to electoral politics was introduced to her by her first-grade teacher, who, in 1972, held mock elections for the students in class. That experience back then inspired her as a young girl. The person selected in class did not win the overall election for student president, which confused her but inspired her to discover why said student did not win, despite her class choosing them.
“I remember being intrigued because the person we elected at 42nd Elementary School was not the person who won nationally, and I couldn’t understand how the world didn’t follow me and my classmates. That was funny. This was the same year Nixon became president and, of course, had then elected the Democratic McGovern.” She continued, “That was my first introduction to electoral politics. And what I ultimately understood is that the government had a role and a responsibility to help people.”
Milestones along the way
A third-generation Angeleno, Mitchell was elected to LA County’s Board of Supervisors on Nov. 3, 2020. She immediately focused on tackling poverty countywide as Los Angeles maneuvered through the COVID-19 pandemic, passing a landmark guaranteed income program during her first year. Supervisor Mitchell also made LA County the first in the country to begin to phase out urban oil drilling. Another significant thing to note is she is a part of the first all-women-led Board of Supervisors in LA County’s history.
“Most of my career has been guided by the issues of poverty and uplifting Black people, underrepresented people, and children out of poverty. That’s the common thread that’s woven throughout my career, and it was also my parents’ life work.” She continued, “When I look at the body of work I did to elevate and begin to change the juvenile justice system in California, largely Black and Brown, and the work I’ve done around foster care, recognizing that poverty is the number one indicator that determines whether a child enters the system and is in and out of home placement, those are some of the milestones for me.
Throughout her time as a public servant, she has passed over 90 bills, one of the most notable being the CROWN Act, a highly significant law as it is the first in the nation to end hair discrimination. Before running for public office, Supervisor Mitchell also spent seven years leading Crystal Stairs, a notable nonprofit organization dedicated to child and family development.
During her tenure she has also tackled issues such as systemic poverty and criminal justice, specifically with the juvenile justice system. For example, a package of the bills that she carried forward addressed Miranda Rights. The legislation ensured that children under the age of 14 could not be tried as adults, giving children who had been tried as adults and sentenced to life without parole the possibility of parole after 20 years if they had been convicted as minors, according to Supervisor Mitchell.
Resilience through tough times
Supervisor Mitchell reflected on difficult times in her career, such as a recent account with other LA County Supervisors that occurred mid-July. It was in regard to the MLK Community Hospital and an allocation of funding to keep it running.
“We could just go back to last month. In my effort to make sure my colleagues understood the importance of Martin Luther King Community Hospital, not just for the residents of Watts and Willowbrook, but the role it plays in the entire healthcare delivery infrastructure for the county, my proposal was countered.”
She continued, “…To have colleagues counter my proposal with a callous redirection of the resources, kind of equally across all five districts, showed I am challenged on a regular basis. I, too, experience implicit and explicit bias.”
A colleague of Supervisor Mitchell, Kellie Todd-Griffin, met Mitchell around 2013-2014 during the redevelopment stages of the MLK Hospital, also known informally as King/Drew. Todd-Griffin is the president of the California Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute. She spoke to Our Weekly in reflection of Supervisor Mitchell’s work throughout the years.
“She is leaning in… When she is up there with her four colleagues, she continues to advocate for equity. It is not an equal division by five. It is who needs it the most, and she’s constantly reminding them that that should be our approach.
LA County is divided into 5 districts that are supervised by a county supervisor. Supervisor Mitchell mentioned that at times, the 2nd District does not always receive priority of votes for budget allocation, especially in regard to health disparities, from her colleagues who represent the other 4 districts of LA County.
“We call it ‘divide by five’ to suggest that poverty ‘divides by five’ equally. This is in regard to that health disparities divided by five equally, which does not acknowledge that the 2nd District and SPAs six and eight are medical deserts that have the vast majority of LA County’s immigrant population, African American population, and systemic racism.” She continued, “This has played a role in a Black person’s ability to live a healthy lifestyle and have access to health care services that are culturally competent. When the motto of ‘divide by five’ is said to me, it negates the reality of all those things.”
Supervisor Mitchell reflects on how she keeps going. “I always stay positive, but I don’t let up. I can’t say I always stay positive. I can’t say that it doesn’t affect me directly. I can’t say I don’t get mad. What I don’t do is let up, because I understand that that hospital services 125,000 people a year in the emergency room, and if it closes, where will those people go?”
President of the MLK Community Hospital, Dr. Elaine Batchlor, met Supervisor Mitchell years ago during her time at Crystal Stairs. She spoke of a trait of Supervisor Mitchell’s that she admires. “Holly is very straightforward, which is something that she and I share. Black women… We tend to be less tolerant of foolery, we like to tell things ‘the way it is,’ and we like to be straightforward. She definitely is a ‘no nonsense, straightforward type of person, and I have always admired that.”
It is why Supervisor Mitchell makes it a point to constantly advocate for resources that make the communities of the 2nd District more equitable.
2nd District Projects in Action
Focused on maintaining the 2nd District’s overall community upkeep, Supervisor Mitchell’s office has teamed up with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps (LACC) and Chrysalis to implement the 2nd District Beautification Project. The initiative provides graffiti removal, trash cleanups, garden installations, and public art additions into unincorporated communities of LA County. The areas that have been reached so far include Willowbrook, 11401 Main St, Los Angeles; Florence-Firestone, East Florence Ave and McKinley;
The 2nd District Community Budget is a participatory budget pilot program that has currently allocated a total of $1 million dollars to the Florence-Firestone and Ladera Heights communities. It is the first of its kind, as the project invites community members to lend their voice and help decide how a public budget will be allocated. Through this budget initiative, Supervisor Mitchell brought in an initial $1 million—$500,000 for each community—and then the Reimagine LA Coalition supplemented it with an additional $700,000, bringing the total to $1.7 million.
