1. Hugo Soto-Martinez is an American labor organizer and politician, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district since 2022.
17 Facts About Hugo Soto-Martinez
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Hugo Soto-Martinez was born and raised in South Los Angeles to two Mexican immigrant parents who worked as street vendors.
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Hugo Soto-Martinez consequently dropped out of high school and started working at a hotel at the age of 16 to help his family.
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Hugo Soto-Martinez studied political science and criminology at University of California, Irvine in 2001 while still working at the hotel.
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Hugo Soto-Martinez canvassed for politicians like Barack Obama, against Joe Arpaio, and helped flip the two Georgia Senate seats with Stacey Abrams.
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Hugo Soto-Martinez organized against the criminalization of Los Angeles' immigrant street vendors, and worked against the proliferation of deputy gangs inside the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.
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In June 2021, Hugo Soto-Martinez announced that he was running in the 2022 Los Angeles elections in District 13 against incumbent Mitch O'Farrell.
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Hugo Soto-Martinez criticized O'Farrell's handling of Echo Park's homeless population as well as his policies towards police budget and housing development within the district.
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Hugo Soto-Martinez was sworn into office on December 12,2022.
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Hugo Soto-Martinez later joined other councilmembers in introducing a proposal that would give tenants the right to a lawyer when facing eviction by implementing a similar program that has limited wrongful evictions in New York and San Francisco.
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In early February 2023, news leaked that a staffer of Hugo Soto-Martinez had requested extra overnight patrol for his Lexus.
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In February 2023, Hugo Soto-Martinez introduced a motion with Councilmember Tim McOsker to reform the LAPD disciplinary system by making it easier to suspend or fire officers accused of severe misconduct.
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On February 2,2023, Hugo Soto-Martinez announced plans to remove the fence surrounding Echo Park Lake, which was erected following the 2021 police sweep of homeless encampments in the park where numerous protestors and observers were arrested or detained, including 16 journalists.
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In March 2023, Hugo Soto-Martinez introduced a motion with Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Nithya Raman to make Los Angeles a sanctuary city.
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Hugo Soto-Martinez issued a statement saying the act of civil disobedience aimed to bring attention to working people and single mothers working multiple jobs.
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In June 2024, Hugo Soto-Martinez helped remove U-Turn signs that were considered discriminatory as they had been installed in the neighborhoods in 1997 to deter gay men from cruising the streets.
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In December 2024, amid a housing shortage in Los Angeles, Hugo Soto-Martinez voted against a proposal to allow mid-sized mixed-income and affordable housing apartment buildings near public transit stations in some neighborhoods exclusively zoned for single-family houses.