José Huizar

José Luis Huizar (born September 10, 1968) is a Mexican-American former politician and convicted felon who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 2005 to 2020.

José Huizar won a seat on the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District on April 10, 2001, as a candidate supported by Mayor Richard Riordan, defeating Ralph Cole with 75% of the vote.

In 2004, he became the first Latino to serve on the Princeton Board of Trustees.

Huizar was elected on November 8, 2005, in a special election to fill the seat vacated by the then-mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa.

He served as member and president of the board until 2005.

In November 2005 Huizar ran against Nick Pacheco for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council vacated by Antonio Villaraigosa and won.

He was re-elected to a full four-year term in 2007 and again in 2011.

He was reelected to a full four-year term in 2007 and again in 2011.

In 2009 Huizar was appointed to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors.

While on the board, he pushed for extended Metro hours, and greater attention to civil rights in transportation planning.

In 2010 and 2011, Huizar worked to install the city's first bike corral on York Boulevard in Highland Park.

Huizar chaired the Los Angeles City Council's Energy & Environment Committee in 2012 and 2013.

Under his leadership, the committee pushed forward the single-use plastic bag ban, and worked to expand recycling efforts in commercial and apartment buildings.

Huizar also oversaw two of the largest solar projects in the country, advocated for a coal-free Los Angeles by 2025, and ensured that the council adopted a $120 million annual budget for energy conservation.

In 2012, Huizar and then-Councilmember Jan Perry wrote a City Council motion that created a parklet program for the City of Los Angeles.

According to the motion, parklets would encourage "pedestrian and ground-floor activity [and provide] much-needed open space."

In 2013, Huizar received the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters Environmental Champion Award and the Sierra Club's Political Leadership award.

He has also worked to preserve open space and improve parks, especially in park-poor areas of the City of Los Angeles.

Huizar has advocated for the complete streets model of city planning, where streets are safe for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and public transportation users.

In 2013, the city's first parklets were installed in the Highland Park, El Sereno, and Downtown Los Angeles.

Huizar has also worked to grow bike infrastructure in the City of Los Angeles, including a green bike lane Downtown.

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition recognized Huizar in late 2013 for his complete streets efforts and forging a compromise to ensure Downtown's Spring Streets bicycle lanes remained in place.

He served on the board until 2013.

Huizar blocked and delayed the construction of 49 affordable housing units in his neighborhood for several years.

In 2015, he was re-elected but to an extended term due to new city laws.

On March 3, 2015, he defeated former Supervisor Gloria Molina, along with three other candidates, to be re-elected to the Los Angeles City Council for a fourth time.

He is the first Mexican immigrant elected to the L.A. City Council.

On November 7, 2018, the FBI served search warrants on Huizar's City Hall office and his residence.

They removed computers and boxes of files, but did not disclose the purpose of the search.

On November 15, 2018, Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson removed Huizar from all of his committee assignments.

Huizar was arrested and indicted on June 23, 2020, on federal corruption charges, leading to his suspension from council.

In 2023 he pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering and tax evasion.

On Jan 26, 2024 he was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Huizar was sentenced by United States District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered him to pay $443,905 in restitution to the City of Los Angeles and $38,792 in restitution to the IRS.

Huizar was born in the village of Los Morales in the municipality of Jerez, Zacatecas, Mexico, the son of Simón Huizar, a migrant farm worker and later machinist.

His mother, Isidra Serrano, was a meatpacking plant worker.

He immigrated with his parents to the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles at the age of 3, and attended Salesian High School before attending University of California, Berkeley as an undergraduate.

He received a master's degree in Public Affairs and Urban Planning from Princeton University and a Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law.

On May 28, 2020, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council President Nury Martinez called on Huizar to resign.

On June 23 he was arrested by federal agents and the City Council suspended him from office.