David E. Ryu
Ryu at the Los Angeles 2019 Women's March
Member of the Los Angeles City Council from the 4th district
In office
July 1, 2015 – December 14, 2020
Preceded byTom LaBonge
Succeeded byNithya Raman
Assistant President Pro Tempore of the
Los Angeles City Council
In office
January 5, 2020 – December 14, 2020
Preceded byJoe Buscaino
Succeeded byBob Blumenfield
Personal details
Born
Ryu Eun Seok

1975 (age 48–49)
Seoul, South Korea
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Rutgers University (MPP)
OccupationPolitician
Korean name
Hangul
유은석[1]
Revised RomanizationYu Eun-seok
McCune–ReischauerYu Ǔnsŏk

David Eun Seok Ryu (Korean: 유은석; born 1975) is an American politician, who served as the Los Angeles City Councilman for District 4 from 2015 to 2020.[2] He is the first Korean-American to hold a council seat in Los Angeles, California,[2] and the first Asian-American to serve on Los Angeles City Council Leadership.[3] Ryu was defeated by Nithya Raman in the November 3rd, 2020 general election.[4][5]

Early life

Ryu was born Ryu Eun-seok in Seoul, South Korea, in 1975, the eldest of three children.[6] His father, Eul Chul Ryu, and mother, Michelle Won Chung Ryu, moved the family to Los Angeles, California in 1980.[6] Ryu's father was the editor in chief of the Korean Street Journal — a newspaper based in Los Angeles, and his mother worked as a nurse.[6]

Ryu has said he grew up in a low-income household[7] and described his childhood as one where his parents struggled, working multiple jobs to support Ryu, his grandmother and his two siblings.[8] Ryu's parents opened a toy store in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Ryu worked his first job at 10 years old, translating for his parents at the cash register.[9]

After graduating from UCLA with a degree in economics, Ryu earned a master's degree in Public Policy and Administration at Rutgers University.[10]

Career

After graduating from UCLA, Ryu became a Deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke. He later worked as a special investigator for Los Angeles County's Auditor-Controller.

Ryu became a trained crisis intervention mediator with the County of Los Angeles and went into South LA and East LA with Nate Redfern, a member of the Long Beach Insane Crips gang, to broker peaceful resolutions between black customers and immigrant store owners.[11]

Ryu served as Senior Deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke where worked on issues and policy for mental health, alcohol & drug abuse, HIV-AIDS, and public health, and later worked as a special investigator for Los Angeles County's Auditor-Controller.[12]

Ryu worked at the Kedren Acute Psychiatric Hospital and Community Health Center in South Los Angeles.[13][14]

2002 attempted rape charge

In August 2002, Ryu faced a charge of attempted rape, to which he pleaded not guilty. The case was dismissed before reaching a preliminary hearing when the district attorney's office said it was unable to proceed within the required time.[15]

Los Angeles City Council

Ryu with supporters after advancing in the primary.

Elections

Ryu was one of over a dozen candidates to replace Councilmember Tom LaBonge, who was term-limited. Ryu and Carolyn Ramsay advanced past the March 2015 primary. Ryu defeated Ramsay in the general election, on May 19, 2015.[16] He was ceremonially sworn in June 29, 2015, and took office on July 1.[2]

In January 2020, Ryu was appointed Assistant City Council President Pro Tempore, becoming the first Asian American to serve on Los Angeles City Council leadership.[17]

In the March 3, 2020 primary, Ryu faced urban planner Nithya Raman and screenwriter Sarah Kate Levy.[18] Ryu received 32,298 votes (44.4%), Raman received 31,502 votes (40.8%), and Sarah Kate Levy received 10,860 votes (14.1%).[19] Because no candidate received over fifty percent of the vote, Raman and Ryu advanced to the runoff election, scheduled for November 3, 2020. In the November 2020 runoff election, Raman defeated Ryu by a 52.87% to 47.13% margin.[20]

Developer campaign contributions

In November 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that despite a campaign pledge not to take money from real estate developers, Ryu's campaign accepted campaign contributions from multiple developers. His campaign later said that it would return some of the donations.[21]

Los Feliz Ledger ethics complaint

In August 2020, the Los Feliz Ledger filed an ethics complaint with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission after Ryu's campaign office sent an email to 30,000 voters with an allegedly misleading "From:" field. The complaint indicated that the email's "from" field implied that the email was sent by the Ledger itself. The campaign declined to issue a correction.[22]

Tenure

Mayor Eric Garcetti speaking at Ryu's inauguration in 2015.

In 2016, Ryu, in partnership with the County of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District, supported the development of a children's savings account program for Los Angeles called "Opportunity LA."[23]

In January 2017, Ryu, along with Councilmembers Joe Buscaino and Paul Krekorian, introduced a motion to ban contributions to city elected officials and candidates for city office from developers and their principals with development projects currently or recently before the city, as well as increase matching funds to 6:1 in primary and general elections.[24] In December 2019, the law passed with a unanimous vote from the city council.[25] Critics of the measure argued that the final language contained loopholes, with groups such as the California Clean Money Campaign and California Common Cause arguing that passing it would be "worse than not passing anything at all."[25] Ryu has also introduced legislation to establish an independent Inspector General's office over City Hall, similar to the City of Chicago.[26]

In 2018, Ryu pushed the Los Angeles Police Department to make annual hate crime data open to the public, and for more proactive legislation to protect marginalized communities in Los Angeles.[27]

During Ryu's tenure and with his support, a 100-bed Bridge Housing shelter opened in Los Feliz in July 2020 as part of Mayor Eric Garcetti's "A Bridge Home" program.[28]

In 2015, David Ryu joined wildlife activists to preserve a 17-acre wildlife corridor in Laurel Canyon, pledging to match dollar-for-dollar the money raised by activists with city funds earmarked for parks and green space.[29] The $1.6 million purchase was finalized in 2017 and is now managed by the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority.[30]

In 2019, Ryu helped to secure full funding for the Los Angeles LGBT Center's senior center.[31]

Following a protest on May 30, 2020 in the Fairfax district just outside of Council District Four, where Los Angeles police officers were filmed clashing violently with protestors, Ryu and council member Curren Price introduced legislation requesting a "thorough review" of police tactics used by LAPD as well as all complaints filed against LAPD for their use of force during the protest.[32] Ryu also co-introduced legislation to establish an Office of Violence Prevention in Los Angeles to dispatch public health workers to certain situations rather than uniformed police officers.[33]

COVID-19 pandemic

In the early days of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Ryu negotiated a $1.25 million international deal to bring COVID-19 tests to Los Angeles from South Korean company Seegene, when the United States faced a national testing shortage.[34]

Ryu authored a ban on storage unit evictions during the pandemic, which was passed into law with an urgency clause in June 2020. The law protects storage unit leasees from losing their belongings even if they can't make monthly payments during the pandemic.[35]

In April 2020, Ryu and other councilmembers proposed a rent increase freeze on LA's rent-stabilized units. The freeze was passed into law, but a broader rent freeze on all LA apartments was narrowly voted down.[36]

References

  1. ↑ "한인역사박물관 – 데이빗 유 David E. Ryu 유은석". kahistorymuseum.org.
  2. 1 2 3 Daily News: "David Ryu's City Council District 4 win a victory for Korean Americans", 05/20/2015.
  3. ↑ Larchmont Buzz: "Councilmember David Ryu Named Assistant Council President Pro Tempore", 01/15/2020.
  4. ↑ Chou, Elizabeth (November 6, 2020). "Councilman David Ryu, who sought a second term, concedes defeat to challenger Nithya Raman". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  5. ↑ Kang, Jay Caspian (2021-10-11). "Opinion | Who Really Controls Local Politics?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  6. 1 2 3 Los Feliz Ledger: "Council member's father dies of heart attack", 10/17/2016.
  7. ↑ @davideryu (May 12, 2020). "As a kid, my family turned to food stamps in tough times to keep food on the table. This program saves lives & keeps families afloat. It's more important now than ever before that we keep it fully funded" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ↑ "ABOUT DAVID". davidryu.com. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  9. ↑ "Councilman's story shows value in family, education". Park Labrea News/ Beverly Press. 2016-09-22. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  10. ↑ "Full Biography for David Ryu". www.smartvoter.org. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  11. ↑ "The David Ryu I know". Park Labrea News/ Beverly Press. 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  12. ↑ https://www.kedrenmentalhealth.com/mental/david.php
  13. ↑ "Meet David". Councilmember David Ryu. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  14. ↑ Tinoco, Matt (4 March 2020). "Are Voters Angry Enough About Homelessness To Start Voting Out Incumbents?". LAist. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  15. ↑ Reyes, Emily Alpert. "L.A. council candidate faced attempted rape charge that was dismissed". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  16. ↑ Alpert Reyes, Emily; Karlamangla, Soumya; Nelson, Laura J. (May 20, 2015). "L.A. City Hall outsider Ryu wins City Council race". Los Angeles Times.
  17. ↑ "Council President Taps Ryu to Help with Families First Agenda". Los Feliz Ledger. January 17, 2020.
  18. ↑ Los Feliz Ledger - "Who's Running Against David Ryu? Profile on Challenger Sarah Kate Levy"
  19. ↑ "Official LA County vote tally" (PDF). Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder / County Clerk. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  20. ↑ "Election Results".
  21. ↑ Reyes, Emily Alpert (10 November 2020). "An L.A. councilman swore off developer money. Rivals argue he's broken that promise". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  22. ↑ Hickey, Erin (29 August 2020). "Ledger Files Ethics Complaint vs. Ryu Campaign for Misleading Email". Los Feliz Ledger. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  23. ↑ Official website of the City of Los Angeles: online documents. 2016. Retrieved 3/31/21. .
  24. ↑ Ledger, Los Feliz (January 10, 2017). "[UPDATE] Ryu, Krekorian and Buscaino Seek to Stop Developer Donations | Los Feliz Ledger".
  25. 1 2 Reyes, Emily Alpert (4 December 2019). "L.A. limits campaign donations from real estate developers. Critics say it falls short". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  26. ↑ Regardie, Jon (May 27, 2020). "Councilman David Ryu Sets His Sights on City Hall Corruption—but Will He Get Any Traction?". Los Angeles Magazine.
  27. ↑ "Hate crimes in L.A. jump significantly, with transgender people targeted". Los Angeles Times. 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  28. ↑ Sanchez, Jesus (24 July 2020). "Grand opening today for 100-bed Los Feliz homeless shelter [UPDATED]". The Eastsider LA. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  29. ↑ "Ryu, residents team up to purchase mountain". Park Labrea News/ Beverly Press. 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  30. ↑ "Preservation Groups Buy Mountain Ridge in Laurel Canyon to Protect Wildlife, Open Space". NBC Los Angeles. 26 December 2017. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  31. ↑ "LGBT Center Head endorses Ryu". Los Angeles Blade: LGBTQ News, Rights, Politics, Entertainment. 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  32. ↑ Fuller, Elizabeth (2020-07-01). "City Council Requests Review of LAPD Tactics in May 30 Events in Fairfax Area". Larchmont Buzz - Hancock Park News. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  33. ↑ "Los Angeles Councilmen Propose Creating Office of Violence Prevention". MyNewsLA.com. 2020-06-17. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  34. ↑ Fadel, Leila; Hersher, Rebecca (March 29, 2020). "Local Governments Race To Administer Coronavirus Tests, Secure Supplies". National Public Radio.
  35. ↑ Seidman, Lila (June 2, 2020). "L.A. halts storage-unit evictions during the coronavirus". Los Angeles Times.
  36. ↑ "L.A. City Council moves ahead with halting rent hikes on some units but rejects a broader ban". The Eastsider LA. April 23, 2020.
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