Your guide to the 2022 L.A. City Council District 5 primary race

The clock tower at the Original Farmers Market.

By Times staff

June 5, 2022 1:42 PM PT

Four candidates are vying to replace Los Angeles Councilman Paul Koretz in District 5, an affluent area that stretches from the hillside mansions of Bel-Air to Hancock Park. If no candidate secures more than 50% on Tuesday, the top two vote-getters will head to a Nov. 8 runoff.

The candidates

Jimmy Biblarz, UCLA lecturer
Scott Epstein, UCLA data analyst
Katy Yaroslavsky, Aide for Supervisor Sheila Kuehl
Sam Yebri, Attorney

The district

The district covers upscale Westside communities such as Bel-Air, Cheviot Hills, Rancho Park and Westwood as well as Hancock Park and the Fairfax District to the east. It includes LACMA, the La Brea Tar Pits, the Grove, Beverly Center, Century City, UCLA, Farmers Market, Academy Museum and Westwood Village.

Fundraising

Here are the latest candidate fundraising numbers from the L.A. Ethics Commission.

The race

Homelessness, housing and public safety — issues of concern across the city — also loom large in District 5. Of the four contenders, Biblarz and Epstein have staked out positions that are more to the left, signing a “no new cops” pledge and denouncing the city’s anti-camping law, which allows council members to designate certain schools, parks and libraries as off limits to homeless encampments. Yebri and Yaroslavsky, the daughter-in-law of longtime L.A. politician Zev Yaroslavsky, have offered slightly more middle-of-the-road stances, supporting more mental health workers but also saying the LAPD needs more funding and more officers. Both have spoken in favor of the anti-encampment law, although Yebri is far more vocal about using it.