Marqueece Harris-Dawson

Marqueece L. Harris-Dawson (born November 7, 1969)[1] is an American politician who currently represents the 8th district of the Los Angeles City Council since 2015.[2]

Marqueece Harris-Dawson
Harris-Dawson in 2018
Member of the Los Angeles City Council from the 8th district
Assumed office
July 1, 2015
Preceded byBernard Parks
Personal details
Born (1969-11-07) November 7, 1969
Los Angeles, California U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationMorehouse College (BA)
OccupationPolitician
WebsiteCouncil website

Early life and education

Harris-Dawson was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles to William Dawson, minister, and Cheryl Dawson, a clerk.[1] Councilmember Harris-Dawson grew up in South Los Angeles during the crack cocaine epidemic. His family moved from their neighborhood to protect their children from police and gang violence.[1]

Harris-Dawson graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Mathematics. Harris-Dawson holds a certificate in non-profit management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and is an Aspen Institute Pahara Fellow.[1]

Career

Harris-Dawson's first campaign as a community organizer was to change the conditions of schools in South Los Angeles and to infuse equity in the distribution of education funding.[1] As a result of the campaign, South Los Angeles schools received an investment of $153 million for repair and modernization.[1] He served as its President and CEO from 2004 to 2014.[1][3] In 1995, he joined Community Coalition under founder Karen Bass. Harris-Dawson was the coordinator for the 1999 re-election campaign of Mark Ridley-Thomas in District 2 of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors .[1]

Los Angeles City Council
Harris-Dawson with Mayor Eric Garcetti after taking his oath of office in 2015.

Elections

In the primary election for District 8 in 2015, Harris-Dawson received over 62% of the vote for the vacant seat.[4] Because Harris-Dawson won outright, a general election for District 8 was not needed.[5] Term limits forced Bernard C. Parks, Harris-Dawson's predecessor since 2004, out of office.[6]

Proposition HHH

In 2016, Councilmember Harris-Dawson co-authored Proposition HHH, a $1.2 billion bond measure to build permanent supportive housing for homeless people and people at risk of becoming homeless.[7] The measure appeared on the November 2016 municipal ballot and passed, with voters approving the measure 77% to 23%.[8]

References
  1. Harris-Dawson, Marqueece. "TOWARDS A NEW GENERATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERS IN LOS ANGELES" (PDF). The Durfee Foundation.
  2. LA Times: "Marqueece Harris-Dawson takes office as councilman of L.A.'s 8th District", 1 July 2015.
  3. Cocosouthla.org: Community Coalition website
  4. My News LA: "L.A. election results: Marqueece Harris-Dawson wins 8th District city council race", 4 March 2015
  5. L.A. Weekly: "Marqueece Harris-Dawson, L.A.'s Newest Council Member, Represents a Lurch to the Left", 4 March 2015
  6. LA Times: "The Times endorses Marqueece Harris-Dawson in the 8th Council District", 11 February 2015
  7. City Clerk for the City of Los Angeles: Measure HHH, 29 October 2016
  8. Holland, Gale (May 11, 2019). "L.A. spent $619 million on homelessness last year. Has it made a difference?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
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