Incumbent Juana Zurita (left) lost to Michelle Chambers (center), Emma Sharif beat out Justin Blakely.
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BY BRIAN HEWS
In a shake-up of the Compton City Council, Michelle Chambers soundly beat incumbent Juana Zurita giving residents hope that a new council majority will leave partisan politics behind and fix the city’s problems.
The new majority will consist of Mayor Aja Brown, Chambers, and incumbent Emma Sharif, who narrowly beat newcomer Justin Blakely.
Chambers beat Zurita by nearly 400 votes, while Sharif beat Blakely by 98 votes.
Sharif was the subject of several offensive campaign mail pieces criticizing her work on the council for “not acting” to fix the city’s problems, this while she was in the minority.
Sources told Hews Media Group-Los Cerritos Community News that notorious East Los Angeles political operative Angel Gonzales, who is known for his offensive hit pieces, was running Blakely’s campaign.
Gonzales is well-known for running other dirty campaigns, including those for Central Basin Director Leticia Vasquez.
HMG-LCCN first reported about a shocking website that placed Vasquez’ main opponent in the 2016 Central Basin Water election, Maria Santillian-Beas, in a very misogynistic, sexist and humiliating position.
Vasquez denied any involvement with the website.
A few days later a campaign mailer entitled “Backroom Deals” was sent out that blasted Santillian-Beas with the same artwork as seen on the website.
Months later, Gonzales filed a lawsuit for non-payment against Vasquez and provided evidence that Vasquez had ordered the Backroom Deals mailer.
Blakely was a questionable candidate from the beginning, with an exclusive HMG-LCCN expose´ finding that he only recently moved and registered to vote in the city of Compton in Dec 2018.
Those same documents showed that Blakely, who is only 23, has never voted in any city or special election.
In addition, campaign documents obtained by HMG-LCCN showed that Blakely likely violated the Political Reform Act and could face heavy fines.
