Christina Vogel announces run for Erie County Executive
A new candidate is throwing her hat in the ring for the race of Erie County Executive.
Christina Vogel is a small business owner of Donato's Pizza and will be on the Democratic ticket for Erie County Executive.
Ed Brzezinski enters race for city controller
She said she feels the most qualified for the position with her background in business, economics, and her previous work with the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers creating a national analysis tool to allocate tax dollars more efficiently.
Vogel said she will prioritize Erie County residents in many ways, including financially.
Erie Co. Sheriff Chris Campanelli seeking re-election
'When I look at the budget for Erie County it's almost $600 million and 60% of it is for health and human services specifically. And I think that what I see on a daily basis in the jobs that I'm in with my employees with just talking to people that it is really hard for people and I think that when you are not connecting with regular people that are dealing with those issues it kind of gets lost,' said Vogel.
Vogel emphasized how she is willing and determined to meet with anyone while campaigning and hear the needs and concerns of residents.
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But cheaper services, domestic work, construction and automotive labor are things many people often benefit from by way of undocumented immigrants. It's become a way of life for much of Los Angeles' upper economic classes. When I say "way of life," I am referring to something deeper then the mere economic. I am talking about the culture of communities, the norms and relationships we grow accustomed to. This is the second category of nuanced reality people need to understand when observing Los Angeles in this moment. It's the nuances of community. Illegal immigrants and their families, including their children who've inherited birthright citizenship, are part of our community. They are the abuela with the tamale stand by the park, the mechanic you joke around with at the auto shop or the gardener who feels like an uncle. The kids I went to school with in Culver City, who were made citizens by virtue of a constitutional interpretation that I believe violates the 14th Amendment, were my friends. They were no less a part of my community for having undocumented parents. People who have lived their lives generally at peace with their undocumented neighbors and their families have stronger bonds with these immigrants than with the faceless ICE agents who burst into our neighborhoods to remove people we know. Opinion: What do Republicans value? My fellow conservatives need to fight the right way. Now, I have a great deal of sympathy for ICE agents as well. They are the spear tip of an effort to respond to the neglect of territorial sovereignty perpetrated by the U.S. government for generations. It is one of the great betrayals of American interests, in favor of politicians and corporations, that unchecked illegal immigration should have reached such a scale over such a period of time. I don't blame federal agents for doing their job or for believing in it. This doesn't change the fact that, in Los Angeles, ICE agents are the ones who look like aliens. Trump's deportation policy stands in the shadow of American history All of this highlights an irony in the Trump administration's approach to rectifying the immigration issue. As conservative as the principles of national sovereignty and rule of law are, conservatism also stands for the continuity of community, the respecting of norms, customs and relationships that give a place its character. These norms and relationships sometimes evolve in initially unlawful or tragic circumstances. American frontiersmen invaded Native American territory, even against the edicts of the U.S. government, at almost every turn in the early expansion of our nation. We can say that happened long ago, so it doesn't matter now. But would it be right to uproot families now because of the unlawful invasion of Native American territory generations ago? Many of those who are most incensed about the porousness of our border and the accommodations we make to the undocumented are also the most proud of our American founding and the frontier spirit of our heritage. There are differences of opinion with respect to the scope of deportations, even among those who advocate for a crackdown on illegal immigration. Some favor deporting only flagrant criminals; others want those who crossed the border recently to be returned to their home countries. Then there are some who favor deporting as many illegal immigrants as possible, regardless of their behavior and their contributions since arriving. For those who argue for mass deportation, how can we look at illegal immigrants as criminals without regarding in the same way our own ancestors who invaded Native Americans' territory and violently displaced the inhabitants? If the view is that our American ancestors, while worse than imperfect, laid by God's grace the foundation for communities that grew into a great nation, then isn't there a case to be made for charity and accommodation in dealing with most of our undocumented neighbors now? Of course, certain people make having empathy for the undocumented very hard. That includes not only those who wave Mexican flags in the face of legal authority while insisting on their "right" to remain in the nation illegally. It also includes their allies who take zero inventory of the damage done to communities and to the rule of law by policies that allow for mass illegal immigration. Still, when my best friend's first son was born, I remember his mother, an elderly woman who immigrated to the United States decades ago, approaching me at the celebration of her grandson's birth with a gift basket that held a Mexican flag and an American flag. She said to me: "Mi nieto es un Mexicano y un Americano tambien." ("My grandson is a Mexican and an American too.") Her point was that her family was proud of their heritage, but they were also proud to be a part of a nation and a community that she and I shared across the gulf of language and legal status. LA has a right to be angry. But we need a better answer. Personally, I might aggressively shut the border, and build a wall if it actually helped, because I believe that we blew past a reasonable volume of immigration a long time ago. It's a good thing that Trump has essentially frightened the world into no longer trying to cross our border illegally. That had to end. Democratic politicians like California Gov. Gavin Newsom have invited the pendulum swing on immigration by pushing it so far the other way. Now, Trump, never one to be concerned with proportionality, threatens to escalate tensions further in the name of rule of law. Yet, even if you think the crackdown on illegal immigration is necessary, it is not conservative to crash through neighborhoods to round up people who have become part of the community. America must understand that Los Angeles is not Omaha, not Savannah and not Des Moines. Los Angeles has a right to be angry. Los Angeles has a right to be LA. There should be a better way. Sadly, it seems like nobody is looking for one. John Wood Jr. is a columnist for USA TODAY Opinion. He is national ambassador for Braver Angels, a former nominee for Congress, former vice chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, musical artist, and a noted writer and speaker on subjects including racial and political reconciliation. Follow him on X: @JohnRWoodJr
