Samir Bitar: ‘I see what’s not being done and I know how to do it’

After three years of serving on the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council and researching city bylaws, Samir Bitar feels ready to take the next step and run for the city council’s 14 district seat.

“Why am I running? I see what’s not being done and I know how to do it, it’s not rocket science,” he said.

The San Fernando Valley native immediately involved himself in the local bureaucratic process when he moved back to Los Angeles from Washington, D.C., during the pandemic. “Being from here has always informed how I live and who I am,” Bitar said.

Bitar settled in Downtown where he works as an independent arts consultant for nonprofit organizations and museums. He previously worked as a director for various museums and marketing agencies including the Smithsonian Institution and the National Veteran Memorial and Museum.

He joined the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council as treasurer and volunteers for Broadway West, a nonprofit organization aiming to revitalize downtown LA’s historic theater district. Bitar realized that he and other CD 14 residents felt Councilmember Kevin de León paid little regard to their requests.

“The more I spoke to people, the more I saw complete apathy from the current CD 14 office,” Bitar told Boyle Heights Beat. “There were discreet moments where I and colleagues asked for attention, did the work, found the funds, wrote the plan, and said, ‘Here’ [are my proposals to CD 14 office] but got complete apathy. No response.”

Samir Bitar in an undated campaign photo. .Photo © Jennifer Emery

Bitar’s desire to be a part of positive change stems from his background growing up in the San Fernando Valley and the high desert region of Southern California. His father, an immigrant from Lebanon, left his family when Bitar and his siblings were young. Bitar’s mother consistently moved them throughout the Valley and various parts of Kern County.

“I [currently] live in a city, I love the city. We also lived in poor, small towns but I’m gay, so I kind of need a city, but I appreciate having the small-town perspective,” Bitar said.

Shortly after graduating high school in 1992, Bitar joined the military and was an active member when being an openly gay service member was illegal.

Bitar was stationed in Oauhu, Hawaii in 1994 and began demonstrating in marches raising awareness of the AIDS epidemic. “I’m 19 [at the time] and I’m marching in parades which you’re not supposed to do in the military, which I agree with because the military should be apolitical, but we were talking about life and death, literally,” he said, alluding to the millions killed worldwide during the epidemic.

After the military, Bitar moved to San Francisco where he studied various artistic media and eventually obtained his masters from Carnegie Mellon University and pursued a career in arts management.

Bitar has never forgotten his roots, and his life experiences form the tenets of his plan for CD 14. Bitar’s first priority is bolstering the district’s civic arts profile. This looks like creating affordable housing options for local artists, allotting city funds to restore historic sites like the theater district and utilize them for public arts programs, and a collaboration with National Institutes of Health (NIH) to promote mental health.

“So when I talk about civic arts, I’m talking about [helping] at-risk youth, homeless, victims of domestic violence, just people who are going through different kinds of trauma,” Bitar explained. “I’m not saying art is a panacea, it wouldn’t fix everything, but when we talk about homelessness, what are we doing to stem the flow of people onto the streets?”

“So when I talk about civic arts, I’m talking about [helping] at-risk youth, homeless, victims of domestic violence, just people who are going through different kinds of trauma. I’m not saying art is a panacea, it wouldn’t fix everything, but when we talk about homelessness, what are we doing to stem the flow of people onto the streets?”
Samir Bitar

As an independent arts consultant, he also wants to enact policies he sees as beneficial for small business owners. These plans include revising the business tax code to eliminate several taxes directed as small business owners, establish equitable access to city contracts, and create jobs by implementing Jobs & Economic Development Incentive (JEDI) Zones all over CD 14.

Bitar also wants to expand access to shelters throughout the district, create a better monitoring system for reporting dilapidated infrastructure such as crumbling roads and sidewalks to ensure faster maintenance, as well as copy CD 5’s L.A.C.E.R. after school program for at-risk and homeless youth in CD 14.

“Again I’m running because these are not complicated problems but you have to care. You have to focus, you have to listen,” Bitar said, “and because I’m not an actual politician, I can see the actual problems and what’s not being done [on the ground].”