About Linda
Linda Piera-Ávila has lived in the 41st Assembly District most of her life. She grew up in Agoura Hills, attended grammar school in Woodland Hills, and went to college at nearby California Lutheran (in Thousand Oaks). For the past 30 years, Linda has lived in Santa Monica, where she works as a physical therapist.
In 2009, Linda was appointed by the Santa Monica City Council to serve on the newly-formed Santa Monica Urban Forest Task Force, one of seven out of about 25 applicants. She also serves as a Board Member of the Pico Neighborhood Association. In 2008, Linda ran as a canddiate for City Council in Santa Monica (her City Council campaign website is archived here).
For 3 decades, Linda has been a passionate environmental, social justice, electoral reform and peace activist.
She participated in the movement to protect California’s old growth redwood forests, collecting signatures and lobbying in Sacramento; worked to save the Ballona Wetlands, and supported protecting sacred sites and resisting the relocation of native people at Big Mountain.
In recent years, Linda joined the fight to save the South Central Farm, our nation’s largest urban farm, that the City of Los Angeles invited the community to plant. Though bulldozed and the Farmers evicted, the effort to reclaim the Farm continues today. That experience taught Linda about the power of community building, which she will bring to her service in the Assembly. And Linda is still very committed to her work with the South Central Farmers Support Committee.
Linda also strongly supports workers’ rights to a living wage and fair working conditions. She has joined picket lines in solidarity with striking grocery store and hotel workers. This is a personal issue for Linda as her grandfather was a cook at the Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica many years ago.
Linda has spoken before the Santa Monica City Council about issues that matter to her, like “fair elections,” also known as public financing of campaigns; ranked choice voting, where voters rank their choice of candidate, thus facilitating more representative elections; and resisting the adjacent mega development known as Playa Vista by speaking out for indigenous peoples’ rights to protect an ancient cemetery there.
Numerous campaigns Linda has worked on over the years include: the Forests Forever initiative in 1990; Mike Feinstein’s City Council campaigns; Ralph Nader’s 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns; the Campaign for Old Growth from 2002 to 2004; and she was the Meet-n-Greet organizer for Kelly Hayes-Raitt’s 2006 run for Assembly in the 41st District.
As a renter, and a longtime member of Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, Linda understands the needs of tenants and will continue to protect rent control as a member of the state Assembly.
Linda has been an active member of the Green Party since she registered Green in 1990. She is an elected member of the Green Party of Los Angeles County Council and a national delegate from California to the Green Party of the United States.
Some organizations Linda has been involved with over the years:
Santa Monica Urban Forest Task Force, appointed by City Council, 2009-current
Pico Neighborhood Association, Board Member, 2009-current
Green Party of Los Angeles County Council, Elected Member, 2008-current
Santa Monica Greens, Westside Greens and Los Angeles Greens
Green Party of California
Green National Committee, GP-US, (2007-current, Delegate to Green Party National Convention)
South Central Farmers Support Committee
Santa Monica Ranked Voting
Campaign For Old Growth
West Bluffs Conservancy
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)
Arlington West Memorial at Santa Monica Pier
L.A. Voters for Instant Runoff Elections (LAVOTEFIRE)
New America Foundation's Political Reform Program
Big Mountain Support Group
Save Puvungna Coalition (indigenous sacred site on the campus of Cal State Long Beach)
Program director, WODOC, an environmental education organization in the Santa Monica Mountains
