LOS ANGELES — It’s been three years since the last grocery store in Chinatown shuttered its doors, and Patrick Chen says things have only gotten harder during the pandemic.

“Small businesses have been suffering,” he said. “They have not been getting enough support from the business improvement district or the city in terms of funding and resources.”

While most city council races will head to a runoff in November, the race to represent Chinatown and other immigrant, working-class communities in Council District 1 will be settled June 7.

There’s only two candidates on the ballot, incumbent Democrat Gil Cedillo and challenger Eunisses Hernandez.

Chen said displacement and gentrification are urgent problems, so the group Chinatown Community for Equitable Development organized a debate Saturday, but only Hernandez showed up.

Cedillo’s campaign told Spectrum News they didn’t think the group would give the incumbent a fair shake.

“We often find that Gil Cedillo has time to meet with developers or other monied interests, but he doesn’t seem to have any time on his schedule to meet with community members who have so much at stake — who are at risk of losing their homes, their businesses,” Chen said.

While both candidates have received public financing from the city, organizer Rob Quan with Unrig LA has been tracking candidate forums across LA and believes Cedillo violated ethics codes when he accepted public funds before he debated Hernandez.

“A lot of journalists refer to it as ‘free money,’ but it’s not free money. You have to earn it. There are a lot of criteria, and one important is you have to be willing to talk to the public and participate in a debate,” Quan said.

Cedillo’s campaign said he was busy Monday prepping for an online forum with Hernandez that will qualify as his public debate. In a statement, Cedillo’s campaign manager, Robert Urteaga, accused Hernandez of ethics violations.

“Our campaign follows the rules and will cash (the) check from the Ethics Commission only after an approved forum is held. It’s unfortunate that our opponent was able to slip one by the Ethics Commission and is using her tax payer dollars to send misleading and untrue messages to voters in Council District 1.”

The Los Angeles Ethics Commission spokesperson did not respond to calls Monday asking for comment.

Hernandez points out other city council races have had dozens of debates already, and she’s always been willing to go toe-to-toe with the incumbent.

“Even if candidates don’t get along, or are not aligned on the same spectrum, they’re still getting on the stage to debate,” Hernandez said. “I haven’t had the same opportunity to do that publicly. The community hasn’t had the same opportunity to (ask) questions of the incumbent. I think that’s unfair, and that’s a lack of leadership right there.”

Chen said a hundred people showed up to the Chinatown debate, which was translated in Cantonese and Spanish, hoping for an honest dialogue about the future of Chinatown.

“Chinatown is a working-class community. It’s really important that the city plays its role in defending the community against displacement and gentrification.”