George Gascon Fundraiser Held In Beverly Hills

By NAVNEET S. CHUGH

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Neil and Sonali Jivrajka hosted a fundraiser for District Attorney of Los Angeles County, George Gascon on December 19 at their home here. Gascón is serving as the 43rd District Attorney of Los Angeles County since 2020.

Dr. Vinod Jivrajka, Dr. Sandeep Khanna, and Dr. Nitin Nanda co-hosted the event.

Dr. Vinod Jivrajka introduced Gascon at the event: “born in Havana, Cuba, in 1954, Gascón immigrated to the U.S. with his family at 13. He served in the U.S. Army before embarking on a 40-year career in law enforcement.”

“Gascon rose through the ranks of the LAPD, becoming an Assistant Chief, and served as Chief of Police in Mesa, Arizona, and San Francisco, after which he was elected District Attorney of San Francisco in 2011, implementing progressive criminal justice reforms, before being elected District Attorney of Los Angeles County in 2020 on a similar platform,” said Jivrajka.

During a robust question and answer session, Deepak Chopra, CEO of OSI, and Dr. Ravi Dave, Director of Interventional Cardiology at UCLA Health, asked Gascon about crime in LA. The candidate said that actually crime was down in LA, but people still feel the opposite. Gascon said, “I am deeply focused on criminal justice reform, and on reducing incarceration rates, removing racial disparities, and building trust with communities through outreach, de-escalation tactics, and providing resources and support services to crime victims.”

In response to a question regarding Kamala Harris as president one day, Gascon said, “she is a good friend and very talented and has risen through so much and if she had been a male her achievements would have been applauded.”

Gascon is running a tough race with nine people running for the DA position including four of his employees running against him. In his closing remarks, Gascon told the audience, “As your Los Angeles District Attorney, I will continue to work for you and with you to make our neighborhoods safer, hold police accountable to the communities they serve, and reform our justice system so it works for everyone.”