Fourteen members of the Los Angeles City Council gathered Friday at City Hall for a regular meeting, minus its 15th member: Councilmember and Mayor-elect Nithya Raman, who received zero endorsements from fellow councilmembers.
The councilmembers who backed outgoing Mayor Karen Bass have now publicly congratulated Raman, saying they look forward to working with her on key issues, including the rebuilding efforts in the Pacific Palisades after the 2025 wildfire.
While congratulating Raman on her election victory, Councilmember Traci Park, who has been critical of Raman for “never (giving) a damn” about the Pacific Palisades community, said she will hold the mayor-elect accountable.
“This mayor-elect is walking into a whole heck of a lot of promises and challenges facing our city,” Park said. “She’s made a whole lot of commitments, and this is not going to be an easy time.”
Park also singled out Raman while saying the Democratic Socialist didn’t seem interested in helping the wealthy coastal enclave after the devastating wildfire.
“Most came to bear witness in the early days to stand in solidarity. Some have continued to be involved. Councilwoman Raman was not among them,” Park said. “And unfortunately, throughout the campaign, never had a conversation with me about how things were going or what was needed, and that has been extremely frustrating to me.”
During the last mayoral debate between Raman and Bass, the outgoing mayor claimed that multiple councilmembers had complained to her about Raman, saying that the councilwoman is “difficult” to work with.
Councilmember Tim McOsker, whose Council District 15 includes San Pedro and Wilmington, said, like his colleagues, that he’s willing to work with Raman.
“We need to make sure that we are looking for common ground, and common ground around what our constituents need,” McOsker said.
NBC Los Angeles reached out to Raman’s campaign for a response to the concerns expressed by the councilmembers, including whether the mayor-elect will be able to work with them, but did not hear back as of Friday evening.
With Zohran Mamdani elected mayor of New York City and Nithya Raman projected to become Los Angeles’ next mayor, democratic socialism is drawing renewed attention. Here’s what the ideology stands for, what its supporters advocate and how it differs from socialism and communism.
While many progressives across the country appeared excited about the two Democratic Socialists, Raman and Zohran Mamdani, leading the nation’s two largest cities, the LA mayor-elect will have a different playing field from that of the New York City mayor.
“LA’s mayor is significantly more handcuffed than the mayor of New York City,” said Dustin Gardiner of the San Francisco Standard, adding that Mamdani has more ability and power to shape and change the city government than Raman would.
“For starters, the mayor of LA has to go to the city council to get approval for hiring and firing department heads. The city council in LA has a lot more control over the budget,” Gardiner explained.
Mayor-elect Raman can still influence some of her priorities, including housing and affordability and departmental leadership, in addition to proposing budgets and pushing for zoning changes.
“She needs to build relationships with the city council to get her agenda through, especially in a city where the mayor has less authority. It’s not a strong mayor city the way a lot of other large cities are,” Gardiner said. “I think Nithya Raman has her work cut out for her.”
Three of the 14 City Council members are Democratic Socialists: Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Ysabel Jurado.
