Los Angeles Times endorses Nithya Raman for City Council

The Los Angeles Times has endorsed Indian American urban planner Nithya Raman for a second term on the City Council, recognizing her groundbreaking contributions since her initial election in November 2020.

Raman came to the US as a 6-year-old, when her family relocated from India, making her the only immigrant on the City Council.

“Four years ago, urban planner Nithya Raman burst onto the political scene, becoming the first challenger to unseat an incumbent on the City Council in 17 years,” the newspaper noted ahead of the March 5 primary.

READ: Indian American Nithya Raman appointed to LA’s air quality board (February 10, 2022)

Raman’s victory over Councilmember David Ryu was hailed as a major coup for the city’s political left, giving new street cred to the LA chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, one of the groups that campaigned for her, and providing renters a powerful new champion at City Hall, the paper said.

Since then, Raman has become more aligned with the City Hall establishment, the Times noted. “She has turned to veteran politicians such as Mayor Karen Bass and former Councilmember Paul Koretz to talk up her bid for a second term, while touting endorsements from seven of the council’s 15 members.”

The newspaper highlighted her “commendable commitment to addressing critical issues in Los Angeles, particularly her ambitious plans to tackle homelessness, housing insecurity, and reform policing strategies within District 4.”

READ: Is Nithya Raman about to lose her Hollywood Hills Council seat? (October 1, 2021)

It cited Raman’s leadership in the passage of a landmark expansion of tenant protections, preventing arbitrary evictions and ensuring housing stability for tenants as a key reason for its endorsement.

The  Times also applauded her consistent advocacy for government transparency, including pushing for independent redistricting and City Council expansion to better serve the community.

“Thank you to the @latimes for such a strong, moving endorsement of my re-election campaign. What an unbelievable honor it is to have earned the endorsement of the paper I start my day with,” Raman posted on X.

“This endorsement is really meaningful coming from a paper that shares my commitment to a better Los Angeles,” she wrote. “Their reporters, editors, photographers, and team push themselves daily because what happens in this city matters, and getting the story right matters.”

READ: Indian American urban planner Nithya Raman unseats LA City Councillor (November 9, 2020)

“It’s not lost on me that this endorsement comes at a time when the paper (and the city that reads it) is hurting,” Raman added. “I feel for the scores of journalists laid off two days ago, and for the city that will now miss their essential work. A hard reminder of how fragile progress can be.”

A resident of Silver Lake, Raman got her political start as a community volunteer focused on homelessness, helping to found a nonprofit that delivered food, hygiene kits and other supplies to unhoused residents in her part of Los Angeles.

She continued her focus on that issue after taking office, eventually ascending to chair of the council’s homelessness committee, which oversees the city’s response to the crisis, the Times noted.

Raman has been campaigning heavily on her work on homelessness, and on her advocacy for new bus and bicycle lanes, government reforms and the delivery of aid to tenants on the brink of eviction.

As she battles for a second term, she has secured endorsements from the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, US Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) and an array of state and local politicians, the paper noted.

Her reelection bid is also receiving a boost from Unite Here Local 11, which represents hotel workers, and from its Yes on HLA committee, which is campaigning for a March 5 ballot measure to require the installation of bus and bike lanes on certain corridors.