Candidates spar in Valley debate
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman and Deputy City Atty. Ethan Weaver have taken part in a handful of candidate forums over the last few months. But Wednesday’s showdown, hosted by the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., had an extra edge to it.
Seated before a crowd inside a San Fernando Valley senior center, the candidates in the March 5 election tangled over homelessness, policing and other hot-button issues. They were subjected to rapid-fire questions, including a lightning round. And they made clear that the race for the 4th District, which straddles the Hollywood Hills, will only get more intense in the coming weeks.
Weaver, who spent five years as a neighborhood prosecutor, portrayed city government as a dysfunctional, broken mess — one that is ignoring residents’ “legitimate concerns” and falling short on the delivery of basic services.
“As someone who works with almost every city agency, I can tell you, the view from the inside is even worse,” said Weaver, who lives in Hollywood. “Our city is failing at so many levels.”
Raman defended her record, saying her office has made progress adding traffic signals, upgrading playgrounds and getting homeless people housed across the district, which stretches from Silver Lake to Reseda. She rattled off locations in Studio City, Sherman Oaks and elsewhere that once had encampments and are now free of tents.
“We’ve made progress in this district while other districts have gone backward. There’s a reason for that,” said Raman, a resident of Silver Lake. “It’s because our office and our team has brought its full self to the table every single day.”
The third candidate in the race, software engineer Levon “Lev” Baronian, did not participate in the debate, which was attended by more than 250 people and had 400 observers on Zoom, according to event sponsors.
The videotaped debate, moderated by television journalist Phil Shuman, featured other policy disagreements. Weaver spoke in favor of Mayor Karen Bass’ deal to give police officers a four-year package of raises, saying the increases would help the LAPD address a steady decrease in the size of its workforce.
Last month, the LAPD reported that it had 8,970 officers, a reduction of about 800 from December 2020, when Raman took office.
The police contract “was a critical piece in retaining officers and attracting officers, and my opponent voted against that pay increase,” said Weaver, who has been endorsed by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that negotiated the contract on behalf of nearly 9,000 officers.
Raman said she voted against the raises last year because they were too expensive and would cut into other essential services. The agreement has been identified as a cause of the city’s growing budget shortfall — and isn’t helping with police hiring, she said.
“Our last recruitment class is one of the smallest it’s ever been for LAPD — it’s just 22 people,” she told the audience.
Shuman asked the candidates if they support the reelection of Dist. Atty. George Gascón, who is seeking a second term and running against 11 challengers.
“Absolutely not,” Weaver said.
Raman told the audience she has not endorsed Gascón. Asked to elaborate a few days later, she said she has not decided how she will vote in that contest.
The candidates also sparred over 41.18, the section of the Municipal Code that bars homeless encampments from taking hold in certain “sensitive” locations. Weaver repeated his support for the law, including the provision that prohibits tents from going up within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers.
Raman said she supports parts of 41.18 but argued that newer additions to the ordinance — such as those that allow the council to create 500-foot buffer zones around libraries, senior centers and other locations — simply push homeless people down the street.
Banning tents around schools and day-care centers “doesn’t work,” Raman added. “I don’t think a kid’s going to be safer because a tent is 500 feet away from a school.”
Expect more back-andforth in the coming weeks. The next candidate forum, hosted by the Los Feliz Improvement Assn., is set for Thursday at the Autry Museum of the American West. All three candidates are scheduled to attend.