Proven picks for City Council
Telections for Los Angeles City Council seats pit public officials with proven track records against activist challengers. In both cases, the better choice for voters is the more familiar one.
In Council District 4, what a difference five years has made. When David Ryu ran for the seat in 2015, there were hearty debates over big development projects, street repairs in Hancock Park and how to spend council members’ “slush funds.”
Today, Ryu is running for reelection, and he and challenger Nithya Raman are talking about how to dismantle systemic racism, reimagine the Los Angeles Police Department, house the homeless and prevent a pandemic-created eviction tsunami.
The change in conversation is driven by the moment — the pandemic, the racial justice protests and the high-stakes presidential election. But it’s also been driven by Raman, an urban planner and activist who has pushed Ryu so far to the left in the runoff, a political action committee tied to the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce rescinded its earlier endorsement of him.
The Times didn’t endorse Ryu in 2015, but he’s impressed during his first term with his willingness to listen, learn and respond, and to fight the good fight in the face of opposition from defenders of the status quo. He’s earned a second term.
Ryu spent five years trying to convince his colleagues to ban political contributions from real estate developers, and they only reluctantly passed a version in response to pay-to-play scandals.
He has a gotten solid marks for supporting more shelters and housing in his district, including fending off NIMBY lawsuits and an angry mob in Sherman Oaks. Still, Ryu has fallen short on his pledge to get 222 units of permanent supportive housing approved in his district; he’s at 167. Yes, it’s hard to find affordable land in his affluent district, but Ryu — like other council members — has to be creative and indefatigable in building homeless housing.
Raman is thoughtful and detail-oriented; her policy ideas seemed like political nonstarters a few months ago but have gained traction in this moment — rent forgiveness, defunding the police and public broadband. Ryu and other council members would do well to consider her proposals on affordable housing construction and protected bus and bike lanes.
To fill the open seat in Council District 10, we recommend a well-known figure in Los Angeles government: Mark Ridley-Thomas.
As we said when we endorsed him in the primary, voters would have a hard time finding another candidate with Ridley-Thomas’ experience, knowledge and accomplishments. His experience is even more on point now — he’s spent his career focused on civil rights, police accountability and criminal justice reform. His perspective will be especially helpful as the City Council grapples with how to reimagine policing in L.A.
Ridley-Thomas has also been on the front lines of L.A.’s homeless crisis. He helped lead the effort for Measure H, the sales tax hike to fund homeless services. He’s worked to address the factors that fuel homelessness, from weak tenant protections and the lack of affordable housing to criminal records that make it harder for people to get their lives back on track.
There are drawbacks to Ridley-Thomas. He is very much part of the political establishment, as is the district’s current councilman, Herb Wesson, who is termed out. Ridley-Thomas previously served two terms on the council, and thus by law may serve only one more four-year term. That isn’t a long time to make big changes, though RidleyThomas is uniquely able to hit the ground running if elected. He has said he intends to run for mayor in 2022, which could be a distraction. He has made questionable ethical decisions, most notably when he funneled $100,000 from a campaign fund to USC, which then hired his son as professor.
Ridley-Thomas is running against Grace Yoo, a lawyer, former executive director of the Korean American Coalition and longtime community activist. Yoo ran against Wesson in 2015 and later opposed his effort to put a homeless shelter in Koreatown, which delayed much-needed housing and services. Yoo has a watchdog mentality and would bring a contrarian streak to the City Council, which could be helpful in a body that prefers business as usual.
But at this time, we think Council District 10 and the city as a whole would benefit from Ridley-Thomas’ experience and focus on systemic reform.