Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record \u2014 our City Hall newsletter. It\u2019s David Zahniser, with an assist from Sandra McDonald and Noah Goldberg, giving you the latest on city and county government.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman is waiting to hear whether she has secured a prize coveted by many of the city\u2019s left-of-center candidates: an endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the DSA\u2019s Los Angeles chapter took up the idea<\/a> for the June 2 primary, only to decide against it. They made that decision after hours of debate, all under the watchful eyes of local reporters. The group later recommended Raman in its June 2 voter guide, but that didn\u2019t give her access to the DSA\u2019s vaunted get-out-the-vote apparatus, which goes only to endorsed candidates.<\/p>\n This time around, endorsement discussions for the Nov. 3 runoff were held behind closed doors, followed by an online vote now under way. But the debate has been playing out publicly on a somewhat obscure platform: Geese magazine<\/a>, which bills itself as \u201ca daily review of American Communism.\u201d<\/p>\n Contributors to that online publication \u2014 which declares on its website \u201cWe answer to no one<\/a>\u201d \u2014 have been going back and forth for weeks over whether the DSA should endorse Raman, a DSA member herself, in her campaign to unseat Mayor Karen Bass.<\/p>\n Things got rolling on Aug. 11, when Geese posted a 4,400-word essay supporting a DSA endorsement of Raman<\/a>, arguing that such a move could \u201copen the floodgates for socialism in Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n The four writers, DSA-LA members themselves, conceded that Raman is \u201cno Zohran\u201d \u2014 a reference to New York City\u2019s charismatic DSA mayor, Zohran Mamdami. They acknowledged that she\u2019s had a sometimes turbulent relationship with the group, which endorsed her council campaigns in 2020 and 2024 but also censured her<\/a> at one point, in part because she accepted an endorsement from a pro-Israel group.<\/p>\n Still, the essayists praised her work on homelessness and tenant protections. And they commended her for seeking greater cooperation with the organization in recent months, hiring DSA-LA members to lead her campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat this signals is that with a DSA-LA endorsement, we may anticipate more constructive collaboration with the Nithya campaign going forward,\u201d the group wrote.<\/p>\n You\u2019re reading the L.A. on the Record newsletter <\/p>\n Sign up to make sense of the often unexplained world of L.A. politics.<\/p>\n By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n Not so fast, argued another group of Geese contributors. On Monday, those five writers \u2014 also DSA-LA members \u2014 panned the idea<\/a> of an endorsement, saying Raman hasn\u2019t earned it.<\/p>\n These writers assailed Raman for voting to confirm<\/a> former Sheriff Jim McDonnell as Los Angeles police chief and for seeking a rewrite of Measure ULA, the so-called mansion tax, which she views as an impediment to housing production. The authors also portrayed her as woefully out of touch with the DSA on Israel\u2019s war in Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we endorse Raman, a candidate who lacks the inspirational leadership and collaborative political relationship that forms the foundation of a strong DSA endorsement, we risk spending the next four years managing the consequences; explaining, defending, and organizing around the shortcomings of a mayor who was never meaningfully accountable to our democratic socialist movement in the first place,\u201d the group wrote.<\/p>\n Two days later, third Geese essay<\/a> showed up, arguing that Raman is \u201cthe nerd that can dig our city out of this crisis.\u201d That piece sought to rebut some of the criticism contained in the previous essay, while conceding that Raman can be \u201coverly fixated on details, slightly thin-skinned, obtuse, and argumentative.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut let\u2019s not forget that Nithya also has a long list of positive attributes as well: she is an exceptional administrator \u2014 reducing homelessness in her district by 49% through careful service provision,\u201d the group wrote, anointing her as \u201cOur Pothole Populist.\u201d<\/p>\n A fourth piece, also pro-Raman, posted Friday. Meanwhile, Bass has not emerged unscathed during the back-and-forth.<\/p>\n Geese\u2019s contributors criticized Bass for refusing to let City Controller Kenneth Mejia audit her Inside Safe homelessness program, saying she showed a \u201cdisregard for democratic processes.\u201d They assailed her over her handling of the Palisades fire, the Lineage fire, police spending and other issues.<\/p>\n The pro-Raman rebuttal piece had some of the harshest language, accusing Bass, who made many trips to Cuba<\/a> earlier in her life, of being \u201cpuppeted by business interests, landlords, the more reactionary segment of labor, and a smattering of liberal NGOs.\u201d<\/p>\n Bass has not sought the DSA\u2019s backing, either in the primary or the runoff. But she does have endorsements from the council\u2019s other three DSA members.<\/p>\n Raman needs to win 60% of the vote to secure the endorsement. More than 6,000 chapter members have received emails with online ballots.<\/p>\n Monday is the last day to vote.<\/p>\n Tracking Traci Park<\/p>\n City Councilmember Traci Park represents a Westside district that runs along the coast. But that didn\u2019t stop her from heading to Sherman Oaks for the raucous Aug. 19 mayoral debate.<\/p>\n Her appearance in the audience immediately sparked questions. Was she trying to make a decision on whether to weigh in on the mayor\u2019s race?<\/p>\n After all, Park is the only council member who has not publicly picked a horse. Thirteen of the council\u2019s 15 members have come out for Bass. (Raman also endorsed Bass at one point, but then jumped into the race at the last minute.) <\/p>\n Park has made clear she is no political ally of Raman, diverging on such issues as the city\u2019s anti-encampment law. Still, an endorsement of Bass could pose risks.<\/p>\n Park represents the Pacific Palisades, where residents have sharply criticized Bass over her handling of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and left 12 people dead.<\/p>\n On Friday, Park declined to say whether she plans to endorse, saying she simply wanted to \u201chear what both candidates have to say.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a mayoral debate. I\u2019m a City Council member, taxpayer, and resident,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cThe progress we\u2019ve made on the Westside is at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n Back to school for Mazariegos<\/p>\n It\u2019s supposed to be a little like traffic school \u2014 but instead of learning to drive more safely, you learn to run a by-the-book political campaign.<\/p>\n Community organizer Estuardo Mazariegos, who is running to replace City Councilmember Curren Price in a South Los Angeles district, is now enrolled. He agreed to take a seven module, roughly three-hour class on the state\u2019s campaign finance laws to resolve a complaint filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission, said Jesse Alson-Milkman, a strategist for the campaign.<\/p>\n That complaint accused Mazariegos of failing to pay for community space during at least six \u201cpostcarding party\u201d events held by his council campaign at Mercado La Paloma. The complaint was filed by Josh Rothstein, a member of the Mid City West Neighborhood Council, who says he submitted the paperwork in his own capacity.<\/p>\n Mazariegos is on leave as co-director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, which hosts its corporate office at Mercado La Paloma. That facility charges for certain types of meeting space, yet Mazariegos\u2019 spending report initially showed no payments or in-kind donations for such costs, Rothstein said.<\/p>\n Alson-Milkman said five of the postcarding events were held at the market\u2019s public dining area, so no payment or in-kind donation was needed.<\/p>\n The campaign did have a sixth event where it rented a room for two and a half hours, Alson-Milkman said. But the invoice for $137.50 was lost, he said, delaying payment for months.<\/p>\n The FPPC concluded the violation can be remedied without an enforcement action or financial penalty by having Mazariegos take a Political Reform Education Program, or PREP class, Alson-Milkman said.<\/p>\n The class was created by the FPPC<\/a> to help candidates who commit minor violations to avoid getting \u201ca mark on their record\u201d \u2014 or a financial penalty.<\/p>\n State of play<\/p>\n \u2014 CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: We\u2019ve told you in recent weeks about issues surrounding the Homeless Count: the failure to count a 600-bed homeless shelter in 2024 and 2025, which may have skewed this year\u2019s numbers, and the wildly diverging numbers in Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson\u2019s South L.A. district. On Wednesday, the council instructed the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to report back on some of the discrepancies<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 VENDORS VEXED: Bass has ordered the LAPD to stop issuing criminal citations<\/a> to street vendors and remove any that were erroneously issued. The mayor\u2019s office took that step after learning that citations were being incorrectly handed to vendors in MacArthur Park, a situation reported by LA Public Press<\/a>. The street vending issue has been a flashpoint in the mayor\u2019s race in recent weeks.<\/p>\n \u2014 UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: With the mayor\u2019s race heating up, Raman\u2019s record on homelessness has come under fresh scrutiny<\/a>, particularly her time overseeing the council\u2019s housing and homelessness committee. Raman has touted her work in identifying less expensive strategies for tackling the crisis. Critics say her tenure as chair hasn\u2019t adequately met the moment.<\/p>\n \u2014 AUDITING THE GAMES: Mejia, the city controller, called on LA28, the committee organizing the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, to turn over reports<\/a> on its finances. Mejia said the private committee has fully complied with only two out of nine requirements of its contract with the city. The controller issued his statement on the same day that several lawmakers called on Trump to provide much-needed transportation funding for the event.<\/p>\n \u2014 NO IFS, AND OR PHENIBUTS: The City Council instructed the city attorney to regulate phenibut, a drug that\u2019s available at gas stations and being abused as a nervous system depressant. The regulations<\/a> would include warning labels, a prohibition on sales to people under 21 and a ban on sales near schools and daycare centers.<\/p>\n \u2014 WHISTLE BLOWER SPEAKS: The police officer who recorded his colleagues making racist remarks told The Times<\/a> that the LAPD \u201cruined my life.\u201d Council members had been planning to formally condemn Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman over his filing of 16 felony counts against Officer Daniel Flores. But they shelved that plan on Tuesday after those charges were reduced to misdemeanors<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 PROGRAMMING NOTE: Our newsletter will be going dark for the Labor Day holiday weekend. We\u2019ll see you again on Sept. 12. <\/p>\n QUICK HITSWhere is Inside Safe? The mayor\u2019s signature homelessness program went to the Westside, focusing on an area around Venice Boulevard and Glendon Avenue, which is represented by Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky. That\u2019s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com<\/a>. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here<\/a> to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record \u2014 our City Hall newsletter. 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On the docket next week: As we mentioned previously, the DSA will wrap up its endorsement vote in the mayor\u2019s race.Stay in touch<\/p>\n