"Another Day, Another Death. But Only Platitudes From Nithya Raman" by Daniel Guss
"Another Day, Another Death. But Only Platitudes From Nithya Raman" by Daniel Guss
Councilmember keeps dodging direct questions as chaos and death continue in her District.
On Sunday, a deranged man climbed to the roof of a gas station in the 14500 block of Ventura Boulevard, after brandishing a knife and making criminal threats against at least one passerby.
An LAPD Mental Evaluation Unit (MEU) was part of the large response to the chaotic scene, where three other homeless people had lost their lives the prior week. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to a local hospital, possibly under the influence of narcotics. He was evaluated and placed on a hold for further evaluation.
Then, earlier today, about a mile away, a man in his 30s who battled addiction for several years was seen in the late morning on Burbank Boulevard in a haze with a light-colored sheet or blanket around him. Sometime before 12pm, he fell asleep under or near where people dump refuse in a nearby alley, and was crushed by a garbage truck. The driver immediately stopped and cooperated with responding LAPD units.
(UPDATE January 29: I can exclusively report that while the deceased man in the alley did struggle with drug addiction, he was not homeless, as has been reported. He bore a resemblance to another man who is homeless and frequently shoots-up in this exact area, as many others do. Appropriate edits have been made to this column.)
I live in this neighborhood. The neighbors and I confirm that the garbage truck drivers here always appear to be extremely cautious in this narrow, close-ended alley, as it usually has vehicles, kids on scooters and bikes, parents pushing strollers and people walking dogs on and off-leash.
(UPDATE January 25: Late in the evening, the LAPD towed the garbage truck, presumably because it may be equipped with cameras that may have recorded the incident, as well as to test the brakes et al.)
A day earlier, Raman’s media flack complained that I should accept their prepared statement instead of responding to my direct questions because, “these statements are accepted by all of our major news outlets here in Los Angeles.”
That’s all well and good for them, but the statement she had offered on Raman’s behalf was trite sentiment and dubious claims like, “we take the most aggressive approach to ending homelessness you will find of any council district in Los Angeles.”
That’s a specious assertion, which is why I told her in advance that I don’t accept statements in lieu of Q&A, especially when there has been nothing but an accountability dodge with my inquiries since she took office in December 2020.
That may be how things work with the mainstream media, but not here, as I discussed last Friday with Randy Wang, guest hosting on “The John Phillips Show” on 790-KABC. (You can listen to the entire interview or jump to the 13:52 mark, where we discuss the recent deaths and chaos in this portion of Raman’s District prior to these two latest incidents.)
While Raman’s unwillingness and discomfort in fielding questions may be her way of coping with the fact that the deaths, disease, filth and violence take place in her District on her watch, that’s the nature of her job.
As it is mine to hold politicians accountable to answer direct questions, and reject flowery words and dubious claims offered on their behalf by paid spokespeople like so many Brooklyn trolley dodgers did back in the day.
That isn’t to say the human tragedies only take place here. While LAPD detectives reconstruct what happened in this random alley today, a little further north in Council District 6, which currently has no representation at all thanks to the recent resignation of Nury Martinez, City Hall’s equal opportunity racist, and all across the city, tragedy continues as normal.
The problem is that our local governments have normalized the abnormal, and that hooey doesn’t sell here, either.
And so it continues, because we keep electing officials based on their gender, race, ethnicity, orientation and personal “I identify as (blank)” declarations, rather than on merit and ideas, alone. Odd, I know. Electing candidates on merit and ideas.
What a novel concept.
Follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport, and sign up for my free newsletter, below.
(Daniel Guss, MBA, was nominated for three 2022 LA Press Club awards and was a runner-up in 2021 and 2020. He is City Editor for Mayor Sam and has contributed to CityWatchLA, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Cumulus Media, KCRW 89.9 FM, KRLA 870 AM, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star-News, Los Angeles Downtown News and the Los Angeles Times in its sports, opinion, entertainment and Sunday Magazine sections among other publishers.)