"Ka-BOOM: Exploding Motor Homes and Other Dangers Nithya Raman Ignored" by Daniel Guss
Will controversial LA socialist Nithya Raman get the boot after one term like her predecessor David Ryu?
Incumbency is an intoxicating thing.
Last November 17th, I had an eye-popping conversation outside of a supermarket with a signature-gatherer for LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman. Since “Daniel” carried a satchel with “Democratic Socialists of America,” DSA, emblazoned on it, I asked him questions that challenged his assertions of her suitability to remain in office.
“Yeah, we didn’t like that stuff, so we called her in to straighten her out,” he told me.
What Daniel referred to was the group’s rule that, “elected officials endorsed by DSA-LA are expected to co-govern with the chapter to realize the Democratic Socialist Program (DSP),” as stated in the DSA’s recent censure of Raman for failing to “uphold this commitment in seeking and accepting an endorsement from Democrats for Israel-Los Angeles (DFI-LA)…”
That’s how intoxicating incumbency is; the DSA resents DFI’s endorsement of Raman because it apparently fears losing her undivided attention on matters outside the scope of her actual authority.
But it didn’t rescind its endorsement of her.
Incumbency is that intoxicating to all who seek it and seek adjacency to it.
You can read DSA-LA’s censure of Nithya Raman here.
Raman refused to address Daniel’s claims.
Meanwhile, Rome Burns
At an LA City Council committee meeting, I asked Raman about continuous dangers like a decrepit motor home that literally exploded on the streets of Sherman Oaks.
Raman simply shrugged, as though she was unaware of it. And neither she nor her staff showed any interest in finding out about the terrifying incident, like where and when it happened… or whether anyone was hurt or killed.
That’s hard to believe, given that the explosion triggered a substantial LAFD response and that the ancient vehicle was parked between the upscale Gelson’s supermarket and multi-million dollar homes across the street… where even more old motor homes were parked.
The video was shot by Paul Scrivano, a Sherman Oaks businessman who made national headlines when Raman ignored his concerns about a local homeless man hurling a bag of human excrement at him, leading to Raman bizarrely claiming that video evidence that Scrivano sent to her had “crossed a boundary.”
Actually, no.
That’s exactly what an elected official is supposed to deal with, Nithya…
Raman continues to dodge questions about these motor homes posing an imminent danger to anyone within hundreds of feet of them. #RomanOaks #ShermanOaks
Nopiates
Last year, I reported that a drug store in Raman’s district was robbed of its entire supply of opiates when burglars broke into the pharmacy through a wall in the vacant adjoining store.
When Raman refused to field questions about it, I submitted a public records request to her office for all records related to the theft, including any notices she sent to schools and parents about the potential for those drugs to appear in local schools, playgrounds and recreation centers.
Her office provided no documents in response, meaning that she is either withholding them or simply unwilling to confront the risk these deadly conditions continue to pose to her constituents and throughout the city.
The latter seems likeliest, given that Raman is the same politician who blames Toyota for the surge in catalytic converter theft because they are too easy to steal, rather than the people who actually steal them.
Bodies Still Piling Up
When I tried to get Raman to address the epidemic of dead and nearly dead homeless people piling up on the streets, she wouldn’t field questions without my assuring her of favorable coverage of effort rather than outcomes.
In other words, Raman wanted the proverbial little league “participation trophy” regardless of whether her ideas actually accomplished anything.
I told the Councilmember that while I am always willing to hear her ideas, I won’t do it in lieu of her fielding direct questions at the same time. She can always get that kid glove handling from the LA Times which, not surprisingly, endorsed Raman for a second term.
But This Column Plays Fairly
I was recently contacted by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, LAPPL, because it wanted to discuss the ongoing danger that it feels Raman, like embattled LA County District Attorney George Gascón, continues to pose to Los Angeles.
They make a fair and reasonable point.
But I didn’t accept the invitation because the LAPPL consistently refuses to respond to other inquiries from this column, including one about its vice president and former LAPD Detective Jerretta Sandoz knowingly advancing an untruthful story about socialist LA City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez after the allegations had already been debunked.
As is the case with Raman or anyone else, I am always willing to hear-out concerns, but I don’t allow subjects and sources to cherry-pick or control their preferred narrative.
When I provided the LAPPL’s rep proof of Sandoz’s dodge, they said, “Okay, thanks for sending this over… let us check it out.”
The LAPPL never got back to me, and did not respond to my follow-up.
My door remains open should they care to speak openly and honestly.
To them…
To all of these entities…
It is all about money, power and control.
Vote your own best interests, my friends. Because few, if any, of them will do it for you. Vote and hold-on tightly to your wallet, family and community.
They all want a piece of it.
I’ll be here calling the balls and strikes.
(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a multi-award-winning journalist. In June ‘23, he won the LA Press Club’s “Online Journalist of the Year” and “Best Activism Journalism” awards. He has been City Editor for the Mayor Sam network, and a featured contributor for 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.)