Who will fill Raman's council seat? Community groups brace for a fight

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Set us as preferred Even before Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman won her campaign for mayor, residents in her Hollywood Hills district had begun talking about who might run to replace her after she’s sworn in to her new job next month.But now, with the dust settled on Raman’s mayoral victory, community leaders have begun prepping for a different type of political fight: making sure the City Council moves forward with a special election for Raman’s seat.Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said this week that the council won’t make a decision on the vacancy until next year.Raman, for her part, has not said whether she would want a special election for her 4th District seat, which stretches from Silver Lake to the west San Fernando Valley.Anastasia Mann, president of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council, said she has received numerous calls from people across Raman’s district worried the council will skip a special election and instead select someone to fill the seat until the end of 2028.The council made a similar move several years ago, appointing legislative aide Heather Hutt to serve as a voting member after the indictment of then-Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas on corruption charges.“We just want to have a voice.

That’s the way the system is supposed to work,” Mann said.“It’s not like we have six months left in her term.

We have half of the term left.”On Wednesday, the Encino Property Owners Assn.voted unanimously to ask Raman, Harris-Dawson and the rest of the council to hold a special election so that voters can choose their next representative.“Any other way is essentially backroom anointment,” said Rob Glushon, the group’s president.

“We won’t accept an anointment.”A coalition of neighborhood and business leaders from across the district is scheduled to meet ...