Nithya Raman Fields Concerns over DSA ties

Is Los Angeles ready to embrace a mayor with ties to the Democratic Socialists of America? Last week’s mayoral debate shows the answer may be no, at least for some.

“There’s concern among some people about the growing influence of DSA — and what it will lead to. Anarchy? Government intrusion?” a moderator for the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association’s debate said to 4th District Council member Nithya Raman.

It didn’t take long before Raman — who says she’s both a member of the DSA Los Angeles and the Democratic Party — began drawing comparisons to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after announcing her bid for mayor in February. Both are pushing housing development, along with standing behind tenant protections and catering to the evil landlord narrative.

Given the hype around Mamdani, particularly for young New Yorkers, Raman isn’t necessarily fighting the parallels being drawn between the two, but she knows her audience and isn’t afraid to stray from the DSA path.

“There’s plenty of things that DSA members say and do that I disagree with,” Raman said at the debate.

She pointed to her proposal — made days before announcing her candidacy — for carveouts to the Measure ULA property transfer tax, which adds a 4 to 5.5 percent tax on all real estate transactions in the city above $5.4 million.

Along with recommending retroactive exemptions for Pacific Palisades fire victims, Raman suggested a 15-year plan for new or “substantial rehabilitation” of commercial projects. Despite having been a ULA cheerleader, Raman cited a slowed multifamily development pipeline and lack of investment from the industry as reasons behind her proposal, which the council didn’t advance.

“I fought to reform [ULA] against real pushback from the DSA and from a number of people who had endorsed me in my last race,” Raman said during the debate. “I took the political hits, and I still believe it needs reform.” (The exemption for Palisades is going on the November ballot but that’s the only amendment up for a vote at this time.)

Even as she pushed back against being put in a box, her team recently announced plans to hire Fight Agency for TV ads — the progressive consulting group that worked on Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. The agency came under fire recently due to its ties with Graham Platner, who was in the race for a U.S. Senate seat in Maine before stepping back following an allegation of sexual assault.

When asked about this hire at the debate, Raman pointed to the agency’s success with Mamdani before flipping the script on Mayor Karen Bass for working with Yusef Robb of tk/Communications. Robb recently began consulting Lineage Logistics, the company whose Boyle Heights warehouse burned down in June, wreaking havoc on the community. Bass said she ceased advisory services, which were unpaid and voluntary, with Robb after learning he was working with Lineage.

Despite the constant finger pointing during the debate, the truth is L.A. is either going to have a card-holding DSA mayor or a Democratic mayor who’s had her toe dipped in socialist waters since the early days of her career — including traveling to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade and empathetic remarks after the passing of Fidel Castro.

This was underscored by Bass and Raman outlining similar stances on returning authority over homelessness services to the city (rather than the current city-county joint agency), working with residents to incorporate higher density housing in communities without disrupting neighborhoods and removing bureaucratic barriers to building housing, The Real Deal previously reported. But it’s worth noting Bass criticized Raman, who’s slightly more development friendly, for having “a rigid understanding of housing first” when it comes to curbing homelessness.

Whether it’s comfort with the status quo, fear of what a Mamdani-esque administration could mean for L.A. real estate or some combination, the industry seems to be behind Bass based on campaign contributions. Since her primary win, Bass reeled in money from Crescent Heights’ Beverly Hills-based partner Elliott Kahn, luxury resi developer Ramtin Ray Nosrati, Thomas Safran of Thomas Safran & Associates and Michael Delijani of Delson Investment Company, along with several small-scale construction and development firms.

Solely counting donations from after the primary, Bass had secured a little over $32,000 from people and organizations tied to real estate, as of July 31. On the other hand, Raman brought in just over $7,000 — primarily from the architecture scene. She did receive an endorsement earlier this month from the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters.

“For the past four years, the only thing built consistently in L.A. [was] frustration,” Favian Guillen, executive secretary-treasurer of the WSRCC, said in a press release. “Nithya Raman understands what it takes to build housing and to make this city work.”