LA Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman faced off in the first mayoral debate of the general election, and both managed to earn terrible grades.
For 90 minutes at the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, the two attacked each other, interrupted each other, and told each other what a bad job they were doing.
It was hard to disagree.
At one point, even the moderator lost patience.
During an exchange on homelessness, he scolded both candidates. “The audience doesn’t know who to believe, and they don’t have a lot of confidence that either of you have a definitive plan.”
Ouch.
Neither candidate seemed to have any new ideas for solving LA’s problems. Neither candidate seemed up to the challenges of the office.
Mayor Bass spoke vaguely about transforming the system for dealing with homelessness, and about creating a new central economic development authority, as if she hadn’t been in office for four years.
Raman managed to step on one rake after another. When Bass declared, “You have missed several thousand votes because you won’t show up to work,” Raman, amazingly, said, “Yeah.”
When a resident asked what the candidates would do about the fact that street vendors are outcompeting brick-and-mortar restaurants by evading regulations and taxes, Raman talked about how great vendors are.
Bass didn’t miss the opportunity to land a punch: “I do not think that you should have a food vendor in front of a restaurant, period,” she said, to applause.
Bizarrely, Raman also brought up the fact that she had once endorsed Bass. She failed to explain why she had changed her mind.
The only positive point the challenger managed to put across was the fact that homeless encampments had declined in her own council district.
But Raman struggled to explain why she had voted against a city ordinance banning homeless encampments near schools and day care centers.
There was evident frustration in the room against Raman, who represents Sherman Oaks as part of Council District 4. One of the questions demanded to know why Raman had not been more responsive to local businesses. All Raman could say was that voters in other parts of the city felt “let down” by Bass.
“Of course there’s gonna be people that complain,” Raman concluded, attempting to explain why her own constituents were unhappy with her.
Raman also fielded a question about fears of the growing influence of the Democratic Socialists of America, including the rise of antisemitism. She said that while she was a member of the socialist organization, she had charted an independent course.
At one point, Raman was asked: “What, if anything, have you done to protect single-family homes?” She waffled, ending with a warning that the attacks on single-family homes would continue unless the city built enough of the dense high-rises that the state clearly prefers.
There could not have been a more tone-deaf response. The moderator then started arguing with Raman about SB 79, a recent state law that overrides local zoning to encourage high-rises near transit hubs.
Bass insisted on getting a word in edgewise; she ought to have allowed Raman to continue to dig the hole she was in.
Later, Raman landed a jab about Mayor Bass’s campaign staff running crisis communications for Lineage, the food storage company involved in the recent Boyle Heights fire.
Bass had to admit it wasn’t a good look.
But Raman couldn’t explain why she had hired staff from disgraced Maine Senate candidate’s Graham Platner’s campaign. Her best defense: She also hired staff from Zohran Mamdani’s campaign. (As if that were a good thing.)
Both candidates seemed determined to lose. Neither of them mentioned the challenge of rebuilding after the LA fires last year.
Both deserved to earn an “F.” Bass looked only slightly more competent. So, “D-minus” for her.
She also stole a line from Spencer Pratt, the insurgent candidate who shook up the primary election.
Bass — surprisingly — emphasized the importance of fighting drugs and mental illness among the homeless.
As if she hadn’t been running a “housing first” policy for four years.
At least she learned something from Pratt. It was a reminder of how much he brought to the election.
His absence is keenly felt.
Joel Pollak is Opinion editor of the California Post.
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