harris-dawson

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 on the issue this week.

The council has the power to call a special election for a vacant seat, installing a nonvoting caretaker in the interim, said Josué Marcus, a spokesperson for the city clerk’s office. The council also could appoint an interim replacement, one with voting power, to fill a seat until a special election is held and those results are finalized, he said.

The council also could appoint a voting member to fill the seat until the end of Raman’s term, which concludes in December 2028.

Harris-Dawson declined to say whether he has a preference for any of those options.

“We haven’t ruled anything out,” he said in an interview.

Raman takes office as mayor Dec. 14. The council is scheduled to go on winter recess the following day. Harris-Dawson said Tuesday that he does not plan on having the council decide how to fill Raman’s vacant seat until after the council returns from the holiday break.

Stella Stahl, a Raman spokesperson, said her office has already received a policy briefing on “potential pathways forward.” Raman, she said, believes that district residents deserve effective representation and “continuity of services.”

“She looks forward to a thoughtful process that puts their interests first,” Stahl said in an email.

In 2022, the council selected Hutt, a former state legislative staffer, to temporarily replace Ridley-Thomas as a voting council member as he fought federal corruption charges. The following year, after Ridley-Thomas had been convicted and forced from office, the council reappointed Hutt to serve out the remainder of his term.

Hutt won her own election to represent the South L.A. district in 2024.

After the abrupt resignation of Council President Nury Martinez in 2022, then-Council President Mitch O’Farrell designated the office of the chief legislative analyst, which advises the council on policy matters, to serve as the nonvoting caretaker of her vacant seat until a special election could be held. Her replacement, Imelda Padilla, was elected the following year.

Councilmember Traci Park , who represents part of the Westside, said the council shouldn’t make any decision without first hearing from Raman’s constituents.

“I strongly urge the Council President to engage directly with CD4 leaders and residents to discuss their needs and vision for the next two years,” she said in a statement. “Whether it’s an appointment, election or both, residents deserve a say in their future.”

Leo Daube, a spokesperson for Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, said his boss believes that district voters “should have the opportunity to decide who they want to represent them on the city council, and that there should be a special election as soon as possible.”

“She does not believe a candidate for that seat should be appointed by the City Council before a special election is held,” Daube said in a statement.

On the eastern end of Raman’s district, Debra Matlock, president of the Los Feliz Improvement Assn., said she too believes that a special election should be held. She recommended that the council appoint one of Raman’s staffers to serve as the district’s caretaker in the intervening six to nine months.

Meanwhile, at least two people are looking to run for Raman’s seat.

Jimmy Biblarz, who served as a senior advisor and campaign counsel to Raman’s mayoral campaign, said he is prepared to launch a campaign if a special election is called. A resident of Hollywood, he said he is focused for now on putting together next month’s mayoral inauguration ceremony.

Deputy City Atty. Ethan Weaver, who lost to Raman in 2024, said he too would run for the seat if a special election were held.