Bass, Raman Clash Over LA’s Climate Record In Mayoral Forum

LOS ANGELES, CA — Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilwoman Nithya Raman shared their views on the environment and climate during a forum Thursday evening, with the incumbent describing herself as a champion of environmental justice, and her challenger saying City Hall needs to do more.

The two candidates battling for the mayor's office took part in a forum organized by a coalition of environmental justice, climate, labor, public health and community organizations, including the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters, SCOPE LA, Sierra Club, Los Angeles Neighborhood Sustainability Alliance, Communities for a Better Environment and Clean and Healthy California.

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Bass and Raman spoke separately during the forum, fielding questions about issues such as environmental justice, extreme heat, air pollution, oil drilling, rising energy costs, housing affordability, public safety, emergency response and community health.

"I have devoted my entire adult life to working in inner-city communities, which is why environmental justice is such a critical issue," Bass said during the forum moderated by LAist senior reporter Erin Stone. "I have a background in health, which is why environmental justice, and to me, (environmental justice) is also a health issue, and it's an economic issue."

Bass touted what she called a history of fighting for the environmental health of communities while serving in the state Assembly and in Congress. And she said she has continued that fight during her time as mayor.

"The last two years alone, we have had ... 100,000 new green jobs," she said. "We soon are going to have by 2028, our entire city bus fleet will be electric. We are are coal free. We're one of the few cities in the nation that is coal free, and we have 160 new electric buses right now.

"I regularly interact with international and national leaders and I want to assure you, we have an international and a national reputation for our work on environmental concerns."

She said her focus going forward will be "on the communities that are disproportionately impacted by greenhouse gasses and by the environment, impacted economically, impacted in a health way."

Raman, who is looking to unseat Bass in November, countered that she believes City Hall has not done enough to respond to environmental concerns.

"Our transition to clean energy has slowed," she said. "Efforts to build a resilient water supply, close neighborhood drilling sites, make our streets safer — all of these have slowed over the last four years. I'm here because I believe it's time to make a change. Los Angeles needs to lead again on climate.

"The communities burdened for generations by oil wells, by freeways, by dirty air have waited long enough," she said. "We must clean our air. We must lower our utility bills. We must create good green jobs.

"But our climate policy cannot run on autopilot. A mayor has to appoint leaders who share this leadership.

"... Together, with your partnership — because I can't do it without you — we're going to restore Los Angeles as a national climate leader," she said.

With the Southland recently emerging from an extended heat wave, Raman said the city needs to improve conditions for residents facing rising utility bills due to rising temperatures, including support for a city heat officer and taking steps such as planting trees in communities that lack them.

"We have neighborhoods that have a lot of trees. We have neighborhoods that have very few trees, and the neighborhoods that have very few trees tend to be lower income," Raman said. "... We need more tree cover in those communities, but we can't do it until we resource those departments in our city ... in order to actually make sure that we're planting the tree cover that we desperately need."

She said the issue of extreme heat gets less attention than emergencies like fires and floods "because it's quieter."

"But it actually impacts many more people on a regular basis than many of the other climate risks that we're facing locally, and we're seeing deaths as a result of it," she said.

Bass concurred that increasing the tree canopy in low-income neighborhoods such as South Los Angeles "is something that absolutely has to be addressed."

"But you're also describing a neighborhood again where I've been my entire life, where the housing stock is old," she said. "No one had air conditioning. I remember in my home I didn't need air conditioning until the last few years, clearly because of global warming, and it is absolutely an emergency."

She also said the Department of Water and Power has a variety of programs allowing people to cut their electricity bills, "but typically in our communities, we don't access these programs — they're too complicated. ... And so one of the things we have to do is make those programs more accessible."

The forum came amid an increasingly active mayoral race, with both candidates picking up endorsements and sharpening their attacks on each other's records.

Unite Here Local 11, which represents more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona, endorsed Raman Tuesday.

"We need a mayor who will stand with the working people who keep this city running and who isn't afraid to take on powerful corporate interests when they threaten our communities," Unite Here Local 11 co-president Ada Briceño said in a statement.

Bass, meanwhile, announced Tuesday that she had received the endorsement of Spanish-language publication La Opinión.

"La Opinión is an institution in our city, and I'm proud to receive their endorsement for the work we have been doing to make LA safer and more affordable," Bass said in a statement.

The endorsements followed an attack by the Bass campaign Monday accusing Raman of missing nearly 3,000 votes during her time on the City Council. Bass' campaign launched a website, NoShowNithya.com, highlighting the absences and criticizing Raman's attendance record.

Raman's campaign called the allegations a "desperate" attack and said it was "ironic coming from a mayor who was missing during our city's most devastating emergencies."

Bass and Raman previously faced off Aug. 19 in a 90-minute debate conducted by the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council and Sherman Oaks/Encino Chamber of Commerce.

The candidates sparred over homelessness, housing and public safety, with Bass questioning Raman's record during six years on the City Council and Raman criticizing the mayor's handling of city services and homelessness.

Raman touted a 49% decrease in unsheltered homelessness in her Fourth Council District and criticized the cost and effectiveness of Bass' Inside Safe homelessness program. Bass defended the program and argued that Los Angeles needs to overhaul a homelessness system divided among the city, county and Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

The candidates also clashed over policing. Raman defended her opposition to a 2023 pay raise for Los Angeles Police Department officers, arguing the contract contributed to the city's financial problems, while Bass criticized Raman for previously supporting efforts to "defund the police." Both candidates have supported expanding unarmed crisis-response programs.

Housing and the entertainment industry were also points of disagreement. Bass highlighted efforts to fast-track housing construction and support local film production, while Raman argued the city needs to do more to keep entertainment jobs in Los Angeles.

City News Service