LA leaders react to Raman's win in mayoral race

But I'm going to hop back on here. This is Steve Hilton earlier today, wrapped up his remarks, and he says he's going to be back. And he was referring to, of course, the last time the state had a Republican governor in Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was just about to take some reporter questions. We will bring that to you as Fox Local warrants here. But we want to get you to this important conversation. I'm glad she's able to join us. This is L.A. County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath. She was with us earlier. In the week, she, of course, through her endorsement toward Nithya Raman, Nithya Raman proving to be victorious in the contentious race for L.A. mayor and supervisor. Good to have you. Thanks so much for hopping on. Oh, you know what? I'm so sorry. I'm in charge of audio. I'm in charge of audio. I just brought up your audio. Forgive me. I was a couple seconds behind. Thank you for being with me. Thank you. How are you feeling? I am so elated. I'm so excited about what's possible for Los Angeles, our entire region right now. I'm excited that we have made history in electing Nithya Raman, the next mayor of Los Angeles, making history with Marissa Roy being the next city attorney of the city of Los Angeles. Just really thrilled about what this means for all of us. Now, we know we've only heard from Nithya Raman, mayor elect. Through the video statement that she put out, and we have played that for our viewers here on Fox Local, I'm sure you've spoken to her. Can you kind of take us, what can you tell us about that conversation when the news came out this morning? Well, you can imagine she's thrilled, and you can also imagine that she has a lot of big plans ahead. You know, I know when I spoke with her yesterday morning, we were already talking about You know, what priorities she has in place and things that I could do to be helpful to her. And I think that's. What everyone's eager to do is to help a mayor be successful and create a change that she advocated for and that she campaigned on. You know, this there was a lot of discussion around, you know, friendships at City Hall and things of that nature. And I found that to be deeply disappointing because I just don't think that's what most voters want to hear their candidates talking about. They want to hear you talking about your plans on affordability, on, you know, connecting transportation throughout the region and so much more, Which is why I wanted to get into the race and help us refocus. on what matters. But I think that council member was successful because she really tapped into people's frustration and she spoke directly to the public. And I think that was ultimately what delivered her the big win. Well, you've certainly been ultimately her spokesperson. And with that said, talking about priorities, legislative priorities, what are those priorities on day one? And let's say the first 100 days, what is she focused on most? Sure. Well, look, I have been happy to advocate for her, to endorse her and to be alongside her in the campaign. But make no mistake, she is a woman of her own mind and she will be driving how she sees her term as mayor and her administration and putting her staff and her vision together. I think she's laid out already on her website plan she has and things that she would like to see done in short order. So I take her at her word, and I think that she won again because she laid out plans, saw the vision for Los Angeles, and how to actually achieve the things that people want to see. I expect that she will work on issues of homelessness as she has done throughout her time as a city council member. And I look forward to being a partner with her, bridging between city and county in ways that have never happened historically. And I know that personally, I'm. Working on making sure that we are focused on the services components specifically as it relates to mental health services and how that works within the city of Los Angeles and throughout our whole region. So there's work happening there, but I'm excited to see how she announces each of her priorities and how she will unfold them with all of us. I do know that as we've talked, setting it. Table to bring people into the conversation, you know, have different voices and different perspectives and how we get things done is how she wants to approach problem solving. And I think that's a significant shift. And I'm looking forward to that. How do you view the conversation around the potential of removing LAPD chief Jim McDonald? Well, you know, she's going to have a lot of tough decisions ahead. I think she's been trying to tackle that conversation throughout the campaign and what her next steps on that will be. I definitely don't know. But what I do know is that she has talked also about how you keep communities safe for kids to be able to go to school. She's talked about safety from the perspective of you know all of the dysfunction that exists inside the city when you don't have working streets and street lights and infrastructure so I think there are a lot of ways she's going to be addressing safety not only through that appointment but through many different approaches within the city and hopefully in partnership with the county we'll be able to strengthen what's already going on. Do you want to weigh in on that, though? Do you agree that Chief McDonald should be removed? Again, that's a decision the city is going to have to make. You know, I think the sheriff decided by all of Los Angeles County. And so the voters have spoken. I'm thrilled that Sheriff Luna is back. I proudly supported him because I think he's been a strong leader and I think he's been a good partner across a lot of different perspectives to deliver results that have I have been long overdue. So I'm, he's continuing for another person and that he will continue to hire Los Angeles region. And I will partner with him in those efforts to continue to prioritize safety and the reforms that, that come with having, you know, safety and public safety departments that have the public's trust. Have you spoken to mayor bats? I have not spoken to me. I want to address that. I know it made no secret about the differences that we've had, but for me, it's not personal. I know that she has a long record of great service, and I just think that people were ready for generational change. And so, you know, I wish her the best in whatever she chooses to do next. And I know that she will continue to invest herself in. In making Los Angeles a great place to be, she has for a number of years. And I know that this next phase is really about how do we this seismic shift that happened not only in Los Angeles, but across the country in response to people's overwhelming frustration with what the status quo has been. And, you know, how do we turn a page on what hasn't worked and start laying out the foundation for what will work for a future, not just for this moment, but for generations to come? All right. Well, the county and the city work hand in hand. Is there anything, any order of business on the board of supervisors that you'd like to discuss right now? Well, you know, the issues that have been top of mind for us across city and county have been the services related to solving the crisis of homelessness. But we also know that there are Thank you. We need to come together as a region to make sure those resources actually reach us here. We have a lot of work to do on emergency preparedness, and I expect that the county will continue to build out our Office of Emergency Management so we can be a coordinator for the entire region and lead in emergency preparedness and response when crisis hits. And how we do that in partnership, not only with the city of Los Angeles, but throughout all of the 87 other cities and 100 unincorporated communities is going. to be, you know, a continued challenge for the county, but it's going to take all of us coming together. There's a lot of work to be done throughout the region, and I'm excited to have partners who want to roll up their sleeves and do that work, both in the city of Lofton and in many other cities throughout the region. So I'm excited about what this moment means for all of us. And we know that there is a newly created county executive position. Do you plan to seek I have been encouraged to look at it. I am definitely looking at how we would pursue, you know, making that announcement and, you know, coming to a decision on, you know, how we put that team together. But, you know, I've made no secret about the fact that. People encouraging me to consider, you know, they encourage me to run for mayor there. I've had people encourage me to run for this seat. And, you know, I think that what people are hungry for is a new kind of leadership. And I think they're starting to get it with this election. And we just got to continue that reform. And a few of your counterparts, including Supervisor Barger, was here on Fox Local and said that she vowed not to. She is concerned about it being a conflict of interest. How do you see that? Well, I've sought the advice of counsel. There's no local, state, or federal statute that actually defines a conflict. What I actually saw more as a conflict is, you know, trying to discourage people from running for political office while you're doing the people's business. On the dais, we shouldn't be talking about politics. We should be talking about the work that's before us as supervisors. And, you know, so from my standpoint, you know, if the supervisor doesn't want to run For that position for prerogative, but discouraging people trying to influence future elections in that should be done in the arena of politics outside of the Hall of Administration. She's certainly entitled to her opinions. And I know as someone who. has, you know, been working inside the county for decades. I think she's been there since the 1980s. I'm sure that contemplating this level of changes is very difficult and very challenging. But I think people have made very clear that the status quo is unacceptable. Going backwards on reform is unacceptable. They overwhelmingly passed Measure E, which strengthens ethics in the county, which strengthened and affirmed Which that was passed by the voters with Measure J and making sure that we're making critical investments in care first. You know, that work has been done. And when the voters have decided, we should listen to what they have decided. I don't know why Supervisor Barger wants to push back on what the voters decided. She critiqued Measure G for, you know, the impact that it had on Measure J. And yet she didn't support the solve to affirm what the voters had done and spoken about. So, you know, she has her own agenda and she's entitled to that. But I want to be in support of what the people's agenda is. And that's, you know, seeking change to come to Los Angeles County to make it more affordable, to make it more accessible and to make sure that future generations actually have an opportunity to succeed here. Getting back to the race rally mayor again, Mayor-elect Rahman. I want your thoughts on this, and I know time is of the essence, so I'll let you go after this, but I'm very curious. What do you think the biggest misconception is about Nithya Raman? Well, you know, a lot of people have pigeonholed her as an ideologue, and that is not the experience I have working with her. She's someone who is very thoughtful. She listens. She considers things. She does have her own points of view, and she is more often moved by data. And that is by anything else. And so sometimes that's hard for people who don't always. the data at their fingertips to persuade her. But I have found, you know, and I think we all saw in this campaign, you know, she was hosted at an event by the former governor, the former Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, also while earning the endorsement of DSA. And, you know, there are a lot of different perspectives throughout Los Angeles. And I'm glad that we have somebody who's open to hearing all of them before she makes decisions. And I think that. That's the kind of people are hungry for. All right. Very good. I've questioned you long enough. Thank you so much for your time. L.A. County. L.A. County. Yeah, good. Good, good. I like the conversation. It's nice. L.A. County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath today talking about Nithya Raman, who is the next mayor, the 44th mayor of Los Angeles. We'll have more of this still to come here on Fox Local Supervisor. Thanks again for your time.