According to a press release sent out yesterday evening by CD4 for CD4, the group organizing the potential recall of City Councilmember Nithya Raman, the effort has officially been “called off” due to a shortage of petition signatures.
According to the statement:
“While the privately funded and rapidly growing grassroots effort resulted in thousands of residents signing the recall petition — many of whom voted for Ms. Raman — it became clear that CD4 for CD4, the political action committee behind the effort would be unable to obtain 27,405 verified signatures by the deadline of November 4, 2021.”
According to recall proponent Susan Collins, who also ran against Raman for the CD4 seat in the 2020 election, “the reemergence of virus-related challenges significantly slowed the volunteer effort, making it nearly impossible to safely and time-effectively gather the signatures needed by deadline. Additionally impeding the campaign were the overly complex rules, and confusing forms.”
But Collins said the recall coalition still has a long list of complaints about the Council Member, so its efforts are “far from over.” “We’ve connected a large and diverse group of people who are passionate about making Los Angeles safer, cleaner, and healthier,” Collins wrote. So “we intend to be back and strategic about making the most impact.”
The recall was launched in May of this year by Allison B. Cohen, who stepped down from day to day leadership earlier this month. Cohen said in yesterday’s statement that “While the recall may have been stalled by a factor out of our control, it provided Raman notice that constituents were and will continue to watch her carefully….The recall has moved the needle regarding Raman’s responsiveness to the district she serves.”
In a statement to the Buzz this morning, Raman said, “Recall fever” has run rampant in California — as you can see in the attempts to recall Governor Newsom, Councilmember Mike Bonin, and District Attorney George Gascon — wasting taxpayer dollars on a fundamentally undemocratic process. If this week has taught us anything, it’s that the system needs reform.”
Also, said Raman, “This recall attempt never got in the way of doing what we were elected decisively to do. I love the people and the neighborhoods of this district and will continue to work with them to make this an even better place to live, work, and raise our children.”
