In the 4th District city council campaign that is often described by candidate David Ryu as “outsider versus insider”, candidate Carolyn Ramsay continued to pick up endorsements of political heavyweights, including Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, and on Tuesday, Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Mayor Eric Garcetti endorsed CD4 candidate Carolyn Ramsay, who was surrounded by supporters outside her campaign headquarters. (photo by Jonathan Van Dyke)

“This is somebody poised to be exactly what we need for the 4th District and the independent voice we need in city hall,” Garcetti said to a crowd of Ramsay supporters at her headquarters near the intersection of Melrose and Rossmore avenues. “Carolyn Ramsay isn’t bought and paid for by anyone except for the volunteers and residents of this district who will depend on her.”

Garcetti said he loved Ramsay’s idea for a Hollywood Innovation Zone to bring creative and tech jobs to the area, and touted Ramsay’s similar view to his own on reducing the gross receipts tax and increasing the minimum wage.

“You need someone with experience that knows how to get things done, but with the backbone to say, ‘No, my constituents need something different’,” Garcetti added.

Ramsay said the praise should be directed to her campaign volunteers, but said she was honored.

“In the last two years, [Garcetti] is leading the city in the right direction on so many levels,” she said, noting they would work together to protect neighborhoods, build the economy, fix infrastructure and create a sustainable city.

On April 30, more than 100 people gathered at the Forest Lawn Hall of Liberty as Ramsay and Ryu were grilled by members of the district’s neighborhood councils.

Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council, UCLA Government and Community Relations, NBC4 and approximately a dozen other neighborhood councils hosted the forum. NBC4’s Conan Nolan moderated the debate and panelists included Hollywood United Neighborhood Council president Susan Swan, Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council president Milagros Lizarraga, Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council president Ryan Altoon and Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council member Jack Humphreville.

Neighborhood council influence was discussed frequently during the debate.

Ryu, who is member of the Wilshire Center Koreatown Neighborhood Council, said it was difficult for neighborhood councils to feel heard.

CD4 candidates David Ryu and Carolyn Ramsay addressed questions from neighborhood councils at a debate on April 30. (photo by Jonathan Van Dyke)

“We voted against so many projects, but it’s like spinning our wheels,” he said, pledging to listen to neighborhood councils’ votes. “I’m going to tell [developers], don’t come to me, go to the community first, and not just the [neighborhood] council, but also the homeowners associations.”

Ryu added that he does not believe the neighborhood council process is broken.

“But when neighborhood councils do great work, do the council members listen?” he asked.

Ramsay said she supports a larger budget for neighborhood councils, so the groups can fund local art initiatives, invest in traffic mitigations and work on local school projects.

“That is the role that binds the community to the city as a whole,” she said.

Ramsay said her years of experience on Councilman Tom LaBonge’s staff allowed her to build strong relationships with neighborhood councils and the community.

In one of the only back-and-forth exchanges during the debate, Ramsay said that Ryu had only attended three of his own neighborhood council meetings in the last year.

Ryu didn’t deny the claim, but said he has been busy running the campaign and visiting other neighborhood council meetings within the district. He said that when any intrusive development came up in his own council, he made sure to be present to vote against it.

Development and construction projects were a focus of the debate.

Ramsay began her candidate introduction by applauding a decision by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to halt further progress on the Millennium Hollywood project, which she said is a project that needs to be scaled down.

Ramsay said it was important that the 4th District maintain its older, affordable housing inventory in the face of increased development.

“I’m committed to preserving the older apartment buildings because they are also the fabric of Los Angeles,” she said.

Ryu said that it is important that projects such as the Mosaic (at La Brea Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard) and 8150 Sunset were scaled to neighborhood-appropriate sizes.

“We need to engage early and often [on these projects], not after,” he said.

He said that the Millennium ruling was a good example of how the city was not listening and properly engaging with its residents.

“Lawsuits don’t help anyone,” Ryu said. “At least [with better outreach] we could have curtailed a lot of these problems.”

In regards to the Hollywood (101) Freeway’s Barham offramp, which is set to close due to an NBCUniversal (NBCU) expansion, both candidates said they are committed to working with NBCU and the community to find a solution to keep it open.

The candidates were asked about future bicycle infrastructure, particularly on streets where parking spots might be removed for bicycle lanes.

“It’s really hard to gauge the effectiveness of the current plans,” said Ryu, adding that he believes it is important to make sure any plan is relieving vehicle traffic, not further congesting the streets.

“You have to work with the community and really look street-by-street and ask, ‘What’s the best road and path?’” Ramsay said.

She said bicycle lanes should be constructed inside of street parking, so that cyclists would be safe from opening doors and traffic.

In regards to sidewalk repairs, Ryu said it might be time to hire private contractors for one-time projects that need to be finished now. Ramsay said it might be smart to fund sidewalk repairs through a nonprofit organization to expedite the process.

Public safety, and specifically the Los Angeles Fire Department, were discussed at length.

Ramsay said she is working on innovative solutions to decrease response times, including the creation of a cellphone app to help with evacuation efforts.

Ryu said he would support creating special paramedic units to go out on specific 911 calls.

Both candidates said they would find ways to work with the Los Angeles Unified School (LAUSD) district and local community colleges.

Ramsay said it was important to work with school board members about how they can prepare students for an evolving economy that includes clean energy and creative jobs.

Ryu touted a community parks initiative, which invests money to keep school parks open after-hours and on the weekends.

The candidates were pressed by the panelists about curtailing party houses in the Hollywood Hills and what they could do about rental websites like Airbnb. LaBonge had tried introduced a party house measure in city council that stalled.

Ramsay vowed to implement new regulations and finish what LaBonge started.

“I’m not asking for a second chance here,” Ryu countered, adding that he would push for changes right away, and work at passing changes regulating party houses.

Throughout the debate, Ryu stressed that he would listen to constituents and frequently meet with them. Ramsay did the same, but pointed to relationships that she’s already built and the experience she has gained over the years. She added that she hadn’t really seen Ryu before he emerged during the campaign.

“It’s so easy to say I’m going to work with you, it’s much harder to roll up your sleeves and do this in earnest,” Ramsay said.

“I never said this is going to be easy,” Ryu countered. “We [myself and issue stakeholders] are probably going to be screaming at each other and you are going to get some and give some … but it’s about working at it.”