Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu announced Thursday that he has filed his declaration of intention to become a candidate and launched his reelection campaign for City Council District Four.
“In 2015, I ran a grassroots campaign based on one thing: Putting the people’s voice back in City Hall,” Ryu said in his announcement. “Over the past four years, we have achieved historic reforms and built brand-new programs to improve our democracy, our city and life in Council District Four.”
Ryu also released a video advertisement titled ”Reformer,” which details his work on City Council.
According to data from the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, Ryu has amassed a large re-election campaign fund, reported (Sept. 30) at more than $786,000.
His current opponents Susan Collins, Richard Joseph, Sarah Kate Levy and Nithya Raman — combined — have not raised half of that.
Levy has raised more than $203,000, Raman has raised about $105,000 and Collins has raised $35,000. Joseph has raised nothing so far, and his last campaign finance filing was submitted in June.
Levy on her campaign page says if she is elected, she will “will fight for affordable housing, near where Angelenos work and play and go to school,” work to make the city’s streets safer and legislate to increase the city’s urban forest.
Raman has been an advocate for the homeless, appearing in various social media posts regarding the issues and on her campaign website mentioned Council District Four’s homeless population increased 53% compared to last year, based on the county’s most recent numbers. She said she wants to create more affordable housing and reach the city’s climate change goals by 2030.
Collins also said her number-one issue is to address the homeless crisis and to bring more transparency to government. She also said she wants to support legislation that would create “tougher laws” regarding animal abuse.
Collins is the only other candidate who had filed their intent as of Thursday, according to the City Clerk’s Office.
Ryu, a health center director by profession, is currently the City Council’s chairman of the Health, Education, Neighborhood, Arts and River Committee, and he recently led the effort to create a children’s savings account for Los Angeles Unified School District first-graders.
The councilman has also been battling with the Federal Aviation Administration regarding flight paths, particularly over his district, which is adjacent to Hollywood.
“But the work is just getting started — we have so much left to accomplish and major reforms to make in City Hall,” Ryu said. “I am proud of the partnerships I’ve built and the broad coalition of support I have gained since entering office, and I look forward to engaging even more people in this important work as we march to victory on March 3, 2020.”