Los Angeles Mayor-elect Nithya Raman is turning to longtime City Hall figures and former aides to ex-Mayor Eric Garcetti as she assembles her incoming administration — despite campaigning on a promise to overhaul the mayor’s office.
Multiple sources told the California Post that Rick Cole, a former Garcetti deputy mayor who later worked for City Controller Kenneth Mejia, is expected to take on a prominent role on Raman’s transition team.
A veteran of Los Angeles politics and a former deputy mayor under Garcetti, Cole would bring extensive experience to Raman’s administration — along with a history of controversy.
The outspoken government reform advocate resigned as Santa Monica city manager in April 2020 amid a severe budget crisis, intense criticism of proposed spending reductions and escalating tensions with public employee unions.
More than 2,800 people signed a petition calling for his removal as Santa Monica faced a projected $226 million budget shortfall through June 2021.
Cole also spent a short period as a senior adviser to DSA-backed Mejia and previously served as city manager of Ventura and Pasadena. He developed a reputation as an aggressive government reformer, often clashing with elected officials and city employees over spending, management and attempts to restructure local government.
More recently, Cole advised Raman’s mayoral campaign without pay and publicly criticized the Bass administration’s management of homelessness spending and oversight.
Cole is expected to work with Andrea Conant, Raman’s current City Council chief of staff and a former public relations executive who spent nearly two decades working with developers, government agencies and community organizations.
Before joining Raman’s office in 2021, Conant was a vice president at public affairs firm Consensus Inc. Her work included major projects such as the LAX Master Plan and Metro’s Gold Line extension.
Her appointment drew criticism because she had represented the developer behind the proposed Mirabel luxury project on Wilshire Boulevard in Raman’s council district.
Neighborhood opponents raised concerns about a possible conflict of interest. Raman’s office defended the hiring, saying Conant had no ongoing financial stake in the project and would not participate in planning decisions related to it.
Jeff Millman, Raman’s campaign manager, is another influential figure with ties to the Garcetti administration. The veteran Democratic strategist also served as an adviser to the former mayor.
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Millman worked on Garcetti’s communications and political strategy and was chief communications officer for Los Angeles’ successful bid to host the 2028 Olympics.
He also managed former Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s 2018 reelection campaign and worked on the successful campaign of Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.
It is not yet clear whether Millman will take a permanent role in Raman’s administration.
Another Garcetti veteran already working with Raman is Dae Levine, who previously served as the former mayor’s communications director.
Levine is now Raman’s deputy chief of staff for policy and communications, helping manage the incoming mayor’s policy agenda and public messaging.
Other senior aides include Mashael Majid, deputy chief of staff for planning, housing and community development; communications director Stella Stahl; and homelessness services director Patrick Siggins.
None of those aides has been publicly confirmed for a permanent position in the mayoral administration.
Raman has only 39 days before taking office on Dec. 14 and assuming leadership of America’s second-largest city.
Her transition is unfolding as Los Angeles confronts an immediate financial test.
The city’s 2027 budget process is already underway. Departments are racing to prepare spending requests, which must be submitted to the mayor’s office by the end of November.
Raman will have until January to review and revise those requests before submitting a proposed budget to the City Council by April 20.
Because the city’s fiscal year begins July 1, Raman will have about four months after taking office to shape her first budget while addressing staffing shortages, rising homelessness costs and competing demands for already strained municipal services.
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