As staffing increases for the office of newly installed City Council Member Nithya Raman, neighbors will be glad to know that a new Field Manager has been hired to work with constituents in the Greater Wilshire area. Su In Lee will now be the primary contact person for communities in the areas shown in green on the map above.
In general, this is the area formerly handled by Field Deputy Rob Fisher during David Ryu’s term in office, with some small differences. First, in addition to the slight title change (from “Field Deputy” to “Field Manager”), Lee will handle neighborhood issues in the Greater Wilshire area, but she will not be the primary point person for Miracle Mile and other CD4 areas in the Mid-City West Community Council area, which were also handled by Fisher under the previous administration. Instead, those areas (in red on the map above) will be primarily represented, as least for now, by Field Manager Tabatha Yelós…though Lee said she and Yelós will also work as a team, at least for a while, helping each other as necessary in their respective territories.
The Buzz had a chance to chat with Lee this morning, and learned she was born in Korea, immigrated to the U.S. with her family as a child, was raised in Glendale, and later earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, the latter in Public Diplomacy, from USC. After graduation, Lee worked for the Korean Consulate for a while, but then decided to shift gears. “I thought I wanted to be a diplomat,” she said, “but then I realized I’m more of a local girl.”
So Lee got involved in a couple of election campaigns last year, working for CA Assembly District 34 candidate David Kim as his campaign manager in the Koreatown area, and as a field organizer for the candidate in Assembly District 39 in Orange County, where her parents now live. She said the experience was a great opportunity to learn about and get to know those communities close up.
Lee, who is fluent in both English and Korean, said she hopes to be “a bridge for the Korean community” in her new position, and – in addition to her neighborhood Field Manager duties – will also be overseeing small business issues for Raman’s office. (She said she was particularly moved by the story of Pickett Fences’ recent closing on Larchmont.) And, of course, she will be teaming with CD4 Planning Manager Meg Healy on land use issues in the area. “Our job is to listen to our constituents,” she said.
At the moment, Lee says she is very much in learning mode, and just beginning to meet and build relationships with constituents…so you will start seeing her at a variety of neighborhood meetings, including the GWNC Board meeting on February 10. In the meantime, she also invites community members to reach out to her at [email protected]
