Myla Rahman Seeks to Fill Carson’s City Clerk Position

By Fabiola Esqueda, GNI Fellow and Carson Reporter

This coming November, Carson residents will be electing only their fourth ever city clerk since the founding of the city. Former City Clerk Donesia Gause-Aldana vacated the seat this past April. Five challengers, including Myla Rahman, district chief of staff for the California state legislature, are looking to fill Gause-Aldana’s vacant seat.

Rahman’s challengers to the city clerk’s post includes Vera Robles DeWitt, most visible supporter of Mayor Pro Tem Jim Dear’s recall as city clerk, Monette Gavino, a former city hall employee who is sympathetic to Dear’s cause, former mayoral candidate Falea’ana “Ana” Meni and political upstart Jeffrey Caballero.

The city clerk seat should be the least political post in city government. A city clerk typically serves as the liaison between constituents and city government to promote transparency in city government.

Arguably that changed when then Mayor Jim Dear ran against Gause-Aldana in 2014 and won. At the time he expressed dissatisfaction with her performance and said he could do a better job, despite having no relevant experience in the role. Dear won the seat but was recalled two years later, accused by city hall staff and political rivals of racism and abusive behavior. After Dear’s recall, Gause-Aldana promptly ran for her old job unopposed and won.

Though Rahman was reared and educated in Carson and has since moved back to her hometown, she recently opened up over Zoom about how she is mostly oblivious to the various political machinations that have occurred in Carson over the years.

Prior to her move back, Rahman spent the past eight years living and working in Inglewood as the district chief of staff for the California state legislature. Before this post, she served as district director to state Sen. Steven Bradford. Until now, Rahman said she had never given the city clerk position much consideration.

“It’s such an important position and I love the City of Carson,” she explained. “I’m so heavily invested in Carson, so when it became open, it became an opportunity for me to be able to give back in a way that I have never done before.”

Rahman’s time in public service dates back to working for the late Rep. Juanita Millender-Mcdonald. She was also senior public relations representative for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Most recently, she served on Carson’s planning commission board. On her days off, she volunteers her time to speak on issues facing communities. She recently was a panelist for Independent Professionals Association, an organization fighting for the rights of an independent workforce. On the panel she shared resources to help small businesses survive the pandemic through COVID-19 relied packages and the Paycheck Protection Program.

Rahman believes her extensive relationship in government, working with different city clerk offices and her integrity make her right for the job.

“I’m familiar with the way the different city clerk’s run,” she said. “One of the strong suits about working in a senators office and having so many different cities that you work with is getting to see how different cities operate. ‘So this works here’ then you use that, but ‘if this is not working here’ you disregard that.”

If elected to office, she hopes to increase voter registration, voter engagement, and increase outreach.

“In over my two decades of being here it’s the same people getting involved, getting educated and I’d really like to change that and make it new and exciting for people to let them know they have a voice and your voice counts,” she said.

Rahman attended middle school and high school in Carson. After graduation she attended Cal State Dominguez Hills where she majored in interdisciplinary studies and minored in business management. She has since committed to a public service career. Rahman has the endorsement of councilmember Jawene Hilton.

“I’ve worked through my job with many different cities and worked in coordination with the city clerk office, whether it be getting records, asking for historical records for the City of Carson,” she said. “Above that, I’ve worked as the secretary of state office, so I know how the office works. I’ve seen the changes.”

Rahman said she doesn’t see the position of city clerk as politicized. Rather, she sees herself working with all sides.

“I intend to follow how it’s been intended to be set out by the city charter and follow all the compliant laws and local statutes that it’s intended to be,” she said. “When someone new comes in, there is the opportunity for a new vision, new outreach … and sometimes I don’t believe I bring any baggage with the city. I have great relationships within the city and with the city council. So, I plan on focusing on doing the job. That’s the most important thing to me, is to focus on doing the job and being accountable to the residents and providing the highest service possible that I can.”