City Council candidate Khin Khin Gyi has worked for thirty-two years as a neurologist, having done her neurology residency at LAC/USC Medical Center and my post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA.
“After UCLA, I joined Kaiser Permanente as a staff neurologist for fourteen years, seven of which were at Bellflower Kaiser,” she told the CCN. “I was then transferred with a promotion to Baldwin Park Kaiser as a founding chief of neurology and set up the only clinic where new patients could be seen in 2 weeks’ time, which is a breakthrough concept for any Kaiser. I then left Kaiser in 2005 to start my own private practice where I am currently in practice as a concierge and tele neurologist.”
It was in 2006 that there was an accidental release of methane and hydrogen sulfide into the community in Culver Crest, adjacent to the Inglewood Oil Field (IOF), the largest urban oil field in the U.S.
“Since then, I have fought for the phasing out of the oil field as a member of the Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community (CCSC),” she said. “Recently, both the Culver City Council and the County have chosen to phase out oil operations. This was my introduction to the politics of environmental advocacy which led to my membership in the Culver City Democratic Club (CCDC) since 2014. This was also the same year that I joined the Sierra Club. I was elected president of CCDC in 2016 and became a delegate to the California Democratic Party from Assembly District (A.D.) 54 from 2017-2021. This has now been renamed as AD 55.”
As a physician, Gyi said, she can only make one patient better at a time. However, as a council member, she can improve the lives of the entire community.
“Also, when you have solutions for improving what ails the community, sitting on the sidelines is simply not an option,” she said. “These are the reasons I am running for the Culver City Council. I am a member of the Southern CA Chapter of the Americans for Democratic Action (SCADA), the West LA Sierra Club, the Culver City Democratic Club, the Heart of LA Democratic Club (HLA Democratic Club) and the Culver City Women’s Club. For this campaign, I have been endorsed by SCADA, HLA Democratic Club and the LA County Democratic Party.”
Khin Khin Gyi counts saving 17 trees in Media Park (“and saving the City a million dollars by not chopping down these trees in the first place and re-planting palm trees in their place”) among her major achievements.
“I also objected to the building of a cafe that would compete with the downtown businesses and the installation of a lawn in the third year of a drought,” she said. “This was detailed in a letter to the editor in the Culver City News in the April 21, 2022 issue. Next to that would be the successful lobbying to close down the IOF.”
Among the key points on her platform are homelessness and mobility.
“I am running on a platform of providing solutions to the homelessness debacle, improving mobility downtown and public safety, along with continuing to address climate change in an environmental and economically sustainable way,” she said. “The current majority on the Council has shown that it is unwilling to listen to its constituents by opening the Jackson Gate against the will of the residents who live adjacent to it. In another instance, it has also built a traffic island at the intersection of Overland Avenue, Ranch and Kelmore streets, also against the objections of the majority of the residents of Culver Crest. It is time to change the makeup of the council to a more sympathetic, empathetic one that listens to its constituents and works in cooperation and in community with them.”
Go to gyiforculvercity.com for more info.