Nithya Raman Removed From Homelessness Committee, Political Accusations Fly

India-West News Desk

LOS ANGELES, CA – Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman is losing her position as chair of the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, a move she says is politically motivated as she challenges Mayor Karen Bass in the November election.

Raman announced her removal in a campaign video posted Aug. 10, saying the decision came after she called for an audit of Los Angeles’ homelessness programs.

“I called for an audit of our homelessness programs in Los Angeles, and now I’ve been removed as Chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee,” Raman said in the video. “I might be getting punished for running against Mayor Bass, but Angelenos are the ones paying the price for these political games.”

Raman has chaired the committee since 2023, giving her a prominent role in shaping the city’s response to its housing and homelessness crisis.

Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson rejected Raman’s characterization of the decision as retaliation. Harris-Dawson, a longtime political ally of Bass, said the council is planning to split the existing committee into two separate panels, one focused on housing and the other on homelessness. Neither would be chaired by Raman.

“It’s hardly a punishment,” Harris-Dawson told NBC Los Angeles. “It’s something to make the council functional and to put the council in the position to answer some very key questions between now and election regarding homelessness.”

Harris-Dawson said the decision followed months of discussions with Raman about her leadership of the committee and was made in the interests of the council and city residents. “It was very, very disappointing to see her reach to the bottom of the barrel politically and to use something that she knew would happen,” Harris-Dawson said.

The dispute adds another point of tension to an increasingly sharp political contest between Raman and Bass, who are competing for mayor.

Raman has made homelessness a central issue in her campaign, pointing to results in her Council District 4 as evidence that her approach could be applied across Los Angeles.

Newly released homelessness data showed that street homelessness in Raman’s district, defined as people living outdoors or in vehicles, fell 49 percent from the previous year. Citywide, street homelessness increased by nearly 8 percent.

Overall homelessness in Los Angeles, including people living in shelters and interim housing, increased 3.4 percent, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s January point-in-time count released July 24.

Raman said the figures show that the city’s homelessness crisis can be addressed. “The approach I’ve brought to my district works and it will work citywide if I am elected mayor,” Raman said. “In District 4, the number of people living unsheltered fell by 49 percent. Since 2022, the number of tents is down 73 percent.”

The homelessness issue has become part of the larger political divide between the two candidates. Raman was once viewed as a close ally of Bass and her announcement to challenge Bass for the mayoral office just before filing date reverberated across city hall.