Karen Bass Goes to War with Nithya Raman Over Homelessness Crisis

Los Angeles' homeless crisis has ignited a fierce political battle.

Mayor Karen Bass retaliated Friday after Councilmember Nithya Raman slammed City Hall for its failure to manage street homelessness, setting the stage for a brutal confrontation ahead of the Nov. 3 mayoral election.

Raman capitalized on the latest homeless count, claiming that despite hundreds of millions in expenditures, unsheltered homelessness in Los Angeles surged by nearly 8%.

“By now you’ve probably seen the reports: despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent—and repeated assurances that Los Angeles had turned a corner—unsheltered homelessness increased by nearly 8% in this city. That is a moral outrage. And it is a failure of leadership,” Raman stated.

Bass acknowledged the ongoing crisis but accused Raman of overlooking neighborhood-level achievements, including those in her own district.

“I’m the Mayor for all of LA — just like Nithya Raman has been the Homeless Committee Chair for all of LA — and no Angeleno should be completely satisfied with our City’s response to this crisis,” Bass asserted.

The mayor highlighted progress in council districts 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 13, and 15, arguing that these successes demonstrate effective strategies even as the overall city numbers remain alarming.

Bass also promoted the city’s Inside Safe program, noting her administration's response to Raman's request for help by housing 87 individuals in Council District 4 since last year and dismantling long-standing encampments, including the notorious site at 405 and Oxnard.

“When Councilmembers like Nithya Raman asked for Inside Safe’s help, we answered — housing 87 people since the beginning of last year alone and clearing notorious encampments, like 405 & Oxnard that had been growing for years,” Bass wrote.

She emphasized that unsheltered homelessness has decreased across Los Angeles over the past three years while admitting the city still faces significant challenges.

“In the past three years, unsheltered homelessness has gone down in LA by 11% — while that’s progress, that’s not acceptable. We’re going to immediately change what’s not working and double down on what is working,” Bass declared.

The conflicting statements arise from different sections of the same report.

Citywide, unsheltered street homelessness rose by 7.9%, a statistic that pertains solely to the City of Los Angeles, excluding Los Angeles County.

However, Raman's Council District 4 defied this trend, reporting a staggering 49% drop in unsheltered street homelessness, according to data from her office and local media tracking the 2026 homeless count.

The latest statistics also highlight the stark disparities between communities where significant improvements were noted.

Council District 4 ranks among the wealthiest districts in the city, boasting a median household income of nearly $119,000 and average home prices around $1.5 million, far exceeding the citywide median home value of approximately $1.05 million.

In contrast, Council District 9, represented by Councilmember Curren D. Price Jr., is one of Los Angeles' poorest districts, with a median household income of about $54,000 and average home values around $640,000, illustrating that substantial declines in street homelessness occurred in neighborhoods with vastly different economic conditions.