Exclusive | Nithya Raman out as homelessness chair as LA splits troubled committee

LA pol Nithya Raman is losing her powerful post overseeing the city’s homeless crisis after a string of embarrassing botched initiatives  — including a $62.6 million housing push that placed just three households.

The stunning ouster involving the city councilwoman and mayoral wannabe, who is challenging Mayor Karen Bass in November, is being framed as a necessary step in the splitting of the current Housing and Homelessness Committee she chairs, sources told The California Post.

City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson is expected to announce the leadership reshuffle later this week, sources said. Harris-Dawson and Mayor Bass have remained close friends and political allies for many years.

Raman, 36, has helmed the top position since 2023, and took direct aim at Mayor Bass as the reason she was removed from the committee role only hours after the California Post broke the story.

“Mayor Bass’ top City Council ally removed me as Chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee,” Raman said in a video posted to X. “The Mayor may be trying to punish me for challenging her, but Angelenos are the ones who pay the price for these political games.”

She then went directly after Bass’ handling of homelessness, pointing to rising numbers citywide and questioning oversight of the mayor’s signature Inside Safe program.

“The mayor has blocked our independently elected city controller from doing an audit of her signature homelessness program, Inside Safe, which has spent hundreds of millions of dollars of public money, and still we’ve seen homelessness go up citywide,” Raman said.

City Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, a Democratic Socialists of America member representing Council District 14, is expected to lead the newly separated committee on homelessness.

Jurado’s district includes Skid Row, downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights and has historically contained the city’s largest concentration of homelessness.

Imelda Padilla, who represents a large portion of the San Fernando Valley, Council District 6, is meanwhile set to head the now-separate housing panel — leaving Raman out in the cold on both.

The shake-up comes as Raman challenges Bass for mayor and faces growing scrutiny over her homelessness record — a centerpiece of her campaign.

Former Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, who spent 12 years at City Hall from 2001 to 2013, called Raman’s removal highly unusual and politically damaging.

Zine chaired the Personnel Committee for years and also served on the Public Safety and Budget committees during his tenure. “I can’t remember the entire 12 years I was there that anyone got reassigned unless they wanted to be reassigned,” Zine told The California Post.

“You were assigned to a committee and you stayed in that committee. You gained expertise in the committee.”

Zine said the timing makes the move particularly damaging because Raman.

“It’s like pulling the carpet out from under you, especially in a campaign year when you are, as an individual, running to fill the mayor’s seat, and homelessness is a huge issue in Los Angeles.”

Raman’s work on the homeless committee has routinely stalled since she announced her campaign for mayor.

More than 130 matters piled up after every Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting over a five-week stretch in April and May was canceled, The Post previously reported.

A $62.6 million homeless initiative championed by Raman also struggled, housing just three households by June 25 despite a goal of moving roughly 2,000 into permanent housing, city records reviewed by The Post showed.

Another major reform also snagged: A March 2024 proposal exploring greater city control over homelessness programs sat for 316 days before Raman’s committee took it up.

The federal government suspended Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) from federal grant activity amid an investigation into financial management, conflicts of interest and contract oversight.

Federal investigators found LAHSA failed to verify nearly 2,300 housing sites it was responsible for overseeing, while roughly 70% of contracts tied to those sites showed no reported spending during the previous year.

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Raman’s committee nevertheless approved another $358 million for LAHSA in this year’s budget because City Hall still lacked the infrastructure to replace it. Raman has argued the turmoil validates her push for stronger city oversight.

The 2026 homeless count estimated 45,194 homeless people in Los Angeles, up 3.4% from the previous year, while unsheltered homelessness surged 7.9% to 29,115.

Raman has hammered Bass over the worsening numbers.

“The mayor’s job is not to explain why someone else is responsible,” Raman said. “The mayor’s job is to take charge of the system and deliver results.”

Bass’ campaign fired back, turning Raman’s criticism against her and blasting her own record on homelessness and housing.

“Nithya Raman canceled committee meetings for weeks, didn’t show up to votes, and failed to deliver on building more housing or getting people off the streets,” said Alex Stack, a campaign spokesperson for Bass.

“Her signature program has been a failure, spending over $60 million for nearly a year but only filling 3 apartments. Karen Bass approached these crises with urgency, cleaning up over 120 encampments and unlocking 100,000 new homes.”

Raman is campaigning on a promise to cut unsheltered homelessness citywide by at least 50% before the 2028 Olympics, but she will now have to make that case without the homelessness committee gavel.

Raman did not respond to a California Post request for comment.