Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman has been accused of focusing on herself instead of fixing the city’s horrific homeless crisis.

Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez tore into Raman in City Hall on Tuesday, claiming she has ignored long-standing problems while prioritizing her political future.

Referring to calls to overhaul the region’s homelessness bureaucracy, Rodriguez noted there had been “no movement for more than two years” despite growing concerns about the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the region’s largest homelessness agency.

“Sadly, there was no movement for more than two years on this issue. And we know exactly what the source of that problem was,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez then appeared to take direct aim at Raman, who chairs the Housing and Homelessness Committee while running for mayor.

“We need to stop allowing people to wait for a promotion before they actually do their job,” Rodriguez said.

The comments came during debate over a resolution urging the White House and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to restore federal funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

Last week, HUD suspended LAHSA’s participation in federal programs while its inspector general investigates allegations of financial mismanagement, weak oversight and what federal officials described as “wanton mismanagement.”

The agency receives nearly $200 million a year in federal funding.

The move followed a blistering rebuke from the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which accused LAHSA of wasting taxpayer dollars after nearly $1 billion in federal money flowed to the agency since 2021.

But the criticism of Los Angeles’ homelessness system did not stop there.

As council members debated the funding crisis, another report moving through City Hall highlighted the city’s struggle to turn taxpayer-funded housing into units used by the homeless.

The City Council voted to note and file a Project Homekey status report showing 1,104 homeless housing units sitting vacant despite roughly $911 million spent acquiring properties for homeless housing.

Project Homekey was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic as a fast-track program to buy hotels, motels and apartment buildings and convert them into housing for homeless residents.

The city and the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles acquired 45 properties through three rounds of Homekey funding, creating 3,067 units and beds.

The California Post has previously reported that many Homekey projects carry eye-popping per-unit costs and that more than one-third of the program’s units remain vacant years after properties were purchased.

Questions about the delays have been brewing.

In May 2024, Councilwoman Traci Park demanded answers about why Homekey properties remained vacant while homeless residents continued living on nearby sidewalks.

“Given the Homekey program was presented as an expeditious alternative to new construction, which can be cost and time prohibitive, the City should understand immediately why Homekey units continue to sit empty while thousands of individuals continue to live and suffer on sidewalks outside these properties,” Park wrote in her motion.

One project highlighted in Park’s motion was the former Ramada Inn in Venice.

The city purchased the property in 2020 and later shut down its interim housing operation to convert the building into permanent supportive housing. Nearly six years later, the project is still not complete.

City records previously reviewed by the California Post show the property’s cost ballooned from about $8 million to nearly $20 million.

The 32-unit project is expected to cost roughly $625,000 per unit and is not projected to open until late 2026.

The latest Homekey report suggests the Venice project is far from unique.

According to city officials, 471 units remain under rehabilitation, 218 are undergoing conversion work, 131 are still seeking financing and 24 remain under construction.

The vacancies span all three rounds of Homekey funding.

Round 1 cost taxpayers $258.8 million and produced 1,441 units, but 450 remain vacant.

Round 2 cost $508.7 million and created 1,257 units, with 406 still sitting empty.

Round 3 has the lowest occupancy rate. Taxpayers spent $143.4 million to acquire 369 units, but only 121 are occupied, leaving 248 vacant.

The California Post reached out to Raman’s office for comment.

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters