Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman, a mayoral candidate positioning herself as a leading advocate against homelessness, has faced criticism for her limited engagement in her current role overseeing homelessness initiatives. Since launching her mayoral campaign in February, Raman has canceled half of the scheduled meetings for the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, including all sessions over the past five weeks. This lapse has contributed to delays in the implementation of numerous homelessness programs worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Among the stalled projects is a state-funded effort aimed at addressing a large encampment of approximately 90 individuals living along the Los Angeles River. The area, characterized by tents, storm drains, and makeshift shelters amid trash and polluted runoff, has raised safety concerns for years. Despite the urgency, a $4 million grant allocated through California’s Encampment Resolution Fund—a program designed to relocate people from outdoor encampments into permanent housing—remained unspent as of May 27, according to city records.

Raman’s campaign has publicly criticized the city’s current approach to homelessness, asserting that Los Angeles lacks sufficient accountability and effectiveness in its use of substantial public funds. The campaign website points to the city’s annual expenditures of hundreds of millions of dollars on homelessness programs, suggesting these resources have not produced adequate results.

The encampment along the river has long been home to some residents who say they have lived there for decades, underscoring the complexity and persistence of the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. While Raman has actively presented herself as a committed advocate for addressing these issues, her recent absence from committee meetings and the unspent grant funds have drawn scrutiny.

In response, a spokesperson for Raman acknowledged the importance of the homelessness crisis and expressed frustration over delays caused by administrative and contracting processes. The spokesperson emphasized that the resources tied to the encampment cleanup would be mobilized soon to address the situation.