A Los Angeles police union is targeting mayoral candidate Nithya Raman over her homelessness record, launching a new attack ad that highlights encampments near schools as a central issue in the race for City Hall.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League released the 30-second advertisement Thursday. It shows a young girl passing homeless encampments while audio of Raman’s past remarks about the city’s 500-foot anti-camping buffer plays in the background.
Titled “Nithya Raman Won’t Keep Our Kids Safe,” the spot focuses on Raman’s previous argument that a child would not necessarily be safer “because a tent is 500-feet away from a school.”
The girl featured in the ad says:
“Walking to school shouldn’t be scary. Bad things can happen. I see things I’m not supposed to. So I keep my head down so I don’t have to look, or step on a needle,” she says as she walks.
The commercial is built around Raman’s earlier comments that moving a homeless tent 500 feet away from a school would not, by itself, guarantee a child’s safety. Raman has opposed expanding the city’s anti-camping rules, saying that relocating encampments does not solve homelessness and that Los Angeles needs additional shelter and housing resources.
The police union says Raman has voted more than 75 times against prohibiting homeless encampments at over 500 locations near schools, parks, daycares and other sensitive areas. Her campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to MyNewsLA.
More than 130 matters accumulated after each meeting of the Housing and Homelessness Committee was canceled during a five-week period in April and May, The Post previously reported.
A $62.6 million homelessness initiative backed by Raman also faced significant delays. City records reviewed by The Post showed that the program had housed just three households by June 25, despite a target of moving about 2,000 people into permanent housing.
Raman has repeatedly opposed city measures that would restrict encampments within 500 feet of schools and parks.
In a 2022 statement, Raman said she did not want encampments near schools but maintained that adding more restricted zones would not address the broader causes of homelessness.
The Post also recently reported that Raman wants to expand her 1,879-square-foot home in Silver Lake into a 3,528-square-foot residence with a spa and a two-car garage.
The planned 88% increase in the size of the property has drawn criticism of Raman, whose political profile has been closely tied to housing affordability.
