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Los Angeles mayoral candidate Raman faces audit row

Digital Desk | Washington, Oct 18 (IANS) Indian-American Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman faces two late attacks: a City Attorney demand for a full audit of the nonprofit behind an eviction-defence programme she championed, and Mayor Karen Basss charge that she does not know the citys Black community. In an October 9 Supplemental Report in the Public Interest, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said that between $55 million and $87 million in funds provided to LAFLA from the City and County remain unaccounted for in the publicly available information for the period 2021 through 2025. The report, on the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), said the nonprofits tax returns suggest that the money may well have been used for other purposes, most notably to fund litigation against the very City that provided the funds. The Citys interests requires a complete audit of and accounting from LAFLA of all of these amounts, the report said. The contract began in 2021 as a no-bid $7 million pilot and grew to more than $90 million. The $55 million to $87 million range first appeared in a July 2 report. The report does not name Raman, and it does not allege that she mishandled funds. The California Post, in reports carried by the New York Post, has called the programme Ramans signature effort, reporting that she voted in March for a tenant package that included $106.6 million for LAFLA. LAFLA rejects the claims. In an August 10 letter to the City Council, responding to the City Attorneys earlier reports, its board said the Reports do not make any specific claims of any financial improprieties or misapplied funds. The board said it was aware of no misspent funds, nor any other impropriety related to LAFLAs administration of SHLA, referring to Stay Housed LA. Barbara Schultz, LAFLAs director of housing justice, has called the claims inaccurate and misleading, the Post reported. Feldstein Soto finished third in the June 2 city attorney primary with 17.99 per cent and is not on the November ballot. Ramans campaign did not respond to the Post. Bass, speaking with Black community leaders at her campaign headquarters on October 15, attacked Raman over a debate remark that the city used to be the gold standard in terms of noncooperation with immigration enforcement years ago, under the era of Daryl Gates, the Los Angeles Times reported. My opponent is not really familiar with L.A., especially the Black community, Bass said. She doesnt know us. Raman said she meant Special Order 40, issued by Gates in 1979, and called him an abhorrent and racist police chief. Now Mayor Bass is deliberately twisting my words to distract from the questions she is refusing to answer, Raman said in a statement. Raman led Bass 39 per cent to 28 per cent in a Berkeley IGS/Los Angeles Times poll conducted September 15-20, with a third of voters undecided. Raman would be the first Indian-American mayor of Los Angeles. The election is on November 3.

18 Oct 2026 8:38 am