L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, left, and City Councilwoman Nithya Raman discussed issues such as housing affordability and homelessness. (photos by Edwin Folven)

The two candidates for Los Angeles mayor – incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman – outlined plans for addressing housing affordability, homelessness, public safety and preparations for El Niño during a mayoral candidate forum on Sept. 29 at the Skirball Cultural Center.

More than 1,000 people attended the forum hosted by the Jewish Federation Los Angeles, Skirball Cultural Center, ADL Los Angeles, Jewish Family Service L.A. and AJC Los Angeles. Raman and Bass spoke individually with Spectrum News anchor Alex Cohen during back-to-back sessions in the Skirball Center’s Herscher Hall, and they did not appear on stage at the same time.

Raman, who represents the City Council’s 4th District, said the city is facing multiple crises including a lack of housing and the proliferation of homelessness. She said a large group of voters remain undecided about who to vote for in the Nov. 3 election and said she is the candidate who can change the status quo.

“I know that there is a lot of voters out there who voted for Spencer Pratt in the primary. I think the desire for change in Los Angeles fueled his success in getting so many votes. He was frustrated and he tapped into a deep well of frustration that exists here, a deep well of distrust for the ability of local government to serve us,” Raman said. “My entry into this race was driven by that same frustration. My hope is that as mayor, I can serve the residents of Los Angeles in a way that I know City Hall can do, and can serve the residents in a way that actually raises expectations for the city moving forward. That is my goal.”

Raman said access to housing is the biggest challenge facing Angelenos and she vowed to make it easier for affordable housing builders to construct projects.

“I think [housing affordability] is the single driving issue that is reshaping Los Angeles. Working Angelenos are leaving the city every single day because they can’t afford to pay the rent,” she said. “I have been a proponent of stronger tenant protections to make sure vulnerable renters have the support of the city in being able to push back against unfair displacement, unfair notices, evictions and that the city can really step up for them. And I have committed to creating an Office of Tenant Protections as mayor, so that the city’s mission of ensuring that we are pushing back against displacement is written into the mission of the housing department.”

Cohen also asked Raman about her stance on antisemitism and hate, as well as her participation in a May interview with controversial political commentator Hasan Piker in which Raman criticized Israeli military actions following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, stating she believes Israel’s response is equivalent to genocide. Raman did not specifically address whether she believes it amounts to “genocide” at the forum, stating she condemned the Oct. 7 attacks immediately after they occurred and defending her discussion with Piker.

“I have spoken up against antisemitism, against language that I have found to be hateful, rhetoric that has been deeply hurtful to the Jewish community when it has happened in my district and it has happened citywide, and I will continue to do that as mayor. This city deserves to feel safe for every single resident, and that includes Jewish residents, that includes Israeli-American residents, of which there are many in the city and in Council District Four. I want to make sure that that continues to be the case,” Raman said. “But you asked why I appeared on his platform. I felt like I responded to the questions that he asked me with honesty about where my platform and my roots were. He asked me certain questions that I said yes to, and there were others where I pushed back against. And I stood my ground on those issues. But I do believe that as an elected representative who is seeking higher office, you have to go and speak to voters. I believe that it is incumbent upon someone who is running for office to go out and speak to people on different platforms.”

While Cohen asked the audience to refrain from applause and that heckling would not be allowed, some members of the crowd groaned after Raman discussed her views on Israeli foreign affairs. Some members of the crowd also voiced displeasure when Raman’s endorsement from the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America came up.

“My policy platform is my policy platform, and I have been vocal about places where I disagree with the DSA on a range of issues. They have been critical of some of my votes related to policing. I have worked with them on things like tenant protections very closely and successfully. They have been critical of my approach to building more housing here in Los Angeles and the focus on market-rate housing and reforming our mansion class,” Raman said. “I think I have proven myself to be an independent voice during my time on the council, I have proven myself to be able to stand up and to speak out about issues, not just when I disagree with people, but even when I have changed my mind.”

The council woman also defended her stance on homelessness, stating that the only way to ensure people stay off the streets is by placing them in housing and providing resources to keep them on track. Raman said the current policy of removing encampments only leads to the tents popping up somewhere else.

Raman added that the city is approaching a critical period when swift action on El Niño preparedness is needed, and she will work with city departments to ensure the city is ready to address impacts. She said preparation is also key with the LA28 Olympics around the corner.

“I believe that there are real changes that need to happen in the future that can help us better prepare, one of the most important things being our emergency operations department and ensuring that that department has the staffing it needs and the training we need to prepare for these emergencies,” Raman said. “This is work that my staff and I have been engaged with over the last five years … and I will bring that experience into my role as mayor of L.A.”

Following her discussion with Raman, Cohen welcomed Bass to the stage. She asked the incumbent mayor about a recent poll showing one-third of L.A. voters are undecided in the race for mayor, and that many of those voters were supporters of her former opponent Pratt. Cohen followed up by asking what residents can expect to be different in Bass’ second term.

“I understand people are upset, and they are upset for good reason. Life is too unaffordable and people are not truly safe,” Bass said. “And you ask in terms of what I bring to the table: No. 1, absolute rejection of the status quo. I do not accept no. We have a lot to do in our city. In my first term, I certainly didn’t get everything right. But I know that we can have a city that is affordable. And the No. 1 way a mayor can impact affordability is housing. We have built more affordable housing, by the way, in the last four years than has been built in over 10 years, 10,000 units ready for people to move in now and 47,000 units ready to be fast tracked right now.”

Cohen also asked Bass whether she believes the word “genocide” is an appropriate term to describe the conflict in Gaza, and Bass said, “No, I don’t.”

“When I think of foreign affairs, especially conflicts, my focus is on how they impact the city of L.A.,” she said. “My job is to keep L.A. safe. And I think that there is a lot of divisiveness that happens, and I don’t want to see that divisiveness happen at all.”

Bass said she learned how difficult it can be to get affordable housing built in Los Angeles during her first term and has embarked on an effort to streamline the permitting process. She said a recent trend of transforming office buildings into housing shows promise in expanding the city’s housing stock.

“I ran for office because I was worried about the humanitarian crisis on our streets and the public safety crisis on our streets, so we fast tracked getting people off the street through Inside Safe,” Bass said. “One category of the homeless population in our city are veterans. Did you know that the city had 3,000 unused housing vouchers that they would not give to veterans? And the reason they wouldn’t was because the federal rules said that if you take your health benefits or your disability benefits, you make too much money, and you can’t have a housing voucher. So I took 50 mayors, we advocated in Congress, it took us a year and a half but we got the policy changed. We got a waiver that we could accept veterans.”

She said the main thing she would have changed in addressing homelessness is seeking to take charge of the city’s homeless programs sooner from the county.

“I knew coming in that the system was dysfunctional. I did not know how profound and dysfunction it was,” Bass said. “Now, I’m calling for a revamp of the entire system in independence from the county. If I knew then what I know now, I would have fought for that much earlier.”

Bass said she supports expanding the LAPD and plans to find ways to hire more officers during a second term. The mayor said she has no tolerance for antisemitism and will continue to work with the Jewish community to address hate.

“Every time there has a compromise of safety in the Jewish community, I have responded immediately,” she added. “I have responded proactively, and that proactive response means calling on LAPD to have patrols around places of worship during holidays and during sensitive time periods. I formed a Jewish community safety working group. I established an interfaith task force [and] we meet regularly.”

When asked about the Palisades fire and her being out of the country when the devastating blaze erupted on Jan. 7, 2025, Bass said she has regrets.

“That will forever go down as one of the worst moments that I have experienced. I mean, to me, not being here was very, very painful. I draw a comparison to if you are out of town and a member of your family is sick or is hurt and you are not there, it doesn’t matter where you were or why you weren’t there. And so the idea that I wasn’t here when I was needed is very, very painful,” Bass said. “So lessons learned there, but the biggest lesson that was learned from the Palisades was the fact that the city nor the county were not prepared for that. This was a historic weather event that we now have to accept, and we see happening around the country because of climate change. Under new leadership, especially at the fire department, we are very aggressive on prevention and avoiding problems, bureaucratic problems, for example clearing the brush in the Palisades.”

Bass said preparations are also critical in ensuring Los Angeles is ready for extreme upcoming weather events such as El Niño, and she plans to guide the city in the response to emergencies.

“I think prevention across all categories is an investment that is a heck of a lot cheaper than if you do not aggressively prevent something,” Bass said. “I will tell you that my investment in prevention is a worthwhile investment.”