The Los Angeles Police Protective League has released a new attack ad against mayoral candidate Nithya Raman, focusing on her voting record regarding homeless encampments near schools, parks and daycares.
The 30-second spot, titled “Nithya Raman Won’t Keep Our Kids Safe,” was released Thursday and follows a young girl walking past homeless encampments while audio plays of Raman’s past comments on the city’s 500-foot anti-camping buffer near schools.
“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,” the girl in the ad says.
The ad is built around comments Raman made previously arguing that a child would not necessarily be safer simply because a homeless tent was located 500 feet away from a school. Raman has opposed expanding the city’s anti-camping restrictions, contending that relocating encampments does not solve homelessness and that the city instead needs more shelter and housing resources.
The police union says Raman has voted more than 75 times against banning homeless encampments at more than 500 locations near schools, parks, daycares and other sensitive sites. Raman’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to MyNewsLA.
The ad arrives amid broader scrutiny of Raman’s record on homelessness policy. More than 130 matters piled up after every Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting was canceled over a five-week stretch in April and May, a delay previously reported by the New York Post.
A $62.6 million homeless initiative championed by Raman has also fallen far short of its goals, according to city records. The program housed just three households by June 25, despite a stated goal of moving roughly 2,000 people into permanent housing.
Raman has consistently opposed city measures restricting encampments within 500 feet of schools and parks. In a 2022 statement, she said she did not want encampments around schools but argued that creating additional restricted zones would not address the underlying problem of homelessness.
Separately, it has also emerged that Raman is planning to replace her 1,879-square-foot Silver Lake home with a 3,528-square-foot house that includes a spa and a two-car garage — an 88% increase in size that critics have highlighted given her focus on housing affordability as a candidate.
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