Bass made homelessness a top priority the moment she took office, declaring a local state of emergency and launching Inside Safe, which has moved thousands of unhoused people off the street and into hotels, motels and other temporary housing.
The mayor has credited Inside Safe with a 17.5% drop in “unsheltered” homelessness — those living on the street or in their vehicles — over a two-year span. However, a steadily growing share of the program’s participants is returning to the street. For now, about one out of four is in permanent housing.
Bass wants to address the problem by beefing up social services within the program. Still, she has described Inside Safe as a lifeline for L.A.’s unhoused residents, offering toilet facilities, hot showers and rooms with doors that lock.
“I will absolutely not go back to the broken systems of the past,” she told reporters last month.
Raman, who has been in charge of the council’s housing and homelessness committee since 2023, voted for the mayor’s emergency declaration and signed off on three years of funding for Inside Safe.
In recent months, however, Raman has been saying that the program is too costly, in part because the average stay in an Inside Safe facility is now nearly a year.
Raman wants the city to rely more on apartment vouchers, which she described as more effective and less expensive. She also is seeking to shift oversight for L.A. homeless programs from multiple offices to the city’s housing department.
Miller described Inside Safe as an outright failure. He promised to dramatically increase the number of “tiny home” villages, building 50 of them for $50 million, while also expanding the overall number of shelter beds.
Beyond that, Miller said he would introduce a new homeless outreach app for workers at the city, county and other agencies to track “real time services” for L.A.’s unhoused population.
Miller supports Municipal Code Section 41.18, which bars encampments from coming within 500 feet of schools, daycare centers and “sensitive” locations, such as designated libraries or freeway overpasses.
Pratt and Bass also support 41.18. Nevertheless, Pratt has denounced Bass’ handling of the homelessness crisis, saying too many sidewalks are populated by homeless drug addicts. On social media, he portrayed himself as the only candidate with “the will to clear encampments in this city.”
“Nithya Raman and Karen Basura have turned LA into Zombieland,” he said in one recent post.
Pratt would adopt a “treatment first” policy, one that views mental illness and addiction as “the primary drivers of chronic homelessness.” Long-term housing would be reserved for those who show “stability and sobriety,” his campaign website says.
Huang would work to repeal 41.18, which she described as inhumane, and end what she called “sweeps” — cleanups carried out at encampments by city sanitation crews. Those crews frequently seize and destroy tents and other belongings, including medicine and identification cards, she said.
“Sweeps also add to the anxiety and trauma of being unhoused, creating mental health pressures that make it harder to engage with services,” Huang said.
Huang would ask the city controller to audit Inside Safe, while also ramping up production of “permanent supportive housing,” apartments with on-site social services.
Raman opposed the council’s decision in 2022 to expand 41.18 to bar encampments around schools and daycare centers. She also voted against creating dozens of new 41.18 zones in other council districts, saying it simply pushes unhoused people elsewhere.
