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Nithya Raman’s rotten record on homelessness

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Homelessness remains a stubborn fixture in LA, despite billions poured into fixes. 

Councilwoman Nithya Raman has positioned herself as the visionary reformer ready to lead as mayor. 

Yet a closer look at the programs she promotes reveals a familiar story: grand announcements, hefty price tags and results that arrive at a glacial pace –– if they arrive at all.

A flagship example: the Time Limited Subsidy (TLS) program, which Raman has long championed as a smarter, cheaper alternative to expensive motel shelters. In practice, it has delivered little more than bureaucratic foot-dragging.

Launched with great fanfare as part of efforts to comply with court settlements on encampment clearances, the TLS initiative was designed to move people quickly into market-rate apartments with time-limited rent help and case management.

The City Council approved the investment in September, offered a redesigned version targeting 2,000 households in January, and rolled it out on March 1. 

By late last month only three apartments had been filled. Three.

The cost to taxpayers for this trickle of progress: $62.6 million. That works out to more than $20 million per household so far. One might call this deliberate; others would say it’s an expensive way to achieve almost nothing.

Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez didn’t mince words. “One household a month is not a solution,” she told reporters. “I would say they’re having issues with the program. It’s not working.”

Rodriguez pointed out the obvious irony: Raman’s........

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