Washington, October 18, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Indian-American Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman is facing fresh criticism over a city attorney’s demand for a comprehensive audit of a nonprofit involved in an eviction-defence programme she supported, while Mayor Karen Bass has accused her of lacking familiarity with the city’s Black community.
In an October 9 document titled “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 concerns the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), which is associated with the Stay Housed LA eviction-defence programme. It said the nonprofit’s 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 City’s 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 pilot worth $7 million and subsequently expanded to more than $90 million. The estimated range of $55 million to $87 million first appeared in a report issued on July 2.
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The City Attorney’s report does not name Raman or accuse her of mishandling funds.
The California Post, in reports carried by the New York Post, has described the programme as Raman’s “signature” initiative. The reports also noted that she voted in March for a tenant-protection package that included $106.6 million for LAFLA.
LAFLA has rejected the allegations. In an August 10 letter to the City Council responding to earlier reports from the City Attorney, the organisation’s board said, “The Reports do not make any specific claims of any financial improprieties or misapplied funds.”
The board added that it was “aware of no misspent funds, nor any other impropriety related to LAFLA’s administration of SHLA,” referring to Stay Housed LA.
Barbara Schultz, LAFLA’s director of housing justice, has also described the claims as “inaccurate and misleading”, according to the Post.
Feldstein Soto finished third in the June 2 city attorney primary with 17.99 per cent of the vote and will not appear on the November ballot.
Raman’s campaign did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.
Separately, Bass criticised Raman over remarks made during a debate about Los Angeles’ approach to cooperation with immigration enforcement.
Speaking to Black community leaders at her campaign headquarters on October 15, Bass targeted Raman over her statement 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 doesn’t know us.”
Raman said she was referring to Special Order 40, issued by then-Police Chief Daryl Gates in 1979. She described Gates as “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.
A Berkeley IGS/Los Angeles Times poll conducted from September 15 to 20 showed Raman leading Bass by 39 per cent to 28 per cent, with approximately one-third of voters undecided.
If elected, Raman would become the first Indian-American mayor of Los Angeles. The mayoral election is scheduled for November 3.
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