LA renters face decision on housing record in Tuesday's mayoral vote

Los Angeles voters will decide on Tuesday which candidate best addresses the city's housing shortage in the mayoral election.

The race pits incumbent Mayor Karen Bass against City Councilmember Nithya Raman. Bass highlighted the construction of more than 10,000 income-restricted apartments during her first term. She called affordability the city's number one issue. Raman positions herself as a pro-development alternative to the current political consensus. She argues that city leaders have been too skeptical of new housing construction.

Bass signed Executive Directive One in her first week in office. The directive speeds up permitting for projects with rents capped for low- and moderate-income tenants. Developers submitted plans for more than 47,000 income-restricted apartments under the program. Her campaign states that 7,728 units are currently under construction and 418 are ready for occupancy. Critics note that many of the completed units were funded by Proposition HHH. That $1.2 billion measure passed in 2016, before Bass took office. About 40% of the affordable units built during her term originated from that prior funding.

Jason Ward, an economist at the RAND Housing Center, said the infrastructure for HHH projects preceded the current administration. He argued that the mayor had limited influence over the conditions that enabled those specific builds. Bass's campaign responded by stating that the city had underbuilt housing for decades and that Bass changed that trend. They noted she is not satisfied and continues to take action on the housing crisis.

Raman has clashed with the mayor on several fronts. She voted against the council's opposition to State Bill 79, a law allowing more housing density near transit lines. Bass opposed the measure, fearing it would impact low-resource neighborhoods. Raman also advocated for keeping Executive Directive One projects in single-family zones and historic districts. The mayor rolled back the program in those areas. Courts later ruled the city illegally blocked those projects. Raman said working residents are leaving the city because they cannot afford rent. She aims to change policies that make Los Angeles slow and expensive to build in.

Bass argues that Raman's approach could displace existing residents. She stated that new market-rate apartments can gentrify neighborhoods. Her administration reports that Raman's district has seen 130 affordable units completed in the last four years. That is the second-lowest total among council districts. Raman's campaign says her district was redrawn in 2022 to exclude areas with high development potential. They argue that comparing raw unit totals across different zoning structures is not a fair measure of effort.

Both candidates supported lowering the rent control cap from 10% to 4%. They also favor reforms to the city's mansion tax, which applies to real estate sales over $5.4 million. Bass said her support for state-level tax reform failed when lawmakers missed a deadline. Raman's proposal to cancel the tax for new apartment buildings never reached a council vote. The city needs to build about 23,000 affordable units annually to meet state targets. It currently falls far short of that goal.