(The Center Square)–With the general election ballots already mailed out and the race drawing national attention, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman faced off in a tense debate Tuesday night.
The live broadcast was hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo 52, both based in Universal City in the Los Angeles area.
Addressing a large, undecided voter pool, the two leaders sparred over their records on homelessness, public safety, emergency response and the city’s economic future ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. At one point, Bass apologized for her absence when the Palisades Fire erupted.
Homelessness emerged as the primary battleground of the evening.
Bass defended her administration’s record, pointing to programs like Inside Safe as the driving force behind a reported 11% reduction in overall homelessness and a 50% drop in veteran homelessness.
“I declared a state of emergency,” said Bass, a Democrat, former congresswoman and California Assembly speaker. “We have reduced homelessness by 11% … Street homelessness declined for the first time in the city of Los Angeles.”
Raman, a Democrat who was endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America, sharply countered Bass’ narrative. She pointed out that recent figures show the crisis ticking back up despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent. Raman criticized the mayor’s signature program for lacking transparency and proper oversight.
“Under this mayor’s leadership, we have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into an incredibly expensive program, Inside Safe, which has been unaccountable to the public, for which she has refused audits,” Raman argued.
Public safety and law enforcement also dominated exchanges. Bass went on the offensive regarding Raman’s council voting record, arguing that her opponent had consistently voted against police officers and the removal of homeless encampments near sensitive areas like schools.
“The first job of a mayor is public safety,” said Bass. “She has consistently voted against police officers.”
Raman pushed back, highlighting her focus on community trust and defending immigrant communities against federal actions. Raman criticized the city’s handling of cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and expressed deep concerns regarding mass surveillance technology, such as automated license plate readers.
“This city used to be the gold standard in terms of non-cooperation with immigration enforcement,” said Raman. “Now, under this mayor, we’ve actually lost trust from our immigrant community.”
The candidates also clashed over the city’s crisis response, particularly following the fallout from recent emergencies like the Palisades Fire and the Lineage Warehouse fire in Boyle Heights. Raman criticized Bass’s absence during critical moments, framing it as a systemic failure of leadership.
“If there is another emergency, you will not have to ask, if I am mayor, where our mayor is. I will be on the front lines,” Raman vowed.
Bass expressed remorse over past response challenges while emphasizing structural reforms, new leadership within the fire department, and steps taken to fast-track housing construction and community assistance.
“I am so profoundly sorry that I was not in my city when my city needed me,” said Bass, who was in Ghana for a presidential inauguration when the devastating Palisades Fire started on Jan. 7, 2025. “We have done a lot to fast track the building.”
With working families and industry professionals struggling amid a local jobs slump in entertainment, both candidates later addressed how to bring work back to Los Angeles. Raman pressed for a fully staffed municipal film office featuring personnel with direct production experience rather than relying on part-time bureaucratic oversight, while advocating for uncapped state tax credits similar to competing regions.
“This is an issue that’s personal to me,” said Raman. “My husband is a writer. We see the decline of the industry impacting our own household and our community every single day.”
Bass highlighted her longstanding legislative history fighting for film tax credits in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., pointing to her appointment of a film czar and local fee reductions to ease the burden on local productions.
“The industry is personal to me, too,” said Bass. “I have families that are directly involved. As a matter of fact, going back two generations.”
In their closing statements, both candidates made final pitches to convince undecided voters. Raman framed her campaign as a necessary pivot toward a functional, transparent government.
“We cannot afford another four years of decline, of mismanagement, of excuses,” Raman said.
Bass countered by emphasizing stability and experience, particularly with the 2028 Olympic Games fast approaching.
“Now is not the time to turn the city over to Nithya Raman,” said Bass. “We have just 640 days away from the greatest sporting event in U.S. history.”
