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THE BOTTOM LINE - Los Angeles has spent years and billions of taxpayer dollars trying to convince residents that it is turning the corner on homelessness.
Then the 2026 homeless count told a different story.
Unsheltered homelessness in the City of Los Angeles increased by nearly 8 percent, exposing the painful reality that despite unprecedented spending, the city's most visible humanitarian crisis remains far from under control.
Rather than presenting a united front, Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman have turned their frustration toward one another, exposing growing divisions inside City Hall just months before voter’s head to the polls in the November mayoral election.
Raman wasted little time responding to the latest numbers.
"Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent and repeated assurances that Los Angeles had turned a corner unsheltered homelessness increased by nearly 8% in this city. That is a moral outrage. And it is a failure of leadership."
Her criticism was unmistakably directed at the Bass administration.
Mayor Bass fired back.
"I'm the Mayor for all of LA just like Nithya Raman has been the Homeless Committee Chair for all of LA and no Angeleno should be completely satisfied with our City's response to this crisis."
Bass defended her record by highlighting measurable improvements across several council districts, including Districts 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 13, and 15. She argued that while citywide numbers remain unacceptable, there is clear evidence that some strategies are producing results.
She also pointed directly to Raman's own district.
According to Bass, after Raman requested assistance through the City's Inside Safe initiative, the program helped move 87 people indoors since the beginning of last year while clearing long-standing encampments, including the notorious 405 and Oxnard site.
Bass further emphasized that unsheltered homelessness has declined over the past three years and pledged to expand programs that work while changing those that do not.
Both leaders are citing legitimate statistics.
The difference is that they are emphasizing different parts of the same report.
Citywide, unsheltered homelessness rose nearly 8 percent.
Yet Council District 4, represented by Raman, recorded a remarkable 49 percent decline in unsheltered homelessness, according to data released following the 2026 homeless count.
That raises an important question.
If one council district can achieve such significant progress, why can't the City replicate those results elsewhere?
The answer is neither simple nor political.
Los Angeles is not confronting a single homelessness problem.
It is confronting dozens of different homelessness crises across neighborhoods with dramatically different economic conditions, housing markets, public safety challenges, and levels of available services.
Council District 4 is among the city's wealthiest communities, with a median household income approaching $119,000 and average home values around $1.5 million.
Council District 9, represented by Councilmember Curren Price Jr., tells a very different story. It is one of Los Angeles' lowest-income districts, with a median household income of roughly $54,000 and average home values near $640,000.
Yet meaningful reductions in unsheltered homelessness have also been reported there, demonstrating that progress is possible under very different circumstances.
What these numbers should produce is not political finger-pointing but serious evaluation.
Which strategies are working?
Which programs are failing?
Why are some districts making measurable progress while others continue moving backward?
Those are the questions taxpayers deserve answered.
Instead, City Hall is increasingly consumed by assigning blame.
The public, however, is less interested in political arguments than in results.
Residents judge success by what they experience every day: whether sidewalks are safe, parks are usable, businesses can operate without constant encampments, emergency responders arrive when called, and people suffering from addiction or mental illness receive effective treatment and permanent pathways off the streets.
Those outcomes remain inconsistent across much of Los Angeles.
The exchange between Bass and Raman may become one of the defining political battles leading into November's mayoral election.
But the real contest is not between two elected officials.
It is between Los Angeles and a homelessness crisis that continues to test the City's capacity, leadership, and credibility.
If a program works, expand it.
If it fails, replace it.
If billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent without delivering sustained citywide progress, the public deserves an honest accounting not competing press releases.
Los Angeles can no longer measure success by isolated victories, carefully selected statistics, or political talking points.
The only statistic that truly matters is whether fewer Angelenos are sleeping on the streets next year than they are today.
Until that number declines consistently across every neighborhood, not just in a handful of council districts Los Angeles cannot honestly claim victory. Residents deserve results, not rival press releases.
(Mihran Kalaydjian is a seasoned public affairs and government relations professional with more than twenty years of experience in legislative affairs, public policy, community relations, and strategic communications. A respected civic leader and education advocate, he has spearheaded numerous academic and community initiatives, shaping dialogue and driving reform in local and regional political forums. His career reflects a steadfast commitment to transparency, accountability, and public service across Los Angeles and beyond.)
