Nithya Raman has reached the “bottom of the barrel politically” after her latest attempt to pin her failings on the LA Housing and Homelessness Committee on Mayor Bass, according to city council president.
Marqueece Harris-Dawson blasted Raman for political desperation in the fallout over his decision to remove her from her powerful post overseeing the city’s homeless crisis.
Raman, a socialist running for mayor, lost her her position as chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee Monday after a string of embarrassing botched initiatives, the California Post reported exclusively.
“It’s hardly a punishment,” Harris-Dawson told NBC Los Angeles. “It’s something to make the council functional and to put the council in the position to answer some very key questions between now and the election regarding homelessness.”
Raman portrayed the removal as a political attack from Mayor Karen Bass, who is defending her seat from Raman.
“Mayor Bass’ top City Council ally removed me as Chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee,” Raman said in a video posted to X. “The Mayor may be trying to punish me for challenging her, but Angelenos are the ones who pay the price for these political games.”
That “top City Council ally” is Harris-Dawson, as he and Bass have remained close friends for years.
Harris-Dawson told NBC Los Angeles that there were already months of discussion between him and Raman on changing the committee’s direction. The Housing and Homelessness Committee would be split into two different committees, with one focusing on housing and the other focusing on homelessness.
“It was very, very disappointing to see her reach to the bottom of the barrel politically and to use something that she knew would happen,” Harris-Dawson told the outlet.
“In fact, she has a quote in the Times saying, ‘I expect that I’m going to lose my leadership position as a result of this move,’ months ago. So, for her to reach to the bottom of the barrel and use it as something to shoot a commercial, it’s just disappointing because I always thought of Nithya Raman as somebody who was better than that and above that.”
He claimed that if it was really politically motivated, he would have removed Raman as early as when Raman announced her run for mayor in February.
The Post reached out to the Raman campaign for comment on the council president’s latest remarks.
The Bass campaign has fired back, turning Raman’s criticism against her and blasting her own record on homelessness and housing.
“Nithya Raman canceled committee meetings for weeks, didn’t show up to votes, and failed to deliver on building more housing or getting people off the streets,” said Alex Stack, a campaign spokesperson for Bass.
