A long-delayed report meant to scrutinize more than $200 million in taxpayer-funded homeless housing lacked basic information when it was finally unveiled Wednesday — as a top Los Angeles City Council member appeared stumped and unprepared.
Council member Nithya Raman, who heads the Housing and Homelessness Committee, nonchalantly flipped through a copy of the report that was two years in the making and asked staff basic questions.
Raman, a Democrat and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, bizarrely said she couldn’t find the data that was the entire point of the report — how many homeless housing units are occupied and how many are empty.
She briefly questioned City Administrative Officer Matthew W. Szabo on why the numbers weren’t in the incomplete report and then the $243,000-a-year politician suggested the committee “come back next month.”
Councilwoman Traci Park, who requested the report two years ago, said she pushed for an accounting analysis of how many hotel rooms and housing units purchased by the city were actually being used. The hoped-for accountability came when she noticed a former Ramada in her district sat vacant long after the city purchased it in the program.
“Taxpayers are rightly frustrated that their government is spending billions with meager results,” Park told The Post. “That’s why two years ago, I introduced a motion asking for accountability on the City’s Project Homekey sites, including the Ramada Inn in the heart of my district.”
“Especially in this moment,” Park said, “we need to make sure every dollar the city spends on homelessness is getting people off the street and into beds Angelenos already paid for.”
Park was sparked by the city’s purchase of the former Ramada Venice motel in December 2020, under then-Councilmember Mike Bonin. The Ramada briefly operated as interim housing before being cleared out in October 2022 for conversion into 32 units of permanent housing by operator PATH.
Years later, the building remains offline.
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Park filed a formal motion demanding the city explain why — citing financing delays, regulatory hurdles, and the absence of a clear construction or occupancy timeline.
The motion also ordered a citywide accounting of Project Homekey 1, 2, and 3 sites, including how many units remain offline, why they’re delayed, and what steps the city plans to take to break the logjam.
The city administrative officer — responsible for tracking spending and performance — was ordered to produce the report. But when the analysis finally came up Wednesday, the report was still incomplete and committee members appeared unprepared or disinterested.
The lack of preparedness extended beyond the chair.
Freshman DSA Councilwoman Ysabel J. Jurado publicly questioned why she could not locate documents that were already attached to the agenda on another important matter about how much the city was spending on homeless programs.
Szabo, the city administrative officer, was forced to walk her through the paperwork during the meeting — documents The Post also had reviewed prior to Wednesday’s hearing.
At the center of Park’s motion sits the Venice Ramada Inn — a poster child for Project Homekey dysfunction.
Raman and Jurado didn’t respond to requests for comment.
