LA mayoral candidate’s shocking take on homeless encampments near schools

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman was booed for a shocking speech where she revealed her views on homeless encampments near schools.

Raman, a member of the hard-left Democratic Socialists of America, shrugged her shoulders when asked her thoughts on how close they can be to children.

She claimed there was no difference in enforcing city laws stating they cannot be with 500 feet of any education facility or daycare center.

She told the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association last month: “I don’t think a kid’s gonna be safer if they are 10 feet or 500 feet away from a school.”

Footage showed her shrug as the crowd at the powerful meeting roundly booed her, before she rolled her eyes and put her microphone down.

The exchange took place before the same crowd where Raman previously went viral for blaming Toyota for catalytic converter thefts.

The mayoral candidate has a long history of voting against expansions of the city’s anti-camping law, which bans sitting, sleeping or storing property within set distances of “sensitive” sites.

These include within 500 feet of schools and day care centers, and often within 50 to 500 feet of parks, libraries and other public areas, depending on the council.

She has opposed multiple amendments, arguing the policy largely shifts encampments from block to block rather than resolving them.

“We cannot pretend … that we can snap our fingers, pass a law, and end homelessness,” she said in a council address, calling the approach ineffective and under-resourced.

Parents across Los Angeles have warned that not enforcing the law has had a significant impact on their children.

Some described walking their kids past encampments with open drug use, erratic behavior and blocked pathways just to get to school.

Others said they were forced to reroute daily routines or drive short distances out of fear.

In Council District 4 and beyond, families reported children asking difficult questions about what they were seeing, from people in distress to public nudity and drug activity.

Several parents said their kids were scared to walk alone, sleep disturbances increased, and what should be routine school commutes became a source of anxiety.

In some cases, parents pointed to more extreme incidents near schools, including overdoses, fires, and confrontations that left lasting emotional impact on young students.

“There is no teachable moment in that,” one parent said at the time, describing how exposure to those scenes changed their child’s sense of safety.

Raman is currently second place in the mayors race, polling at 17%, hot on the heels of incumbent Karen Bass who is on 25%.

The Post reached out to Raman’s office for comment on the city’s anti-camping law and whether her stance has shifted as a citywide mayoral candidate.

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