LOS ANGELES—Mayor Karen Bass and her challenger in the Nov. 3 election, Councilmember Nithya Raman, criticized one another on July 24 over the increase in homelessness in Los Angeles.
Homelessness increased by 3.4 percent in the city to an estimated 45,194 people, and unsheltered homelessness also rose by nearly 8 percent, according to figures from the 2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count. The data showed the first increase in the unhoused population following two consecutive years of decreases.
Raman, who represents the Fourth Council District, held a news conference in Studio City to discuss the results of the count released on the afternoon of July 24.
“By now you’ve probably seen the reports: 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,” Raman said in a statement….