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Incoming Los Angeles Mayor Nithya Raman has promised to cut the number of people sleeping in tents and homeless encampments by at least 50% before the 2028 Summer Olympics, but one local activist believes her vision may not be realistic.
The blue city’s growing homeless population became a major focus of Raman’s mayoral campaign. A member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), she plans to expand shelter and housing options while stretching “every dollar as far as possible.”
John Alle, a business owner and co-founder of the Santa Monica Coalition, told Fox News Digital Raman won’t be able to “hide” the city’s homelessness problem from tourists arriving for the Games and raised concerns about potential gaps in in her plan to deliver lasting results.
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to hide that before the crowds,” Alle said, adding that the city has become a “third-world country.”
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“We’re not hiding it now. We’re seeing tourists being attacked in Santa Monica, we’re seeing tourists being attacked in LA. Our tourism, everything that funds our general fund, our retail sales taxes are all down. The morale of the police, which we need, is down.”
Alle warned that Raman’s plan will be a temporary solution that will have homeless people moved off the streets ahead of the Olympics and returning once the Games are over.
“When the Olympics come, they’ll be picked up, they’ll be bused, they’ll be sent elsewhere, and they’ll wander right back after the three-week Olympic and Paralympic events.”
Former Mayor Karen Bass accepted the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony in Paris two years ago, marking the handoff of hosting duties. This will be the first time LA has hosted the Games since 1984.
According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s 2026 annual count, homelessness rose 3.4% in LA and 1.2% across the broader LA area, undoing two consecutive years of declines under Bass.
But how does Raman plan to follow through on that promise?
By the end of her first term, Raman has pledged to expand housing, shelter capacity and rental assistance to eliminate long-term encampments. Raman has previously called the city’s “desensitization to homelessness” a “moral failing.” Her plan calls for sending medical teams directly into encampments to provide mental health and addiction treatment and help with transitions into long-term housing or care within 90 days.
Raman has also criticized Bass’ Inside Safe program, which often places homeless people in costly hotels and motels. Instead, Raman wants to shift funding toward less expensive alternatives, like rental vouchers.
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Other parts of Raman’s proposal include sending unarmed crisis response teams rather than police officers to certain emergencies, auditing stalled housing projects and increasing oversight of homelessness spending.
Despite Raman’s ambitious vision, Alle said he isn’t convinced her plan will bring meaningful change and argued that city leadership has gone “from bad to worse.”
“It’s not that much different than Mayor Karen Bass’s plan,” Alle said.
Alle, who manages roughly 1 million square feet of commercial property across Los Angeles, said he sees the homelessness crisis firsthand and raised concerns about its impact on local businesses and workers.
He warned that treating homeless people on the streets will only prolong the crisis, saying that many Angelenos avoid parts of the city that have been left untouched.
“Pick up the individuals and take them to their facilities away from the parks, away from kids, away from seniors,” he said.
Alle said there must be more transparency over how the city has handled more than $1 billion in homelessness funding before allocating more taxpayer dollars.
“She’s got a billion-dollar problem on her hands right now, and she knows,” he said.
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Raman chaired the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee from 2023 until her removal this year amid her mayoral campaign. Alle said Raman will have to explain where the money went but acknowledged her push to investigate the spending.
“To her credit, she wants to audit every single non-profit and every single agency that spent money, including the non-profits that are supported by the city with taxpayer funds for programs,” he said.
One of the biggest red flags in Raman’s plan is the proximity of supportive housing to families and children, according to Alle. He added that some facilities don’t require residents to remain sober.
“There is no commitment for anyone not to use drugs while they’re there,” he said.
Pointing to her past opposition to restrictions on camping in public spaces and near schools, Alle argued Raman’s approach isn’t “aggressive enough.”
“I don’t see the solutions that have been put forth that could work being used and so I’m not optimistic,” he said.
Alle described LA as having a drug and mental health problem, not a homelessness problem. He said the city needs to stop making life on the streets more comfortable for those who refuse help.
“Until those two issues are addressed, we’re not gonna solve homelessness,” he said.
He urged Raman to find a more practical solution by moving outreach services off the streets and ending LA’s sanctuary city status for good.
“Of course I want her to succeed,” he said. “If Nithya succeeds, we all succeed.”
Raman ousted Bass in the midterm elections and will take office in December as mayor of Los Angeles, a city of roughly 4 million residents.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Raman’s team and LA28 for comment.
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