On Monday, March 23, the first mayoral debate of the election cycle took place. Hosted by the Housing Action Coalition and Streets for All, “Shaping Los Angeles: A Debate about the Future of LA,” took place at L.A. Center Studios in downtown Los Angeles.
Founder of Streets for All, Michael Schneider, and Southern California Director of the Housing Action Coalition, Jesse Zwick, both moderated. The areas of focus included housing, transportation, homelessness, and infrastructure.
Three Democratic candidates faced off— founder and tech executive Adam Miller, Democratic contender Los Angeles City Council Member Nithya Raman, and community organizer Rae Huang.
Each candidate boldly laid their stake through their opening arguments with a stern message of: Los Angeles has lost its way.
“LA is among the most rent-burdened, overcrowded cities in the country, with the fewest homes per capita and the largest unsheltered homeless population. To meet our state‑mandated housing goals, the city should be building roughly 60,000 homes a year, but we’re only achieving, on average, around 15,000 every year,” Zwick said before asking the candidates about their vision for fixing the housing crisis in Los Angeles.
A quick scope:
• The city is “broken,” both literally and symbolically, according to Adam Miller, the founder of a nonprofit organization that addresses homelessness and a self-described lifelong Democrat.
• The city of Los Angeles is “challenged,” according to councilwoman Nithya Raman.
• Los Angeles needs “new and fresh leadership,” according to Rae Huang, a Democratic Socialists of America member, a Presbyterian preacher, and a community activist.
Out of the 40 candidates that qualify for the June primary, these three during the debate, confidently responded to questions centered on housing, transportation, and infrastructure. The debate had a calm yet eager crowd—many rushed to find a good seat—consisting of a diverse audience of Gen Z, younger and older millennials, and a few Gen X people from various racial, gender, and ethnic backgrounds.
Immediately before the opening statements began, Schneider took a pause to acknowledge Mayor Bass’ absence, a moment that seemed intentional as some audience members gasped and others chuckled.
“We’re going to start off by talking about the elephant in the room, the fact that Mayor Bass declined to be here,” said Schneider.
Our weekly reached out to Bass for comment and did not receive a response. Another contender who was doing well in the polls, Spencer Pratt, was also invited but did not attend.
According to reports, Bass declined the invitation due to a scheduling conflict and having to attend other debates. The mayor was traveling out of state on Monday and returned Tuesday morning.
A poll conducted by UC Berkeley and the Los Angeles Times showed that Bass is in the lead against her competitors, despite many voters who said they viewed her unfavorably.
According to the poll, roughly 25 percent of probable voters supported Bass. Raman is polling at 17 percent despite only entering the contest two months ago. 14 percent of respondents back Pratt, a former reality TV star. Miller and Huang are both polling at less than 10 percent.
Key issues covered
Measure ULA
Four years ago, a plethora of Angeleno voters approved Measure ULA, a Los Angeles tax on high-value real estate transactions adopted by voters in November 2022 with the goal of funding tenant aid and affordable housing. Property sales between $5 million and $10.6 million are subject to a 4 percent tax, while sales beyond $10.6 million are subject to a 5.5 percent tax.
According to a study from UCLA and the RAND nonprofit organization, Measure ULA, has decreased the annual output of new multifamily apartment production by around 1,910 units, or about 18 percent from pre-election levels.
To lessen the negative impact while preserving funding for housing projects, researchers propose exempting new apartment complexes within 15 years after construction from the tax.
Raman brought up the improvements she attempted but was unable to get on the June ballot when questioned about her stances on the initiative. She emphasized that the majority of the revenue support for eviction defense and the creation of affordable housing would still be retained under those measures, which included an exemption from the tax on apartment complexes constructed over the last 15 years.
“This is where Nithya and I disagree greatly,” Huang added, charging Raman and Bass of “dangling the idea that developers will get a tax break” and supporting legislative changes without consulting the people.
Raman countered against Huang, claiming that she collaborated on reforms with labor organizations, developers, and supporters of the tax.
“On Measure ULA, my office spent months working with the measure’s proponents, labor, and both affordable and market rate developers to craft reforms that preserve about 90 percent of ULA revenue while still allowing new housing to be built during a severe shortage,” said Raman.
Miller said the regulation discouraged developers from making investments in the city and needs to be “greatly reformed.”
Housing Crisis
Each candidate agreed that the housing crisis of Los Angeles is a pertinent issue that needs urgent attention by increasing affordable housing and production. They all aligned in their stances on Bass’ Inside Program, stating that it was essentially a waste of funding and did not fully deliver the promise of a significant dent in homelessness despite Bass’ data showing that it provided some solution.
Out of the three, Miller strongly suggested that the “Inside Safe Program is a failure and does not work” and referenced LAHSA’s 2025 Homeless Count report that shows the city has about 44,000 unhoused people.
All three candidates also urged the necessity of increasing funding for city departments that deal with streets and sidewalks.
Other concerns that were discussed at the debate include funding and fixing basic city services/structure, Vision Zero, traffic fatalities, LADWP delays, LAX management, Metro board control, project deliverables, and homelessness strategy. To watch the full replay of the debate, visit the Housing Action Coalition’s YouTube page.