Workshop Recap: Houser Hour with Councilmember Raman

On Tuesday, October 19th, SCANPH convened for a Houser Hour session, a recurring series where webinar attendees engage directly with elected officials and public agency leaders to get pressing questions answered. October’s featured speaker, Nithya Raman, Los Angeles City Councilmember, District 4, focused on housing policy topics such as LA’s redistricting proposals, how these changes will impact constituent participation in city government, and how each district should contribute to their fair share of affordable housing construction. Throughout the discussion, Councilmember Raman advocated for a comprehensive rental registry that allows tenants to verify what they pay in rent, an approach she believes will promote renters’ rights among people living in rent stabilized units.

Councilmember Raman touched on establishing a "Right to Housing" policy, a fully streamlined approval process for affordable housing, and engaged in discussion of HHH and its mismatch of expectations while fielding audience questions.

Touching on affordable housing challenges, Councilmember Raman referenced the extent of growing homelessness and the overlay between housing overcrowding and COVID-related deaths, which she believes have left constituents with a newfound sense of urgency around issues of affordable housing. Given that District 4 is the third wealthiest district in LA, housing policy is at the core of everything Raman’s office is thinking about for the future of LA. In closing, Councilmember Raman wants to expand the discussion on social housing policy and how it can address housing need in the city.