LOS ANGELES (Diya TV) — Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto has called for a full accounting of public money paid to the nonprofit administering Stay Housed LA, an eviction-defense program championed by Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman.
The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles disputes the allegations. The city attorney’s report does not name Raman or accuse her of mishandling funds.
In an Oct. 9 supplemental report, Feldstein Soto said publicly available records did not account for between $55 million and $87 million in city and county funding provided to LAFLA during 2021–2025, according to reporting by IANS. She requested an audit to reconcile the spending.
The estimate concerns gaps the city attorney identified in public financial information. It is not a completed audit finding that the money was stolen or misspent. LAFLA’s board said in an Aug. 10 letter that it knew of no improperly spent funds and that earlier reports had identified no specific financial improprieties.
The dispute predates the latest report. In July, Feldstein Soto’s office said the city’s initial $7 million contract had expanded through nine amendments and extensions to more than $90 million. Her office questioned whether spending complied with contract requirements and whether city funding could be distinguished from other government grants.
The office also said it would finalize a new contract at the direction of the mayor and City Council while continuing its financial review.
LAFLA has challenged both the financial claims and the handling of contract negotiations. In a June statement, housing justice director Barbara Schultz said the organization submitted detailed monthly invoices, staff costs, program expenditures and case outcomes to the city.
Schultz said LAFLA could not disclose confidential client information and accused Feldstein Soto of retaliating against the organization for representing clients in housing litigation against the city. Those allegations remain LAFLA’s position.
Separately, Raman and Mayor Karen Bass clashed over remarks about former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates during their Oct. 13 debate.
Bass said Raman’s comments overlooked the harm Black and Latino residents experienced during Gates’ tenure and called for an apology. Gates led the department during the 1991 police beating of Rodney King.
Raman said she was discussing Special Order 40, the 1979 policy restricting police action undertaken solely to determine someone’s immigration status. She rejected Gates’ broader record, calling him “an abhorrent and racist police chief,” and accused Bass of diverting attention from questions about LAPD cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The disputes come before the Nov. 3 mayoral runoff. A Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies–Los Angeles Times poll conducted Sept. 15–20 put Raman at 39%, Bass at 28% and undecided voters at 33%. The survey of 2,150 likely voters carried an approximate three-percentage-point margin of error and preceded both the October report and the debate.
