How LA's new mayor Nithya Raman will tackle these big issues -

Nithya Raman has defeated Karen Bass in the fierce race for Los Angeles mayor, capping months of appeals to voters and kicking off a tenure she’s argued will focus on delivering the services residents expect from their city.

So, what does that actually mean?

Here’s a snapshot of Raman’s plans as mayor, based on her campaign website and remarks at previous debates and forums.

Immigration enforcement: How Raman says she’ll protect Angelenos

Raman said she plans to replace Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell — although she said she couldn’t put a timeline on it in October — and argued that the LAPD under his leadership appeared to prioritize protecting federal immigration enforcement over local residents.

She’s called for an audit of LAPD to ensure they’re following Los Angeles’ sanctuary city ordinance, an ordinance she helped shape as a city councilmember, and to ensure no city data is used for federal immigration enforcement, such as from license plate readers. This aligns with the sanctuary city ordinance, which bans using city resources and personnel for immigration enforcement and bans sharing data with federal immigration authorities, as Raman’s office wrote when it was established in 2024.

Raman’s plan also calls for expanding RepresentLA, a legal defense program the city has funded that serves immigrants facing deportation in Los Angeles County, and creating an emergency utility fee waiver for families affected by federal immigration enforcement sweeps.

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The Peach State’s gubernatorial contest also went the Democrats way, electing former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms as the nation’s first Black woman governor by about 9 percentage points. She will be first Democrat elected to lead Georgia since 1998. Democrats flipped at least seven seats in the Senate to gain a 54-seat majority in traditionally Republican states such as Texas, Kansas and South Carolina.

(Carlos Barria, REUTERS)

Local business and nightlife: How to improve it

Half the battle when going somewhere in Los Angeles is traffic. The other half, depending on where you live, is parking.

Raman’s plan includes working with banks and offices to use otherwise empty after-hours parking lots to support public use. She also wants to work with Metro to keep trains and buses running later on weekends and major event nights — earlier this year, Metro expanded its service for the 2026 World Cup.

A nightlife czar will be appointed, tasked in part with creating designated entertainment zones that would allow vendors to operate later and open-container rules in the area.

Her plan also draws on San Francisco’s “Vacant to Vibrant” program, which describes itself as helping small businesses work with local property owners to transform vacant storefronts into businesses and pop-ups. In October, Bass launched the city’s first “Vacant to Vibrant” program focused on downtown Los Angeles as part of a wider revitalization plan for the area.

For restaurants, Raman wants to provide pre-approved construction plans for common kitchen layouts and offer self-certification for straightforward projects. She also plans to push for easing the process for eateries to offer sidewalk dining.

Public transportation: Buses take priority

Metro has numerous transit investments underway such as the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project, which will unlock another travel option between the San Fernando Valley and the Westside. The Los Angeles area has long been defined by congestion, and the 2028 LA Olympics are looming.

Raman’s plan includes creating a team in the mayor’s office “to eliminate any city delays on Metro’s major capital projects.” Also, Metro will run more buses more often, reintroduce express service on the highest-ridership corridors, and expand commuter express routes. Another proposal is to convert as much of the road network dedicated to Olympics-related use as possible into permanent bus priority lanes, or lanes intended to increase bus speeds and reliability.

For bus users in downtown Los Angeles, Raman’s plan proposes building a dedicated transit loop so buses aren’t stuck in the same congestion as other motorists.

Homelessness: How she’ll address it

Part of Raman’s first 100-day plans includes moving Los Angeles’ homelessness budget out of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which has faced scrutiny over its performance. Los Angeles County has already removed its homeless services funding.

She’ll give Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia the ability to audit every dollar spent on homelessness, and the public will have access to a real-time dashboard tracking homelessness services’ performance and spending.

More: LA could be in for a new mayor. What Nithya Raman says she’d do

Raman said she’ll cut the number of encampments by at least half by the 2028 LA Olympics. Her approach, according to her campaign website, includes expanding teams that provide physical, mental, and behavioral health care directly to people living on the streets, with the same clinical team staying with a patient as they transition into shelter and permanent housing.

Addressing homelessness requires a “whole-of-government approach,” Raman said in October.

“You work with LAPD to make sure that you are enforcing laws that need to be enforced, that you’re arresting people who are committing crimes and everyone else who simply needs a bed or needs shelter is able to go indoors,” she said.

According to Raman’s campaign, people would move from motels with intensive onsite services and into housing after 120 days. The effort will be made possible by expanding a program that provides people “up to 24 months of rental subsidies, intensive case management” and helps prepare them for permanent housing.