Mayor Karen Bass and Nithya Raman turned a South Los Angeles campaign forum into a preview of the increasingly bitter fight for City Hall, with the challenger accusing the mayor of wrecking the city’s finances and Bass firing back that Raman simply isn’t telling the truth.

Bass and City Council member Raman took turns hammering each other the KBLA Talk 1580 Town Hall and Ballot Forum on Saturday at the SEED School in South LA, hosted by Tavis Smiley, with Election Day just a month away.

Raman, who represents the 4th District, argued that basic city services have deteriorated under Bass, pointing to trash, graffiti and potholes.

“Our quality of life is worse today than it was just a few years ago. But we did not get to this moment by accident. In 2023, Mayor Bass led a contract to give LAPD raises that everyone in city hall knew our city simply could not afford,” Raman said.

“The police union is now funding her reelection campaign in return for receiving what their own leadership call the ‘the largest raises in LAPD history.”

Raman said the contract helped fuel the city’s budget crisis, pointing to a roughly $1 billion deficit and subsequent cuts to city services.

Raman also accused Bass of backing away from aggressive housing policies.

“On a debate stage with the Sherman Oaks homeowners association, Mayor Bass promised the audience that she would protect their communities by keeping housing out.”

Asked why she had turned against a mayor she once supported, Raman said she saw a pattern of what she called politically convenient decision-making at City Hall.

She accused Bass of making “politically convenient decisions” instead of “decisions that mattered for Angelenos.”

Bass, meanwhile, defended her record on homelessness and housing took direct aim at Raman.

Bass said after becoming mayor she found out how “profoundly” broken the homeless system was and argued that Los Angeles needs greater control over a system now split between the city and county.

“Right now the city of Los Angeles gets people housed, but then we want to move them out of interim housing into permanent housing,” Bass said. “But we don’t control who moves into permanent housing, the county does.”

She then took a swing at her opponent and claimed Raman’s record on affordable housing is poor.

“If you look, by council district, who has built the most affordable housing and the least, she’s number 14 out of 15,” Bass said, claiming this is an area where they are different.

Bass also hit back at Raman’s claim that the budget problems were due to the police raises, calling it a “lie.”

“I really think when you go to vote, you gotta vote for somebody that tells the truth,” Bass said.

Bass also accused Raman of taking credit for a 49% drop in homelessness in her district that the mayor said was driven by her Inside Safe program.

Smiley pointed that homelessness remains a major issue despite Bass making it a centerpiece of her 2022 campaign. Bass responded that homelessness has declined for two consecutive years and blamed some of the continuing pressure on reduced state funding.

But this year’s Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count showed the number of people experiencing homelessness in the city rose about 3.4%, while the unsheltered population jumped roughly 7.9%, reversing two consecutive years of declines.

The county has already begun mailing ballots ahead of the general election on Nov. 3, launching the final month of a packed election featuring contests not only for mayor but California governor and Congress, along with numerous local and statewide measures.

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