City Hall is poised to funnel millions more in taxpayer cash to a hard-left activist group that has called to abolish the LAPD, cancel the 2028 Olympics and freeze rent — with the deal moving through a committee chaired by a mayoral candidate.
Nithya Raman leads the Los Angeles City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee. The committee is set to vote Wednesday on a new $6.6 million, three-year contract for Strategic Actions for a Just Economy — better known as SAJE.
Nithya Raman, who chairs the Housing and Homelessness Committee, controls which housing contracts move forward and when. Jamie Paige for California PostThe money would fund “Protection from Tenant Harassment” outreach and education under the city’s Right to Counsel program and the voter-approved United to House LA homelessness prevention initiative.
The request landed at City Hall on Feb. 10, just a day before the committee meeting, and is part of a sweeping $177 million package of eviction-defense and homelessness-prevention contracts that city officials say are essential to keeping renters housed.
Under the proposal, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles would receive more than $106 million to lead eviction defense and prevention efforts. Liberty Hill Foundation would collect nearly $22 million for tenant outreach and education. The Southern California Housing Rights Center would receive over $42 million for short-term emergency assistance.
Sage activist wearing a cape and a mask, holding a “F*** ICE” sign. Los Angeles Unified
SAJE has a long history of headline-grabbing activism.
SAJE’s slice: $6,626,730.18.
The funding comes largely from Measure ULA — the so-called “mansion tax” approved by voters in 2022 — which requires that 30% of revenue be dedicated to homelessness prevention services.
But SAJE is no quiet legal aid clinic.
Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters
California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post SportsFacebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!
California Post App: Download here!
Home delivery: Sign up here!
Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!
The group has a long history of headline-grabbing activism. It has publicly pushed to defund and abolish the LAPD, urged boycotts of city hotels, opposed the LA28 Olympics and championed sweeping rent and mortgage freezes during the pandemic. In 2023, it even sued the City of Los Angeles over a hotel development — while continuing to receive city funding.
The California Post previously reported that SAJE has received at least $1.43 million in public funds since 2020 through various housing and utility-related contracts. Those funds included money generated through the city’s Systematic Code Enforcement Program — a fee paid by landlords and tenants that operates outside the general fund and comes with limited public accounting of how dollars are spent.
SAJE is exempt from the city’s lobbying ordinance disclosure requirements, which makes it difficult to follow the money.
Small housing providers have bristled at the arrangement. “There were times I honestly didn’t know if I could keep the doors open,” Venice landlord Craig Ribeiro previously told The Post. “And then you realize you’re paying into groups that are fighting people like me — that’s infuriating.”
SAJE disputes that public money is misused. A spokesperson has said the organization tracks expenses by funding source and does not use restricted funds for prohibited advocacy. City rules allow nonprofits to hold contracts while engaging in policy advocacy, and SAJE is exempt from the city’s lobbying ordinance disclosure requirements.
Raman, who chairs the powerful Housing and Homelessness Committee, controls which housing contracts move forward and when. As a mayoral candidate, housing policy is at the center of her political platform.
If approved in committee, the contract would head to the full City Council for a final vote.
