LA Homeless Emergency Declaration Confirmed by Board; Mayor promises “urgent and strategic action” – update

UPDATED 16:10: On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors followed Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council in approving a state of emergency on local homelessness. “Today’s unanimous action by the board of directors recognizes the mandate from LA County voters in November: To move forward with urgency and transparency to address the homelessness crisis in every neighborhood,” Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath said in a statement. said following the mood.

The board passed a motion last month urging employees to work hand-in-hand with Los Angeles city officials to address homelessness and help in any way possible to enforce Bass’s emergency declaration. But the board approved a self-declaration on Tuesday, noting that the Long Beach City
The council will vote Tuesday night on an emergency homelessness proclamation for the nation’s second-largest city.

“While Los Angeles and Long Beach represent the two largest cities in Los Angeles County, many other smaller cities in the country are also struggling to address homelessness,” said CEOs Horvath and Kathryn Barger. “These smaller cities can allow new affordable housing in their jurisdictions through their land use powers, but in many cases they rely on provincial funding and homeless services. Without a coordinated effort between cities and the province, we will not be able to tackle homelessness effectively.”

Read the details of the statement below.

EARLY December 13: In a statement of fact clear to every resident, the Los Angeles City Council today voted to ratify the state of emergency against homelessness, confirming the first act of newly elected Mayor Karen Bass.

The council voted 13-0, with embattled councilman Kevin de León casting a vote despite not being in the room.

Bass signed the statement as a way to unlock tools and powers to “ensure we use any means possible” to fight homelessness, claiming it is a “watershed” and “monumental shift” in the city’s fight .

“By using the emergency directive, we can speed things up,” said the mayor.

She added, “My mission is to lead Los Angeles in a new direction with an urgent and strategic approach to solving one of our city’s greatest challenges and creating a brighter future for every Angeleno.”

The declaration, which will last six months, will allow Bass to take more aggressive executive action to deal with the crisis, although the City Council must sign off on it every 30 days.

“By setting a specific time frame, actions can be taken to make lasting, necessary structural changes,” the statement said.

Whether to continue the state of emergency will be judged based on several indicators of progress, including the number of camps and dwellings and how much more flexibility the declaration will give city services.

City Council President Paul Krekorian has indicated he will work with Bass, saying in remarks at Sunday’s mayoral inauguration that Bass will have a “very strong partner on the Los Angeles City Council.”

“The city is known around the world for its emergency response,” Krekorian said. “Starting today, under Mayor Bass, we will bring the same strength, sense of urgency and mobilization of resources to respond to this emergency as well – the humanitarian emergency affecting 40,000 people tonight.”

The last time a mayor declared a local homeless emergency was in 1987, when Mayor Tom Bradley cited the impact of winter weather on people experiencing homelessness, the statement said. The conditions are now, according to the statement, “even worse”.

According to the latest census from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, there are an estimated 41,980 homeless people in the city of Los Angeles, an increase of 1.7% from 2020.

Bass said she plans to announce a program to combat homelessness called Inside Safe in the coming days. The plan, which Bass said would cost less than $100 million, involves using master lease motels to house homeless people. She said her office was in contact with motel owners near camps.

Janice Hahn, chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said she plans to file an application to ensure the county’s resources “can match the urgency of this emergency declaration.”

“We need to cross our arms instead of pointing fingers at him,” Hahn said, adding that Bass “brought renewed vigor to a battle we’ve been fighting for far too long.”

Jennifer Hark Dietz, CEO of People Assisting The Homeless, said in a statement that Bass was right to declare a state of emergency.

“The city’s approach to homelessness has become more fragmented and politicized, and this emergency could use executive power to sustainably improve our service system and dramatically increase the production of much-needed housing,” Dietz said.

The Committee for Greater LA, a group of cross-sector civic leaders, also agreed with Bass’ decision in a statement from chairman Miguel Santana and Sarah Dusseault, chair of the group’s housing and homelessness action team. The state of emergency allows the city to better manage the use of city-owned land, expedite approvals for affordable housing and meet the needs of people living in encampments, the group said.

“Unprecedented action like that in Mayor Bass’ plan is needed to significantly improve the lives of homeless people and remove the barriers they face to finding housing,” the statement said.

Erik Pedersen and City News Service contributed to this report.