Editorial: Measure ULA is the best gift Karen Bass could get as mayor

Here are two heartening things that happened in the past few weeks: the passage of Measure ULA, which will provide hundreds of millions of dollars annually to build affordable housing and prevent homelessness, and the election of Karen Bass, a smart, experienced leader, as the next mayor of Los Angeles. According to a just-released survey, city voters have given the mayor-elect a clear mandate to do whatever is necessary to succeed at the most daunting task she faces — substantially reducing homelessness in a city where 42,000 people were unhoused at the last count earlier this year and building more affordable housing for people living on the edge of homelessness. They see the mayor as having primary responsibility for addressing homelessness, and they want Bass to act immediately once she takes office next month, according to the survey conducted by the Loyola Marymount University’s Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles. She can start by forcing city agencies — such as the Department of Water and Power and the Bureau of Engineering — to help developers of affordable housing and homeless housing quickly obtain permits and whatever else they need to finish construction.