Bass vows not to bus homeless people out for 2028 Olympics. But what will L.A. do?
4 months, 3 weeks ago

Bass vows not to bus homeless people out for 2028 Olympics. But what will L.A. do?

LA Times  

In Paris, the French government packed homeless people and migrants onto buses and sent them out of the city as the Summer Olympics approached. Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe initiative went to Hollywood Boulevard on Thursday, moving about three dozen people indoors. Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program senior director Annetta Wells, right, coordinates with the Los Angeles Sanitation Bureau during a clean up of homeless encampments along Hollywood Blvd. Sanitation workers assigned to one of Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe operations clean a homeless encampment on Hollywood Boulevard on Thursday. “Los Angeles is not going to be special and they’ve already proven they’re not special.” Kevin Murray, president and chief executive of Weingart Center, one of the region’s largest nonprofit landlords and homeless service providers, said that while he expects the Olympics will add external pressure on Bass to address homelessness, it won’t make her turn to a more heavy-handed approach.

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History of this topic

A radical reshaping of L.A. County’s homeless services system is proposed
1 month, 2 weeks ago

A radical reshaping of L.A. County’s homeless services system is proposed

LA Times  

Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian, from right, and L.A. County Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger join other volunteers to count the homeless in North Hollywood on Jan. 23. Responding to long-standing dissatisfaction over the effectiveness of homelessness programs, Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger are proposing a new county department that would take over hundreds of millions …

Gov. Newsom joins local officials in unveiling a new round of homeless funding
2 months, 1 week ago

Gov. Newsom joins local officials in unveiling a new round of homeless funding

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, joins California Gov. Gavin Newsom at a press conference at the Downtown Women’s Center to announce new state funding to confront the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. Gavin Newsom came to Skid Row Tuesday to announce new state funding that will bring $380 million to the Los Angeles region for homeless housing, shelter, rental …

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County decreases in annual count
6 months, 1 week ago

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County decreases in annual count

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — The number of homeless residents counted in Los Angeles County has dipped slightly, decreasing by about 0.3% since last year as California continues to struggle with the long-running crisis of tens of thousands of people sleeping in cars and encampments. Results released Friday from a federally required tally conducted in January found 75,312 people were homeless on …

For the first time since 2018, homeless count finds fewer people living on L.A. streets
6 months, 2 weeks ago

For the first time since 2018, homeless count finds fewer people living on L.A. streets

LA Times  

After climbing for the last five years, overall homelessness leveled off in Los Angeles this year, with fewer people living on the streets, according to the annual count released Friday. “These shifts in both the city and the county mean that this year, across our region, more people are experiencing homelessness inside, where they are safer, where they have food, …

L.A. clears homeless encampment near Hollywood’s Sunset Sound recording studio
7 months, 1 week ago

L.A. clears homeless encampment near Hollywood’s Sunset Sound recording studio

LA Times  

The city of Los Angeles on Friday cleared a homeless encampment near Hollywood’s landmark Sunset Sound recording studio and moved more than 30 people into temporary housing, officials said. A stack of blank checks was stolen from the business during a February break-in, and employees found human feces on a drum set, Sunset Sound President Paul Camarata told media outlets …

Bass budget would reduce homelessness funding, scale back LAPD hiring goal
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Bass budget would reduce homelessness funding, scale back LAPD hiring goal

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass delivered her second State of the City Address at City Hall last week. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass proposed a $12.8 billion budget on Monday that would reduce spending on homelessness initiatives, scale back an effort to hire more police officers and eliminate more than 2,100 vacant positions. The mayor’s team said her proposed budget …

Mayor Bass’ ambitious housing program calls on L.A.’s wealthy. Can she pull it off?
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Mayor Bass’ ambitious housing program calls on L.A.’s wealthy. Can she pull it off?

LA Times  

Philanthropic and real estate leaders reacted with hope and skepticism to the initiative, LA4LA, which Mayor Karen Bass unveiled Monday during her State of the City address. “People are a little less cynical, because she has shown that things can be done,” said Bojarsky, pointing to Bass’ executive order speeding up affordable housing construction and other programs led by her …

Mayor Karen Bass urges L.A.’s wealthy to fund homeless housing
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Mayor Karen Bass urges L.A.’s wealthy to fund homeless housing

LA Times  

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass delivers her second State of the City address at City Hall on Monday. “And now we must prevail on the humanity and generosity of the private sector.” The pitch comes as Bass is working to break a logjam that has limited the city’s ability to move homeless Angelenos out of interim housing, such as hotel and …

In Hollywood, homeless encampments fuel neighborhood frustration with Bass and Raman
10 months, 2 weeks ago

In Hollywood, homeless encampments fuel neighborhood frustration with Bass and Raman

LA Times  

The fire that broke out on Franklin Avenue last month was, by some measures, a modest one. “People are scared for their safety,” said Alexa Iles Skarpelos, who co-chairs the LAPD’s Community Police Advisory Board in Hollywood and is voting for Raman’s opponent, Deputy City Atty. Bass said two unhoused residents refused to go inside — one of them facing …

One year on, has the mayor of LA finally put a dent in homelessness?
1 year ago

One year on, has the mayor of LA finally put a dent in homelessness?

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery The Palm Tree Inn …

Homeless numbers in Los Angeles could surge again, even as thousands move to temporary shelter
1 year ago

Homeless numbers in Los Angeles could surge again, even as thousands move to temporary shelter

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — In the hours after being elected mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass made a promise that will be an inescapable metric of her time in office: “We are going to solve homelessness.” The Democratic member of Congress, who had been on then-candidate Joe Biden’s short list for vice president, envisioned streets clear of more than 40,000 homeless …

Bass, one year in: Progress on homelessness but still a steep climb
1 year, 1 month ago

Bass, one year in: Progress on homelessness but still a steep climb

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program moved Clifton Grant Jr. from a sidewalk encampment into a room in the Hollywood Le Bon Hotel. Mayor Karen Bass’ first Inside Safe operation targeted an encampment on Cahuenga Boulevard under the 101 Freeway in Hollywood. On Cahuenga Boulevard, site of the mayor’s first Inside Safe operation, three people said they had already lived …

Column: Is L.A. actually solving homelessness? The answer will start with perception, not reality
1 year, 1 month ago

Column: Is L.A. actually solving homelessness? The answer will start with perception, not reality

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass, accompanied by HUD official Richard J. Monocchio, left, and City Councilmembers Nithya Raman, far left, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Bob Blumenfield, speak to reporters in Hollywood on Wednesday. “I do really worry that it’s become normalized in public discourse to speak about people experiencing homelessness as, like, a problem for those who are not homeless — as opposed …

L.A.’s mayor declared a homeless emergency. A new lawsuit says it should be repealed
1 year, 3 months ago

L.A.’s mayor declared a homeless emergency. A new lawsuit says it should be repealed

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appears with Councilmember Traci Park in January at a community reception where attendees thanked them for their work on homelessness. A Westside-based nonprofit group filed a lawsuit Monday that seeks to strike down Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ declaration of a local emergency on homelessness and housing, calling it a “vast and illegal expansion of …

Editorial: Are L.A. leaders trying to sabotage homeless housing in Venice?
1 year, 5 months ago

Editorial: Are L.A. leaders trying to sabotage homeless housing in Venice?

LA Times  

Rebecca Dannenbaum, 48, and her dog Pop-Tart live in a pedestrian tunnel, to the left, where she and other homeless people have been living. So why is she silent as the city attorney slow-walks, or possibly sabotages, a project for homeless and affordable housing on a city-owned parking lot in Venice? After competitively scoring the applicants, the City Council and …

Faced with another bad homelessness count, L.A. reacts with frustration
1 year, 6 months ago

Faced with another bad homelessness count, L.A. reacts with frustration

LA Times  

L.A. leaders have thrown themselves into the fight against homelessness in recent years, spending an ever-growing amount of money on programs meant to pull the city’s neediest residents back from the brink. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, center, with City Council President Paul Krekorian, left, and actor Danny Trejo in North Hollywood during the homelessness count in January. Councilmember Nithya …

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count
1 year, 6 months ago

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count

Associated Press  

The number of homeless residents counted in Los Angeles County has spiked again, increasing by 9% since last year in the latest marker of how deep the crisis is of people sleeping in cars, encampments or shelters in California. Results released Thursday from a federally required tally conducted in January found 75,518 people were homeless on any given night across …

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count
1 year, 6 months ago

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count

The Independent  

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The number of homeless residents counted in Los …

L.A. mayor reports that 14,000 homeless people have moved off the streets
1 year, 6 months ago

L.A. mayor reports that 14,000 homeless people have moved off the streets

LA Times  

Tierra Signer waits with her belongings, to get housing under Inside Safe program, along 400 S. San Vicente Boulevard. More than 14,000 people experiencing homelessness have been moved off the streets during the first six months of her administration, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reported Tuesday. Bass said the housing placements resulted from executive directives she enacted upon entering office, …

In downtown L.A., Bass’ plan to clear encampments faces crime, addiction and resistance
1 year, 7 months ago

In downtown L.A., Bass’ plan to clear encampments faces crime, addiction and resistance

LA Times  

David Ruther, who lives in a tent in downtown Los Angeles, says he turned down the offer of a hotel room from homelessness outreach workers. Since she took office, Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe initiative has moved more than 1,200 homeless people off the street in Venice, North Hollywood, Del Rey, Beverly Grove and about a dozen other L.A. neighborhoods. …

L.A. Council approves Bass’ $13-billion budget, greenlighting plan to hire 1,000 cops
1 year, 7 months ago

L.A. Council approves Bass’ $13-billion budget, greenlighting plan to hire 1,000 cops

LA Times  

The Los Angeles Police Department’s downtown headquarters, shown last year. The Los Angeles City Council signed off on Mayor Karen Bass’ plan for expanding the Police Department on Thursday, approving a budget that calls for the hiring of about 1,000 officers over the next fiscal year and record spending to fight homelessness. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez cast the lone opposing vote, …

Bass’ $250-million budget proposal for homelessness program clears a key council hurdle
1 year, 7 months ago

Bass’ $250-million budget proposal for homelessness program clears a key council hurdle

LA Times  

People living in tents behind the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures were moved into a motel in February under Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program. Mayor Karen Bass’ first citywide budget cleared an important hurdle on Friday, with a five-member committee paving the way for her to spend $250 million on Inside Safe, her strategy for combating homelessness. The City …

L.A. council members tap the brakes on Mayor Karen Bass’ budget
1 year, 8 months ago

L.A. council members tap the brakes on Mayor Karen Bass’ budget

LA Times  

L.A. City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield at a January meeting where the council approved $50 million for the Inside Safe program. Not long after taking office, Mayor Karen Bass asked the City Council for a quick $50 million — a sum that was essentially seed money for her fight against homelessness, the No. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, along with some of his …

Karen Bass wants to spend $1.3 billion to address homelessness. Here’s how
1 year, 8 months ago

Karen Bass wants to spend $1.3 billion to address homelessness. Here’s how

LA Times  

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that $1.3 billion of her $13 billion proposed budget will go to address homelessness. According to documents released by the Los Angeles city Mayor’s office, the money is distributed across 31 departments and funds that address homelessness and housing, including funding for police department homeless services and the Los Angeles Homeless Services …

Editorial: Mayor Bass goes big on homelessness spending proposal
1 year, 8 months ago

Editorial: Mayor Bass goes big on homelessness spending proposal

LA Times  

It should be no surprise that in her first city budget proposal, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass went big on homelessness. As a candidate last year and now as mayor, Bass has been almost exclusively focused on helping ease the crisis and her $13-billion proposed spending plan reflects that by allocating $1.3 billion for existing and new homelessness programs — …

LA mayor wants $1.3B for homeless crisis, hotels for housing
1 year, 8 months ago

LA mayor wants $1.3B for homeless crisis, hotels for housing

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, who was elected in November after promising to take on the city’s out-of-control homeless crisis, announced Monday she would recommend spending what she called a record $1.3 billion next year to get unhoused people into shelter and treatment programs. Bass’ challenge is in plain sight in just about any neighborhood: homeless people living …

Mayor Bass seeks $250-million expansion of homelessness program in first State of the City speech
1 year, 8 months ago

Mayor Bass seeks $250-million expansion of homelessness program in first State of the City speech

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass delivers her State of the City address at Los Angeles City Hall on Monday. In her first State of the City speech, Mayor Karen Bass announced a dramatic expansion of her signature program to move homeless people indoors, while also pledging to create “a new L.A.” Bass said she intends to propose $250 million for …

Editorial: Mayor Bass didn’t end homelessness in her first 100 days. But she made a good start
1 year, 9 months ago

Editorial: Mayor Bass didn’t end homelessness in her first 100 days. But she made a good start

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass chats with Jawonna Smith in February, before Smith was moved from her sidewalk tent to a motel under the Inside Safe program. She declared an emergency her first day on the job, ordered city agencies to fast-track reviews of affordable housing projects and launched Inside Safe, an ambitious initiative to move people from encampments into …

L.A. strongly approves of Mayor Bass but skeptical about fixing homelessness, poll shows
1 year, 9 months ago

L.A. strongly approves of Mayor Bass but skeptical about fixing homelessness, poll shows

LA Times  

On the eve of her 100th day in office, Mayor Karen Bass enjoys strong approval ratings among Angelenos — a reservoir of goodwill that will be crucial for the new mayor during uphill battles ahead. Half of Angelenos approve of the job Bass is doing so far, while just 14% say they disapprove, according to a Suffolk University/Los Angeles Times …

Mayor Karen Bass says the city will house 4,000 homeless people during her first 100 days
1 year, 9 months ago

Mayor Karen Bass says the city will house 4,000 homeless people during her first 100 days

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass, left, chats with Jawonna Smith, 33, who had been living in a tent on a sidewalk behind the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Wednesday that she expects the city will have housed more than 4,000 homeless Angelenos by the time she reaches her 100th day in office. Bass said the Inside …

Mayor Bass orders list of vacant city properties where homeless housing could be built
1 year, 11 months ago

Mayor Bass orders list of vacant city properties where homeless housing could be built

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass walks with Kevin Murray, center, president and chief executive of the Weingart Center Assn., and Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, as they tour the Hilda L. Solis Care First Village. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ordered city officials on Friday to prepare a list of the city’s surplus and unused properties …

Amid heavy rain, Bass takes on a huge, long-standing homeless encampment in Venice
2 years ago

Amid heavy rain, Bass takes on a huge, long-standing homeless encampment in Venice

LA Times  

Savanna Moran took about an hour to weigh the offer made by homeless outreach workers: Move into a warm motel room about a dozen miles away — but in exchange, give up her tent on Hampton Drive. Encampment residents on Sunset Avenue and Hampton Drive were offered temporary housing as part of Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe initiative. Since then, …

Bass wants to bring homeless people indoors. Can she secure enough beds?
2 years ago

Bass wants to bring homeless people indoors. Can she secure enough beds?

LA Times  

Seated on the hard sidewalk along Cahuenga Boulevard, Rue Ryan arranged a batch of red roses she had plucked from the trash into a memorial for her “street mom,” Hyper, who died two years ago. That’s why people get stuck out here so long.” Ryan hoped to get a hotel room of her own as part of Los Angeles Mayor …

Mayor Bass’ program to move homeless people indoors to launch Tuesday
2 years ago

Mayor Bass’ program to move homeless people indoors to launch Tuesday

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday will launch a city program to move people living in tents on streets into hotel and motel rooms, she said Sunday during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “Now it’s not going to address everybody, but it is going to address hopefully a significant number,” Bass told “Meet the Press” host Chuck …

Bass’ emergency homelessness declaration approved during tumultuous City Council meeting
2 years ago

Bass’ emergency homelessness declaration approved during tumultuous City Council meeting

LA Times  

Embattled City Councilman Kevin de León sits alone at the horseshoe in Los Angeles City Council chambers on Tuesday. The Los Angeles City Council approved Mayor Karen Bass’ declaration of a homelessness emergency at a fraught four-hour meeting Tuesday, giving the new mayor a potentially critical tool for addressing the city’s humanitarian crisis. Protester Greg Akili demands that council members …

New LA mayor Bass declares homeless emergency as term begins
2 years ago

New LA mayor Bass declares homeless emergency as term begins

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass began her first day in office Monday by declaring a state of emergency to grapple with the city’s out-of-control homeless crisis, bidding to move swiftly to get thousands of unhoused people off her city’s streets. Despite more than $1.2 billion in spending for homeless programs in the current city budget, there is …

Many homeless people resist group shelters even as L.A. mayoral candidates push to build more
2 years, 8 months ago

Many homeless people resist group shelters even as L.A. mayoral candidates push to build more

LA Times  

Loryn Montag, a homeless engagement team member with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, takes Michael Watson to a tiny-house village as a sanitation crew prepares to remove a homeless encampment from the sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles on April 5. The Los Angeles mayoral primary has seen candidates throwing big numbers around concerning how much shelter they’d …

If elected mayor, Rep. Karen Bass wants to house 15,000 homeless people in first year
2 years, 11 months ago

If elected mayor, Rep. Karen Bass wants to house 15,000 homeless people in first year

LA Times  

L.A. mayoral candidate Rep. Karen Bass calls for 15,000 homeless people to be housed in her first year in office. Bass unveiled a plan Friday calling for 15,000 people to be housed in her first year in office — though she didn’t specify exactly what proportion of those people would go into permanent housing, as opposed to interim housing such …

Op-Ed: Volunteering with L.A.’s homeless can mean becoming a de facto caseworker
3 years ago

Op-Ed: Volunteering with L.A.’s homeless can mean becoming a de facto caseworker

LA Times  

I met J. in 2019, the first time I did homeless outreach. But J. is not capable of navigating the social service system on her own, and I have found myself, a private citizen without formal training or authority, acting as, effectively, an unpaid service provider. Statewide, things are equally bleak — at the current rate of construction it will …

From homelessness to homicides, Garcetti leaves L.A. with unfinished business
3 years, 6 months ago

From homelessness to homicides, Garcetti leaves L.A. with unfinished business

LA Times  

For Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, there is so much unfinished business. And while city leaders are looking to rework the duties of the Los Angeles Police Department, moving away from armed responses to certain calls, they’re also contending with a surge in homicides and gun violence. Given public dissatisfaction with homelessness, crime and public transit in the city right …

L.A. delays the next phase of removing homeless people from Venice boardwalk
3 years, 6 months ago

L.A. delays the next phase of removing homeless people from Venice boardwalk

LA Times  

A homeless person wakes up as L.A. conducts a major cleanup of homeless encampments on the Venice boardwalk on Friday. Los Angeles city officials backed away Friday from a deadline to clear all tents and other dwellings from the north end of Venice boardwalk, giving those living there illegally another week to comply. The first zone, at the south end …

L.A. is uneasy about order to move homeless people from freeways. ‘There’s ethical issues’
4 years, 7 months ago

L.A. is uneasy about order to move homeless people from freeways. ‘There’s ethical issues’

LA Times  

A man walks by a homeless encampment on Venice Boulevard under the 405 Freeway. A federal judge has ordered the city and county of Los Angeles to relocate thousands of homeless people living near freeways starting on Friday. A federal judge’s sweeping order to move thousands of homeless people away from freeways in Los Angeles is drawing objections from advocates …

L.A. races to save 15,000 homeless people from coronavirus — one hotel room at a time
4 years, 8 months ago

L.A. races to save 15,000 homeless people from coronavirus — one hotel room at a time

LA Times  

Omar Spry of the Los Angeles Housing Community Investment Department pushes a cart of bags into a West L.A. hotel that has been turned into housing for homeless people during the coronavirus pandemic. “We’re in a race to save lives,” said Sarah Dusseault, chairwoman of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s oversight commission. “Our thought is that every person who …

Column: When an L.A. homeless camp rises outside your window: ‘You have no idea the hell I was living’
5 years, 1 month ago

Column: When an L.A. homeless camp rises outside your window: ‘You have no idea the hell I was living’

LA Times  

Part One: The residents The trash, the fights, the drugs, the blaring music. “How do we keep the peace, stop people using the sidewalks as a toilet and trash dump, and protect ourselves when the lack of support from authorities means this group is essentially now a ‘camper gang’ who controls our street, threatens residents, and openly fights and carries …

L.A. is swamped with 311 complaints over homeless camps. But are the cleanups pointless?
5 years, 7 months ago

L.A. is swamped with 311 complaints over homeless camps. But are the cleanups pointless?

LA Times  

Austin Yi said he couldn’t take it anymore. City Councilman Mike Bonin, whose coastal district includes the homeless hot spot of Venice, recently declared that “it is nearly impossible to find anyone who is satisfied with the result.” City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation refuse collection truck operator Jake Nademlynsky, removes a sofa at 41st Place and Alameda Street. …

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