Bass’ homelessness czar Mercedes Márquez to be replaced by Lourdes Castro Ramírez
1 year, 2 months ago

Bass’ homelessness czar Mercedes Márquez to be replaced by Lourdes Castro Ramírez

LA Times  

Mercedes Márquez, left, is departing as L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ top housing and homelessness official, to be replaced by Lourdes Castro Ramírez. Mayor Karen Bass’ homelessness czar, Mercedes Márquez, will leave her high-profile post next month, with state housing official Lourdes Castro Ramírez set to succeed her, the mayor’s office announced Monday. Castro Ramírez will start her tenure as the city’s chief housing and homelessness officer on Nov. 6, the same day Márquez steps down, according to the mayor’s office. “I feel lucky to have a successor like Lourdes Castro Ramírez, someone with the experience and knowledge required, and someone I have had a relationship with for nearly 20 years.” Castro Ramírez currently leads the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, which is responsible for overseeing the state’s housing departments.

Housing California Homelessness State Los Angeles Ramírez Castro Office Bass Castro Ramírez Lourdes Castro Ramírez Mercedes Márquez  homelessness  mercedes  márquez  california  state  office  bass  czar  mayors  castro  housing  lourdes  replaced  ramírez

History of this topic

Mayor Bass’ ambitious housing program calls on L.A.’s wealthy. Can she pull it off?
8 months 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, 1 week 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 …

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass scores a U.S. policy shift to expedite homeless housing
1 year, 4 months ago

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass scores a U.S. policy shift to expedite homeless housing

LA Times  

Los Angeles officials are celebrating the demise of one of their biggest obstacles to getting homeless people into permanent housing: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requirements that keep applicants waiting for months while their assigned apartments remain vacant. “This addresses major roadblocks to moving Angelenos from interim housing in motels to permanent housing, putting housing first and bureaucracy …

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, 8 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 …

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, 10 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 …

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 …

Karen Bass will make history as L.A. mayor. Then the hard work begins
2 years ago

Karen Bass will make history as L.A. mayor. Then the hard work begins

LA Times  

When Karen Bass is sworn in Sunday, she will make history as the first woman to serve as mayor of Los Angeles — completing a political journey that took her from South Los Angeles community organizer 30 years ago to elected office in the Legislature and Congress, then to the top job in the nation’s second-largest city. “I don’t want …

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 …

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