LOS ANGELES (KNX) - Karen Bass has been Los Angeles' mayor for 61 days. During that time she amassed an impressive war chest to fund her campaign pledge to house 17,000 people, living on LA's streets, during her first year in office.
On Thursday Bass received nearly $200 million appropriated from Governor Gavin Newsom. The money will be used to fund 28 housing projects within the city and county of Los Angeles. Last week the federal government awarded the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority $60 million, and last month Los Angeles council members approved $50 million in money to fund the initial pilot phase of Inside Safe.
During public events Mayor Bass has put increasing emphasis on drug addiction and mental health problems within the LA's homeless population. She says Los Angeles homeless will be impossible to solve without also treating caring for people suffering from mental health and addiction problems.
Andy Bales, CEO of Union Rescue Mission says addiction is a significant problem on Skid Row. "Eighty percent of the folks who walk in our doors are dealing with addiction or mental or health, or both," Bales says.
Mayor Bass describes the need to treat addiction, while also housing people, as a significant barrier to the success of Inside Safe.
Bales says LA's Skid Row population totals 4,400 people who live on the streets. Skid Row is an area in Los Angeles that's slightly larger than 50 square blocks. When asked to rate the chances Mayor Bass will achieve her goal of housing 17,000 people by this December, Bales said, "I give it... I give it more than a 50-percent chance of success."
On Thursday Mayor Karen Bass told KNX she believes her Inside Safe initiative will have housed at least 300 people by February 17th.
Each Friday, during the first 100 days of the Bass administration, listen for our KNX Original Series— "Tracking The First 100 Days" of the Bass administration. Reporter Craig Fiegener is keeping tabs on Mayor Bass, her campaign promises, and her efforts to house the LA's homeless.
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