LOS ANGELES (KNX) - Karen Bass has been Los Angeles’ mayor for 68 days. During that time, the Bass administration has focused on housing people living in several small encampments. Last week Bass told KNX her Inside Safe initiative was on track to house nearly 300 people by the end of this week.
On Monday, city sanitation workers descended on the intersection of San Pedro and 5th Street in the heart of LA's Skid Row. They appeared to focus on one large encampment that Stephanie Arnold Williams says she's used for the past decade.
"I had the whole block. I had a house. I had a heater. I had everything that I needed to keep warm," says Williams. She says city workers dismantled her semi-permanent home, which she described as a "house on wheels."
"They destroyed it. They threw it in the dumpster... sanitation came and destroyed it," Williams said.
Early Monday, as workers pressure washed the sidewalk, and removed Williams' encampment, there was speculation it was the start of the mayor’s housing efforts where Los Angeles homelessness is at its worst.
"I thought this was the beginning of Inside Safe," says Andy Bales, CEO of LA Union Rescue Mission. "It was the biggest move I've ever seen in that section of Skid Row," says Bales, because of focus on clearing and cleaning a single person's encampment.
By noon on Monday, city workers cleared the area and Williams was able to return to the large concrete sidewalk.
"You need a Skid Row," Williams declared. She said the mayor's effort to house 17,000 homeless people during her first year in office would not work. "People don't want to move. People love Skid Row," she said.
When asked if Williams' opinion might reflect what many people on Skid Row believe, Bales downplayed it. "Stephanie's very convincing. I think she has a bit of her own reality, perhaps like all of us."
A spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass told KNX was not part of Inside Safe, but did not provide additional details.
"It was the biggest move I've ever seen in that section of Skid Row," says Bales. "I'm still scratching my head... what cause it, and what happened?"
Every 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 monitoring Mayor Bass, her campaign promises, and her efforts to house the LA's homeless.
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