When Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass took office in December, one of her first acts was to sign a declaration of emergency on homelessness, which gave her unprecedented powers to begin fulfilling her campaign promise to house 17,000 people by the end of 2023.
With a recent survey showing that homelessness in the city of L.A. jumped by 10% during 2022, Bass signed a new declaration Monday asking for further powers to expedite the housing process.
The 2023 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count revealed that, as of January, there were 46,260 unhoused people in the city of L.A.
During the first six months of Bass’ administration, more than 14,000 people were moved off the streets, but only a third of those individuals have obtained permanent housing.
"While we've made progress, there is absolutely much more work that needs to be done," Bass said during a press briefing Monday. "That's why we will sign an emergency declaration, an updated emergency declaration, that continues our momentum confronting the homelessness crisis and build more housing in Los Angeles."
Unlike the previous declarations of emergency, which expired every 30 days, this declaration will last for a full 90 days before it’s up for renewal.
“We can’t treat this the same way we would an earthquake or a tsunami or something else, because we know that we’re gonna have to continue to bring this urgency over the course of a very long period of time in order to effectively address this challenge,” City Council President Paul Krekorian said.
Spending for Bass’ Inside Safe program, which has so far only permanently housed 77 people, has already reached nearly $40 million, drawing concerns from City Council about transparency.
City Council approved $250 million for Inside Safe in the 2023-24 budget, some of which Bass hopes to use to buy hotels to add to the city’s housing stock. Mercedes Marquez, Chief of Housing and Homelessness Solutions, told KNX News’ Craig Fiegener that the property purchases will happen “soon.”
Several councilmembers privately told KNX News that solving the city’s homelessness crisis to the degree Bass has pledged will likely cost billions of dollars.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
Related
Related
