Mayor Karen Bass and other Los Angeles leaders are expected to be called to the witness stand in federal court over the next couple of days in a hearing to determine whether the city has done enough to create more shelter for the homeless.
Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and Traci Park were subpoenaed to testify Wednesday morning, and Mayor Bass is expected to take the stand on Thursday.
In March 2020, the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights filed a complaint against the city and county of L.A., saying local government was not doing enough to address the homeless crisis. In September 2023, a judge signed off on a settlement in which the county agreed to supply an additional 3,000 beds for mental health and substance abuse treatment by the end of 2026 and 450 new subsidies for board-and-care beds.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
“The new resources come on top of $293 million the County pledged in a separate agreement over the course of this three-and-a-half-year lawsuit to provide 6,700 beds for people experiencing homelessness near freeways as well as for unhoused seniors,” a statement by the coalition read in 2023.
But in March 2025, an audit was unable to verify the number of homeless shelter beds the city claims to have created. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter is considering transferring control of homelessness spending from L.A. officials to a court appointed receiver, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The hearing is scheduled to run through Friday.
City News Service contributed to this story.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM