Six Los Angeles city council members are in Washington D.C. on Monday to talk with White House officials about resources needed for the city.
City Council President Paul Krekorian and council members Bob Blumenfield, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Traci Park, and Hugo Soto-Martinez joined Mayor Karen Bass on the trip.
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"We are proving in just a few short months that by locking arms, we get things done," Bass said in a statement. "The partnership with the federal government thus far has delivered progress for our city in our efforts to do everything from bringing unhoused Angelenos inside to improving our transportation system."
The councilmembers have several meetings planned, including one with homeland security.
Park told KNX News’ Craig Fiegener she plans to talk to the VA secretary Denis McDonough.
“We have the VA campus and that's a population that is in need of a lot of help and services,” she said.
She added that one of the issues with the new housing on the VA campus in Los Angeles is that the VA benefits play a role in homeless veterans being unable to qualify for that housing.
“And that's a kind of an adjustment that could have a significant impact on thousands of people who need help,” she said.
Council President Paul Krekorian said he spoke with the ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the U.S.
“It's an important opportunity to hear directly from them about the catastrophic humanitarian situation that's facing Armenian now because of Azerbaijan's aggression against the indigenous Armenian people of Arzak,” he said. “We’ve had a situation where there have been 120,000 people who have been ethnically cleansed out of their ancient homeland by Azerbaijan's aggression. And so it's important for us to hear from the Armenian ambassador about how they're handling that and also the potential risks of future aggression against Armenian Armenia itself.”
Bass and the city council members will be in D.C. through Wednesday.
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