Homeless advocate organization thinks plan “falls short” in addressing the needs of LA’s growing homeless population
On the morning of Monday, April 16, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti delivered his fifth State of the City address.
Like any other State of the City address, the mayor heralded the city’s progress and announced plans to build upon the achievements made during his administration so far.
Garcetti, who is in his second term after his re-election in 2017, brought up job growth, public safety and transportation, public education and infrastructure.
The crux of his speech included plans to once and for all dramatically reduce homelessness, an issue which continues to be a thorn in his resume amid considerations for a reported 2020 presidential run.
Garcetti announced that the City Council unanimously approved a minimum of 222 new units for homeless Angelenos in all 15 council districts in the city. He also pledged $430 million dollars in the city’s budget allocated for initiatives for the homeless; he mentioned that four years ago, the city’s homeless budget was less than $20 million.
“What’s happening here is not unique to this city,” Garcetti declared Monday morning in the city council chambers at LA City Hall. “Los Angeles is coming together to confront the greatest moral and humanitarian crisis of our time. In this city, we are pushing past skepticism. I will accept nothing less than a home for every person who needs a roof over their head. Let me be clear: we are here to end homelessness.”
Garcetti’s goal is to reduce the number of tents and encampments by allocating $1.3 million to each council district ($20 million in total) to put up temporary emergency shelters; and, each district that installs emergency shelters will be assigned a homeless encampment cleanup crew.
The idea is that these temporary emergency shelters (with funding from county-wide Measure H) can be the precursor to getting homeless people into permanent housing, for which construction has already begun in downtown LA and Hollywood, as previously reported by the Asian Journal.
“Some folks will only stay for a few weeks in our new shelters, where we can connect them to a job or a rapid-rehousing voucher,” the mayor explained. “Once they’ve gotten back on their feet, we’ll be able to turn that bed over to someone else.”
Part of his plan also includes his No Wrong Door Executive Directive, which enlists the help of all city departments including the LA Public Library and LA Fire Department to provide resources for the growing homeless population.
Garcetti’s plans may be his most ambitious attempt to reduce the homeless population in a city that is known around the world for its ballooning homeless problem.
Following his address, Garcetti and other city officials held a press conference for the signing of the homeless ordinance securing permanent supportive housing on Tuesday, April 17.
The ordinance would also move forward plans for motel conversion, which would make it easier for motels to be converted into temporary housing while permanent housing is under construction.
“This is a moment of great promise for Los Angeles,” said LA City Attorney Mike Feuer at the press conference, adding that “permanent supportive housing is our aspiration, but there is a meantime. The motel conversion ordinance focuses on right now.”
LA is home to about a quarter of California’s homeless population, according to recent figures from the state.
Though the homeless count varies among different studies, the 2017 report from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority puts LA’s homeless population at 34,000 homeless people living in LA proper who are without shelter or living in cars, tents and in the open.
Despite the expressed excitement coming from the city for these new plans to eradicate homelessness, one of the largest national organizations dedicated to homeless advocacy Union Rescue Mission thinks that the plans fall short in its mission to provide long-term solutions for city’s homeless community.
“I think it’s a good first step in addressing homelessness in LA but again it’s not what experts from around the country ask Los Angeles to do,” Union Rescue Mission CEO Rev. Andy Bales told the Asian Journal in a phone interview. “It falls short of the expectations of the tens of thousands of people who are suffering on the streets.”
Bales explained that for the city to adequately house the homeless, the city would have to implement 60 housing structure in each district. About a hundred people would be able to stay in each structure for a few months while getting assistance. According to Bales, this would result in 13,000 people off the streets at the end of the year.
Garcetti’s latest endeavor to tackle homelessness in the city comes after he — along with 10 other California mayors —proposed legislation that asks the state to allocate an additional $1.5 billion to expanding resources for the homeless. (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)
