In her annual State of the State address, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called on business leaders, philanthropic organizations and the wealthy to use their economic power to move homeless Angelenos indoors.
Bass told the crowd at City Hall Monday night that his administration has already made significant progress in the fight against homelessness, including by working more closely with county, state and federal agencies. Ta.
Bass appealed to those with the means to donate their own money to help buy or lease buildings that can be converted into housing for the city's currently unhoused people.
A homeless count conducted in January 2023, one month after Bass took office, found that there were more than 46,000 unhoused people in Los Angeles, an increase of 80% from the 2015 count. % increase.
“We have united the public sector,” Bass said, standing in front of a room full of elected officials, department heads, business leaders and political appointees. “And now we must win with the humanity and generosity of the private sector.”
The proposal comes as Mr. Bass works to break an impasse that has prevented more than a thousand homeless Angelenos from moving out of temporary housing, such as hotel or motel rooms, and into affordable apartments. It was conducted.
In his speech, Bass also highlighted the efforts the city is making to prepare for the 2028 Olympics. She also touted the administration's efforts in addressing public safety, expanding public transportation, and strengthening L.A.'s business environment.
The mayor touted the drop in homicides last year compared to 2022. And she has expressed interest in moving forward with a hotly debated project to renovate the city's long-delayed convention center, which could cost at least $4.8 billion.
She told the audience that her office is challenging the status quo on homelessness, saying, “The crisis on our streets is nothing short of a disaster,” adding that Los Angeles County, which oversees mental health services, He said he is working more collaboratively with authorities. She also promoted her signature program, Inside Safe, which uses hotel and motel rooms to house people.
“Inside Safe means we actively reject the status quo, which forces homeless Angelenos to wait and die in outdoor encampments until permanent housing can be built,” Bass said. said.
As of April 12, the mayor's Inside Safe program had moved about 2,600 people indoors from street encampments, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
According to the agency, about half of them live in hotels or motels. More than a quarter of the program's participants, 613 people, returned to homelessness.
In her speech, Bass talked about the cost of leaving people on the streets. The public “pays for thousands of fire, paramedic and police calls,” she said. Shops, restaurants, tourists and office centers will also “pay the price” if customers are scared or businesses leave.
Her new initiative, LA4LA, calls on private, business and philanthropic leaders to help the city buy real estate and accelerate the delivery of housing.
“We have rallied the public sector, and now we must win with the humanity and generosity of the private sector,” Bass said. “LA4LA is a game-changer for Los Angeles, an unprecedented partnership to fight this emergency, and a potentially example of how we can disrupt the status quo and build new systems that save lives.”
Monday's speech came as the mayor prepares to present his budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.
The city's budget is under severe financial pressure, due in part to lower-than-expected tax revenues and higher payroll costs. The increase in spending on city employees is due, in part, to a pay agreement Mr. Bass negotiated with the union representing Los Angeles police officers.
The contract provides for four raises over four years and also provides new retention bonuses to keep officers from leaving for other law enforcement agencies. The agreement also increases starting salaries for executives by 13%, to about $86,000 annually.
On Wednesday, the City Council is scheduled to vote on another package of employee pay increases negotiated by Bass, this time targeting thousands of civilian employees. These agreements are expected to increase the annual budget by $1 billion by 2028.
Bass is pushing to eliminate hundreds of vacant jobs in the city to free up money to pay for raises. In his Monday speech, he said these positions “are not about filling potholes, cleaning streets, or serving as park officials.”
“These vacant positions remain unfilled for years and years due to flawed budgeting that does not reflect how departments should actually operate,” she said. . “So this year, we will eliminate these ghost positions and continue to make strategic hires based on real-life experiences while maintaining our core services.”
Bass also defended the city's new contract with the police union, arguing that it led to an increase in applicants to join the Los Angeles Police Department.
Bass said the LAPD is still far from its goal of having 9,500 officers. Last month, the Police Commission received a report showing the department's population at 8,888.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
