LA Mayor Karen Bass Showing Other Mayors How To Not Be Asshole

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass campaigned on an ambitious goal of reducing the city’s homeless population by 17,000 people during her first year in office. She’s pushed for an equally ambitious $1.3 billion in funding for programs that would address the problem. She’s told President Joe Biden directly that finding shelter for the almost 40,000 people in Los Angeles who are currently unhoused would significantly reduce homelessness nationwide.

During a recent interview with NPR’s Adrian Florido, Bsss explained, “[I] basically said, ‘If your goal, Mr. President, is to reduce homelessness in the United States by 25 percent, you can literally meet that goal in our city for such a massive problem that I absolutely believe is an emergency.”

So, to borrow from New York’s former mayor Ed Koch, how is she doing?

Last December, Bass launched her Inside Safe program, which would humanely move homeless people off the streets and prevent “tent cities” and encampments from returning.

“People should not be left to live and die on the streets because the city isn’t giving them someplace to go,” she said. “Under my administration, we are giving people safe places to move inside, and we will ensure people can stay inside and safe for good.”

PREVIOUSLY: LA Mayor Karen Bass Moving Unhoused People ‘Inside Safe,’ For A Start

Bass was not interested in “quick fixes.” She understood that it’s an ongoing process that requires a combination of patience, services, and permanent housing that will keep individuals safely housed. However, some much-needed fixes have occurred somewhat quickly.

A homeless encampment in Venice was cleared out and the individuals moved into actual, safe housing. This greatly reduced crime in the area, according to Los Angeles Police Department data.

“I feel totally safe now, walking in Venice, at any hour,” Venice resident Kaaren Kitchel said. “I thought it was hopeless. I never expected to see the sidewalks here clear of tents.”

Last week, Bass announced that homeless individuals had been relocated from an encampment in Beverly Grove. Tents had appeared along San Vicente Boulevard near Orlando Avenue, just south of the posh Beverly Center shopping mall. Residents in the area reported incidents of drug use and violence. Someone had apparently spotted a naked homeless woman, who appeared intoxicated, lying on an abandoned couch.

“They’re fighting at all hours of the day. They’re doing drugs. They’re selling drugs. It’s out of control,” one Beverly Grove resident, who declined to be identified, told KTLA. “We pay so much in property tax and so much in income tax, it is not fair for us to live like this.”

These encampments aren’t good for anyone, especially those who are forced to live there. Several unhoused people told KTLA last month that law enforcement officials had told them to move to the area. If this is true, these cops were terrible real estate agents. (Both the Los Angeles Police Department and Sheriff’s Department have denied the allegation.)

The Inside Safe program moved many of the individuals within the encampment into temporary or long-term housing. A major part of the program has involved converting hotels and motels into housing for this purpose. But as Bass told Chuck Todd last year, “This is not coercing people. This is not ticketing people or incarcerating people. This is moving people from tents to hotels or motels.”

Criminalizing homelessness doesn’t work by itself, nor does allowing human beings to live in squalor on city streets. Bass is effectively threading the needle, producing results but with humane methods.

Permanent housing remains a significant challenge, because of the barriers erected to new tenants. Bass has requested that landlords accept tenants who have Section 8 housing vouchers. She said the city would also look into purchasing hotels or motels as a means of providing long-term housing.

“That’s an example of where we need the city to be involved as a whole. Not just the elected officials,” she said. “You can’t expect just politicians to solve this problem. Everybody needs to have skin in the game.”

Bass credits the Inside Safe program with taking more than 1,000 homeless people off the streets so far and transitioning them into safe housing. She has a long way to go to meet her stated goal, but more progress has occurred so far than in many other cities where there’s a homeless crisis.

[NPR / ABC / KTLA]

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