In her State of the Union address, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced a fundraising campaign to bring homeless Angelenos back indoors and called on business leaders, philanthropic organizations and wealthy individuals to donate to the effort.
Bass told a crowd at City Hall Monday night that his administration has already made significant progress in the fight against homelessness, including by increasing collaboration with county, state and federal agencies.
Bass is now calling on people of means to contribute financially to the purchase or lease of buildings that can be converted into housing for the city’s unhoused people.
Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness on the day he took office in December 2022. A month later, a review of the region’s homeless numbers found that more than 46,000 people in Los Angeles were unhoused, an 80% increase since 2015.
“We have rallied 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 the city works to break an impasse that has severely limited the city’s ability to move more than 1,000 homeless Angeleno residents from temporary housing, such as hotel and motel rooms, to affordable apartments. It was held in
Stephen J. Krubeck, a Beverly Hills-based investor and philanthropist who attended Monday’s speech, praised Bass’ previous work on homelessness and called her a “disruptor.” . Krubeck said she donated $1 million to her new fundraiser, known as LA4LA, earlier this year.
“We need a path for people to come back into society, be proud of who they are and bring value to our communities,” he says. “The mayor thinks the same way.”
In his speech, Bass also highlighted the efforts the city is making to prepare for the 2028 Olympics. And she touted her administration’s commitment to public safety, expanding public transportation and strengthening L.A.’s business environment.
The mayor celebrated the decrease in homicides last year compared to 2022. She also expressed interest in moving forward with an expensive and controversial project to renovate the city’s long-delayed convention center.
Bass told the audience that his office is challenging the status quo on homelessness and that “the crisis on our streets is nothing short of a disaster.” He said he is working more collaboratively with county officials. Mental health services. She touted the efforts of her signature program, Inside Safe, to move unhoused Angelenos out of the city’s largest and most dangerous encampments.
“Inside Safe means we actively reject the status quo, which forces unhoused Angelenos to wait and die in outdoor encampments until permanent housing can be built.” she stated.
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. According to the agency, 42 people have been jailed and 38 people have died.
In his speech, Mr Bass said there was a social cost to leaving people on the streets. She said the public was paying for “thousands of fire, paramedic and police calls.” “Shops and restaurants suffer as customers walk away out of fear,” the mayor said.
Sarah Dussault, Bass’ homelessness advisor, said the mayor is working with various civic leaders to create LA4LA, which provides transitional and permanent housing for the city’s homeless population. The company will focus on acquiring hotels and apartments that can be repurposed. Other issues. Dussault, LA4LA’s chief strategist, said the initiative has already secured a $3 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and a $5 million loan from the California Community Foundation.
LA4LA also raises funds to lease entire apartment buildings or finance the construction of new housing.
“LA4LA could be a game-changer for Los Angeles, an unprecedented partnership to fight this emergency, and an example of how we can disrupt the status quo and build new systems that save lives.” Bass said.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who attended the speech, praised Bass for being outspoken about the funding needed to address the homelessness crisis.
“She’s telling the truth,” Mitchell said. Mitchell’s district stretches from Park La Brea to Carson. “As a resident of the city of Los Angeles, I respect that.”
Monday’s speech came as the mayor prepares to present his budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.
The city has been under severe financial pressure in recent months, due in part to lower-than-expected tax revenues and increased payroll costs. The increase in spending is due, in part, to a pay agreement Mr. Bass negotiated with the union representing Los Angeles police officers.
The contract would provide for four raises over four years and give officers new retention bonuses to prevent them 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.
Mr. Bass is pushing to eliminate hundreds of vacant jobs in the city to free up money for pay increases. In her Monday speech, she said these positions are “not about filling holes, cleaning streets, or staffing parks.”
“These vacant positions remain unfilled for years and years because of flawed budgeting that does not reflect how departments should actually operate,” she said. Ta. “So this year, we are eliminating these ghost positions while maintaining our core services.”
Bass also defended the city’s new contract with the police union, saying 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 number of sworn employees had dropped below 8,900.
