Homeless expenses are facing an audit

L.A. Alliance for Human Rights says city did not live up to a deal to move homeless off the streets

A judge on Monday came closer to signing off on a court-monitored, independent audit of homeless-related expenditures by the city, including Mayor Karen Bass' signature Inside Safe initiative and other efforts to close encampments and find shelter for unhoused residents.

U.S. District Judge David Carter has expressed frustration regarding the accounting of public funds to battle the homelessness crisis, and has repeatedly mentioned from the bench that $600 million was distributed to city programs in years past — before Bass was elected mayor — without proper accounting.

Bass and City Council President Paul Krekorian attended Monday's hearing, agreeing with Carter about the need for transparency and promising that the city would provide and make public detailed invoices for work being done in connection with the homeless. The courtroom audience burst into applause at the mayor's assurance.

The discussion came as a result of a motion filed by lawyers for the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, which accuses the city of failing to live up to the terms of an April 2022 settlement agreement to clear homeless encampments and create shelter beds for those living on the streets.

The Alliance is demanding that the city pay a nearly $6.4 million fine for what it alleges is a lack of transparency and failure to reduce homeless encampments within deadlines set in the settlement.

In March 2020, the alliance of downtown business owners and residents sued the city and county of Los Angeles to compel elected officials to rapidly address the homelessness crisis, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During Monday's hearing, Carter commended Bass and Krekorian for representing “the first city that's undertaken that transparency.”

The audit recommended by Bass and Krekorian at a previous hearing was agreed to by the