City plans to double budget on homeless

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles is planning to double its spending on homelessness, with tens of thousands of people living on the streets despite a healthy economy and low unemployment.

Homeless encampments have become an all-too-familiar sight in the nation’s second largest city, and tents can be found lining blocks in the heart of downtown near City Hall.

Mayor Eric Garcetti, a Democrat, outlined his strategy Monday to contend with the spread of encampments across the city, including investing millions of dollars in trailers and other temporary housing, along with more funding for sanitation crews to clean up the mess.

“Homelessness can’t be swept away. We must give people a place to stay,” Garcetti said in prepared remarks. “We’re not going to wash down sidewalks only to see an encampment return a few days later.”

The city plans to spend $430 million on housing and other services for the homeless in the year that begins July 1, up from $178 million in the current year, documents show.

Most of the funding will come from borrowing authorized by voters in 2016 to address the city’s homeless crisis.

One report last year estimated that there are more than 34,000 people living on city streets, a sharp jump from the prior year.

Encampments have spread widely, and part of the mayor’s plan will call for directing funds for emergency housing and more sanitation crews to each City Council district.

Garcetti, who appears to be exploring a possible longshot presidential bid in 2020, spent Friday and Saturday visiting voters in Iowa.