Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

LA’s homeless people to be moved into inns

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LOS ANGELES — The new mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said Sunday her administra­tion will start moving homeless people from tent encampment­s into hotels and motels through a new program that launches Tuesday.

Bass told NBC’s “Meet the Press” host, Chuck Todd, that her plan to move homeless people into rooms immediatel­y will not “address everybody, but it is going to address, hopefully, a significan­t number.” She said people will not be forced to move, but that sanitation crews will stand by to clean up areas after people have left.

“But this is not coercing people. This is not ticketing people or incarcerat­ing people. This is moving people from tents to hotels or motels,” she said.

On her first day as mayor of Los Angeles, Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessne­ss. She vowed to get people housed and more housing built so that residents can see a real difference, which hasn’t been visible despite billions spent on programs to curb homelessne­ss, including $1.2 billion in the current city budget.

Bass, a Democrat and former congresswo­man, has said she intends to get over 17,000 homeless people into housing in her first year through a mix of interim and permanent facilities.

An estimated 40,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles, a city of nearly 4 million. Homelessne­ss is visible throughout California, with people living in tents and cars and sleeping outdoors on sidewalks and under highway overpasses.

Bass said outreach workers will try to coax people indoors. People are homeless for a variety of reasons, including mental illness, addiction and job loss.

The mayor’s office did not provide on Sunday details of the housing program, including what it would cost and where the money would come from.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom first launched the idea of placing homeless people in motel and hotel rooms at the start of the pandemic in 2020. He has since encouraged cities and counties to convert motels and other buildings into housing for homeless people.

Advocates for the homeless have welcomed the use of motel rooms, where people can have their own bathroom far away from the clutter of congregate­d shelters. But they have criticized what they call “sweeps” of encampment­s that force people to move and separate them from their belongings in the absence of a firm motel room offer.

Todd asked Bass how to judge her success on eliminatin­g homelessne­ss.

“Encampment­s should be significan­tly down if not eliminated, and there should be housing being built, underway, at a much more rapid pace,” she said. “And there should not be 40,000 people who are unhoused, that’s for sure.”

 ?? (AP/Jae C. Hong) ?? A homeless person’s tent sits on a bridge over the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
(AP/Jae C. Hong) A homeless person’s tent sits on a bridge over the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

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