L.A.’s Homeless: Advocates Blast County, Mayor Garcetti for Delaying Release 2019 Homeless Numbers

Formal release of 2019 numbers now pushed to Tuesday, June 4^th
instead of the customary May 31^st release. Move
suggests sharper increase in homeless count than what advocates and
officials might have anticipated despite over $619 million in gov’t
spending on homeless in the region over the last year.

Official homeless count in Los Angeles in 2018 was 53,195.

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Housing justice and homeless advocates with Housing
Is A Human Right, Healthy
Housing Foundation by AHF, Coalition
to Preserve LA, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
today blasted Los Angeles politicians and bureaucrats for their ongoing
lackluster response to the human catastrophe of homelessness in Los
Angeles. The rebuke, specifically targeting Mayor Eric Garcetti and the
County Board of Supervisors, was prompted by today’s word of a delay in
the formal release of the 2019 homeless count, traditionally released by
May 31^st each year, but now pushed to Tuesday, June 4^th.

“The last minute, unexpected delay of the release of L.A.’s 2019
homeless count to next Tuesday suggests that there’s been a sharper
increase in the homeless numbers than what advocates and officials might
have anticipated, despite over $619 million in government spending on
the homeless in the region over the last year,” said Michael Weinstein,
president, AHF. “Delay, inaction and spin: Why? This allows Mayor
Garcetti, City Council and the Board of Supervisors time to spin away
their outdated, expensive—and clearly ineffectual—response to the
homeless crisis we actually have here in Los Angeles. The official
response on homelessness simply does not correlate to the crisis we face
and our elected officials just continue to move at the speed of
government. It’s a national disgrace.”

Homeless advocates’ criticisms of the response to L.A.’s homeless and
affordable housing crises include:

• City Council’s continual approval of development projects with NO
  designated affordable or extremely low-income housing units (recent
  unanimous 14-0 vote to approve a 725-unit Chinatown project with NO
  affordable units. Councilman Gil Cedillo overrode recommendation that
  37 units be set aside as affordable for very low-income tenants).
• The astronomic price tag—well over $500K per unit—of so called
  ‘affordable’ housing units under the Measure HHH bond.
• The fact that NO homeless individual has been housed yet under
  HHH—three years after L.A. voters approved the $1.2B bond in Nov.
  2016).
• City Council’s refusal to ban campaign contributions from developers
  and real estate interests (again, Councilman Cedillo: “I’m not
  quite sure — what’s the problem we’re trying to solve?”).
• City Council’s razing and destruction of Parker Center to build a
  luxury corporate L.A. government tower for city employees, despite the
  fact that housing advocates commissioned feasible plans to turn the
  former police HQ into housing units for over 700 homeless individuals.
• The city’s ongoing and inhumane homeless rousting policies and
  confiscation and destruction of homeless individuals’ belongings.
• The city and county’s failure to explore and adopt an ‘adaptive reuse’
  approach to housing the homeless by purchasing and repurposing
  old—already existing—un- and under-occupied single room occupancy
  (SRO) hotels throughout Los Angeles (by some estimates there are over
  10,000 such rooms in hotels in L.A.)

For more information on housing and homeless advocates’ concerns, please
visit: LAScandal.org.

Contacts

Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications,
+1.323.791.5526 cell gedk@aidshealth.org
Marin
Austin, Communications Director, +1323.333.7754 cell marin.austin@aidshealth.org