LA leaders, accused of failure to address homelessness, try to show progress to federal judge

A parade of top Los Angeles politicos appeared before a federal judge Friday, Aug, 7, to lay out their plans for creating cabin villages, shared housing programs, safe parking sites and other options for sheltering more than 6,000 unhoused Angelenos who could be relocated from encampments near freeways.

The six-hour hearing, held in the chambers of the Los Angeles City Council, was the latest in an unusual series of hearings in this ongoing case, which has created some unprecedented public moments propelled by the real-life drama of LA’s homelessness crisis.

The plaintiffs, the LA Alliance for Human Rights, have accused Los Angeles city and county officials of dragging their feet and failing to address the area’s ballooning homelessness crisis.

Firebrand federal Judge David O. Carter has turned the case into a series of public happenings — including, at one point weeks ago, a walking tour of Skid Row — that have forced leaders to display their progress in easing the crisis, or lack thereof, in public.

Over the course of the initial three hours, council members representing 14 of the city’s 15 districts sought to show Carter the progress they have made in carrying out a settlement agreement aimed at relocating thousands of unhoused Angelenos away from the county’s freeways.

The deal addressed an order Carter had issued to move people away from underneath overpasses and near freeway ramps. He said it was hazardous to people’s health to live in the corridors, surrounded by around-the-clock noise and toxic vehicle exhaust.

Some council members reported forward motion, most notably a pair of cabin village sites slated for North Hollywood parks. Others, such as members who represent West Los Angeles communities and the northwest San Fernando Valley, were unable to say whether — or when — their projects would materialize.

Jose Huizar, who was been suspended by his colleagues from his position overseeing Council District 14, is facing federal charges related to a corruption probe at LA City Hall. His district, which includes Skid Row, happens to have the largest homeless population at more than 7,000 people in the latest count — of whom more than 4,000 are unsheltered.

The show-and-tell reports, delivered to the judge as he temporarily assumed the council president’s elevated dais, came as the county was scheduled to make its first $17.6 million payment to the city on Sept. 1, to help fund services at the shelter sites, under the deal struck in June.

County officials had said in a court filing last month that they wanted to see more on the city’s plans for creating shelter for the 6,700 people. They also asked the city to agree to accountability metrics as the 18-month effort laid out in the settlement to create enough beds unfolds.

City and county officials did not reach an agreement Friday. But the hearing served as a way for some Angelenos to get a rare peek at what local officials’ may soon be doing to tackle the homelessness crisis, which continues to be inescapable even amid the COVID-19 public health crisis.

In June, homeless services officials released the latest homeless count, performed in January, finding that an estimated 66,436 people were homeless on a given night — a 12.7% rise from the previous year’s count results. In Los Angeles, the homeless population number of more than 41,000 represents a 16% jump from the prior year.

During the pandemic, hearings in this case are usually held at the Alexandria Hotel several blocks away. But the council chamber was chosen this time to fit in the sheer number of Los Angeles politicians the judge invited to attend, while also maintaining social distancing between the participants.

Mayor Eric Garcetti gave the opening presentation to the judge, proclaiming the council chamber setting as a “temple for democracy,” as other elected officials looked on.

They “guest list” was a veritable who’s who of local politicos, including Sheriff Alex Villanueva and City Attorney Mike Feuer — who both accepted the judge’s invitation, but were not called upon to speak.

Much of the time was dedicated to council members, so they could provide the district-by-district shelter plans each had drawn up.

Those plans include a list of “target encampments” that lay within 500 feet of a freeway, and “interventions,” that ranged from housing vouchers to camp sites, vehicle parking sites and traditional shelters. The plans had been delivered to the court as part of a status report in July.

Councilman Paul Krekorian, who represents the southeast San Fernando Valley, reported that he had at least small home shelter projects in the works, one at Alexandria Park near the NoHo West shopping center, and another in North Hollywood Park.

Both were approved by the Recreation and Parks Commission on Thursday and would add 264 additional beds, Krekorian said. In his district there are 200 people living unsheltered near freeways.

“We are on pace and ready to go,” he told the judge.

According to City Engineer Gary Lee Moore, the city intended to buy up the shelter homes within the next three weeks.

Carter, meanwhile, took issue with some council members who did not appear to show progress. He took issue in particular with the lack of opening dates provided by Councilman John Lee, who represents the northwest San Fernando Valley.

Lee’s list was mostly a column of projects that were still “under review” and the only date provided was for rapid rehousing vouchers and share home programs.

Lee’s district also did not list any projects that were currently under development. His area has 17 people living near freeways, and an overall unsheltered homeless population of more than 500.

Meanwhile, Councilman Paul Koretz of West Los Angeles said that he has received little pushback from residents in his district, but that many of his projects have simply fallen through. He was in the midst of looking into a cabin shelter site, and is talking to UCLA about possibly using the school’s parking lot now that much of it may be unused due the novel coronavirus crisis.

Other council members, including Mike Bonin, said they were exploring shared housing, in which several people share an existing home staffed with counselors. Such options would not require much construction work nor utility installations, he said.

The proceedings also showed that homelessness has reached all corners of Los Angeles, including areas that are less thought of as hot spots of the crisis.

Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who represents the southwest San Fernando Valley, said his district may have the lowest number of homeless Angelenos, but “you wouldn’t know it” based on the outcry in the neighborhoods he represents.

“It has been, more than once, where in my district, we break the record on… the number of calls about homeless encampments, even though we have fewer encampments than other other (districts),” he told the judge.

Carter, who has set an urgent tone throughout the case’s hearings, noted that the death rate among people who live on the streets often gets glossed over. More than 1,000 homeless people died in 2018, up from just over 500 in 2013, according to figures put out by the county last October.

“I’m frantic, I’m panicked about the death rate, that we’ve so callously accepted amongst the homeless population,” he said Friday. “They become numbers. You know, ‘we’ve lost 1,000,’ and then we pass on to the next conversation.”

The urgency, however, has prompted Carter to clash with advocates for the homeless. He has pressed for shelter options, saying it was necessary to move forward quickly on them, even though advocates say it is better to provide permanent housing. Some advocates also warn that the rush to move people away from freeways could end up being carried out forcibly, and with the involvement of law enforcement.

Pete White, an activist with the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LACAN), said he did not want past mistakes to be repeated around shelters, which have garnered a poor reputation over the years.

While officials have sought to improve the conditions at shelters, some critics believe that they may end up becoming warehouses for people if permanent housing options fail to materialize. The rules put in place at such shelters can also set up barriers for individuals and may end up creating environments that feel more akin to those of prisons.

White on Friday responded to a saying oft-used by Carter that “perfect should not become the enemy of the good,” saying that they were not seeking a flawless response. “We’re looking to be humane,” he said.

After the series of district reports, as well the unresolved squabble over how many beds the county would be funding, a Skid Row activist, Jeff Page, also weighed in on the setting for Friday’s conversation on efforts to shelter and relocate homeless people from near freeways.

“Those are not beds,” he noted, “those are human beings who are going to be in those beds.”

Page said he viewed the proceedings, especially the tussling about how many beds should be part of the agreement, as  “legal gamesmanship” being played — with people’s lives in the balance.

“We’re not here because of the kindness of our hearts,” he said. “We’re here because of a lawsuit.”