The city of Los Angeles will begin moving homeless people from street encampments to hotels and motels through a new program starting Tuesday, new Mayor Karen Bass says
The city of Los Angeles will begin moving homeless people from street encampments to hotels and motels through a new program starting Tuesday, new Mayor Karen Bass said Sunday.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Bass told host Chuck Todd that his plan to send homeless people to hotel rooms won’t have an immediate impact on everyone, “but we hope it will impact a number significant”. She added that people will not be forced to move, but sanitation crews will be available to clean up areas that have been evacuated.
“But this is not forcing people. It’s not fining people or putting people in jail. It is moving people from tents to hotels or motels,” she clarified.
On her first day as mayor of Los Angeles, Bass declared a state of emergency over the homeless situation. He pledged to house people and build more houses so people can see a real difference, one that hasn’t been visible even though billions of dollars have been invested in programs to end poverty. situation of the people who sleep in the streets, including 1,200 million dollars of the current budget of the city.
Bass, a former Democratic lawmaker, has said she intends to house more than 17,000 homeless people in her first year in office through a mix of temporary and permanent facilities.
She estimates that there are about 40,000 homeless people in Los Angeles, a city of nearly 4 million people. The situation is most notorious throughout California, where people live in tents and vehicles, and sleep outdoors on sidewalks or under bridges.
Bass said social workers will try to persuade people to move into the facility. There are many reasons why people sleep on the streets, including mental illness, addiction, or unemployment.
The mayor’s office did not provide details on Sunday about the housing program, including its cost or where the funds will come from to pay for it.