los angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ strategy to recruit wealthy residents to help finance housing for the homeless is getting support from local business leaders who say it may be the only solution to effectively deal with the growing crisis. .
During his State of the City address on Monday, the Democratic mayor highlighted the city’s struggle to house more than 40,000 homeless people, declaring that “the crisis on our streets is nothing short of a disaster.”
Bass touted the success of his signature Inside Safe program, which moved more than 21,000 homeless people into temporary shelters. The Associated Press, He asserted that this “strategy” and “system” of moving the homeless into temporary housing would ultimately end the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles.
LA mayor appeals to wealthy to help buy housing for homeless: ‘unprecedented partnership’
The new program to house the homeless will rely on “the humanity and generosity of the private sector,” Mayor Bass said. (Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
To do this, Bass asked the wealthy to help “accelerate” housing purchases for the homeless based on his new initiative, “LA4LA”.
The new program will rely on “the humanity and generosity of the private sector,” the mayor said. “LA4LA could be a game-changer for Los Angeles, an unprecedented partnership to respond to this emergency, an example of disrupting the status quo to create a new system to save lives.”
“Right now, we’re working on expanding the nightly rates,” he said. “We are asking the luckiest Angelenos to participate in this effort with individual, private sector and philanthropic funds – to help us acquire more properties, lower the cost of capital and accelerate the housing boom.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks during a news conference at the beginning of the annual homeless count in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
While some are skeptical that private donations will be enough to fix the problem, other business leaders and local philanthropists are optimistic, arguing that city taxpayers are wary of spending more money to reduce homelessness with little quantitative progress. Are.
One Article by LA Times The headline, “Mayor Bass’s ambitious housing program appeals to L.A.’s rich. Can she get it done?” There are quotes from Donna Bojarski, co-founder of a nonprofit that aims to “reinvigorate L.A.’s civic identity,” who said people are more engaged with the LA4LA initiative than with similar efforts in the past. “Seems a little less cynical”.
“He’s shown that things can be done,” Bojarski said of Bass.
LA4LA has reportedly raised more than $10 million so far, with former Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, one of LA4LA’s business leaders, donating $300,000, the Times reports. He told the outlet that the initiative “relies on the flexibility of philanthropy to rapidly activate housing units for those who need it right now.”
Wealthy L.A. residents and business leaders want to help address the crisis, and they “just need to know how,” Douglas Guthrie, HACLA’s chief executive, told the Times. “We’re trying to give them avenues to do that.”
The homelessness crisis has affected everyone in the city, turning away businesses and customers, costing taxpayers city resources and creating safety issues, Bass said.
Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, told the Times the initiative makes more sense than taking the issue back to frustrated voters at the ballot box. They hope business leaders will step up in support of LA4LA, the outlet wrote.
Governor Gavin Newsom, left, and people at a homeless camp in California, right. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images and Robin Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
Waldman referenced Gov. Gavin Newsom $6.4 billion ballot measure It passed in March to deal with the state’s growing homelessness crisis. The measure was approved by 50.2% of the approximately 7.2 million voters, a slim majority, which Waldman said was evidence of voters’ hesitation to put more money into homelessness initiatives.
“People are tired and done,” Waldman told the Times. “The only way they can get more money is through private donations.”
According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the city’s leading centralized hub for homeless services, more than 75,500 people are projected to be homeless in 2023, a 9% increase nationwide. In the city, about 46,200 were considered homeless, a 10% increase from the previous year.
Tents for the homeless are set up on a street in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
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fox news digital A coalition of business owners and residents in L.A. has filed a lawsuit against the city, arguing that it has not honored its 2020 settlement agreement that promised it would open thousands of shelters, reports said. Will construct and remove homeless camps.
Last week, the Los Angeles City Council agreed to pay $2.2 million to an outside firm to audit its homeless programs following a request. A federal judge.
Fox News’ Christine Parks contributed to this report.
