Bath mayor lifts state of emergency for homeless people. But “the crisis remains”
Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency for homelessness on her first day in office.
The declaration allows the city to cut red tape, including through no-bid contracts, and launch Bath’s signature program, “Internal Security,” focused on moving homeless people off the streets and into temporary housing.
On Tuesday, nearly three years after she took the helm, the mayor announced that the state of emergency would be lifted on Nov. 18 as homelessness numbers declined for two consecutive years for the first time in recent years.
“We have begun to truly change the decades-long trend of increasing homelessness in our city,” Bass said in a memo to the City Council.
Still, there’s a lot of work to be done, the mayor said.
“The crisis remains and our urgency remains,” she said.
The mayor’s announcement follows months of opposition to the long-term state of emergency the council originally approved.
Some City Council members argued that the state of emergency allows the mayor’s office to operate out of public view and that contracts and leases should be brought before them again, subject to public testimony and votes.
Councilor Tim McOsker has been advocating for months that now is the time to return to normal operations.
“The purpose of emergency powers is to allow the government to suspend rules and respond quickly when circumstances require it, but at some point these powers must come to an end,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
McOske said the move would allow the council to “formalize” some of the programs launched during the emergency while increasing transparency.
Council members have been concerned that the state of emergency would end without first codifying Executive Directive No. 1, which expedited approvals for homeless shelters and 100 percent affordable development projects, which Bass issued shortly after taking office.
On Oct. 28, the City Council voted to support the city attorney in drafting an ordinance to codify the administrative directive into law.
The mayor’s announcement follows positive reports about homelessness in the city.
As of September, the mayor’s “Internal Security” program had moved more than 5,000 people into temporary housing since its launch in late 2022. Of those, more than 1,243 have moved into permanent housing, while 1,636 are still living in temporary housing.
The number of homeless people living in city shelters or on the streets fell 3.4% this year, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s annual count. The number of homeless people experiencing homelessness in the city fell even more sharply, to 7.9%.
However, this count has its critics. A RAND Corporation study found that the annual survey missed nearly a third of homeless people in Hollywood, Venice and Skid Row — primarily those who don’t have tents or vehicles to sleep in.
In June, a federal judge decided not to place Los Angeles’ homeless program into receivership while saying the city had failed to meet some terms of a settlement with the nonprofit Los Angeles Alliance for Human Rights.
Councilor Nithya Raman, chair of the council’s housing and homelessness committee, said the end of the state of emergency did not mean the crisis was over.
“It just means we have to put in place fiscally sustainable systems that can respond effectively,” she said. “By transitioning from emergency measures to a longer-term institutional framework, we ensure continued, accountable support for people experiencing homelessness.”
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
