Name: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Declares State of Emergency on Homelessness
Uploaded: 2022-12-13T07:21:38.000Z
Description: LOS ANGELES—Newly sworn in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, in her first order of business, declared a state of emergency Dec. 12 on the city’s sprawling homelessness.

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LOS ANGELES—Newly sworn in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, in her first order of business, declared a state of emergency Dec. 12 on the city’s sprawling homelessness.

Bass, who spent her first morning as mayor meeting with the city’s various department heads to brief them on the declaration, signed it inside the city’s Emergency Operations Center in a room designated as the “United Homelessness Response Center.”

“Using the emergency order is our ability to fast-track things,” Bass said.

In her inaugural speech Sunday, Bass said the declaration will officially recognize the homelessness issue as a crisis. The city saw a rise in homelessness over the last two years—a 4.1 percent increase since 2020—with nearly 42,000 people living on the streets, according to the city’s 2022 homeless count.

“It will create the structure necessary for us to have a true, unified and citywide strategy to set us on the path to solve homelessness,” Bass said.

The declaration allows Bass to take more aggressive executive actions to confront the crisis, though the city council will have to sign off on it every 30 days.

Bass urged city and county officials to “lock arms” with her in her goal to reduce homelessness through a streamlined strategy encompassing mental health outreach and housing services.

In the last few weeks, Bass and termed-out Mayor Eric Garcetti have been working together through the transition process to identify solutions for the homeless crisis with city councilors, controller, and attorney.

“We have already started,” she said. “You elected me to lead and lead I will do but I am also asking you Angelenos to join me in moving our city forward.”

Bass also addressed the city’s rising crime and said her administration will launch an Office of Community Safety to meet with “neighbors, store clerks, teenagers” who “actually know what’s going on behind the statistics.”

“We must stop crimes in progress and hold people accountable. Some neighborhoods have asked for additional officers, but what neighborhoods are asking for and what they need for safety is as diverse as our city is,” she said.

Bass said she will also address the “social health and economic conditions” that contribute to an unsafe environment.

“Let's partner with the people, ask them what works in their neighborhood, and create our public safety policy from the ground up by helping people pay the bills, by helping people feel safer,” Bass said.

In November, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore reported a 45 percent increase in robberies involving a firearm compared to 2019 and a nearly 4 percent increase in violent crime compared to the same time last year.

In Garcetti’s last year as mayor, he allocated a record-spending city budget toward homelessness of $1 billion to combat the crisis. When he first assumed office in 2013, there were 22,993 homeless people in the city, with over 60 percent without shelter.

Bass, a former Congresswoman, was sworn in as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles Sunday and is its first woman to be elected. Vice President Kamala Harris swore her into office at the Microsoft Theater.

The inauguration, which was attended by several top officials including Gov. Gavin Newsom and several Congress members, was originally scheduled at City Hall, but rainy weather caused the event to be moved.

Entertainment included songs by multiple artists, including Stevie Wonder, along with a poem by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman.

Bass ran on a platform to keep Los Angeles’ values progressive and has received endorsements from former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary Hillary Clinton, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and dozens of other state and federal Democrats.

Her opponent Rick Caruso, a billionaire builder known for constructing some of Los Angeles’ most beloved malls and plazas, started as a Republican, later became an Independent, and eventually registered as a Democrat before entering the race in February. He was endorsed by the Los Angeles Protective League, among others, and several celebrities such as music manager Scooter Braun, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Chris Pratt, and Snoop Dogg.

<em>City News Service contributed to this report.</em>

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/la-mayor-karen-bass-declares-state-of-emergency-on-homelessness_4919054.html">The Epoch Times</a></em>

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