City Council voted to draft rules prohibiting people from sleeping specific distances from some public areas
The measure requires second vote in late July, and orders people who resist leaving the encampments to be fined rather than arrested
It also rules that cops would only get involved if there has been a crime committed
The motion is seen as a more humanitarian alternative to banning all homeless camping in the city
The scale of crisis was showed as rows of tents lined the Ocean Front Walk down Venice Beach on Wednesday
LA City Council tentatively approves ordinance to restrict encampments
By CNS Author
LA City Council tentatively approves ordinance to restrict encampments
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles City Council voted 13-2 Thursday to tentatively approve an ordinance to restrict sleeping and homeless encampments in certain areas of the city, but the ordinance s adoption was delayed because it required unanimous approval upon first consideration.
Councilman Mike Bonin and Councilwoman Nithya Raman voted against the ordinance. What is wrong with this ordinance today and why am I voting against it? Because what we re doing today, even as improved, tells people who are unhoused and unsheltered and have no place to go where they cannot sleep, but it does not tell them where they can sleep. That s what it comes down to for me . where can people go, where can people sleep when they do not have an alternative, Bonin said.
EZ-Up tents and bottled water distribution.
The bureau will also request appropriate trained personnel during cleanups to ensure outreach and services engagement, develop pre-deployed voluntary trash disposal options, provide training to staff from various agencies, including mental health awareness, de-escalation techniques and legal guidance and review, and add positions and funding for a Livability Services Division identified in the new fiscal year budget.
“We need to make sure we re identifying funding for those outreach workers. I m excited to move ahead with this motion today but I m also excited to the second part of this work which was a report from CAO and CLA laying out what additional resources are needed in terms of funding outreach teams that can really accompany our CARE+ teams and do this work right, do it in a trauma-informed way, and get to all the great outcomes that we ve been discussing today, Raman said.
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As Los Angeles is roiled by a humanitarian crisis on its streets, one of the city’s richest residents, Hollywood executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, has begun meeting with local officials to understand homelessness better and to offer some ideas about how he might help.
In recent weeks, Katzenberg has discussed the issue with several members of the Los Angeles City Council, as well as aides to Mayor Eric Garcetti, raising questions about how he might influence homelessness policy and whether he intends to bankroll efforts to get people off the streets.
It’s partly been a listening tour for Katzenberg, who has deep pockets and has donated to countless politicians at the local, state and national level. But he also came with a message, according to three people who spoke with him: People are angry about what’s playing out on the city’s streets and want change.