Posted on 01/16/2024
ONE BIG THING: NEW YEAR, SAME CHALLENGES
City Council finally returned from its winter recess this week, and we’re facing some familiar issues. Homelessness, community-focused public safety, and the skyrocketing cost of living in LA continue to be at the forefront of Angelenos’ minds, but we wanted to look at two important motions passed by council this week.
Homelessness Prevention
Homelessness prevention is one of the defining issues of our time. Even if we housed everyone living on the streets in LA right now, we still wouldn’t fully see the difference because people keep falling into homelessness everyday.
That’s why this week, the city assigned the Community Investments in Families Department (CIFD) as the lead city agency for homelessness prevention. CIFD is already the leading agency for alleviating poverty in Los Angeles, and they do a fantastic job providing rental assistance, job support, tutoring, legal assistance, and more.
But at the same time, we only give 0.3% of our total city budget to this department. It’s backwards that our city refuses to allocate resources to effectively address the biggest issue facing our city, so this week at council, we stood up in support of fully funding these vital social services programs.
Building a City Around People Instead of Cars
This week, council approved a motion from Councilmembers Nithya Raman, Eunisses Hernandez, and Bob Blumenfield that will transform the way we approach transit and mobility in LA so we can make it safer for people to walk around.
The motion also asks the Department of Transportation to look at implementing more:
Scramble crosswalks that allow people to cross in all directions 
Changing traffic light cycles to balance pedestrian and vehicle needs. 
Time for pedestrians to walk before cars can enter the crosswalk 
Right turn on red restrictions for dangerous intersectionsTwo More Quick Hits!
1. Inside Safe Returns to Hollywood!
Because council district borders don’t matter when it comes to the biggest crisis facing our city, we collaborated with Mayor Bass and Councilmember Yaroslavsky to bring over 35 unhoused Angelenos indoors from encampments in front of Poinsettia Park in CD5 along with Romaine and Mansfield near Santa Monica Blvd in CD13.
That’s over 35 people who are able to sleep tonight in their own rooms with a door that locks and a roof over their heads thanks to this care-centered approach.
We know that Hollywood is an epicenter of homelessness, especially for the trans community who are frequent targets for harassment and violence. By leading with services, we can bring folks into housing, connect them with services, and help them get back on their feet.
2. We’re Hiring A Tenant Case Manager
Renters in our district have received over 8,000 eviction notices since last February, so we are hiring a Tenant Case Manager to connect with those tenants so they can access critical resources that can help them stay in their homes.
