Port of Los Angeles officials on Thursday, Aug. 10, agreed to extend a temporary homeless shelter in Wilmington but only following a long debate and assurances that LA city would address numerous community complaints.
The so-called Bridge Home facility on port property, 828 Eubank Ave. — part of a network of temporary shelters brought in by former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti — drew a strongly worded letter from the Wilmington Neighborhood Council that was read at the LA Board of Harbor Commissioners meeting.
Speaking to the panel, Neighborhood Council President Gina Martinez said problems with security, encampments outside the facility and trash need to be addressed before the city’s requested 3.5-year extension is considered.
The current permit runs out on Aug. 31 and the extension request takes it to Feb. 27, 2027.
The shelter, overseen by U.S. VETS, opened in July 2020 with 100 beds.
Martinez also complained that the city’s voluminous paperwork generated for the Bridge Home extensions included numerous errors throughout, such as confusing the Wilmington facility at times with a Bridge Home shelter in San Pedro.
“I live one block over and drive by there regularly,” former Commissioner Lucia Moreno-Linares told the current panel. “I don’t oppose the use of this as a temporary facility. I agree something needs to be done to house the unhoused.
“My issue is with how it looks on the outside,” Moreno-Linare added, saying the city has not maintained it as promised. “When I drive by there it is not appealing, it looks ugly, dirty and unkept from the outside.”
In an Aug. 9 letter to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Tim McOsker, who represents the area, said he shared residents’ concerns.
The Bridge Homes, he said, were “promised a dedicated level of sanitation services and safety patrols,” among other maintenance.
“The city failed in its commitments to the neighborhood,” McOsker wrote. “Because of these broken…
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