Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Tuesday that she had accomplished much of what she set out to do during her first year in office, an occasion she marked with a short speech in Venice.
She delivered her remarks at the site where a longtime homeless encampment had been removed as part of her Inside Safe Initiative to get people who are unhoused off the streets.
Bass focused many of her comments on the homelessness crisis, saying the city and L.A. County provided shelter for more than 21,000 people during her first year — up from 17,000 in the year before she took office.
“We’re using motels, hotels, tiny homes, whatever it takes to bring people inside immediately,” she said. “Angelinos who were suffering are now living inside, out of danger, with access to healthcare and food, and a path to permanent housing.”
After the mayor’s speech, critics agreed Bass had made progress on addressing the homelessness crisis, but said she had done too little on other key issues, including transportation and police reform.
Addressing homelessness
Nearly 2,000 people were housed as part of Inside Safe, according to Bass’ administration, although only a fraction has been moved into permanent housing. The mayor also said the program has cleared “dozens and dozens” of encampments throughout the city.
Her focus on removing encampments was important in her first year because that’s “the eye test” that voters use to measure progress, said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, a group that supports social science research on L.A.
“I think she has made enough headway to buy herself some time to make her program really work,” he said.
Bass has acknowledged there is much more work to be done —…
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