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- L.A. city officials have been called in for a hearing before a federal judge later this week to explain when they’ll detail how millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent by homeless service providers. The mayor says she’s working to get the public spending details that are simple to understand. One council member says it feels like officials are withholding information.
The judge was clear. He wanted a promise from top L.A. officials to give the public full transparency about how homelessness dollars are spent on specific city shelter programs, including Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe initiative.
At a March hearing in federal court, Judge David O. Carter asked Bass and other leaders to commit to posting full invoices within two weeks — on a city website — showing how service providers have been spending the millions the city pays them through the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA).
“Frankly, the public should be able to see what the administrative costs are versus the services or shelter or housing that’s being delivered to the streets,” he said.
LAHSA’s top executive and Bass agreed.
“The city will ensure that within two weeks on an ongoing forward basis the city will provide supporting documentation for invoices and make them publicly available,” Bass said at the time.
But 11 weeks later, the city still hasn’t done that.
What the city did — and did not do — to show unhoused spending
City officials launched a…
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