The day before officially reporting to duty as mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass celebrated her historic win as the first woman, and only second Black official, elected to the city’s highest office with an inaugural ceremony full of fanfare.
But even as she basked in the moment, the city’s 43rd mayor vowed to get to work immediately to address L.A.’s most pressing issue – homelessness. So on her first day in office, Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness, and by week’s end, had issued her first executive directive to fast-track the construction of affordable housing.
Now, as she hits her 100th day in office on Tuesday, March 21, stakeholders and political observers reflect on the job Bass has done thus far.
Homelessness
Anyone who’s been paying attention since Bass assumed office in mid-December knows she’s been laser-focused on tackling homelessness and has devoted much time and energy on rolling out her signature initiative, Inside Safe, to move people indoors while cleaning up homeless encampments.
The mayor last week reported that her administration expects to house more than 4,000 homeless Angelenos by her 100th day in office.
Of that number, roughly a third of the placements will be the direct result of actions taken by the Bass administration, according to Zach Seidl, the mayor’s spokesperson. The rest found housing through other programs, such as Prop. HHH affordable housing units, that pre-dated Bass’ tenure as mayor.
According to the Bass administration, 516 unhoused Angelenos had moved indoors through Inside Safe as of March 14. That number is expected to more than double by midweek this week.
Meanwhile, the results are mixed among constituents as to what marks the new mayor should receive for her handling of the homelessness crisis.
Tracy Hernandez, CEO of Los Angeles County Business Federation, or BizFed, said Bass pledged to make homelessness her No. 1 issue when she ran for mayor and has thus far lived up to…
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