Part 146: “Just for the record” – County Measure A and the Future of Los Angeles

Published December 23, 2024. Updated December 24, 2024.

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Dec 23, 2024

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks with a staff member during the December 13 meeting of the Executive Committee for Homelessness Regional Alignment by Zachary Ellison (GoPro Hero 11 Black).

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By Ruth Roofless and Zachary Ellison, Independent Journalists

The passage of County Measure A in the November elections committed an estimated $1 billion in additional sales tax revenue for homelessness services and affordable housing initiatives. Two bodies now exist to administer these funds, which will be available for collection on April 1, 2025 (no joke!) with the first tranche of funding entering government accounts sometime in June 2025. In approving a permanent source of revenue (58% to 42%), voters chose the new Measure A and repealed Measure H, making permanent the increased sales tax along with changes to administration and oversight that will improve the management of funds. The Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (LACAHSA), already envisioned by local government officials from the County of Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles, and neighboring officials, and the Executive Committee for Regional Homelessness Alignment (ECRHA), although slightly different in size and scope, are now essentially the two sides of a pretty penny. Some had feared Measure A wouldn’t pass based on polling.

LACAHSA first met on May 17, 2023, but has essentially been a paper tiger with no funding. Now the tiger has teeth, with a planned 40% of Measure A revenues going its way and 60% going to ECHRA, which first met on February 20, 2024. If LACAHSA is the paper tiger, ECHRA is like the pen writing its notes. On both bodies sits Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who in February 2020, after being nominated to lead it by Board of Supervisors Chair Lindsey Horvath, said: “Our expansive region has notably lacked a formal forum where key decision-makers from multiple levels of government can convene, craft unified homelessness response policies, and cultivate shared plans for allocating resources.” Both LACAHSA and ECRHA have so-called leadership tables for intersectoral participation, with foundations such as The California Endowment and Conrad Hilton Foundation having noticeable presences. Just how much money they might bring to the table to match taxpayer funding remains unknown, but it certainly is the aspirational goal.

The shifting sands of Los Angeles

Los Angeles as a region is severely underfunded on housing and homelessness, but ask most people, and they’ll tell you that money alone won’t solve the crisis. With an estimated roughly 40,000 people on the streets of the City of Los Angeles and an additional perhaps 35,000 spread across the County in other locales, the ability of government to organize and focus itself is in question. LACAHSA plans to spend the next 6 months developing a strategic plan for the implementation of what’s essentially a so-called “opportunity fund" to keep people in their homes through preservation and at the same time develop affordable housing to get people housed. To get LACAHSA going, $6 million was loaned from the County of Los Angeles to it to support staffing up and administrative costs with planned repayment after the Measure A first collection in June. Statutorily, LACAHSA can’t spend more than 10% of its roughly $400 million on overhead.

“We’re gonna have to move different than other acronym agencies that we have….it’s showtime.”

At their last meeting, first Vice Chair and one-time City Administrative Officer for the City of Los Angeles, Miguel A. Santana, reported that the ECRHA and Leadership Table for Homeless Regional Alignment (LTRHA) boards were, in fact, created by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (BOS) and clarified that the BOS determined the member composition for both, ECRHA and LTRHA. He further added that progress from both ECRHA and LTRHA will proceed even if changes in leadership occur within Los Angeles County and its cities. Board Member Jonathan Jager voiced an assertion that an expert in rental evictions (hopefully not a landlord...) should have a seat on the LTRHA. There’s some overlap between the groups.

In passing its first budget, it’s unknown how close it intends to get to this cap. A request for comment to interim CEO Ryan Johnson wasn’t immediately responded to, nor is there at present a list yet of eligible projects, what one might call a target list. “As money comes in, we have to get the money out,” Johnson declared at LACAHSA’s meeting on December 18 at the Metropolitan Water District Headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles. LACAHSA itself lacks a “home” in that it doesn’t have office space staff yet, with Johnson noting he was taking “meetings from his car.”

Apparently, the County of Los Angeles is unwilling to provide human resources or legal support to the new agency, so LACAHSA will have to use “search firms” to ensure that positions are adequately posted in accordance with law. LACAHSA’s board members at least have again rejected a proposed stipend for their additional service, with Johnson noting that he at least “wanted to give them the option.” The body is co-chaired by energetic Mayor Rex Richardson of Long Beach, who stated, “It’s important that we execute with urgency” in fulfilling the mission of what he called a body with the “potential to be the biggest social impact fund in America.”

It’s unclear if LACAHSA’s funding can be for operating costs such as janitorial services and security within affordable housing buildings. Headlines have noted the recent decline of such services in adaptive reuse projects on Skid Row. More importantly, Los Angeles City, at least, the epicenter, has, due to its fiscal crisis, actually cut City sanitation’s budget by $15 million last year. The City also faces a dumping crisis, as highlighted in reporting by KCAL’s Jeff Nguyen, including in Pacoima, where an area has come to be dubbed “Produce Row” because of the dumping of food waste. The Los Angeles Times’ Steve Lopez, after several months of being camped out in the Westlake area, which includes MacArthur Park, is similarly at his wits’ end as to how to address “Yoshinoya Alley," which he claims is “ground zero” for the city’s fentanyl addiction crisis.

The lone critic of the signature program under the Office of Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, has a problem equal to that of Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez. Blight isn’t just urban in Los Angeles; it’s a suburban phenomenon too, and it spans all reaches of the City of Los Angeles from end-to-end, excepting wealthy pockets where policing seemingly keeps a check on it. With the threat of criminalization on the horizon on top of the failed effort known as “LAMC § (section) 41.18” to keep the unhoused from setting up encampments in certain zones, it’s clear that it’s not only the unhoused who are contributing to the idea of a lawless Los Angeles, but rather all of us failing together to create the conditions in society for future success.

The only way we will be

Money isn’t the answer. Neither is blame. Rather, it’s the poor environment of civic engagement that’s holding back new efforts toward success. Richardson ended the LACAHSA meeting promising its members “Long Beach Pie” for their service, meanwhile in Los Angeles there’s not a single place where you can just walk up and get a meal. The same for housing. Reportedly, a new walk-up health clinic is being setup in Skid Row, the “STAR Clinic,” backed by State funding. Located at 242 E 6th St. in downtown Los Angeles, it features 1,300 square feet of clinic space within a 2,400 square foot facility operated in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and originally by the now-defunct Skid Row Housing Trust. It’s the collapse of this entity that has created perhaps the biggest vulnerability in the safety net in Los Angeles. But can LACAHSA, much less ECRHA, move fast enough to preserve this sizable chunk of single-room occupancy housing stock and keep them from turning into a complete blight under developer Leo Pustilnikov? It’s no secret where the money needs to go, but can it be delivered to the right places in time?

To be effective, as Barger noted at ECRHA on December 13 in the posh headquarters of the California Endowment, “we have to avoid setting up for failure.” Mayor Karen Bass for her part, who sits on ECHRA alongside others such as Redondo Beach Councilmember Paige Kaluderovic and Monrovia Mayor Becky Shevilin. After the meeting, asked what she thought the biggest gap was, Kaludervoic, whose city was recently highlighted for its success in The Los Angeles Times, stated that more reliable “data” was needed. The existing agency for delivering this information, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), is on the re-alignment chopping block in favor of the new “Homeless Response” agency currently under study. To conduct the so-called “point-in-time”/PIT count, LAHSA relies on volunteers, with the next go-round set for January 21–23, 2025. The PIT count is mandated biennially by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), but the Greater Los Angeles region has elected to submit annual counts since 2016. LAHSA has a controversial new Chief Executive Strategist, Kris Freed, to support CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum, who, according to the report by LAist journalist Nick Gerda, was hired after the post was “open for about a week” at “$322,587 for a maximum of 29 hours per week.” We’re not kidding!

It’s not even Kris Freed’s only job. In taking the position, the former LA Family Housing official wrote in a public post on LinkedIn: “My role and commitment to my clients at The Impact Consulting Group and Freed’em Consulting will remain unwavering and steadfast.” According to Nick Gerda’s report, LAHSA might not even be complying with state ethics laws with only its CEO disclosing conflicts of interest in an annual Form 700. Apparently they’re working on it, but at that rate we might as well be burning Benjamin’s in a bucket. For many years, in what’s almost an act of defiance to the so-called “Homeless Industrial Complex,” groups have formed as “mutual aid” organizations to take direct action to provide essential basics to those living on the streets. Undoubtedly, at least as far as alleviating human catastrophe, such groups might make better fund recipients than pouring money down the same barrel. Even as Measure A promised reform, it’s not totally clear what exactly is changing. Mayor Karen Bass at ECRHA questioned whether the spending would be evaluated quickly enough, with the requirement being only that it be done within 5 years, stating “that doesn’t sound right” and questioning the meeting purpose.

Mayor Karen Bass soon clarified, “Just for the record, I’ve always supported a regional approach.”

Councilmember Nithya Raman said, “I have been making efforts between the City and the County.” If Measure H was fatally flawed by being temporary, there are no guarantees that making funding permanent will simply fix things. By far, the biggest weakness is that essentially there is no feedback mechanism required. Those served by the providers backed by the City and the County are all but unmonitored absent blowouts that attract other authorities, such as auditors and investigators; the entire system is built to be reactive, not pro-active. No State Law requires municipalities or providers to engage in any feedback process, such as lived experience bodies, to collect any information qualitative or quantitative on whether what they’re doing works. For their parts, Bass and Barger at least seemed to find some common ground, which considering that LAHSA, which is a joint-powers city-county agency, seemed promising.

Perhaps the City and County should just meet together, with representatives from the other cities pooling representatives in the new “Homelessness Response” agency were it to be created. At LACAHSA, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson had promised “Long Beach pie” as a year-end celebration for board members listing off the types he had brought; none was available to the public. For several attendees who had for consecutive meetings come to plead their case against an alleged slumlord in public meetings, it had to be a little let down. For sure, you could buy a lot of pie with $322,587. I’m not sure what Kris Freed is doing for that salary, but it better be good. Perhaps she could prepare a written report for public consumption!

LACAHSA will create several more positions, pulling in more than $100,000, including a Chief of Human Resources, a Managing Director of Investments, a Chief of Staff, and a Chief of Intergovernmental Policy. Surely staffing and infrastructure are needed, but how does this fit into the overall picture of current spending? Government in Los Angeles County assuredly is no finely tuned machine, but can resolving homelessness be done by anyone else more cheaply, who can deliver better results, faster? Supervisor Holly Mitchell quizzingly asked LACAHSA, "Is our current schedule realistic?” within the planned 6-month timeline.

Solutions from near and far

The Los Angeles City Council Housing & Homelessness Committee, as assigned by Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, will now consist of Chair Nithya Raman, Vice Chair Ysabel Jurado, Curren Price, Bob Blumenfield, and Adrin Nazarian. The late Kevin de León was voted off, and Monica Rodriguez was thrown off. Along with Eunisses Hernandez’s District 1, it’s Jurado’s District 14 that likely has the greatest population of unhoused people. In a recent interview, Jurado told LAist journalist Makenna Sievertson, "Folks have said on the campaign trail that we've funneled so much money to homelessness and we don't see... it getting better.” In building her staff, Jurado has hired Steve Diaz, a former deputy director of the non-profit Los Angeles Community Action Network in Skid Row, to be her housing and homelessness director. Diaz himself is formerly unhoused and has in the past stated opposition to both overpolicing and gentrification in the area. Whether the new Housing & Homelessness Committee, much less Jurado alone, can move the dial on this issue promises to be a big test.

Leadership in Los Angeles is fickle. Criminalization of the unhoused won’t be the solution, and already the 2026 elections are in the distance. The implementation of City Measure ULA, which promised to be a mansion tax to help keep people in their homes, has both undercollected compared to estimates at $375 million instead of an expected $600 million to $1 billion, which has also resulted in delayed implementation of the homelessness prevention component. There are no guarantees with Measure A, even as Mayor Rex Richardson boasted “we’re good for it” about repaying the $6 million County loan to LACAHSA and also acknowledging the current “alphabet soup” of agencies. Getting out of this conundrum means getting serious about not just spending more but reigning in the current bureaucracy even if it’s uncomfortable. Judge David O. Carter, aged 80, can’t be the only doorstopper in Los Angeles willing to hold people to account for results. The LA Alliance case is back in session on January 7th with a full agenda that’s essentially steering overall governance.

Litigation has a lifespan. Assuredly, once the LA Alliance lawsuits expire in June 2027, the group that is fervently seeking to raise money with social media won’t outlive Measure A. Nor is the LA Alliance for Human Rights the watchdog that they bill themselves as; rather, it’s a temporary lawsuit pushed forward on behalf of business elites. Perhaps more of those elites should be joining the ECRHA and LACAHSA leadership tables and putting their money behind their mouths, because this holiday season the only mouths to feed aren’t on their Instagram. For what it’s worth, ECRHA and LACAHSA seem to be a step in the right direction, but to be successful, they should take some hard lessons learned from LAHSA, which shouldn’t slip the reform dragnet in 2025. We can only hope the electeds will get their heads screwed on straight.

Alarmingly, at least one promising, albeit expensive, project, the proposed Venice Dell 120-unit building, despite a lawsuit from LA Forward and the best efforts of advocates, remains stalled with the City of Los Angeles despite receiving approval from the California Coastal Commission. The building, which would be constructed on what’s currently a public parking lot just blocks away from the Pacific Ocean. The City of Los Angeles is still refusing to convey the land to developers Venice Community Housing and Hollywood Community Housing Corp. In a statement to Los Angeles Times journalist Liam Dillon, the Mayor’s Office wouldn’t commit to specifically backing the project, saying only that “the mayor remains supportive of affordable housing being built in this area.” Councilmember Traci Park said about the Los Angeles Board of Transportation declining to relinquish the lot, “There is no lot to build it on.” Really Traci?

A request for comment to the Office of Attorney General Rob Bonta on if he would enforce the State’s Housing Accountability Act yielded the following response: “We are aware of the project, but cannot comment on possible future actions.” The act requires all municipalities to meet State goals. Perhaps all housing projects in LA aren’t equal. The project was first brought forward in 2016. If LACAHSA were to start asking people in Los Angeles which projects they wanted to see funded, it would surely be among the most popular. Former Councilmember Mike Bonin, who previously represented the area, argued on Substack last October that this essentially is a new form of racial “redlining” on the Westside, calling the opposition “disturbing.” Meanwhile, Attorney General Bonta is now suing over “the operation of Cathay Manor, a 268-unit apartment complex in downtown Los Angeles that is financed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under a Housing Assistance Payment contract.” Just how involved Bonta wants to get in this all remains to be seen, but for now, the balancing act of State, Federal, and Local powers continues for the future in the City of Angels.

Link: Measure A homeless sales tax edges closer to the 50% majority needed for passage, poll shows

Link: Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency

Link: STATEMENT OF PROCEEDINGS FOR THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FOR REGIONAL HOMELESS ALIGNMENT

Link: Barger Issues Statement on Launch of Inaugural Executive Committee for Regional Homeless Alignment

Link: The California Endowment

Link: Conrad H. Hilton Foundation

Link: New owner cuts security, janitors at Skid Row homeless housing as tenants fear worsening conditions

Link: Videos capture frustration with illegal dumping in Los Angeles

Link: Column: The time for excuses is over. L.A.’s MacArthur Park needs a champion now

Link: Resolving Encampments in Skid Row

Link: Star Clinic and Housing for Health Office

Link: How Redondo Beach brought its homeless numbers to ‘functionally zero’