On Sept. 9, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released the results of its 2022 homeless count, revealing a 4% increase in the homeless population in Los Angeles County, a 2% increase in the City of Los Angeles, and a 5% increase in Council District 15. The day prior, the two candidates for Los Angeles City Council District 15, Danielle Sandoval and Tim McOsker, took part in a forum on their plans to tackle homelessness.
In response to the homelessness report, Councilman Joe Buscaino, who represents CD15, issued a press release. He said there was a 41% increase in the number of people who accepted the city’s transitional housing, as 323 people were in the city’s shelters as of 2020’s count, and there were 457 in 2022.
“The most recent homeless count shows that transitional housing is working,” Buscaino wrote in the press release. “In Council District 15, people experiencing homelessness are saying yes to interim housing which is serving as a necessary step on the path to permanent housing.”
Homelessness increased by 5% in his district, as there were 2,257 homeless people in 2020 and 2,373 in 2022, according to LAHSA’s count. He also pointed out that there was a slight decrease in street homelessness, as there were 1,934 people living on the streets of CD15 in 2020, and 1,916 in 2022.
Of all the homeless people living in CD15, only 19% were in the city’s transitional housing.
Buscaino, who has been accused by critics of being anti-homeless, finished his press release by indirectly referencing section 41.18 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, which bans homeless people from sleeping on certain sidewalks.
“While this year’s count shows progress, the City — and every other city in LA County — must maintain basic rules and regulations in the public right of way while simultaneously investing in every type of housing to tackle this ongoing crisis,” Buscaino wrote.
In August, Buscaino voted with the rest of the city council, which passed 11-3 an expansion of Section 41.18 to within 500 feet of all schools and daycares in the city, effectively banning unhoused people from 20% of the city. Previously, the city had to put up signs banning unhouse people from specific locations, but these are no longer needed near schools.
Sandoval and McOsker, the two candidates vying to replace Buscaino, differed in their opinions on 41.18.
“It’s a tragedy when anyone has to live on the street,” McOsker said. “But there are some areas that are more sensitive than other areas and are less appropriate for folks to be on the street. And in fact, in and around schools and carrying a safe passage to a school is one such area. So, I do support 41.18 and a protected zone around schools.”
McOsker said it was important to remain committed to outreach towards the people in encampments every time the city puts up a sign to enforce 41.18, but he did not mention these signs are no longer necessary within 500 feet of schools.
“We need to make sure, under Boise, and because it’s the right thing to do, that we have beds available for folks,” McOsker said.
He was referencing Martin v. Boise, a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that homeless people cannot be punished for sleeping outside on public property in the absence of adequate alternatives.
McOsker said he would not commit to adding or removing any signs that ban homeless people, but that he would evaluate them on a case-by-case basis.
Sandoval said that 41.18 is poorly written and reactionary.
“The only reason why we have some of these sites under 41.18 is because it’s a reactionary response to the people that don’t want encampments near their homes,” Sandoval said. “It’s a form of NIMBYism.”
Sandoval said there are encampments with dangerous people, but others are just people trying to shelter themselves from the elements, and they should be protected.
“This ordinance should not have been put in without a plan,” Sandoval said. “Temporary housing, tiny home villages, micro-housing, shared housing, bridge homes, all of the proper resources should have been in place before we enacted any ordinance that criminalizes homelessness.”
Sandoval said that schools should be protected against crime, but that the ordinance only criminalizes homeless people. While on the board of neighborhood councils, she would receive emails from parents who had to take their children past the McCoy encampment while taking them to school.
“I did contact our senior lead officers and ask for extra patrols,” Sandoval said.
Laurie Jacobs, former vice president of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council, spoke to the candidates about the high-turnover rate of outreach workers. This is because of low wages, and Jacobs asked what the candidates would do.
Sandoval said she has advocated for years for the city to have its own health department, instead of relying on the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. She wants it to have its own services and outreach workers.
“We need to have direct services,” Sandoval said. “And outreach workers need to build that trust. In order for someone to accept services, they have to trust the worker that they’re working with. And in order to build that trust, we cannot have the high turnover that we have, because then we’re just starting all over again.”
Tim McOsker pointed out that LAHSA recently raised the salaries of its outreach workers, but this created a problem. LAHSA partners with service providers, nonprofit organizations that help homeless people. Since these providers still did not pay very well, outreach workers left them to work for LAHSA instead.
“It is terrible for those folks experiencing homelessness when there’s a turnover of staff, when an outreach worker is there for a couple of weeks then gone,” McOsker said. “I’ve had the experience of being in encampments and talking to folks and seeing a stack of cards from different people who showed up and disappeared.”
McOsker said that he wants the city, as part of LAHSA, to require that service providers show their retention numbers.
In his closing remarks, McOsker stated his intentions to bring services to homeless people.
“We also need to make sure that we are working for as long as it takes, for as hard as it takes, to be in the street, where people are, and bringing to them in the community those mental health services, those addiction services, and those opportunities to come in and then navigate through a system so that everyone has the opportunity to come in and have a healthy, fruitful life,” McOsker said.
Sandoval said the city needs to do more, as there are homeless people who haven’t seen outreach workers in a long time, or do not know where to go for resources. She also said there are people who are frustrated because ballot initiatives have passed, but they haven’t been able to prevent homelessness.
“I understand both the homeowners and them feeling like they have agreed for the solutions,” Sandoval said. “And I understand those who are unhoused and need those solutions.”
Sandoval said she has lived experience, as she was homeless herself at one point.
“Our representatives don’t understand the fear of going into temporary housing,” Sandoval said. “The fear of having to choose whether to pay their rent or pay for food, because they may become homeless one day.”