Cities across America are experiencing significant increases in homelessness, but perhaps none more so than Los Angeles, California.
Skid Row was once confined to a one-block area, but now tents and other makeshift shelters can be seen throughout the city.
Billions of dollars have been spent to address this problem, but the situation only seems to get worse. Now, one City Council member wants to create a new city department focused on this issue.
If this new government agency can't fix the problem, how many more millions of dollars will be wasted?
CBS News Report:
Los Angeles City Council members want the city's homelessness department to be more effective
Los Angeles City Council members are pushing for the city to create its own homeless department to focus efforts on the issue.
Los Angeles City Council member Monica Rodriguez on Tuesday is lobbying to create a new department to create and oversee programs to address the homelessness crisis. The department plans to report to Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council.
The councilor tabled a motion on the issue on Friday as the first step in the process. The motion will be heard by the Housing and Homelessness Committee at a future date.
“The Office of Homelessness will help examine what governments at all levels are doing to solve the biggest humanitarian crisis of our time. I can't say for sure,“ Rodriguez said.
She said systemic factors pose challenges to institutionalizing existing successful models and new models for managing the city's $1.3 billion investment in homelessness prevention.
Jazz show comments Hot air:
The problem here is that the councilor is using language that could probably describe most municipal departments in large cities. Announcements are basically a huge word salad. Rodriguez cited „irregular and inaccurate reporting of contractually required metrics and results.“ I think that's fair enough, but where can I find the details? What responsibilities are assigned to which departments in responding to homelessness? And who collects and compiles all the results of those efforts? If they're not working together, then something is probably very wrong, and a significant portion of the allocated funds are somehow going to the city administrator.
FOX News' Bill Melgin recently posted a short video from downtown Los Angeles.
Good morning from downtown LA… pic.twitter.com/8vxnaD9moO
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 19, 2024
Same government and more spending won't solve this problem. The city needs new leadership.