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LA Mayor Garcetti Claps Back At Trump's Homelessness Comments
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (Gabriel Cortés/KPCC)
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Mayor Eric Garcetti released a video Tuesday in response to President Donald Trump's visit to Los Angeles and the president's comments about homelessness.
In the nearly seven-minute video, which was posted to a live feed on the Mayor's Facebook page, Garcetti speaks from inside a new bridge home shelter in South Los Angeles. Turning the camera away from himself, he shows viewers -- and, ostensibly, the president -- the facility, which includes 33 beds for women and 66 beds for men, as well as space for people's pets and personal belongings.
Garcetti says that the shelter already has 100 people scheduled to move in when it opens and another 200 on a waiting list.
The mayor then notes that since Trump has "shown an interest in the issue of homelessness," it's Garcetti's hope that they can "pause politics" and work together to solve the crisis.
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"If they are serious about helping, we are serious about getting together," he says.
Summarizing a letter he says he wrote to the president, Garcetti names three specific asks:
- Fulfill the promise of building 1,200 units of permanent supportive housing and help facilitate a bridge home shelter at the VA
- "Funding, not cutting" programs such as emergency shelter grants and affordable housing
- Ensure that federal policies don't "put more people out on the street"
The video comes about a week after Trump administration officials visited Los Angeles to learn more about how the city and county are responding to homelessness. On Tuesday, Trump called Los Angeles out during a fundraising trip.
"We can't let Los Angeles, San Francisco and numerous other cities destroy themselves by allowing what's happening," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
READ MORE: What Is The Federal Government Doing To End Homelessness In LA?
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