The Brief

There’s a parking lot in the city of Los Angeles lined with plywood platforms where unhoused people can set up tents and they have access to meals, bathrooms and other services — all at taxpayers’ expense.

The Lincoln Safe Sleep Village in South L.A., opened in 2022 and is one of only a handful similar encampments around the state. Public records indicate it was contracted to provide space for up to 88 residents last fiscal year.

But two observers who made separate visits to the location earlier this year — one of them a commissioner with the governing body that oversees the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the other a “special master” appointed by a federal judge — found the site was operating at half capacity.

Still, LAHSA paid a nonprofit organization $2.3 million to operate the site — with 88 spots — last fiscal year.

A federal judge this week described the situation as “obvious fraud.”

The nonprofit that runs the site, San Francisco-based Urban Alchemy, told LAist it reduced the site’s capacity by half in April 2024, at the request of L.A. city officials and LAHSA. The homeless services agency did not update its funding formula for the site until more than a year later.

LAHSA records show Urban Alchemy was paid in full.

The situation has emerged at a time when LAHSA is under intense scrutiny for failing to properly manage hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with service providers, and the city of L.A. remains under a court order to provide more shelter for the city’s unhoused residents.

Federal court scrutiny

During a sometimes tense federal court hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter described the situation at the Lincoln Safe Sleep Village as "obvious fraud."

The hearing was the latest in a series of court appearances stemming from a settlement between the city of L.A. and a group of downtown business and property owners known as the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights.

The judge has been overseeing the settlement, specifically the city’s progress in meeting its obligations to provide housing and shelter for unhoused people. The agreement requires the city to open nearly 13,000 new shelter beds by next year.

According to testimony Wednesday, Michele Martinez — the special master Carter appointed to help enforce the terms of the settlement — visited the Safe Sleep Village on June 9. She tried to verify the number of beds available at the site with city officials, but did not get an answer, Carter said. Three weeks later, the city responded by questioning whether Martinez’s inquiry was proper.

In a June 30 email, L.A. Deputy City Attorney Jessica Mariani argued that Martinez had “no authority or basis to review or provide any assessments.” However, she added, the city was still looking into Martinez’ questions about the safe sleep site.

Carter questioned Mariani during the hearing, noting that the city (through LAHSA) continued to pay full amounts for more than 80 spots at the site and tell the court those spots existed, even though at least half appeared to not be available at the time.

"Is the City's position when the Special Master notes obvious fraud and that the documents don't match, that you are bringing forth to this Court that Ms. Martinez should disregard that and not report this to the Court when you try to curtail her monitoring activities?” the judge said, according to a transcript of the proceedings .

Carter described the city’s actions as potentially “contemptuous.”

LAist reached out to Mariani and the City Attorney’s Office, but has not yet received a response.

Weeks before the special master’s visit to the site, LAHSA Commissioner Justin Szlasa also stopped by the South L.A. campground. The 10-member LAHSA Commission makes policy and funding decisions for the regional homelessness agency.

Szlasa reported later that he noticed during his visit that half of the campground was closed down. He said budget documents sent to him for approval described the site as a “low-cost, high-impact” program serving 88 people.

“We at LAHSA must ensure that we receive what we are contracting for,” Szlasa wrote in a social media post describing his findings.

He filed a public records request with LAHSA to obtain the contracts and payment details for the Urban Alchemy campground.

“I want to understand, first and foremost, why this was misrepresented to the Commission,” Szlasa said. “Then I want to understand if Urban Alchemy was actually in compliance with the contracts.” He continued: “I am concerned this Safe Sleep program — which I happened to arbitrarily spot-check — is not an outlier.”

A drone's view of the South LA site prior to one section closing down in 2024.

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Jay L. Clendenin

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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LAHSA response

LAist reached out to LAHSA for more information about its contract with Urban Alchemy and about the number of people who lived at the Lincoln Safe Sleep Village during the last fiscal year.

LAHSA authorities said the site had a 41% average “utilization rate” during the budget year that ended in June, based on capacity information Urban Alchemy provided in a database called the Homeless Management Information System.

But the agency’s calculations appear based on outdated capacity data, not on how many spaces were actually available for use.

LAHSA said it was Urban Alchemy’s responsibility to update the information in the database. "All providers are required to record their data in HMIS; if the data is inaccurate, it would be based on that data entry,” a LAHSA spokesperson said.

LAHSA did not respond to LAist’s questions about when it learned that capacity at the site had been reduced. An agency spokesperson said LAHSA has been “engaged with” Urban Alchemy about the site since April 2024, and that the program has been “under review.”

In April, when the city of L.A. submitted its quarterly bed report to Carter, it described the South L.A. campground program as having 88 beds.

But approximately half of those beds had been unavailable for about a year, according to Urban Alchemy.

The city adjusted the count to 46 spots in its July 2025 update.

LAHSA’s troubles 

LAHSA manages more than $742 million in contracts with 121 service providers.

Over the past year, audits and reports found the agency had mismanaged hundreds of millions in contracts for homeless services, including a failure to collect accurate data on nonprofit vendors or properly track how they spent taxpayer dollars.

The South L.A. campground is the only “safe sleep” site of its kind currently in LAHSA’s portfolio, the agency told LAist. LAHSA also administers funding for about a dozen “safe parking” sites, where unhoused people can legally park and live out of vehicles they own.

LAHSA has paid it more than $12 million to operate the Lincoln Safe Sleep Village since 2021, according to the agency’s records.

Urban Alchemy told LAist it’s been following the terms of its contract, and that it followed direction from the city to close down part of the site, reducing its capacity.

The city of L.A. has not responded to questions from LAist about that claim, including whether it gave the nonprofit that direction.

"We're focused on providing the highest-level of service for our guests,” Urban Alchemy spokesperson Jess Montejano told LAist. “Given the resources provided, we're helping as many guests as we can have a safe place to sleep and get better connected to services and support."

Urban Alchemy did not clarify why it was told to close part of the campground, but property records show a South L.A. nonprofit called the Coalition for Responsible Community Development purchased the property in 2020.

It has plans to convert the property into a 60-unit affordable housing complex. Until that project is ready to start construction, the site is expected to keep operating as a safe sleeping location, according to the office of L.A. City Councilmember Curren Price, who represents the area.

“When the site first opened, beds were consistently full,” Angelina Valencia-Dumarot, Price’s communications director, told LAist Thursday. “That’s why the current occupancy rate is especially concerning.”

She said council offices are too often left out of updates by LAHSA.

“We can’t address problems quickly if we’re finding out only after numbers fall or from the press,” Valencia-Dumarot said.

A sign at the South LA campground

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Jay L. Clendenin

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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What should this cost? 

At full capacity, the monthly operating cost for the South LA campground would have been about $2,180 per participant.

Shayla Myers, a senior attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, said these campground sites are expensive to operate.

“They are the kinds of programs that shock the conscience of taxpayers,” Myers said, adding that they cost much more than paying rent, while keeping people unsheltered.

LAHSA staff say per-person costs for homeless programs differ based on location, hours and staffing needs.

Examples include:

• The region’s safe parking sites, which receive about $1,200 per participant per month to provide a set of similar resources to vehicle dwellers, according to LAHSA contract documents. 

• LAHSA programs that provide temporary rental assistance to families and cost about $2,000 per household per month, officials said. 

• The city of L.A.’s Inside Safe program, which moves people from encampments to hotel rooms. It costs about $6,900 per person served each month, according to a recent report by the city’s chief administrative officer.

Urban Alchemy has operated temporary campgrounds for unhoused Angelenos since 2021, including one in Virgil Village that has since closed and another in Culver City that is still operating.

In 2021, L.A.’s city administrative officer reported the Virgil Village campground cost more than $2,600 per participant per month.

Culver City opened its campground in 2023, so that the city could legally enforce a ban on camping in public approved that February.

The city spent nearly $4.6 million on its Urban Alchemy campground in 2025, according to budget documents .

The site has space for 40 people, and the city says the occupancy rate is around 85% this year . That’s a cost of more than $11,000 per person served each month.

Myers said interventions like this will always cost more than moving people into homes. “It doesn’t matter whether you're paying for a hotel room, a shelter, or in this case, lines drawn on a parking lot,”said Myers. “Continuing to provide shelter to folks who are unhoused — rather than providing permanent housing — is always going to be exponentially more expensive.”

After the city finalized its budget this June, LAHSA allocated $1.2 million to Urban Alchemy for the South L.A. campground for the current budget year, instead of $2.3 million. LAHSA now lists the site’s capacity as 46 tent spaces, authorities said.

The agency said the site now has a “utilization” rate of 70%, compared to 41% the previous fiscal year.

That’s at a cost of about $3,100 per participant per month.

Nick Gerda and Makenna Sievertson contributed to this story.

Lawyers representing victims of the Eaton Fire allege that Southern California Edison is intentionally delaying litigation and potential discussions to enter into a faster mediation process in order to increase participation in its voluntary payout program . The company denies the allegations.

In a joint case management conference statement filed Thursday afternoon, lawyers with three firms representing Eaton Fire survivors state that Edison has repeatedly delayed trial dates, as well as discussions to enter into a faster mediation process “while, at the same time, peddling their discount settlement program as ‘transparent.’”

“What is abundantly clear is that Defendants [Edison] want to waste judicial resources and subject the community they destroyed to needless delay,” the statement reads.

The lawyers argue that Edison International Chief Executive Officer Pedro Pizarro has repeatedly stated publicly that Edison’s equipment likely sparked the Eaton Fire. The filing also says, as further evidence of the company’s belief it started the fire, that Edison entered into an agreement with an undisclosed insurance company to pay them back for Eaton Fire losses.

“Despite these facts and public statements, Defendants continue to stand before this Court asserting that they cannot and will not participate in mediations because liability discovery is Incomplete,” the plaintiffs lawyers write.

Edison has settled previous wildfires lawsuits, including cases against them for causing the Thomas and Woolsey fires, through mediation, which is generally faster than litigation.

“Given these circumstances, Defendants’ plan is clear: delay litigation and refuse mediation in order to force vulnerable fire victims into accepting deeply discounted settlements,” the plaintiffs lawyers write.

Edison, however, denies the allegations, calling them “baseless” in the same court document.

“SCE has never entered into a mediation protocol this early in a wildfire litigation, and for good reason,” Edison’s lawyers write in the filing. “The Parties are still at the very early stages of developing the factual record.”

The company argued that the investigation into the cause of the Eaton Fire needs to be completed before entering into mediation and that the plaintiffs’ characterization of the delays are “misleading and misplaced.”

“To be clear, Defendants are neither supporting nor declining mediation,” Edison’s lawyers write in the filing. “It is simply too early to address these issues.”

This story will be updated. Check back for details.

A strong storm has started to make its way into Southern California, kicking off what could be a perilous four days for the region.

Anywhere from 2 to 5 inches of rain is expected to fall across most of the area, but as much as 8 inches could fall along coastal slopes, including recently burned areas, raising the risk of debris flows, according to the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

The heaviest part of the storm will arrive in Santa Barbara on Thursday night and slowly move southward, with rainfall peaking in Los Angeles some time between Friday and Saturday night.

Evacuation warnings have been issued by L.A. County for the Eaton, Palisades, Kenneth and Canyon fire burn scars. Residents should be prepared to evacuate, as rainfall rates could exceed the debris flow threshold of half an inch per hour. L.A. County is providing updates on its emergency website .

Flash floods, roadway closures and small tornadoes are all a possibility. If you're flying out of LAX, you may experience flight delays due to strong winds Friday and Saturday.

The National Weather Service will issue a flood watch for Friday from midnight through noon for Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

We'll have a a lull before the second, more intense part of the storm hits, and another flood watch will be in effect for Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties Saturday between 4 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The average amount of rainfall for downtown L.A. in November is 1.23 inches, making the potential 5 inches a surprising amount of rain for this early in the season.

This storm has been difficult for forecasters to predict, as it's a cutoff low, or a low-pressure system that's detached from the more predictable jet stream. As the storm develops, estimates could change. For example, there's a 10% chance that rainfall rates will be under 2 inches for L.A.

As for fire season? We’ll have to get back to you on that one. It’s going to depend on this storm's rainfall totals. Typically, the NWS in Oxnard looks for a widespread 3 to 4 inches of rainfall across the area before they put a bow on fire season. We could be there by the end of the weekend. However, assessments will need to be made after the storm wraps up.

Rainfall estimates

Here are the rainfall estimates from the NWS for much of Southern California from Thursday to Sunday:

• Santa Maria: 3.18 to 4.23 inches
• Santa Barbara: 4.2 to 5.6 inches
• Downtown L.A.: 2 to 4.8 inches
• Long Beach Airport: 2.5 to 4.22 inches
• Orange County: 3 to 4 inches
• Oceanside: 2.5 to 3 inches
• Riverside: 2 to 2.5 inches
• San Bernardino: 2 to 2.5 inches
• Joshua Tree: 1.5 to 2 inches
• Escondido: 2 to 2.5 inches
  

Evacuations and closures

Evacuation warnings have been issued for the Kenneth, Palisades, Eaton and Canyon fire burn scars in Los Angeles County.

A flood watch is in effect for much of Southern California from Friday night through Saturday night.

Forecast

Another milder storm may drop some rain Monday, and we could see some more intense precipitation at the tail end of next week. We'll have updates for you throughout the week.

Take this storm seriously

There are things you can do to give yourself the best chance of receiving urgent messages, such as evacuation orders, during an emergency.

One of the most important is to sign up for emergency text messaging services in your city or county. That’s one of the main ways emergency responders communicate with large numbers of people.

There’s Alert L.A. County , for example. But just 1.6 million people here are signed up — out of about 7.8 million adults. If as an Angeleno you do nothing else to prepare today, sign up for Alert L.A. County.

You should also be aware of the X (formerly Twitter) accounts of your local agencies, as that’s often where they post updates.

Here's a guide to how to stay alert throughout Southern California — in rainy season, fire season or any season.

Understanding National Weather Service terms

Here’s an excerpt from our guide to understanding flood alerts:

• Flood advisories are how the NWS begins to raise the alarm. The goal is to give people enough time to take action.
• Flood watches are your indicators to get prepared to move.
• A flood warning is issued when a hazardous weather event is imminent or already happening. When one is issued for your area, you need to get to higher ground immediately.
• A flash flood warning is issued when a flash flood is coming or in progress. Flash floods are sudden and violent floods that can start within minutes.

Read more: Flash flood warnings? Watches? Here’s what you need to know

Tips for driving in the rain

• Check  weather  and  road conditions along your planned route.
• Slow down.
• Keep a wider-than-usual distance between your vehicle and the one in front.
• Don't drive through standing water — as little as 12 inches of rushing water can carry away most cars, and 2 feet can carry away SUVs and trucks.
• Make sure tires are fully inflated.
• Check windshield wiper blades and replace if necessary.

Read more:  What you should do if you end up driving in a flooded area

Downed tree, power line or flooded road?

Dial 911 in an emergency.

However, if you need to report a flooded road or a downed tree, you can call the following non-emergency numbers:

• L.A. city: Dial 311 for a flooded road or downed tree. Call (800) DIAL-DWP if you see a downed power line.
• L.A. County: (800) 675-HELP
• Ventura County: (805) 384-1500
• Orange County: (714) 955-0200 or visit here .

If you're in L.A. County and need sand bags , you can find some at local fire houses.

Staying safe when the winds are high

• Watch for traffic signals that may be out. Approach those intersections as four-way stops.
• Make sure you have a battery-operated radio and flashlights. Check the batteries to make sure they are fresh. Use flashlights for lighting during a power outage; do not use candles because they may pose a fire hazard.
• If you’re in a vehicle with a fallen power line on it, stay in the vehicle and remain calm until help arrives. It is OK to use your cellphone to call 911. If you must leave the vehicle, exit away from downed power lines and jump from the vehicle, landing with both feet together. You must not touch the vehicle and the ground at the same time. Then proceed away from the vehicle by shuffling and not picking up your feet until you are several yards away. 
• Water and electricity don’t mix. Water is an excellent conductor of electricity. Do not step in or enter any water that a downed power line may be touching.
• Do not use any equipment indoors that is designed for outdoor heating or cooking. Such equipment can emit carbon monoxide and other toxic gases.
• If you use a generator, place it outdoors and plug individual appliances directly into it, using a heavy-duty extension cord. Connecting generators directly to household circuits creates “backfeed,” which is dangerous to repair crews.
• Leave the doors of your refrigerator and freezer closed to keep food as fresh as possible. Place blocks of ice inside to help keep food cold. Check food carefully for signs of spoilage. 
• Check on your neighbors to make sure everyone is safe.

Sign up for emergency alerts

• L.A. City: Notify L.A.
• L.A. County: Ready L.A. County
• Ventura County: Ready Ventura County
• Orange County: AlertOC
• Riverside County: AlertRivCo
• San Bernardino County

How we're reporting on this

LAist science reporter Jacob Margolis is talking to meteorologists, as well as monitoring National Weather Service forecasts and government alerts. Other LAist staffers are monitoring official sources of information as well.

This is a developing story. We fact check everything and rely only on information from credible sources (think fire, police, government officials and reporters on the ground). Sometimes, however, we make mistakes or initial reports turn out to be wrong. In all cases, we strive to bring you the most accurate information in real time and will update this story as new information becomes available.

The governing board of LAX voted unanimously Thursday to appropriate more than $1 billion to build long-planned elevated roadways officials said will separate airport-bound vehicles from local traffic.

Supporters say the roadways will make it safer and more efficient to get in and out of LAX.

“We have multiple paths in and out of the airport, and each and one of those creates pinch points and traffic jams, particularly along Sepulveda [Boulevard],” Emery Molnar, an LAX executive, said to the airport Board of Commissioners before the vote.

Before the vote, commissioners heard from advocates and people living near the airport who questioned the need for the project amid lower-than-projected passenger levels at LAX.

“I think this a project that was maybe well conceived 10 years ago, but it’s not necessary,” Cord Thomas, a Westchester resident, said to the commissioners during the public comment period.

They also urged airport officials to first finish the Automated People Mover, the train that has been beset by delays and racked up hundreds of millions in cost overruns.

Background on the project

The project involves constructing or replacing 4.4 miles of roads that enter and exit LAX.

Critics reject the idea that the roadways will ease local congestion.

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Courtesy Los Angeles World Airports

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The total cost is $1.5 billion, according to airport officials. Before today’s vote, the Board had previously approved more than $600 million for early construction work.

Overall, it’s a small amount of LAX’s massive $30 billion investment in capital improvements to the airport.

Molnar said the roads entering the airport are scheduled to be finished in the months before the 2028 Games but roads exiting the airport, landscaping and other project elements won’t be done until spring of 2030.

Why is it controversial?

In addition to lower levels of passenger traffic, critics point to LAX estimates that the roadways will induce more driving, likening the potential impacts of the project to those seen when the 405 Freeway was expanded.

Kenneth Ehrenberg, a captain of the U.S. Space Force and resident of Westchester, told airport commissioners that the project doesn’t address the principle bottleneck for cars, which he said is the pick-up and drop-off areas in the horseshoe.

Public commenters during the meeting also said if the history of the Automated People Mover is any indicator, the project won’t finish on time and will end up costing more than airport officials planned.

One of the two companies selected to build the roadways, FlatironDragados, is also a member of the consortium of companies known as LINXS that the city hired back in 2018 to design and build the train that will eventually shuttle travelers between the airport terminals, car rental center and newly opened LAX Metro Transit Center.

LINXS and the city have thus far had a contentious relationship that has delayed the train from its scheduled opening in 2023 to some time next year and resulted in the project costing nearly $880 million more than initially planned to settle disputes.

After today’s vote, it’s unclear what a path forward looks like for people who were urging the commissioners to pause the project. The roadways project has support from the local council district, labor groups and the business district that represents hotels and parking facilities adjacent to LAX.