The Brief

Karen Bass became the first Los Angeles mayor to serve on the influential governing board for the region’s lead homelessness agency when she appointed herself to it three years ago.

Since joining, the mayor has skipped more than half of the meetings held by the L.A. Homeless Services Authority Commission, according to an LAist analysis of public records.

LAist reviewed three years of meeting records and found:

• Bass missed 13 of 21 LAHSA Commission meetings held between mid-August 2025 and now.
• Since Bass named herself to the board in late 2023, she’s been absent for 25 of 47 meetings.
• That's well more than enough to trigger potential removal under the agency's bylaws.

The Mayor’s Office told LAist that, regardless of Bass' attendance record, she has kept up to date on what LAHSA — which is responsible for managing the region’s homelessness response — has been doing.

But the optics could be a problem, especially as Bass fights for reelection in November and as LAHSA, which has been under intense scrutiny, fights for its survival in and out of court.

LAHSA Commissioner Justin Szlasa told LAist that attendance at the commission meetings, which require a majority of commissioners for a quorum, is important, whether it’s the mayor or any other appointee.

“That’s why we have a commission,” he said. “It's not just about achieving a quorum. It’s about people who are focused on considering the issue, tracking the things as they unfold and being part of that deliberative process.”

“If people don’t show up, they can’t do that,” Szlasa said.

Wendy Greuel, the former L.A. city controller and a member of the commission, said Bass’ attendance record hasn’t been a problem.

“There’s never been a mayor that has understood more the issue of homelessness and been as engaged as Mayor Bass,” said Greuel, who was reappointed to the commission by Bass after being named a decade ago by former L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.

“Her voice, whether in a commission meeting or outside of the commission meeting, has been important and greater than any mayor in my history,” she told LAist.

Why the LAHSA Commission matters

The members of the LAHSA Commission make policy and funding decisions for the agency, including approving its nearly $500 million budget and its contracts with local shelters and nonprofit service providers. LAHSA directs 86% of its funding to those providers, and commissioners are responsible for overseeing how hundreds of millions of public dollars are spent.

Representation on the commission is split evenly between city and county. L.A.’s mayor chooses half the commission’s voting members. Each of the five county supervisors choose one appointee.

Commissioners are unpaid volunteers, most of whom have full-time jobs and other responsibilities.

According to the bylaws, commissioners who are absent four times within a year may be subject to removal. The elected official who appointed them “shall be notified that an appointment needs to be made to fill a vacancy.”

But LAHSA said it did not notify Bass’ office about her own pattern of absences, or any other commissioner. The agency has interpreted the bylaws to give it discretion on whether or not to make those notifications.

“The Commission and its committees have consistently achieved a quorum and fulfilled their responsibilities, so LAHSA has not notified the City or the County regarding commissioner attendance,” said Ahmad Chapman, LAHSA’s communications director, in a statement.

At least six of 10 members must be present to open the public meeting or for the group to vote on anything.

A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office told LAist that Bass’ four other appointees “alerted her when her attendance was needed,” and kept her informed about its activities.

“It is unprecedented for a mayor to sit on the Board of LAHSA,” Ilanna Morales said in a statement. “She was on the Commission to make key decisions and participate in key discussions that impacted the City.”

A LAHSA Commission meeting on April 25, 2025. Mayor Karen Bass was not in attendance.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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How LAist checked attendance

LAist reviewed three years of meeting records and found that other commissioners had four or more absences over a single 12-month period.

Those records show that one of Bass' appointees, Tanisha Saunders, missed 12 of 21 commission meetings between Aug. 15, 2025, and Aug. 15, 2026. Since Bass appointed Saunders in May 2023, Saunders has been absent from 18 of 53 LAHSA Commission meetings, with an uptick in absences this year, according to an LAist analysis of meeting records.

Saunders is a former foster youth and a former child development advocate who manages a permanent supportive housing site for an affordable housing nonprofit in Venice, according to her biography on LAHSA’s website. She did not immediately respond to LAist’s interview requests, or questions about her attendance record sent by email.

Greuel told LAist that Saunders is an important voice on the board.

“I value the perspective Commissioner Saunders brings to the Commission, including being a person with lived experience and a full-time job who understands firsthand the systems and communities affected by our decisions,” Greuel told LAist.

“If she has a conflict due to her work schedule or other obligations, she routinely confirms proactively whether the meeting has a quorum so her absence will not impact the commission's work," Greuel continued.

Bass reappointed Saunders to the commission in May to serve through 2029. 

Last month, county Supervisor Holly Mitchell replaced her appointee Yasmine-Imani McMorrin on the commission. McMorrin, a Culver City Council member, had missed half of the 22 meetings held over the previous year. It is unclear whether that’s the reason she was replaced.

Neither Mitchell nor McMorrin responded to requests for comment.

Szlasa, an entrepreneur and homelessness policy advocate, said a seat on the commission is more than a part-time job. He has argued the agency should offer an optional financial stipend to the commissioners.

“This is a lot of time, a lot of commitment,” Szlasa told LAist. “It’s something valuable that’s happening and the commissioners should receive a stipend, if they opt for it, for the meetings they attend.”

In addition to the 21 LAHSA Commission meetings over the past year, commissioners are also assigned to working committees focused on specific subject areas. Each of those groups has its own regular meetings.

For example, Saunders serves on the audit committee, which directs internal audit reviews of LAHSA’s spending, policies and performance. Saunders missed just one of 13 audit committee meetings during her time, according to public records.

Bass served on the same audit committee for several months, until January. She did not attend a single meeting, recording five straight absences before being replaced by another commissioner.

Why another elected official left the LAHSA board

While Bass was the first L.A. mayor to appoint herself to the LAHSA Commission, she was not the first or only elected official to do so.

County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath appointed herself to the commission nearly a year earlier. Horvath told LAist she originally appointed herself to the board to try to reform LAHSA, encouraging her colleagues to do the same.

“Broken systems can’t be reformed from the sidelines,” Horvath said.

After serving two years, Horvath said she determined LAHSA could not make necessary changes. She last attended a meeting on Nov. 15, 2024, and said her commission experience "helped drive the County’s decision to fundamentally change the homeless services system."

Within months of Horvath resigning from the commission, the Board of Supervisors voted to divert more than $300 million in annual funding from LAHSA. By then, a string of reviews found LAHSA had failed to properly manage the tax dollars she and other regional leaders have entrusted to it.

Horvath told LAist she worked to stop "millions of County dollars from flowing through LAHSA when it failed to deliver the accountability and results taxpayers deserve.”

LAHSA's future remains deeply uncertain.

In June, the Trump administration suspended LAHSA from federal grant activity, citing financial mismanagement. LAHSA sued to overturn the suspension, and a judge paused it. A trial is now set for April 2027.

A tent in downtown Los Angeles on June 11, 2026. Mayor Bass has said eliminating street homelessness is a top priority.

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Apu Gomes

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AFP via Getty Images

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How homelessness factors into the race for mayor

Bass is running for reelection in November and one of her key promises is to make progress on homelessness. After celebrating two years of decreases in the annual homeless count, this year's annual count found street homelessness rose 8% in the city of L.A. That increase has weakened Bass’ pitch to voters.

Bass says she’s still working to end street homelessness. She's promising a shift away from pricey motel rooms to cheaper types of shelter and services for unhoused Angelenos, including on city-owned land.

“We actually need to transform the entire system,” Bass said last week at a mayoral debate hosted by the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association. “The city needs to be in control.”

“Right now, one of the fundamental dysfunctional features of the system is it's governed by the city, it's governed by the county, and it's governed by LAHSA,” Bass continued.

As of this year, LAHSA is funded primarily by the city of L.A., which now provides 73% of the regional homelessness agency’s budget. City officials have been slowly considering L.A.’s next steps for managing the city’s approach to homelessness, including whether LAHSA will remain involved.

Bass made absenteeism an issue in mayoral debate

During last week's debate, Bass brought up meeting absenteeism, accusing Councilmember Nithya Raman, her rival on the November ballot, of skipping Los Angeles City Council meetings specifically — and missing “thousands of votes.”

Raman said some of her absences were because she was attending other board meetings she served on as a city representative. Raman noted that Bass had appointed her to serve on some of those boards.

“Other council members have outside appointments, too,” Bass fired back. “You are not the only one. But they find their way to work.”

Bass serves on various governing boards, including chairing the board of directors for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. She has faced some criticism for absences on the Metro board.

Metro has a reserved board seat for L.A.’s mayor, making that role a requirement of Bass’ full-time job — unlike the LAHSA Commission.

Bass’ self-appointed three-year term on the Commission expired June 30. LAHSA and a spokesperson for Bass’ office said she is still a member, but did not confirm whether she had formally reappointed herself.

The next LAHSA Commission meeting is scheduled for Friday.

How to attend

When: Friday, Aug. 28 at 9 a.m.

Where: LAHSA, 637 Wilshire Blvd., 1st Floor commission room, Los Angeles

How to watch remote: Live stream link

It’s taken over a decade and $1.3 billion, but Hollywood Burbank’s new terminal is finally ready for action. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, the first passengers will be taking off and arriving at the brand-new structure.

Visitors note: The new terminal entrance has moved from Thornton Avenue to the intersection of Winona Avenue and Hollywood Way. There’s also a central security checkpoint and an indoor baggage claim.

The project stemmed from Burbank’s Measure B, passed in 2016.

LAist reporter Cato Hernandez got a sneak peek inside the building last week and reported on the scope and the thinking behind the decor.

William Contreras hit a tying homer in the fifth and singled home the go-ahead run an inning later as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 on Monday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

Four relievers combined to retire the last 15 Dodgers batters in order as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead over the two-time defending World Series champions in this best-of-seven series, which heads to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday.

The Brewers are chasing their second pennant and first in the NL. They made their lone World Series appearance in 1982, when they were in the American League.

Los Angeles is trying to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series. The Dodgers last rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win a series in 2020, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in a seven-game NLCS before going on to win the World Series.

The Dodgers will need more punch from their lineup to have a chance at getting back to the Fall Classic. They mustered just three hits Monday and went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position to drop to 2 for 26 in those situations this postseason.

Los Angeles couldn’t even get a boost from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who entered 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career playoff appearances. Yamamoto lasted just 2 2/3 innings for his shortest postseason start.

The Dodgers took the lead on three occasions in the first five innings. Milwaukee responded each time, the last coming when Contreras tied the game with a 436-foot homer to center off Kris Bubic in the fifth.

That turned the game into a battle of the bullpens, where the Brewers again had the edge.

Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined to shut down the Dodgers after Logan Henderson’s early exit.

The score was tied 4-all when Milwaukee’s David Hamilton was hit by a pitch from Brock Stewart to lead off the sixth. Stewart attempted a pickoff throw that went off the glove of first baseman Freddie Freeman and into foul territory for an error, advancing Hamilton to second.

After Jackson Chourio grounded out, the right-handed Stewart walked the left-handed-hitting Brice Turang to face the right-handed Contreras, who had homered in his previous plate appearance.

Contreras singled to left this time to bring home Hamilton with the go-ahead run.

Turang and Jake Bauers added RBI singles in the eighth to extend Milwaukee’s lead.

Neither starter lasts long

The anticipated pitchers’ duel between Yamamoto and Henderson didn’t work out according to plan.

In three previous playoff starts following Dodgers losses, Yamamoto had gone 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA. When he faced the Brewers in last year’s NLCS, he threw the first playoff complete game since Justin Verlander did it in 2017.

This time, Yamamoto couldn’t even make it out of the third inning before leaving with the Dodgers behind 3-2.

Henderson entered Monday having not allowed more than three runs in any of his 24 career starts (including the postseason). That streak ended when he allowed four runs over four innings.

Because Henderson committed two errors — matching his previous career total — only two of the runs were earned.

Milwaukee trailed 2-1 in the third when Bauers capped a 12-pitch plate appearance by taking a 3-2 offering in the dirt to load the bases with a walk. Christian Yelich followed by lining a single up the middle that brought home two runs and knocked Yamamoto out of the game.

Los Angeles bailed out Yamamoto by scoring twice in the fifth.

After Kyle Tucker hit a leadoff double, Tommy Edman sacrificed him to third. Henderson fielded the bunt and made a wild throw to first, enabling Tucker to score and moving Edman to second.

Edman advanced to third when Mookie Betts grounded out, and scored on Freeman’s sacrifice fly.

Henderson also had made a wild throw to first on a pickoff attempt in the third inning that allowed Edman to score from third.

Up next

Robert Gasser (5-5, 3.87 ERA) is expected to start for Milwaukee in Game 3. Gasser allowed one run over five innings when the Brewers won 3-1 at San Diego to clinch their NL Division Series.

The Dodgers hadn’t announced their Game 3 starting pitcher.

Actor and disability rights advocate RJ Mitte, who brought a lifetime of experience with cerebral palsy to fictional family struggles in an essential role on “Breaking Bad,” died Monday at age 34, authorities and his representatives said.

Cameron County Justice of the Peace Cyndi Hinojosa told The Associated Press she declared Mitte dead at about 1:30 p.m. at what she believed was his home in Brownsville, Texas. She said she was unable to provide a cause, but an autopsy will be performed.

Mitte played Walter White Jr., the son of Bryan Cranston’s chemistry teacher-turned-meth dealer Walter White on nearly every episode of the five seasons of the AMC show, which recently ranked as the best of the 21st century in a New York Times poll.

Diagnosed at age 3, Mitte told the AP in 2014 that his disability and the surrounding struggles with physical therapy, family problems and exorbitant medical bills — all key subjects on the show — made him better at his job.“You develop a different mentality and you develop a different look at how the world sees you and how you see the world,” he said. “You’re able to use that. And I think it’s an asset instead of something that would hinder.”

Mitte was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi.

He landed small guest roles on sitcoms after moving to Los Angeles to act in 2006. Like his character, he was in his mid-teens when he began his work on “Breaking Bad,” starting in 2007. The show ran from 2008 to 2013.

“Mitte brought authenticity to the role and built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion,” the actor’s representatives said in a statement announcing his death. The statement said he used “his platform to challenge stereotypes and promote greater representation.”

His later credits included the ABC Family series “Switched at Birth” and the superhero satire series “Guardians of Justice.”

He was also a producer of several independent films.

As an advocate, he served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s. He was also president of his own Mitte Foundation supporting philanthropic and community initiatives around disabilities.