Federal Judge Says LA Misled About Homeless Encampment Promises

A visibly frustrated federal judge announced Thursday that he would rule that the city of L.A. misled attorneys about promises to follow through on a settlement agreement that requires specific deadlines to clear encampments and add shelter beds in each city council district.

“I would find that you were misled in this matter,” U.S. District Judge David O. Carter told plaintiffs’ attorneys at a hearing in downtown L.A.

“I will not have this agreement broken … period,” Carter said of the settlement deal in the case.

It comes following a high-profile lawsuit brought by the downtown business group L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, which resulted in the city agreeing in April 2022 to settle the case.

Under that settlement, the city agreed to build thousands of shelter beds and present specific district-by-district deadlines for outreach and removal of encampments.

But Carter said he would rule that the city misled the plaintiffs from March to October of last year about promises to do outreach at encampments and set timelines to clear them.

A plan to help bring people into shelter ‘fell apart’

“The city had an obligation to provide encampment reduction milestones and deadlines 15 months ago. The city failed to do that,” a lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Elizabeth Mitchell, told LAist after the hearing.

Then, she said, “they made certain representations [last March] of what their plans were, [on] a district-by-district level,” she added.

“And we gave them an additional six months extension to do those things — to meet those milestones and deadlines. And they didn't do anything that they promised they were going to do.”

Both sides of the case agreed in writing on Thursday that the city and plaintiffs met on March 15 of last year “to discuss the City’s non-compliance with the [settlement] Agreement.”

Both sides agree that at that meeting, the city’s representative claimed the city had detailed plans to come into compliance. Specifically, that it would hire outreach contractors to assess the needs of unhoused people in each council district by July 1 and have specific deadlines for encampment removals by Oct. 1.

But that didn’t happen, according to the jointly agreed set of facts. The outreach contractors weren’t hired and the encampment clearance deadlines weren’t provided by Oct. 1, according to a court document outlining what both sides agree on. When the city did provide that plan a few days later, it was inadequate, according to the plaintiffs.

[Click here to read the jointly agreed facts Carter cited in finding that the city misled the plaintiffs.]

An attorney for the city, Scott Marcus, said during the hearing that the process to hire outreach providers “fell apart” but wasn’t communicated to the plaintiffs. He acknowledged the city was delayed in implementing this part of the settlement agreement, but said it’s now in compliance.

Carter said he hadn’t decided what sanctions, if any, to issue against the city for his finding that they misled the plaintiffs. He announced he’d hold further hearings Friday morning and next Thursday.

“I don’t know what to do about that yet, but I’m going to put people under oath,” Carter said.

The alleged issues Carter pointed to stem from commitments both sides agreed were made by the mayor’s then-homelessness chief, Mercedes Marquez, to the plaintiffs at the March 15 meeting. She no longer works for the mayor.

Marquez told LAist over text message that she does “not want to be anybody’s scapegoat.”

The plaintiff’s attorneys, however, say their goal is to help bring people indoors.

“We brought this case for accountability. We brought this case to bring people inside, off of the streets,” Mitchell told LAist after the hearing.

“I think today is one more step in that right direction.”

Response from the mayor

Mayor Karen Bass was in France during the hearing with a delegation of city officials examining Olympics preparations, and a spokesperson for her didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Carter said he spoke on the phone with Bass during the lunch break in the hearing.

He said Bass was “amenable” to his request for full transparency for the court and the public about how homelessness dollars are being spent, including details from invoices submitted by services providers. He credited her efforts to address homelessness.

“Absolute transparency — all invoices from that point forward,” Carter said, earlier in the hearing, about what he wanted.

Speaking broadly about local government spending on homelessness programs in the L.A. area, Carter said there are hundreds of millions of dollars that are “flowing through with no accounting.”

What happens next

The hearing is set to resume at 9 a.m. Friday, with Carter calling a representative of the L.A. City Controller’s Office to ask about its auditing powers.

City officials testified Thursday that the controller is a lead auditing power at the city, but that they cannot audit programs under the mayor’s office — such as her Inside Safe motel program — due to the city charter.

Carter also asked that Bass attend a court hearing next week, after she’s back from France.

An attorney for unhoused advocates told Carter on Thursday that she’s concerned the focus has shifted from expanding shelter beds to removing encampments, rather than expanding bed capacity so people have a place to come inside.

Shayla Myers, who represents the advocacy group L.A. Community Action Network, said the plaintiffs were focusing more on “cleaning up visible signs of homelessness” than bringing people inside.

“When you provide shelter, people will come inside,” she said, pointing to Bass’ Inside Safe program.

The plaintiff’s attorneys, however, say their goal is to help bring people indoors.

“We brought this case for accountability. We brought this case to bring people inside, off of the streets,” Elizabeth Mitchell, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told LAist after the hearing.

“I think today is one more step in that right direction.”