LA Mayor Bass On Kevin De León’s Refusal To Resign And Unhoused People Sleeping On Public Transit

Topline:

Bass on de León’s refusal to resign: “It has presented a challenge for our city, but it also raises a weakness in our charter. That there is basically nothing that the City Council, the mayor, the city attorney — none of us have any power to do anything about this. The only power is with the voters, and that’s a recall. I will say that he’s up for re-election next year, so the voters have two bites at the apple, but it does raise an issue: What happens if a member of the council is compromised? What authority does the council have to discipline or expel a member? And right now, pretty much the only power is if a member of the council is indicted.”

Bass on homelessness on public transportation: “We’re looking at some best practices, especially at the end of the line. At night, there’s nowhere for people to go, and there needs to be services right there. But I absolutely saw it myself — when I was doing the [homeless] count, it was very early in the morning, and on the trains, I could see there were a number of people on the trains that were just waking up. And they clearly were sleeping on the train from the minute the train started up again.”

Go deeper: Listen to the full interview below for more: