Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
L.A. County Supervisor Vote To Back City's Homelessness Bond Measure
(Photo by John Boylan via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
()
After Mayor Eric Garcetti came to Tuesday's County Board of Supervisors meeting to testify in support of a homelessness-related bond measure, the board passed a resolution in support of the measure.Proposition H (or Proposition HHH) will need at least two-thirds of the vote to pass when it's on the ballot in November. It would allow the city to create a new property tax on residential and commercial properties that could potentially generate an approximate $1.2 billion to build supportive housing for L.A.'s homeless, according to the Daily News. More specifically, it would finance the construction 8,000 to 10,000 permanent supportive housing units for the chronically homeless over the next decade, according to a statement from County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who introduced the resolution. Proposition H would also fund affordable housing, temporary shelters and other amenities needed by the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless.
Garcetti was invited to testify at the meeting by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, according to a spokesperson from the mayor's office. The resolution passed 3-0, with Supervisors Don Knabe and Michael Antonovich choosing to abstain. Ridley-Thomas said the measure would "make a significant dent in homelessness" in L.A., according to City News Service. Ridley-Thomas has also pushed for Governor Jerry Brown to declare a homelessness state of emergency.
"A year ago, we didn't have a strategy. A year ago, we weren't working together. Today, it's a very different picture," Garcetti told the board. "We're now aligned in a comprehensive homelessness strategy to make sure that we can address the immediate needs of unsheltered residents."
According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's 2016 count, there are estimated 28,464 homeless individuals in the city, an 11% increase from 2015.
Support for LAist comes from
Polls conducted in the spring suggest that more than 75% of voters support the measure, though some have criticized it as lacking proper oversight and potentially putting an unfair burden on those who purchased their homes more recently (property taxes in California are based on what the home cost when it was purchased).
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist