https://www.latimes.com/california/story...ss-shelter
INTRO: Several members of the Los Angeles City Council have asked that the city study the feasibility of using the Los Angeles Convention Center, which has gone dark during the COVID-19 pandemic, to shelter homeless people. This move is a reflection of the increasingly desperate situation thousands of homeless people face living on the streets. As coronavirus cases rise again in Los Angeles, the move is also a reflection of the increasingly slim chances of large-scale events at the Convention Center in the near future.
Councilman Curren Price, who introduced the motion, said in an interview that the pandemic had exacerbated conditions on the streets and that it was incumbent on elected officials to act more decisively during extraordinary times. “We’re in a panic situation along with a pandemic situation. Folks on the streets are just suffering,” he said. “Getting people off the street is important,” added Price, whose downtown district includes the Convention Center, along Figueroa Boulevard. “My sidewalk areas are just un-passable. It’s unfair for the neighbors — for those who are in the community — who can’t go down the sidewalk. ... We have to do a better job of housing individuals who are homeless.”
All City Council members are under pressure from U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter to shelter homeless people in their districts. Carter, who is overseeing a lawsuit alleging that the city and county have not done enough to get people off the street, has said he’d like each council member to set a target for the number of new beds they would create... (MORE)
INTRO: Several members of the Los Angeles City Council have asked that the city study the feasibility of using the Los Angeles Convention Center, which has gone dark during the COVID-19 pandemic, to shelter homeless people. This move is a reflection of the increasingly desperate situation thousands of homeless people face living on the streets. As coronavirus cases rise again in Los Angeles, the move is also a reflection of the increasingly slim chances of large-scale events at the Convention Center in the near future.
Councilman Curren Price, who introduced the motion, said in an interview that the pandemic had exacerbated conditions on the streets and that it was incumbent on elected officials to act more decisively during extraordinary times. “We’re in a panic situation along with a pandemic situation. Folks on the streets are just suffering,” he said. “Getting people off the street is important,” added Price, whose downtown district includes the Convention Center, along Figueroa Boulevard. “My sidewalk areas are just un-passable. It’s unfair for the neighbors — for those who are in the community — who can’t go down the sidewalk. ... We have to do a better job of housing individuals who are homeless.”
All City Council members are under pressure from U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter to shelter homeless people in their districts. Carter, who is overseeing a lawsuit alleging that the city and county have not done enough to get people off the street, has said he’d like each council member to set a target for the number of new beds they would create... (MORE)