Following several days of meetings between Mayor Karen Bass and six City Council members with national leaders in Washington D.C. to advocate on behalf of the city for additional resources, the Los Angeles City Council is set to resume its regularly scheduled meeting Friday, Oct. 20 at City Hall.
The trip resulted in the cancellation of the council’s Tuesday and Wednesday meetings, according to Council President Paul Krekorian’s office. Friday’s agenda includes several routine items — matters such as housing, consideration of appointees for some commissions, among other issues.
Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents the 11th District, which includes portions of L.A.’s coastal neighborhoods, will honor Heal the Bay with a presentation highlighting their contributions to the community. The council will also consider a resolution, which would declare Oct. 20 as “Heal the Bay Day in Los Angeles,” in honor of the organization’s 20th anniversary.
Additionally, the council will consider a hotly debated housing project in West L.A., which would be located at 2377 Midvale Ave., near Westwood and Pico boulevards.
The proposed 33-unit interim housing facility would be developed on a city-owned parking lot, and provide housing and health services for unhoused Angelenos in Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky’s Fifth District, which includes portions of West L.A.
While Yaroslavsky has previously stated the project is needed because there are as many as 1,300 unhoused people in the Fifth District and not enough beds to bring them off the streets, community members of the Midvale-Pico Rancho neighborhood have vehemently opposed the facility.
Many residents have cited concerns regarding public safety and impacts to nearby businesses. MediaFix Associates John Schwada, on behalf of those who oppose the project, told City News Service residents would be attending Friday’s meeting to demand the project be delayed for further examination or terminated altogether.
In addition, the council will consider a motion to allocate about $6.5 million to the Los Angeles Police Department to cover overtime costs associated with patrolling and providing service to the city’s interim housing facilities.
A motion seeking to establish a moratorium on breeding licenses will also be considered during Friday’s council meeting.
Mayor Karen Bass and a contingent of six council members — including Krekorian, Bob Blumenfield, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Traci Park and Hugo Soto-Martinez — met with department heads under the Biden administration and had discussions with the L.A. area’s congressional delegation.
Focal points of the meetings, Bass said, were on bringing more unhoused Angelenos inside, improving public safety, adding resources for veterans, enhancing transportation and increasing access to federal funding.
Bass previously reported “It was an excellent trip,” and “we definitely moved several of the decision-makers.”
Additionally, she reported, the talks could lead to hundreds of million in federal funding for the city of Los Angeles. Some of which, Bass announced already, as the city’s Department of Water and Power will receive $48 million of a $10.5 billion investment under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership program. The money will help the department expand and strengthen clean energy efforts in the event of extreme climate such as wildfire, heat waves or tropical storms.
The delegation met with Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Assistant Secretary for Policy Christopher Coes, leaders of the U.S. Department of Transportation, to discuss funding for infrastructure improvements ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Talks between them were directed to the Port of Los Angeles — to appropriately fund its goals of becoming a zero-emission and supply chain resilient port — and support LAX’s modernization efforts.
Other highlights of the trip include talks with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge.
The delegation discussed ways to expand access to Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers, continuing support for building interim and permanent supportive housing on VA facilities in L.A. and ensuring that veterans’ federal disability stipends do not prevent them from accessing housing.
There was also a focus on easing certification requirements for rental assistance, increasing funding for housing vouchers and providing financial support to bring more affordable housing units online, among other topics.
