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Mayor

(Continued from page 1) ty House in Windsor Square.

In that interview, featured in the February issue of the Chronicle, she said that when President Biden had recently announced he wanted to alleviate homelessness nationally by 25 percent in two years, she didn’t hesitate to tell him:

“Just come to Los Angeles; if you come here, you can actually reach your national goal.” It was a statement she repeated at the press roundtable last month.

Early on in her term, she declared a state of emergency to release funding and cut red tape to help battle the crisis of 42,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles. Since then, of the 4,000 newly housed, about 1,000 Angelenos have been moved into motels as part of her Inside Safe program. It’s an expensive option, Bass acknowledged, but a necessary one while more permanent solutions are sought.

“We are in a disaster. This is an emergency… saving lives is costly,” explained the mayor’s chief of housing and homeless solutions, Mercedes Marquez.

One motel in Council District 5 was just that — very costly — so Bass’ team is looking at an alternate; a former nursing home in the area. The team hopes to work out a deal soon.

Inside Safe

So far, Inside Safe has targeted 13 locations, including at Sixth Street and Fairfax Avenue where about 40 people were moved from the sidewalk in February.

The remaining people sheltered so far are benefitting from programs initiated before Bass’ tenure and that recently have been seeing fruition, largely funded through Proposition HHH, the $1.2-billion bond passed by voters in 2016.

“Fortunately, I am the lucky recipient able to do all of the ribbon cuttings,” Bass said.

Of the 4,000 scheduled for housing within the mayor’s first 100 days, the actual total released from the mayor’s office on March 22 was 3,873.

Inside Safe has housed 945 people. There are 1,336 in interim housing, such as tiny home facilities, of which 36 people entered under Bass’ tenure. Emergency vouchers went to 883 people, of which 143 vouchers are credited to Bass’ team, and she extended a lease at the L.A. Grand Hotel Downtown to house 235.

Another 615 permanent housing units were financed through Prop HHH, while Bass helped secure some of the 94 vouchers provided to veterans.

Bass’ overall “locking arms” strategy includes city, county, state and federal governments joining forces and looking for acres of public land across the city and purchasing or leasing buildings, especially in gentrified areas, so residents can stay in their homes and neighborhoods — in hopes of preventing homelessness in the first place.

Tenant protection from eviction is in place, but many people do not know about it, said Bass.

To rehouse people in sidewalk encampments, several days of outreach before the move-out day and providing wraparound services are key to the program’s success. Then, once a street dweller moves off the sidewalk and out of a tent, “a connection to permanent housing is vital,” said Va Lecia Adams, executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) and former CEO of the St. Joseph Center.

Homelessness czar Marquez said Inside Safe helps bridge the connection between street and permanent housing, a transitional step that had been lacking. So far, every city councilmember has asked for Inside Safe to visit his or her geographic area.

The mayor’s team expects progress to move exponentially going forward. “We’re further along in three months, because we’re learning how to scale,” Adams added.

City Council allocated Bass $50 million for the homeless effort. So far $4.4 million has been spent, and $27 million is obligated, leaving $19 million. Bass told us she expects another $200 million from the state and federal governments.

Take back parks

All Angelenos are encouraged to get on board this effort to house people, from landlords, who will be subsidized and encouraged to accept vouchers, to neighbors helping people move into local hotels and other sites with welcome packs of soap and sheets.

“I think it’s a way for all Angelenos to get involved,” Bass said. “Everybody’s got to get skin in the game.”

Once an encampment is cleared and cleaned up, nearby residents need to take back public spaces with activities and sports events. If just one tent shows up, residents need to call the city before a whole community has sprouted on the property, Bass said.

When asked about homeless on the subway, Bass said she is looking into a real estate strategy to provide interim housing and get homeless people out of the public transit system, including working with police and sheriff departments. “We need more services there.”

To her surprise, she told us, there have been no arrests or mental health issues during the initial Inside Safe program. And, regardless of what street dwellers say beforehand, everyone has accepted the offers and moved indoors.

LACHSA concert at The Ebell April 12 Students from Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) will perform their Junior Year Recital at The Ebell of Los Angeles, 743 S. Lucerne Blvd., on Wed., April 12 at 7 p.m. Free.

Traffic

(Continued from page 1) explains Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who represents Council District 5, where the striping occurred. “In Los Angeles last year, we had 312 individuals who died from traffic violence. These design features make our streets safer for pedestrians and for other drivers by discouraging dangerous behavior that puts our lives at risk.”

Kim Huffman Cary, a 25year Rossmore resident, has observed that the city seems to install traffic safety measures after a fatality occurs and wonders if that was the genesis of the lane striping. “There was a terrible accident recently,” she remembers. “A car chipped trash cans, chipped cars, all the way down Rossmore. A passenger was killed.”

She is referring to a fatal onecar accident that occurred on Rossmore late on Oct. 27, 2022. KTLA5 News reported that a car had “sideswiped multiple parked vehicles, then ran into a tree” near the Wilshire Country Club property south of Beverly Boulevard in the 200 block of North Rossmore. A passenger was ejected from the vehicle, and the driver was killed.

The accident occurred north of where the striping begins at Beverly, but apparently cars parked all along Rossmore regularly get sideswiped or have their side-view mirrors damaged.

“Our visitors had their mirrors knocked off. One of our cars was creamed out there one night,” according to Ben Whitwell of South Rossmore.

Whitwell has noticed an improvement since the stripes arrived, noting, “Fewer people are pretending it’s a two-lane [each way] street. It feels like it would be safer to park.”

Huffman Cary has also noticed a change in traffic. “The lines have been effective at slowing traffic,” which she especially appreciates given that, in her estimation, people had been driving more erratically since the pandemic closures. Huffman Cary still worries about turning left across traffic into her driveway, however, since cars had swerved around her and hit her side mirror in the past, and she doesn’t see how the new lines help with that. She would have liked to see a middle turn lane added.

Marlborough School is facing a different traffic challenge. “We love the idea of making things safer,” states Matt Riddle, director of facilities and capital planning at the school. “But we noticed the first morning after the striping was put in that it’s actually worse for us.”

Riddle explains that the wider center lines with traffic-slowing bulges take space away from their school bus parking zones, making it especially dangerous as cars zip by even closer to the buses than before. “Our bus drivers had trouble getting out of their buses,” Riddle states.

Marlborough invited members of the city’s Dept. of Transportation to observe the problem, and the DOT officials suggested a solution. Soon the striping will return to its previous configuration in front of the school, but bollards will be strategically placed to define traffic versus bus areas. “We are really pleased with their suggestion,” states Riddle.

“We’re hoping it’s a win-win.”

Cindy Chvatal-Keane, president of the Hancock Park Homeowners Association and chair of the Transportation Committee of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, reiterates that the lane striping is meant to slow traffic. “We saw an increase in accidents due to speed,” she explains, noting the too-common danger of a speeding car hitting something and flipping over.

“Any kind of slowing was the mission,” Chvatal-Keane asserts. “The good news is the city is paying attention.”

DASHED STRIPES were added on Rossmore Avenue recently to help reduce speeding.

Helping Hands Needed for Local Elderly Couple

Any “stay-at-home” Mom or person with free time on their hands — social visits to a local elderly couple would be greatly appreciated!

We would like the opportunity to get acquainted and develop a good relationship to build on.

Monthly compensation is open for discussion, along with details of position. Please email your resume along with recommendations to fricisiegler@gmail.com.