Local politician confused by overdue homeless report lacking essential details

Los Angeles Report on Homeless Housing Raises Questions

A report intended to examine over $200 million in taxpayer-funded homeless housing was released on Wednesday, but it faced significant delays and was missing fundamental details, leaving Los Angeles City Council members perplexed and somewhat unprepared.

City Councilor Nitya Raman, who heads the Housing and Homelessness Committee, casually went through the report, which took two years to compile, and posed basic questions to staff. Interestingly, he noted that he couldn’t locate the key information regarding how many homeless housing units are currently occupied versus vacant.

After a brief exchange with City Administrator Matthew W. Sabo about the absence of these figures, the councilor, earning $243,000 per year, suggested that the commission should return with more information next month.

Councilmember Tracy Park, who initially requested the report two years ago, expressed her desire for an analysis to verify if the hotel rooms and housing units purchased by the city were actually being utilized. This push for accountability came to light when she found that a former Ramada in her district had remained empty long after its acquisition.

“Taxpayers are understandably frustrated that the government has spent billions of dollars with poor results,” Park remarked. “That’s why I introduced a motion two years ago calling for accountability regarding the city’s Project Homekey initiatives, including the Ramada Inn in my district.”

“Especially now,” she added, “we really need to make sure that every dollar spent on homelessness helps get people off the streets and into beds that residents have already paid for.”

Park’s motivation stems from the city’s procurement of the former Ramada Venice Motel in December 2020, under the direction of then-Councilman Mike Bonin. After a brief period of operation as transitional housing, the Ramada was demolished in October 2022 to create 32 permanent units managed by PATH. However, years later, those units remain unused.

In response, Park filed a formal motion asking for clarification from the city, citing delays related to financing and regulations, as well as the lack of a clear timetable for construction and occupancy.

This motion also called for a citywide report on the Project Homekey sites, seeking information on the number of units still offline, the reasons for the delays, and the steps the city plans to take to address these issues.

City officials tasked with overseeing spending and performance were directed to prepare a report. Yet, when the analysis was released on Wednesday, it remained incomplete, and committee members appeared to either be caught off guard or disinterested.

The lack of readiness wasn’t confined to the committee chairs. Freshman City Council member Isabel J. Jurado openly questioned why documents that were included in the agenda were unavailable regarding another pressing topic: the city’s expenditures related to homelessness. Sabo had to provide her with detailed documents during the meeting, which had been reviewed by the Post prior to Wednesday’s discussion.