L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Asks Wealthy to Fund Housing for Homeless

 Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass implored wealthy residents of the city to donate money to purchase property that can be used to house the city’s homeless population, which has continued to grow.

Fox News reported:

“Right now, we’re working to move past nightly rentals,” [Bass] continued. “We are asking the most fortunate Angelenos to participate in this effort, with personal, private sector and philanthropic funds – to help us acquire more properties, lower the cost of capital and speed up housing.”

“This is the mission of our new capital campaign, LA4LA.”

…

The new program will depend on the “humanity and generosity of the private sector,” the Democrat added. “LA4LA can be a sea change for Los Angles, an unprecedented partnership to confront this emergency, an example of disrupting the status quo to build a new system to save lives.”

In early 2023, Bass set a goal of moving 17,000 homeless people off the streets of the city in her first year in office. And, in fact, 21,000 people have been moved into temporary shelters — often into hotel and motel rooms.

But despite some initial successes, the homeless population continued to grow, rising 9% in the city and 10% in the county as of last year’s homeless count. And homeless encampments have returned — often to the very places from which they were removed.

There have already been many efforts to tax L.A. residents to pay for homeless housing and services, including a sales tax hike and a new tax on sales of homes worth more than $5 million.