Good morning and welcome to Records LA – City Hall newsletter. Assistant to Julia Wick, it’s David Zanizer, who will provide city and county government updates.

For those who closely follow LA politics, it was a considerable sight. Five members of the city council climbed the hill to the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Fame, filing an 11-hour lawsuit with the Board of Supervisors.

Those councillors were worried about the county’s plans. Deduct more than $300 million The city-county agency of the Los Angeles Department of Homeless Services has been fired in recent months. On Tuesday, at a regularly scheduled meeting of the board, they warned supervisors that a swift withdrawal from Rahasa could disrupt services and halt progress in helping the poorest people in the region.

“We want to sit with you. We want to work with you. We want to see a timeline that makes sense,” the councillor said. Tim Makoskerrepresents the city’s port district.

Councillor Katy Yaroslavskythe second employee, the daughter-in-law of a former county supervisor and a former employee’s stepdaughter, said he feared that if the supervisor deducted funds from Rahasa, homeless members of the city would suffer.

“So, please, please, help us with a sustainable transition plan,” she told the board.

Anyway, the supervisor ploughed first. For months they revealed that they had lost Rahasa’s patience – two burnt audits and a dim corn goal from federal judges – and wanted more accountability for Measure A, a new half-cent sales tax to pay for homeless services. They voted to withdraw funds and create their own homeless agency, starting with around 1,000 employees.

Supervisor Lindsey HorbusSupporting the effort, he told council members that the county is offering Lahasa an unbalanced share of its management costs, and that it’s time to provide homeless services more efficiently than cities.

“Maybe this [proposal] “It was an important move,” she said.

Councillor Nicha Raman He was pushed back and pointed out that he had gone to the board about the issue of homelessness from the audience. Raman stands in the front row and supervisor Kathryn Burger I admitted that fact.

The debate about Lahasa has brought cities and counties back to their familiar locations. They are divided into strategies to deal with homelessness, and at least in some government agencies, they are distrustful of each other.

The rift will come more than two years after the mayor Karen Base He went to the board to repair a broken relationship between the city and the county, homeless. On that day in December 2022, a week after his appointment, Bass promised to work with his supervisor. The only way to tackle a crisis is to “work in a perfect partnership.”

Bus, who has long promoted the ability to bring people together, did not appear in this week’s board vote. Instead, she I sent a letterSigned by Raman, the supervisors also accused the city and county of “unilaterally changing” how they work together as homeless. In the letter, they warned that county withdrawals would put “life-saving care” at risk for indomitable residents.

A sense of instability grew even more on Friday after Rasa’s top executives Va Lecia Adams KellumShe suddenly announced her resignation. Adams Kellam, who worked closely with Bass, said the supervisor’s vote made it “the right time” for her to step down.

Raman and Bass claim that Rahasa’s business is improving, helping the city ensure double-digit reduction in street homelessness last year. Horvath and Barger portray the work as too little, too late, and say it’s time to follow the Blue Ribbon Committee’s recommendations that sought new agents and greater accountability.

The conflict is threatening to circle the parties. Lahasa was born in 1993 after a battle between cities and counties over homeless services.

Almost 40 years ago, the city sued the county, saying it had not fulfilled its legal obligation to serve the poor people living on LA Street. At the time, the conflict at the time Zev Yaroslavsky He lamented the lack of cooperation between the two government agencies.

“We have sisterhood all over the world, but we cannot communicate through the streets,” Jaroslavski said in 1987, referring to the supervisor.

Jaroslavsky, the father-in-law of councillor Jaroslavsky, became the county supervisor in 1994. At that point, the city and the county formed Rahasa, a joint authority divided between the two entities.

Burgers from the district, including stretches in the northern part of the county, have tried to ease the fears of LA councillors and told them neither she nor her colleagues were trying to demolish Lahsa. “We’re coming to peace,” she said at one point.

At the same time, Berger revealed that he has decided to seize direct surveillance of the program run by Lahasa and fund it with a new sales tax. Last month, an audit found that Lahsa had not properly tracked contractor jobs, leaving the program vulnerable to waste and fraud.

Despite these assurances, this week’s minutes had at times a ruthless quality. Adams Kellam, the executive of Lahasa, departing, had only received 90 seconds to protect the agency’s job.

Signs of tension were not confined to the board meeting on Tuesday.

The base was attending the Rahasa Oversight Committee on March 28th. Amy PerkinsLahsa appointee of Horvath, about the results of the county withdrawal. Bass asked Perkins to clarify whether the city would have a negative impact.

Perkins responded by saying that once the transition is over, the county homeless program assortment will be consolidated into a single agency.

“The city of Los Angeles is grateful,” said Perkins, who is responsible for Holvas’ homelessness policy. “At the end of the day, we have a more integrated care system that includes our Department of Mental Health and the Department of Public Health.

The chuckle bass replied, “I don’t know how the city of Los Angeles is grateful.”

“I think I’ll be you in the future,” Perkins said.

At City Hall, some of the anxiety is supported by the threat of nearly $100 million in budget shortages, which could require cutting homeless initiatives. Council members also expressed dissatisfaction with some of the services the county provides to the inadequate population of the area.

Raman, who chairs the council’s homeless committee, said he sometimes finds it easier to get data from Rahasa than from county agencies. She expressed her particular frustration with the county’s Department of Mental Health Services, calling it a “point of pain” in the fight against homelessness.

“We found it extremely difficult to get the support that people with mental health issues need,” she said.

Still, Raman pushed back the idea that the city and county were facing long-term tensions. She said she and Bass regularly sit with the county supervisors of government agencies who were called to deal with the crisis.

“I have a lot of hope and faith in my county partner,” she said. “We still have a lot of hope and faith that we can find something that works for us.”

On Friday, Horvath’s aide pointed out that in July 2023, his boss contacted all councillors after becoming chairman of Rasa’s 10-member committee. In a statement, Horvath acknowledged that recent discussions are not easy.

“These are tough conversations, but change requires them,” she said. “I can’t afford another day as it is.”

The state of play

– Huge payments: Los Angeles County has agreed to pay $4 billion to resolve roughly 7,000 claims of sexual abuse as a child. The mammoth settlement, which still requires approval from the county board of supervisors, settles a flood of lawsuits between men and women who say they were abused as children while in their foster homes or while incarcerated in the county juvenile hall and camp network.

– Traci’s Trace: Los Angeles City Council Member Traci Park It emerged as the face of recovery from this year’s devastating Palisade fire. Park was sympathetic while comforting her members and linking them to the service. She is in contrast to her steely persona at City Hall, and she is known to provide her opinion in dull language.

– Customs duty damage: The Port of Los Angeles could soon be hit hard by tariffs announced by President Trump this week. The LA port, along with the port of Long Beach, handles about a third of the cargo containers coming and going to the US

– Bus and bikes: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board recently approved plans to add Dedicated bus lane A 12-mile stretch on Vermont Avenue, between 120th Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. The dissatisfied transit advocate argued that the project should also include bike lanes, saying it is a requirement under the voter-approved scale HLA. Metro, through its lawyer, told those supporters to smack the sand.

– Was the Emperor born? Should federal judges choose a homeless emperor to oversee LA? It was a discussion last week that encouraged court hearings.

– Move up: The LA Housing Authority is converting Clarendon Apartments, a 335-unit luxury building in Woodland Hills with poolside cabanas, fire pit terraces and eye-catching community rooms, into affordable homes. This purchase is part of the agency’s work to expand its affordable housing portfolio.

– Go ahead: Police Chief Jim McDonnell He expelled the head of the LAPD Constitutional Police Department. He drew the police union anger over her role in the release of thousands of police officers’ headshots. Lizabeth RhodesLAPD’s highest-ranking private employee is expected to remain in the department until June, taking the leave she has occurred during her tenure.

– Heading to HUD: Venetian community activists and retired members of the Venice Neighborhood Council Soledad Ursúa He was appointed as policy advisor to the Housing and Urban Development Bureau. CityWatch Report. Ursua is an outspoken critic of the urban homelessness policy in her coastal areas.

– Authors, authors: Every day, she serves as a council member’s spokesman. Karen D. Price. Outside city hall, Angelina Valencia Dumalotte The author of A quick-to-print book for children title “The world of Frankie (Sito)“It tells the story of an autistic boy who grew up in a loving, multi-generational Latino family.

Quick Hit

• Where is the inside? According to her team, the mayor’s signature initiative to address homelessness went to the area of ​​87th Avenue and Wadsworth Avenue in South Los Angeles.
• At the docket next week: Council’s Transportation Committee It is set to discuss Speed ​​Hump on Wednesday. Don’t miss it!