A hearing Monday in Los Angeles federal court is expected to focus on the possibility of an independent audit of homelessness programs in Los Angeles, including Mayor Karen Bass' signature Inside Safe initiative.
U.S. District Judge David Carter said at previous hearings that he supported a proposed court-monitored, third-party audit of homeless-related expenditures by the city.
The judge's remarks came during arguments in a motion filed by lawyers for the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, which accuses the city of failing to live up to the terms of an April 2022 settlement agreement to clear homeless encampments and create shelter beds for those living on the streets.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
The Alliance is demanding that the city pay a nearly $6.4 million fine for what it alleges is a lack of transparency and failure to reduce homeless encampments within deadlines set in the settlement.
At a March 8 hearing, Carter said Bass offered to have Los Angeles pay for an independent audit of the city's homelessness programs. Carter has not agreed to the final parameters of the proposed audit, and Bass and City Council President Paul Krekorian are expected to attend Monday's hearing in downtown Los Angeles.
L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia has also expressed concerns about the city's homelessness programs, and posted on social media about what he called the city's "lack of transparency and accountability on homelessness efforts despite billions of dollars spent."
Mejia said he is launching a "focused audit" of Inside Safe, but City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo disputed that Mejia has the authority to audit the mayor's homelessness program.
In a letter to the court last week, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez called for an independent audit of both city and county homelessness expenditures.
"Until we can verify what each level of government is doing to solve the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, I cannot say with certainty that we have an efficient and effective operation free of redundancies," she wrote.
In March 2020, the L.A. Alliance, a coalition of downtown business owners and residents, sued the city and county of Los Angeles to compel elected officials to rapidly address the homelessness crisis, especially in light of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs demanded the immediate creation of shelter and housing to get people off the streets, services and treatment to keep the unhoused in shelter, and regulation of public spaces to make streets, sidewalks and parks safe and clean.
In the eventual settlement, it was agreed that the city would reduce encampments, add more shelter beds, establish deadlines and goals to document its progress, and return public spaces to their intended uses.
The county's settlement agreement would create 3,000 treatment beds for unsheltered people with mental illnesses and addictions, subsidize 450 "Board and Care" beds, and establish deadlines and targets to document its
efforts.
According to the L.A. Alliance, the settlements will result in 3,500 mental health and treatment beds and 19,700 beds for people experiencing homelessness, including 6,700 beds focused on helping those living near freeways and underpasses.
Although the lawsuit originally appeared to target the Skid Row area, the city and county's agreements cover all of Los Angeles and are not limited to downtown streets. The current L.A. Alliance motion singles out Skid Row area
and two locations in Highland Park as requiring urgent action.
Carter approved the settlements on the condition that he closely oversee the city and county's progress in meeting their deadlines and goals.
The judge has not ruled on the L.A. Alliance motion recommending that the city pay the multimillion-dollar fine, but indicated he is "uncomfortable" with the proposed sanction.
