Members of the Los Angeles City Council declared homelessness in the city an emergency Tuesday and said they would dedicate $100 million to fixing the crisis.
“We wanted to send a message that we were serious as a council,” Council President Herb Wesson said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “We wanted the mayor to know that we had his back.”
Mayor Eric Garcetti joined Wesson and six other councilmembers in introducing the $100 million proposal. If approved by the full council, the first allocation of funds would come in January and promote shelters and permanent housing.