LA mayor eyes to prioritize solving homelessness in California
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00:00 It is overseas Los Angeles the city of angels a la la land the entertainment capital of the world
00:06 Has also turned into tent city and a haven for homelessness in California at its height
00:12 The problem was so severe that on any given day at least
00:15 170,000 street dwellers could be counted but LA Mayor Karen Bass has solving or putting a dent on
00:23 Homelessness tops on her working agenda with turning hotels in downtown LA into homes for the homeless among her remedies
00:30 the always Anna Rice narrates
00:32 The Mayfair Hotel in Los Angeles Westlake neighborhood has seen its share of Hollywood royalty
00:40 When the covert 19 pandemic hit the u.s
00:43 In 2020 the Los Angeles mayor's office made a deal with the hotel's owners to allow homeless people to stay in its many
00:51 Rooms during the lockdown Herman Gomez lives across the street from the famous hotel and says it changed the neighborhood
00:59 fighting stabbing shooting
01:02 Gang activities drugs mostly drugs, you know
01:06 in August the Los Angeles City Council passed a plan by Mayor Karen Bass to acquire the Mayfair and turn it into
01:14 Interim housing a project that will cost the city about 83 million dollars
01:20 Again, locals like Paul Moss don't like the idea
01:24 See we were here when they had
01:27 Probed the last program
01:31 It's it was a necessary type of deal but the devastation that it brought to the neighborhood everybody had to change up their life
01:39 But not everyone is taking such a dim view of the plan
01:43 The fact that there'll be a place that people can be get off the streets. I
01:47 Think it's a good idea
01:49 according to a report by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development on a single night in
01:55 2022 about
01:57 170,000 people in California were homeless
02:00 accounting for 30% of the nation's homeless population at that time
02:05 Since the pandemic the city has managed to accommodate some 10,000 people in 37 hotels across Los Angeles
02:13 According to the city's Homeless Services Authority. One of them is the LA Grand Hotel downtown
02:19 The homeless people who moved here during the pandemic are still here and some hotel workers who would normally cater to tourists
02:28 Are still on the job
02:30 Actually, we have been having this for three years
02:33 Was it there and it been changed a lot?
02:36 from regular
02:39 clients regular guests to clients
02:42 and
02:44 It's a different for cleaning is all different for people
02:50 Unite here local 11 is a union representing over
02:54 32,000 hospitality workers employed in Southern California and Arizona
02:59 members support a Los Angeles City initiative that would allow
03:03 Homeless people to live in empty hotel rooms across Los Angeles and pay via government voucher
03:10 Obviously get vouchers for people that are unhoused that need them right that work that are like at home, you know unhoused shelters
03:16 You know women domestic violence people that need housing right to be able to have a roof over their head
03:21 The issue is divisive and complicated
03:24 So much so the Los Angeles City Council is putting the proposal to house homeless people in hotels on the March
03:31 2024 ballot for Angelina, but this around in Los Angeles, California
03:36 NRS Boe news