Posted on 04/08/2024
ONE BIG THING: INSIDE SAFE IN EAST HOLLYWOOD
What Happened?
Last week, our office worked with the Mayor, City partners, and trusted service providers on an Inside Safe operation in East Hollywood that brought 25 unhoused residents off the streets and into hotel/motel rooms.
Just like our previous Inside Safe operations, our care-centered approach led to a near-100% acceptance rate of services, showing that when we meet our unhoused neighbors with real services and housing options, they are overwhelmingly ready to accept help so they can get back on their feet.
Why it Matters
This encampment was on a vacant lot on Fountain Ave for a long time, and then it moved onto the sidewalk last year, which created issues for the entire area.
Our homelessness team has been working with community organizations and trusted service providers for months to build trust with encampment residents and line up services and housing options so we could bring folks inside.
Over the past few months, our office brought almost a dozen people from this encampment into interim housing, but the ebb and flow of unhoused residents into the encampment prevented us from housing everyone at once, which we were finally able to do through Inside Safe.
We’ve now housed over 300 people in our district just through Inside Safe. When we only have 400 total interim shelter beds in our district for over 3,000 people living on our streets, it’s so important to have temporary solutions like Inside Safe to bolster capacity as we build more affordable housing.
FOUR More Quick Hits!
1. Measure ULA Raises $215 million to Make Housing More Affordable
A year ago this week, Measure ULA, sometimes referred to as the “Mansion Tax,” took effect in LA, adding a small tax to property sales over $5 million.
This week, it was announced that Measure ULA raised $215 million in one year, which has already funded:
- 795 affordable housing units
- Emergency Rental Assistance for over 11,000 Angelenos
- Legal assistance or advice for 4,649 tenants
Measure ULA is already the single largest source of funding for affordable housing and homelessness prevention in the City’s budget, and its revenues are only expected to increase as property sales stabilize. In the months before the tax took effect, luxury home sales skyrocketed, and $270 million in additional revenue was lost from the rush to sell mansions before Measure ULA took effect.
2. Higher Wages for Bus Drivers
City Council approved a proposal yesterday to increase the base pay for LA Department of Transportation Bus Drivers from the current rate of $20.00/hr to $24.15/hr this year and then $25.36/hr in 2025.
The City of LA is facing a shortage of transit operators, and LADOT currently has some of the lowest base pay for bus drivers in the entirety of LA County. This action will allow us to pay our employees a livable wage so we can hire more drivers and build the public transit system our city deserves.
3. Making it Easier to Build Affordable Housing on Properties Owned by Faith-Based Institutions
This week, City Council advanced a report from Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky about how to implement the newly passed SB 4 state law here in LA.
Right now, religious institutions are often prevented from building affordable housing on their own land because of zoning restrictions, and SB4 seeks to remedy that. In CD13 alone, there are 305 potential sites to build affordable housing on faith-based land.
Recommendations from the report will be used to craft local laws about how to implement SB 4 so it will have the most positive impact on our communities.
4. Pedestrian Safety Upgrade in East Hollywood!
This Friday, the Bureau of Engineering and Department of Transportation activated a new Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) Crossing at Fountain Ave and Lyman Pl by Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center.
From simple improvements like this to improve visibility and safety for pedestrians, to ambitious projects like Access to Hollywood – we need to make our streets safer for families and workers navigating through the city.
