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- The LA City Council has passed an ordinance banning homeless settlements in certain areas of the city.
- The measure restricts “to sit, lie down or sleep or store, use, maintain or place personal property in the public right of way”.
- The measure was passed 13-2 on Wednesday, but LA mayor Garcetti still has the power to veto it.
Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted in favor of an ordinance banning homeless settlements in certain areas of the city.
The measure, which would replace a similar version known as city code 41.18, was co-authored by city council members Paul Krekorian and Mark Ridley-Thomas. It would prohibit “sitting, lying down, sleeping or storing, using, maintaining or placing personal property on the public right of way”.
There are about 40,000 homeless Angelenos who would be affected by the order, according to the Associated Press.
LA city council members first voted on the measure on July 1, approving it by 13-2. However, a second vote was necessary as it was not adopted unanimously the first time.
The second vote also had 13 for and two against. Council members Nithya Raman and Mike Bonin both voted against the ordinance at the meeting.
Raman job a Twitter thread detailing his concerns, saying that “real solutions – housing, awareness and services – take time and money”.
“None of this is easy to do,” wrote the city councilor. “But that’s exactly what we * must * do, not to adopt harmful and illusory ‘quick fixes’.”
During the meeting, Bonin said he highlighted the contrasts between “housing” and “shelter”.
“We need a right to housing, not a shelter warrant,” Bonin said. “People want housing. They don’t want a warehouse, they don’t want shelter, they want housing.”
Earlier this month, Krekorian, one of the council members who proposed the ordinance, defended the ordinance with Spectrum News, saying it “does not make homelessness illegal,” “criminalizes homelessness “, nor” does not impose any fundamental illegal behavior “
“What it does is it guarantees that we will restore passable sidewalks,” Krekorian said on July 1. “It protects users of our public infrastructure and homeless residents of our city from being placed in positions of interaction with automobiles, around loading docks, aisles, etc. It guarantees access to our terminals. fire, building entrances.
Some Los Angeles residents, however, find the ordinance unfair. Knock LA, an independent journalism platform, captured a few of these disapproving statements while covering the city council meeting.
“You are creating a problem because you are going to arrest a lot more homeless people,” a resident told Spectrum News at the Right to Rest Without Arrest rally, which took place outside City Hall in Los Angeles ahead of Wednesday’s meeting. .
“The idea is that they are trying to get the homeless to move all the time,” the resident continued. “It’s impossible. They’re tired. They’re carrying their things. They need a place to live and stay, and they don’t have one.”
The ordinance is not yet a law. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti still has the power to veto the measure. Representatives for Garcetti did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.
Watch the meeting here:
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