Mayor Karen Bass's Inside Safe initiative is facing new scrutiny as a federal judge and the city comptroller seek to audit her signature program, which moves homeless people from encampments inside.
U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter called for an audit during oral arguments on a motion filed by lawyers for the Los Angeles Human Rights Alliance, which accused the city of failing to comply with the terms of an almost 2 year old child. settlement agreement to build shelters and clear homeless encampments. The alliance said it wants the city to pay it $6.4 million in monetary penalties.
Carter, who has not yet issued a ruling, expressed concern about how public money is being spent to fight homelessness. He called for a more detailed accounting of the work done by nonprofit homeless service providers participating in Inside Safe, which has been moving homeless Angelenos into hotels, motels and other facilities.
“Which provider is producing results?” asked. “We have no reference point and we have no responsibility at this time. It's as simple as that”.
Carter also asked if City Comptroller Kenneth Mejia has the authority to audit homeless programs administered by the mayor's office. City administrative officer Matt Szabo, who advises the mayor and council, testified that the comptroller couldn't.
Mejia disputed that notion Friday, telling the judge on the second day of the hearing that his office can audit the mayor's programs.
“When it comes to a city program, especially those housed under elected officials, we have disagreements with the mayor and the city attorney's office, but we believe there is nothing in the charter that prohibits the mayor or the City Council from submitting voluntarily to an audit, so we do not agree.”
Hours later, Mejia announced on X that he is launching a “focused audit” into Inside Safe, which received $250 million in this year's city budget.
Bass, who is in France with a delegation of city officials examining preparations for the Olympics, could not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Michele Martinez, Carter's special assistant, said Bass and City Council President Paul Krekorian had spoken to the judge and offered to have the city pay for an independent auditor chosen by the court.
Mejia said he intends to move forward with his audit.
“Our office welcomes an independent, outside auditor to assist in that ongoing litigation,” he said in a statement to the Times. “However, the issues at stake in the federal litigation are specific and unique to that case. As the City’s Chief Auditor, it is my responsibility to provide transparency and accountability to specific components of Inside Safe.”
The LA Alliance, a group of businesses and residents, alleges that the city repeatedly missed deadlines and negotiated in bad faith the terms of an agreement to house at least 60% of people living on the streets in each municipal district.
Elizabeth Mitchell, an attorney for the group, said the city promised last March that it would follow through and provide the alliance with plans to build beds and address homeless encampments in each district.
“They promised us… that if we put off taking this to court for just six months, they would have a full evaluation of each district. That, to my knowledge, has never been done,” Mitchell said. “Even the figures that were ultimately agreed upon by council members were not fully examined.”
Scott Marcus, chief assistant city attorney, said the city did not violate the agreement when it came to creating beds, but did not communicate with the alliance when it sought a citywide program to clear the encampments, in instead of doing it district by district. district.
“We could have done a better job keeping the alliance informed and communicating with them when our circumstances changed,” Marcus said.
Carter said he would delay the ruling while city officials and LA Alliance attorneys discuss details of the audit and Bass is overseas.
However, the judge said he plans to rule that the city acted in bad faith.
Demands for greater oversight of homeless services are not limited to Mejía and the judge. On Friday, the council voted to pursue a separate evaluation of the performance of the services provided to the city by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who wrote the proposal and sits on the homeless committee, said the city provides tens of millions of dollars each year to that city-county agency.
“We all know that LAHSA can be opaque at times and, frankly, downright misleading, in terms of how they get funding from this city,” he said.
A LAHSA representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday's vote and Blumenfield's comments.
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
