A judge handed a legal victory to the city of Los Angeles on Thursday, agreeing to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to overturn Mayor Karen Bass's declaration of a municipal emergency on homelessness and housing.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin granted a request by city attorneys to dismiss the lawsuit by Fix the City, a Westside-based organization that had called the emergency declaration a “ vast and illegal expansion of the mayor's power.”
Bass declared an emergency on homelessness on his first day in office in December 2022, promising “a radical change in the way the city addresses homelessness.” In July 2023, he signed an updated emergency declaration on homelessness and housing, after the council passed a new law detailing the criteria needed to make such a declaration.
The emergency declaration gave the mayor's team the power to award contracts, enter into lease agreements, suspend public bidding, expropriate property and lift regulations on the production of affordable housing, among other things.
Fix the City attorneys argued that Bass was prohibited from making such a statement, in part because city law defines a local emergency as an “occurrence” beyond the control of normal government operations. An emergency, those attorneys said, applies to a sudden or unexpected event, such as an earthquake or flood.
“While tragic, homelessness and affordable housing problems are not 'a given,' but are chronic conditions that have plagued the city for decades,” the group said in its lawsuit.
Fix the City also argued that the emergency declaration violated state laws, including the California Emergency Services Act, which defines a local emergency as the existence of “disaster or extreme danger” conditions caused by fires, floods, storms, epidemics, riots, cyberterrorism or other various events.
Kin sided with the city's legal team and concluded that Los Angeles' law on homeless emergencies does not conflict with city or state laws. He also disagreed with Fix the City's assessment that the emergency declaration conflicted with a law intended to ensure local governments participate in competitive bidding.
An aide to Bass had no immediate comment on the judge's decision. City lawyer. Hydee Feldstein Soto, in a statement, said she is “pleased” that her office was able to defend the emergency homeless ordinance. The mayor's emergency declaration and subsequent initiatives have accelerated the city's progress in “getting people the help they so urgently need,” Feldstein Soto said.
Mike Eveloff, president of Fix the City, called the ruling “logically, factually and legally incorrect.”
“We're going to appeal immediately,” he said.
Under the ordinance passed last summer, the mayor has the power to declare a homelessness and housing emergency if Los Angeles' homeless population is more than double the number of the city's temporary homeless beds. An emergency may also be declared if Los Angeles' housing supply is projected to be at least 40% below its annual production goals, or if the city's homeless population has increased by more than 20% in a single year.
The emergency declaration has made it possible for Bass' team to enter into lease agreements with dozens of hotels and motels, which have been used as temporary lodging as part of the mayor's Inside Safe initiative.
The declaration also allowed Bass to issue Executive Directive 1, which has dramatically accelerated the city's approval of residential projects deemed 100% affordable. Last month, Bass said more than 16,000 affordable housing units had entered the city's pipeline since the start of the ED1 program.
Fix the City has sued the city government many times, seeking to limit certain types of development. The group sued last year to stop Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky's plan to open a temporary homeless facility on Pico Boulevard on Los Angeles' west side, saying it violated state environmental law.
In its most recent lawsuit, Fix the City attempted unsuccessfully to rescind not only the mayor's emergency declaration but also ED 1. That initiative has allowed 100% affordable housing projects to avoid review by the city's Planning Commission, shortening the approval process by several months.
