Another controversy has sprung forth from the beleaguered Los Angeles City Council, and this one highlights just how California can spend billions on homelessness without making any progress.
The scandal in question centers on Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, who in July revealed a grand plan to turn a parking lot into a 30-bed interim homeless housing complex, a move that angered homeowners near the proposed site who are already dealing with homeless encampments.
Disputes over the merits of the plan aside, the controversy goes far deeper than that. Yaroslavsky’s housing and homelessness policy director, Zachary Warma, is now the target of an ethics investigation related to the project. The contract for the project, which is reportedly a single-bid, 10-year, multimillion-dollar contract, was awarded by Yaroslavsky to L.A. Family Housing.
The problem with this is that Warma, who now works on housing and homelessness policy for Yaroslavsky, worked for L.A. Family Housing as recently as October 2022. Yaroslavsky’s office insists that it ensured that Warma had no role in the decision. That's about as believable as thinking Yaroslavsky’s promise that she won’t tolerate more homeless encampments near the project is sincere, given her record of voting against bans on encampments in the months leading up to this decision.
The incestuous relationship between local city governments in California and homeless organizations leads to a lot of money being spent on failing projects so that bureaucrats and activists can dip their hands in the pot. The result is more homeless encampments, leading to more shady deals and kickbacks that do nothing to solve the problem. And on and on the cycle goes in California’s cities, with everyone knowing that another few million dollars will be doled out to “fix” the problems.