About 30 unhoused people were given temporary housing after an Inside Safe operation in Hollywood cleared a large encampment Friday, with Mayor Karen Bass present for the entire process.
The troublesome encampment, which caused problems for businesses in the area, especially on the Sunset Sound recording studio on Sunset Boulevard, was cleared with the help of the offices of Los Angeles City Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez and LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, both who represent the area.
“This week’s Inside Safe operations in Hollywood and near Koreatown continue the work to urgently bring unhoused Angelenos indoors and save lives,” Mayor Bass said in a statement. “I want to thank Supervisor Horvath, Council Member Soto-Martinez and our service providers for their work to lock arms and tackle this crisis head-on.”
Councilmember Soto-Martinez said the people in the encampment had lived in the area for five years.
“With 100% of unhoused residents accepting services and housing through this operation, we are proving that if we do the hard work to find sustainable housing solutions, we can get people off the streets for good,” Soto-Martinez said in a statement .
Bass says there have now been 50 Inside Safe operations since the program launched on her first day as mayor of Los Angeles.
As city leaders celebrated the success of Friday’s operation, community members and homeless advocates gathered outside the Getty House, Bass’ official home, to counter what was being celebrated and to highlight what they say are the failures of the program thus far in her tenure. .
Groups including Reclaiming Our Homes, Housing for Juanita, We the Unhoused and J-Town Action were on hand to criticize Inside Safe for its lack of effectiveness in providing permanent housing to Angelenos, the groups said.
Tom Wait
