Sprawling homelessness is one of the most chronic frustrations in Los Angeles.
Now we find out the LA City Council spent an eye-popping $418 million on homeless “services” in 2025 alone –– only to further entrench the problem.
Mayor Karen Bass and council members need to account for this, and take responsibility for charting an effective course that centers on mental health and addiction treatment for those on the streets.
Sprawling homelessness is one of the most chronic frustrations in Los Angeles. Rafael Fontoura for California Post
Mayor Karen Bass and council members need to account for this, and take responsibility. David Buchan for California PostNote that we can’t say more effective course, because the current course isn’t effective at all.
A report this week from the City Administrative Officer found that LA has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into a homeless program black hole.
Of the more than $400 million spent last year on homelessness, just 10% went toward actually getting people off the streets for good, The California Post reported.
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The vast bulk of the money LA shoveled into homeless programs simply made it easier for people to be –– and stay –– homeless.
That, LA, is an epic failure.
It’s a failure to meaningfully help 9 of 10 of those on the street.
A report this week revealed LA has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into a homeless program black hole. Ringo Chiu for NY Post
That, LA, is an epic failure, a failure to meaningfully help 9 of 10 of those on the street. Christopher SadowskiIt’s a failure to properly steward hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
And it’s a failure of basic competence, administration and oversight.
Cycling people through temporary programs, rolling out laundry trucks for those on the street, “supervising” areas where people sleep in cars: It’s all a behemoth money pit that offers no light and no end of the tunnel.
And that’s before we even get to the mayor’s pet homeless initiative, Inside Safe, which provides temporary motel rooms that cost taxpayers $226 per night apiece –– while solving little in the long run.
Los Angelenos deserve better than this doom loop in which the city spends hundreds of millions of dollars spinning its wheels and worse: further entrenching the problem.
The council should bear in mind that it’s not “city” money they spend; it’s the hard-earned wages of taxpayers.
And that’s before we even get to the mayor’s pet homeless initiative, Inside Safe. City of Los AngelesAnd those wages, spent recklessly by the council, line the pockets of stakeholders in the homeless industrial complex –– including nonprofits, hotels and developers.
It’s time to get serious about chronic homelessness by providing the mental health and addiction services so many people on the streets need.
Most of the rest is a damaging exercise in “doing something” while achieving nothing beyond enriching a few.
“We’re hemorrhaging money on a homelessness system that was never designed to succeed –– and no one is being held accountable for the failure,” said councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who represents parts of the San Fernando Valley.
That is correct.
Her colleagues would do well to listen.
