Pleas from Hollywood locals fell on deaf ears as “naked” homeless people “running around” near multiple schools remained at a local councilman’s discretion.
(Video: ABC 7)
Within walking distance of the famed Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California, renamed TCL Chinese Theatre, several schools are sharing space with an entrenched homeless encampment spilling out onto the street.
Down the block from the Selma Avenue Elementary School and adjacent to the Larchmont Charter School, locals spoke up about safety concerns as “people that have mental illness” continue to live unchallenged outside Selma Park.
“It looks like a junkyard on our block, and it’s just not safe,” resident Jeannie Vasquez told ABC 7 as she voiced her concerns over conditions in the neighborhood. “There’s needles on the ground, also there’s a lot of broken glass. You’re getting catcalled.”
“You’re getting people that have mental illness. You’re seeing profanity. Sometimes you see people naked running around,” she said while local Christian Dias explained passersby get screamed at and have things thrown at them.
Despite the apparent danger voiced by citizens, including a report that someone’s dog was attacked by an animal belonging to one of the camped-out homeless, ABC 7 explained that the tents cannot be removed without the authorization of Los Angeles City Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez.
The Democratic labor organizer affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America reportedly declined to speak with the media for an on-camera interview as his previous position, that moving encampments can hurt attempts to find permanent housing solutions, was reiterated.
A spokesperson for Soto-Martinez assured the outlet that the councilman was working to ensure social services would be finding solutions for the homeless before the school year began, but Vasquez contended the solution was simpler than that.
“They need to just come regularly and clean it up. I mean we’re asking for just weekly cleanups of the neighborhood,” she suggested.
Earlier this year, Culver City southwest of the Hollywood neighborhood saw their councilmembers vote 3 to 2 to ban “camping” in public places. Unlike Soto-Martinez who viewed removing tents as a detriment, councilman Dan O’Brien had said at the time, “The desire on our part is that this ordinance will help give them that little extra push to accept the housing and services that we are offering.”
California city home to Hollywood studios bans homeless tent encampments on the streetshttps://t.co/Fd0HooL31C
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) February 20, 2023
On her first day in office, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) declared an emergency over the homeless crisis and announced plans to convert hotels and motels into housing solutions.
“There is a difference between spending and investing,” she had said during a press conference about her $1.3 billion budget plan. “This budget makes investments in bringing people inside and public safety, and other areas that will lead a return in terms of saving lives, in terms of quality of life and better neighborhoods.”
However, the altruistic goal failed to address the near-and-present concerns of citizens and the fact that students had been forced to avoid the homeless, often requiring walking in the street, prior to the end of the school year.
“No child in America should be afraid to walk to school, and what we have found in Los Angeles is kids are afraid to walk to school,” Democratic city councilmember Joe Buscaino had said in a television interview last year.
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