The council voted 11-3 in favor of the measure after returning from an extended recess, with Council members Mike Bonin, Nithya Raman and Marqueece Harris-Dawson dissenting. The ordinance is an amendment to the city’s sweeping law that regulates the location of homeless encampments. Municipal Code 41.18 prohibits sitting, sleeping, lying down or otherwise obstructing public transit in many areas of the city. Council President Nury Martinez called the disruption “incredibly troubling.” “What we saw here this morning unfortunately was really an attempt to prevent us from voting,” Martinez said. “I think people were intent this morning on shutting this place down and preventing us from doing the job we were all elected to do.” The disruption began when Councilman Joe Buscaino, who first proposed the idea of banning facilities near schools last year, rose to speak. Audience members began chanting, “Shut it up!” and preventing Buscaino from speaking. Martinez then called a 15-minute recess that ended up lasting about an hour while more than 50 people remained in the chambers, shouting and making speeches accusing the council of criminalizing homelessness. “That was the biggest ovation I’ve ever received in my career, but it also says a lot about a group of people who want to shut down democracy,” Buscaino said after the council returned to the chamber. The council voted 10-1 in favor of the ordinance last month, with Bonin dissenting. But because that initial vote was not unanimous, a second vote had to be held on Tuesday to pass the issue. Opponents packed council chambers Tuesday in a heated public comment session before the uproar, heckling council members, snapping their fingers and holding signs that read: “Repeal 41.18.” The ordinance also expands Municipal Code 41.18 to include areas within 2 feet of any fire hydrant or fire hydrant. within 5 feet of any operable or usable entrance or exit; within 10 feet of a loading dock or road. in a manner that interferes with any activity for which the city has issued a permit or restricts access to access as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act; or anywhere within a street, including bike lanes. The law already protects the public right-of-way within 500 feet of “sensitive” facilities such as schools, day care facilities, parks and libraries — but only if each specific location is designated by the council for enforcement.
The homelessness crisis remains Los Angeles’ No. 1 concern
Although this was not a campaign event, Los Angeles mayoral candidates Rep. Karen Bass and Rick Caruso spoke about the city’s biggest issue: homelessness. RELATED: The amendment tentatively approved July 1, and previously approved by the council’s Homelessness and Poverty Committee, is a blanket ban on encampments within 500 feet of all schools. Buscaino’s proposal never gained traction last year. But the issue resurfaced earlier this year, in part at the urging of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who said teachers, principals and parents have raised concerns about homeless encampments near college campuses. “I have seen elementary schools with conditions that none of us as parents would find acceptable for the children. People with mental illnesses, some of them completely debilitated, are shouting profanities into the ears of the children,” Carvalho told the council earlier. Council members who supported the ordinance pointed to the protection of children, with Councilman Mitch O’Farrell firing back at protesters and claiming it’s a false narrative that homeless people have nowhere else to go. He said the city does no sweeps, has several successful and robust programs to serve the homeless, and is increasing temporary shelters in his area. “I will stand up for this council,” O’Farrell said. “Everyone here is compassionate, they care deeply for the people who are the most vulnerable among us. I’m not going to accept this rhetoric that we’re monsters, that we’re murderers or anything like that. It’s all nonsense. I’m just not going to accept this false narrative anymore. We must never accept it at all.” But Bonin argued that the ordinance is based on a false premise that homeless people refuse to go indoors and that the city has plenty of space for them. He claimed that 60 percent of people living on the streets of Los Angeles cannot find shelter, citing a lawsuit the city settled in April. “This is not about whether or not you approve of encampments near schools,” Bonin said. “Nobody wants camps near schools or daycares. Nobody wants camps anywhere.” He called the ordinance “a distraction from where our focus should be,” draining time and energy away from tangible steps to end homelessness. Bonin received a standing ovation after his comments. People who violate the ordinance face a violation or citation, but “a person who willfully resists, delays or obstructs a city employee from enforcing this article or who willfully refuses to comply after being asked to do so by an authorized city employee” may face higher fines and of a misdemeanor nature, according to the decree. Outside City Hall on Tuesday, Dwayne Hollis and Ruben Garcia, two members of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, stood next to a sign that read: “41.18 = Death.” They had set up snacks on a bench for their team before the meeting. Hollis, a Vietnam War veteran who has experienced homelessness, called the ordinance a byproduct of an unfair battle between rich and poor. “The main thing is, (the city) let the homeless get out of hand and now they’re trying to take the bull by the horn,” Hollis told City News Service. Garcia, who works in the film industry, doubted the city could enforce the ordinance because of the number of homeless people living on the streets. No one believed the ordinance was a viable solution to the city’s homeless problem. “So it’s just a show,” Garcia told CNS. “They’re making a little show because they can’t enforce it. Because there are tents and encampments in MacArthur Park, downtown, in the Valley, in Hollywood. There are tents everywhere. Good luck getting them to enforce this law. They will.” You can’t force it. Because what are they going to do, arrest people for being homeless?”
