The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a motion to evaluate the creation of a Department of Homelessness in a 13-0 vote.
Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez introduced the motion in March and had called on her colleagues to support the measure, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles.
“As Los Angeles continues to grapple with the growing numbers of homeless individuals, we’ve seen repeated headlines reflecting millions of dollars unaccounted for born out of programs being managed by political offices or across multiple departments,” Rodriguez said.
LOS ANGELES IN HOT WATER OVER FOR SPENDING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS ON WORSENING HOMELESS CRISIS
The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to approve a motion in favor of a report on creating a Department of Homelessness in a 13-0 vote.
The motion directs staff to create a report on how to best form a department focused on overseeing efforts to assist the homeless population, according to Fox 11. It’s expected to include details such as data on homelessness, how funding is spent and how sites for housing are identified and developed.
The vote comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s council on homelessness blamed local governments for a state audit reporting that California has failed to track how billions of dollars were being spent on the homelessness crisis.
The Los Angeles City Council agreed to pay an outside firm $2.2 million to audit its own programs.
Rodriguez also said the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles has made it necessary “to create a centralized department with a singular focus that maximizes taxpayer dollars,” according to Fox 11.
“Working with urgency shouldn’t equate to an abandonment of transparency, we must stretch our resources to aid the most people out of homelessness and clean up our city for Angelenos and business owners that are suffering with the consequences of our current environment,” she said.
The motion argued that the current organizations and government-funded groups that work with homeless people in Los Angeles are often conflicting or inefficient.
“Within this system, determined efforts to evaluate city-funded homelessness programs often run aground, as the providers of services produce irregular and imprecise reporting on contractually-obligated metrics and outcomes,” the motion reads, according to Fox 11.
LA MAYOR PLEADS FOR WEALTHY TO HELP BUY HOUSING FOR THE HOMELESS: ‘UNPRECEDENTED PARTNERSHIP’
As the debate over the homeless crisis in California continues, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass pleaded with “the most fortunate” to help fund housing for the homeless as part of a new strategy to tackle the crisis during her State of the City address in April. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
In April, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass pleaded with “the most fortunate” to help fund housing for the homeless as part of a new strategy to tackle the crisis during her State of the City address.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Los Angeles City Council for comment.
Fox News’ Kristine Parks and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History.
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