AS LOS ANGELES HOMELESS COUNT SOARS GARCETTI SAYS LET THE CAMPS ALONE!

LA TIMES - GARCETTI ON HOMELESS CAMPS

EXCERPT: The city of Los Angeles has 26,000 homeless residents, an increase of 12% over two years. Los Angeles County has the most homeless veterans in the country, and two-thirds of them, or 2,733, live in the city. The city’s homeless veteran population rose 6% in the last two years. ... 

GARCETTI SAID:
“I strongly support the enactment of laws that enable the city to ensure that public areas are clean and safe,” he said in a statement released by a spokesman. But Garcetti said he decided the ordinances do “not adequately achieve the proper balance” between keeping the streets clean and protecting the rights of people “who have no other choice but to live on them.”

The ordinances — one for sidewalks, the other for parks — give homeless people 24 hours to move their possessions or face having them seized. The city could destroy “bulky” or hazardous items and store the rest for 90 days. The only city storage facility is on skid row. Violators could be ticketed or charged with a misdemeanor.

Proposed amendments would, among other changes, drop the misdemeanor penalty, eliminate medications and documents from the list of items that could be impounded and spell out when property is considered unattended.