CommentsSKID ROW- Last week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti traveled to Rio de Janeiro for the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
Obviously, his primary reason for being there is to “wine and dine” the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because they’re the ones who will decide which city gets the 2024 Summer Olympics. LA is one of four contenders, pitted against Rome, Paris and Budapest, Hungary. (Hamburg, Germany was also selected as a contender, but withdrew its bid in November 2015.)
Why is an event eight years in the future so important today?
Los Angeles has a deadline of September 2016 to submit its final 2024 Olympic bid and the IOC will determine the winner in September 2017. The host city will then have seven years to build the necessary infrastructure for what the IOC hopes will be another “worldwide sports spectacle.”
Spectacle? The only spectacle the world will see if they come to LA for the 2024 Summer Olympics is the spectacle of widespread homelessness.
City Councilmember Jose Huizar, whose 14th council district includes Skid Row – more commonly known as “the homeless capitol of America” -- is also in “hot water with the heat about to rise 1000 degrees.” Last year, he chaired the newly-formed LA City Council Homelessness and Poverty Committee, tasked with signing off on the Mayor’s “Comprehensive Homeless Strategic Plan” that was passed by the council in January 2016.
Huizar publicly boasted of caring deeply about his homeless constituents in Skid Row. We now know that, at the time he touted the priority need to house them, he also finalized supportive efforts for a Beverly Hills developer to build “microlofts” in Skid Row buildings – structures that used to house and provide services for the homeless residents there. Hypocrisy in its finest display! It seems that Huizar initiated displacement of the very homeless men, women and children he so passionately vowed to house and provide services for. How dare he!
The City’s comprehensive plan was signed off on in January and it’s now August. So where’s all this housing for homeless people promised by Huizar and Garcetti?
Was their Comprehensive Homeless Plan nothing more than a smoke and mirrors marketing campaign to show to the IOC just to win an Olympic bid?
And according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s (LAHSA) last two Homeless Counts, there has been an almost 20% increase in homelessness over the last three years alone. Yet there’s been no significant new construction for homelessness anywhere in the city; it takes a minimum of 18 months (but more like two to three years) to build new construction. So it’s virtually impossible for the City of LA to create enough housing and services to serve the over 26,000 homeless people struggling to survive here in the “City of Angels” before the 2024 Summer Olympics would be held here.
As a homegrown Angeleno, I cringe to imagine the world descending onto our city for a Summer Olympic “spectacle,” only to be shocked by the number of homeless people on the streets. They will be dismayed by the tens of thousands of homeless folks that will gravitate toward the foreigners, asking for monetary aid (i.e. panhandling) along with whatever else they are able to obtain. And based on LAHSA’s current numbers and trends, homelessness in LA will continue to rise over the next seven years to a jaw-dropping number!
Is this the Los Angeles we want the world to see firsthand?
If not, the Mayor’s re-election campaign should be focused on a demand for action.
The termed-out Huizar is not above ridicule in the court of public opinion as he continues to schmooze with big-money developers and the Downtown business sector in an effort to “Bring Back Broadway.” I’m sure voters will remember his lack of true leadership and blatant deceit regarding housing homeless people whenever – if ever -- he seeks another political job.
With such an uphill battle in his bid for the 2024 Olympics, how do we even know Mayor Garcetti is really trying to win it? Or is he just using taxpayer dollars for an elaborate summer vacation in Rio?
The pressure is rising against both of these politicians who call themselves “homeless advocates,” as well as all other City officials who’ve shown a collective incompetence toward “ending homelessness.” Remember when Garcetti took the oath of office and publicly promised to house all homeless vets by the end of 2015? Later had to admit failure in accomplishing such an unrealistic goal. And it’s summer now; August is the hottest month of the year for homeless folks stranded by the City of Los Angeles as they try to cope with triple-digit heat in deplorable conditions almost like they were left for dead. Our city leaders should feel an equivalent amount of heat -- whether it’s in 2016 or 2024.
While people all over the world consider Rio one of their top-ten favorite vacation spots, eyes in LA are on Garcetti and Huizar right now. If they don’t do something significant and soon about homelessness, Rio may be seeing a lot more of both of them!
(General Jeff is a homelessness activist and leader in Downtown Los Angeles. Jeff’s views are his own.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
Which is It, Mr. Mayor … Homeless Housing or Olympic Games?
