LA Mayor Eric Garcetti signs ordinance criminalizing homelessness following City Council vote in

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

favor of it

The mayor of Los Angeles signed an ordinance Thursday making it unlawful for people to "sit, lie, sleep" or otherwise situate their belongings in the "public right of way" - a law that will almost exclusively disenfranchise the unhoused population of LA.

According to the official action, Mayor Eric Garcetti had until August 9 to act. He signed a day after the Los Angeles City Council voted in favor of the ordinance 13-2, as mentioned in a previous Insider article.

The ordinance goes into effect 30 days from signing, CBS LA reported. Garcetti did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The ordinance restricts "sitting, lying, or sleeping or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property in the public right-of-way." The measure makes it illegal to sit, lie, sleep, or set up encampments within 500 feet from "sensitive use" properties, such as schools, parks, and libraries, and other areas such as "overpasses, underpasses, freeway ramps, tunnels, bridges, pedestrian bridges, subways, washes, spreading grounds, or active railways."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/la-mayor-eric-garcetti-signs-ordinance-criminalizing-homelessness-following-city-council-vote-in-favor-of-it/ar-AAMJ44E

[Me.]

1. So...What?

Should we just shoot them and put them out of their misery? Let's continue to make poor being a crome.

[femmedem]

2. What the hell?

Shame on the mayor and the city council. I hope it's successfully challenged in court, as similar ordinances have been. It's unconstitutional. See: https://nlchp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/criminalization-one-pager.pdf

[calguy]

3. Not sure what the answer is... I've never been homeless

But if the City Council voted 13-2 in favor of the measure, the mayor's hands were pretty much tied it seems.

[MuseRider]

4. He does this without announcing

that they have areas of land set aside and people to build small houses for those who are unhoused? During a pandemic and a nasty hot summer he does this?

Every one of the people who make laws like this should have to spend a month or longer (but they would not last a week) living like that and see if they could find a better solution. Solutions are hard, HARD when the problems mount up and the numbers grow higher and nothing has been done to actually help people.

Just blowing off steam. Here in Kansas we have a wonderful governor, one I know slightly on a personal level enough to know there are so many things she would do but our legislature has cut her off and the knees so many times. Our rescue mission (I do not support them a lot, it involves loving Jesus and not everyone really does but still need help) has asked for a fair size hunk of land behind the actual building with a plan to build a lot of small houses so people are safe and not sweltering or freezing and can actually begin to climb out of their circumstances, used like a step down (or step up?). Other than that every time a group finds a place and create a little community that actually functions the police go in and rip it apart leaving them with less than they had before. There is no solution there, just like this is no solution.

Perhaps those with money who don't like having to see homelessness could actually do something. Feed someone and then go take out some money to help build a place where they could get back on their feet. So many other ways. This just made me so sad I had to say something. Nothing here that is not common knowledge here.

[alwaysinasnit]

5. WTF??? The eviction moratorium is about to expire and the City Council thinks this is a good idea???

[zuul]

6. What the hell are the homeless supposed to do?

Just die already because they’re an inconvenience? During a pandemic and the hot-as-hell summer?Jeebus!

[flotsam2]

7. Instead Asshole, offer them some (any) alternative

You have many alternatives and they have none.