In a city struggling with rising crime and a homeless crisis, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is proposing boosting spending for police and funneling a record amount into housing and other programs to help those living on the streets. In a proposed budget, Garcetti says he wants to spend $1.2 billion on homeless programs.
He says that would be about 20 times the amount directed at homelessness when he took office in 2013. The proposal comes at a time when makeshift encampments have spread in virtually every neighborhood. The spending blueprint also calls for hiring hundreds of officers at the Los Angeles Police Department.
Garcetti was nominated in July to become President Joe Biden’s ambassador to India, but the Senate vote has been delayed citing an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against a former Garcetti top adviser.
