County Board Candidate cites critical Controller’s Reports Blasting Homeless Agency Competency
LOS ANGELES — Candidate for the 2nd District Supervisory seat Jorge Nuño in a letter today urged Governor Gavin Newsome to declare a state of housing emergency in the vast area citing the failure of current governmental agencies to address a near tragic problem.
Jorge, 42, a lifelong resident of Historic South Central LA and a local business owner, declared current efforts by elected officials to have utterly failed our homeless citizens but also the neighborhoods they hunker down in the tent next door.
Nuño declared in the letter, “It is apparent that the number and density of the homeless citizens in our neighborhood has increased to the tipping point of a potential health and civic disaster.”
Given that the current political structure has spent billions of dollars to attempt to alleviate the crisis,” he wrote, “it is a mark of shame that our prosperous state cannot muster the will to address this very serious problem.”.
Nuño stated his request to the governor is made in light of the scathing criticisms issued by the Controller of the City of Los Angeles’ recent reports “Statement of Los Angeles Controller’s Report on Homeless Outreach” (Oct.8, 2019) and “The High Cost of Homeless Housing” (August 28, 2019).
Both of these reports detail unprecedented failure by the Los Angeles City Council, the Board of Supervisors and the joint agency they control, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, where they have spent hundreds of millions of bond dollars with very little accomplishment to show the citizens.
The reports detail failures across the board: permitting, outreach, transparency, flawed data collection, and inexcusably long delays.
Stated Nuño, “What is necessary and required to solve this enormous problem will mandate an emergency state-of-mind and the can-do/must-do attitude that will capture the support of the citizens by getting things done quickly, safely and efficiently.”
Comparing this current emergency to a disaster almost thirty years ago, in 1994, the Northridge Earthquake destroyed the I-10 overpasses at Cahuenga and La Brea. Mayor Richard J. Riordan challenged the private sector construction contractors declaring if they can fix the I-10 damage within 90-days, instead of the projected two years, they would be rewarded a significant bonus. One firm did it in 74-days and earned a $14.8 million bonus, and the City is grateful for their incredible work.
According to Nuño, “We need a ‘hammer swinging’ housing construction Czar pushing people to build, plodding the bureaucracy to action, and not a concierge ensuring chocolates on the pillow.”
Nuño recommended a military-experienced construction expert to lead the project and invited the Governor to tour the south downtown LA area where Nuño has been active in battling gentrification with his “Don’t Move, Improve” campaign.
He concluded in his letter: “We urge you to help us fulfill our moral social contract with each other to do whatever is necessary to alleviate and ultimately resolve the homeless crisis here and elsewhere.”
1 Comment
Not for him. This guy is a wacko