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Council member criticizes mayoral emergency order for homelessness; council approves quarterly report 12-1
Summary
Councilmember Rodríguez said the mayor’s homelessness emergency declaration has not increased housing production and voted against the chief operating officer’s quarterly report; the council approved the report 12-1 on June 4 while members also asked for further analysis of the emergency order’s impacts.
Councilmember Rodríguez argued on June 4 that the mayor’s emergency declaration on homelessness has not meaningfully increased housing production in Los Angeles and said the quarterly report from the chief operating officer did not demonstrate the emergency’s value. The council approved the quarterly report by a 12‑1 vote.
Rodríguez told colleagues that, beyond giving the mayor authority to contract for services, the emergency declaration has not addressed structural barriers that limit new housing production—factors she listed as high land and development costs, regulatory burdens and long timelines. She said comparing the city’s early quarterly report with current numbers did not show improvement in housing production and noted that an earlier motion by Councilmembers McCosary and Romen calling for a comprehensive departmental analysis of the emergency’s impacts will help assess the order’s effectiveness.
Rodríguez said she would continue to oppose the quarterly report as presented until the council receives the additional determinations and analysis she and others have requested. Council staff subsequently called the roll and recorded the vote as 12 in favor, one opposed.
Council discussion included a request to hold further debate and to bring the compensatory departmental analysis forward in the housing and homelessness committee. The record shows members asking staff for more detailed answers about outcomes tied directly to the emergency declaration. The council also announced that an ordinance tied to another agenda item would be held until June 11.
The council’s approval of the quarterly report does not itself change the terms of the emergency declaration; Rodriguez and others pressed for follow‑up work to measure whether the declaration accelerates housing production or improves use of existing funds for encampment cleanup and services.
Provenance: Remarks and the roll call on the special call for agenda item 9 and the quarterly report are recorded in the council transcript for June 4.
