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Residents and tenants urge council to sign 'Stay Housed L.A.' contracts and protect Measure ULA as nonprofits warn of layoffs
Summary
During public comment, dozens urged immediate action to sign Stay Housed L.A. contracts and asked the council not to weaken Measure ULA; speakers representing Eviction Defense Network and tenants said unsigned contracts risked furloughs and cited EDN’s casework numbers.
Dozens of residents and service providers used the council’s public-comment period on June 16 to press the Los Angeles City Council to protect Measure ULA funding and immediately sign the Stay Housed L.A. contracts, saying delay would force local nonprofits to furlough staff and reduce direct legal services to tenants.
Multiple speakers representing tenants and the Eviction Defense Network (EDN) said the EDN had closed roughly 1,500 cases in the last fiscal year and that contract delays and legal review by the city attorney’s office had placed the non‑profit on the brink of “66%” staff layoffs, figures repeated by several commenters. Marlene Delgado, who identified herself as a former EDN student, said the agency “will only provide videos and classes” if staff are cut and described losing access to case preparation and trial representation. “If EDN lays off 66% of their staff, they will stop offering case management and representation,” she said.
Speakers asked the council to agendize and advance a motion from April to ensure allocations and to have contracts signed by July 1 to avoid layoffs. Several commenters urged the council not to put Measure ULA back on the ballot or to weaken it, arguing the 2022 voter‑approved measure has generated funding for eviction prevention and housing stability. “ULA has generated one billion dollars to keep people housed,” one speaker said, and others urged the council to honor ad hoc committee findings that ULA is working.
Council staff acknowledged receipt of public testimony and recorded multiple continuations and votes on agenda items; the clerk noted some items would be continued to later dates and that item 55’s ordinance was held over because the vote was not unanimous. The public comment block included both calls for immediate fiscal action to head off layoffs and political appeals to protect ULA-funded programs from ballot or charter changes.
What happens next: speakers asked the council to agendize motions and to push the city attorney and administrative staff to finalize and sign the Stay Housed L.A. contracts by early July; the council will consider several housing-related items again at follow-up meetings.
