South Los Angeles elected officials urge residents to vote yes on Prop HHH on their November 2016 ballot. Outside of Skid Row, South Los Angeles has some of the highest rates of homelessness in the city of Los Angeles, and Proposition HHH will provide the funding necessary to support lasting change.
“We have an opportunity before us to better the lives of thousands of men, women, and children living on our streets,” said Los Angeles City Council President Herb J. Wesson, Jr. “Together let’s heed the call to strengthen the city for generations to come.”
With homelessness rising across the city, Angelenos want to help but often feel overwhelmed. Prop HHH on the November ballot offers a critical piece of the solution. The proposition— “Housing and Hope to End Homelessness”— would allow the city to finance the 10,000 units of Permanent Supportive Housing needed to house all the city’s chronically homeless residents. Permanent supportive housing has an extraordinary record. Local success rates exceed 90%. Housing is 43% less expensive than leaving men and women on the street—and infinitely more humane.
“We stand at the precipice, the beginning of the end of homelessness as we know it in the city of Los Angeles,” said Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson. ”Proposition HHH will be a down payment on what will be a long term and sustained effort to qualitatively impact the lives of homeless individuals and families”.
Prop HHH would raise $1.2 billion dollars to finance the construction of permanent supportive housing over the next 10 years, and could expect to leverage three times its value from other sources of funds. It would triple the pace that Los Angeles currently builds housing. Residents would have access to facilities for mental health, drug and alcohol treatment. The bond could also finance affordable housing for the Angelenos at greatest risk of homelessness, as well as temporary shelters, storage and shower facilities. Repaying the bond would add approximately $33 per year to the average Los Angeles property tax bill ($9.64/$100,000 assessed value).
The bond proposal was co-authored by Homelessness & Poverty Committee (H&P) Chair Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Vice-Chair Councilmember José Huizar, and was adopted by the Los Angeles City Council in June after a year of hearings and public testimony. Under the leadership of Council President Herb Wesson, the H&P committee to address homelessness was established in the summer of 2015. The committee has worked with Wesson, the City Council, CAO, CLA and Mayor’s office to usher in a strategic homelessness plan and last week announced Meg Barclay as the City’s first-ever Homelessness Coordinator.
