On Monday, April 16, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti entered the chamber where he gave his fifth State of the City address, making his rounds of introduction while the Red-Hot Chili Peppers “Can’t Stop” played in the background. After the music subsided and the crowd stilled, Mayor Garcetti wasted no time getting straight to the points.
Garcetti’s tone was a positive one, praising the open-minded progressive nature of the city, juxtaposing it with the nation’s capital. “We can’t say the same right now about Washington D. C., where leaders clap their hands when immigrants are forced into the shadows … Where corporations’ needs are placed above those of a single mother … Where our coastline is offered up to the highest bidder with an oil drill. You see, something different is happening here in Los Angeles,” he said.
Garcetti then outlined a new three-part economic strategy, including bringing film jobs back to the L.A. area, expanding Silicon Beach’s tech influence, Space-X’s Falcon construction in the Port of L.A. and the passing of Measure M, which Garcetti announced as “the nation’s largest – ever local jobs and infrastructure package.” According to Garcetti, Measure M is said to “generate $120 billion dollars to build and expand 15 rapid transit lines, fix our freeways, and create 777,000 good, middle – class careers over the next four decades.”
During his address, the Mayor then offered his sympathies for the strife many Angelenos face daily, like wage inequality and the ever-ubiquitous traffic that is becoming a poignant, omnipresent force to be reckoned with. However, Mayor Garcetti acknowledged what he considers to be “the greatest moral and humanitarian crisis of our time,” homelessness. Southern California at large, remains one of the most volatile regions of the country for the homeless. From Santa Barbara, all the way down to the Southernmost tips of San Diego county, it doesn’t take one much time to notice the sheer magnitude of the critically urgent epidemic. The problem (which is not unique to Los Angeles but undoubtedly receives the brunt), seems to have no immediate solution and incessantly remains in the psyche of every inhabitant of Los Angeles, including that of the mayor. He poised to the chamber, “wouldn’t you rather have somebody cleaning a street than sleeping on it? I will accept nothing less than a home for ever y person who needs a roof over their head. Let me be clear: we are here to end homelessness. Accepting things the way they are… is unacceptable.”
Garcetti continued to reiterate a common linchpin that for most of California, “homelessness isn’t an issue, homelessness is the issue.”
Homelessness has become the ever-present thorn in the side of his administration and by extension, Greater Los Angeles, as tens of thousands continue to spill over on Southern California’s streets.
Garcetti said his budget would put an unparalleled $430 million toward ending the crisis within the near future. The majority of which was generated by the housing bond that voters approved in 2016. The mayor has also planned to expedite applications for shelters by signing an emergency declaration allowing the city to bypass “red tape” which slows construction, hoping in turn some of the state’s $6 billion surplus will come in the form of shelter and affordable housing construction. For some, it appears Mayor Garcetti realizes there is no one-size-fits-all approach to tackling the problems of our metropolis, but what is certain is none of them can be solved alone. So he is calling upon the residents of Los Angeles and holding all Angelenos accountable, himself included, to work together for a brighter future for the city.