> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Bring LA Home plans get put on shelf again - URL: https://www.smdp.com/bring-la-home-plans-get-put-on-shelf-again/ - Published: 2005-08-25T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T07:37:09.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness *Mayor’s office deems plan to be too ‘touchy-feely’* LA CITY HALL —Already delayed for more than a year, the ambitious plan to end homelessness throughout Los Angeles within the next decade has been put on hold once again. Dubbed “Bring LA Home,” the eagerly-anticipated plan was supposed to be unveiled in July of 2004, but was delayed for various reasons until last December. The plan was delayed yet again and was supposed to be presented in June. Now, the plan has been pushed back until January 2006 — this time by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villagrosa. “Bring LA Home is kind of adrift right now and we’re trying to get it under control,” said Krista Kline, a spokeswoman for Mayor Villagrosa. She added that the most recent plan was full of holes and too “touchy-feely,” with few action items. “We want to take a more holistic approach,” Kline said. CHRONIC DELAYS It’s been more than two years since a panel of community leaders convened to devise a plan to end homelessness in Los Angeles County within the next 10 years. There have been countless community meetings and thousands of man-hours worked on the plan, which has been revised and fine-tuned a number of times. The latest version specifically targeted chronic homeless and families, which was tailored in response to results released this past spring by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LASHA) that showed a significant portion of unhoused individuals have been on the streets for more than a year, or are families. But at a meeting earlier this month, it was announced that Mayor Villagrosa wants to refocus the plan to include all homeless, which it had done in its early incarnation. Yet another revised plan is expected sometime in 2006, although officials are hopeful it can be released when they apply for federal funding early in the year. The delay is frustrating to Santa Monica City Councilman Richard Bloom, who has been involved in the project since its inception. “I was pretty upset about it because, as far as I’m concerned, it’s time to move forward and get this thing out of the gates,” he said, adding that with existing funding, targeting two segments of the homeless population — those who are chronic or are families — seemed more feasible. “With limited resources, if you don’t focus your energies on something smaller, it will prove to be difficult,” Bloom said. Bloom is a member of the Bring LA Home’s blue ribbon panel, comprised of about 80 people — from politicians to business leaders to homeless advocates. The councilman said he wished he could have been at the group’s executive committee meeting earlier this month, when it was decided to delay the plan. “I would have been advocating for something completely different,” he said. “I understand Mayor Villagrosa is just starting his job, but he was on the blue ribbon panel. This is not a new issue. “I have immense disappointment that we are not moving this forward,” Bloom said, adding his frustration level is hitting its peak. “I will only give it so much longer.” To Mitch Netburn, executive director of LASHA, the delay makes sense because the plan needs to consider the latest results taken from a comprehensive census of homeless individuals conducted in 88 cities this past spring. A detailed analysis is expected within the coming weeks. “The plan we had didn’t have those numbers and the prior concern was that it wasn’t specific and accurate enough,” he said. “It made sense to analyze those numbers before approving the plan.” Kline said representatives in Mayor Villagrosa’s office surmise that the plan focused on chronic homeless individuals to appease federal agencies that fund homeless services in LA County. “The mayor recognized that it’s much more than chronic homeless,” she said, adding the blue ribbon panel and the executive committee had no direction. “It seemed people were spinning their wheels... a lot of talk and no action. “We are still trying to find leadership.” LEADING THE WAY A change in leadership at LA City Hall also affects the direction of the plan, Netburn noted. “With a change in mayor, it’s important to have all elected leaders on board,” he said. “We certainly would want a new mayor to have a policy outline.” LASHA officials characterize the plan as moving forward. The planning team for Bring LA Home is planning to hire a consultant to write the final plan. In the meantime, the group’s executive committee will be working on a timeline and working with various members of the blue ribbon panel to complete the plan, according to Scott Ito, LASHA director of development and communications. The plan is similar to that of dozens of other cities who are taking on the daunting task, which was spurred by the Bush Administration’s goal to rid the nation of its homeless population. However, no new funding has been established by the federal government to help cities in attaining their goals. “It’s going to take more than public money,” Kline said. “The mayor has to use his bully pulpit to get the public to buy into this for fundraising and donations. “You need to have resources and you need to have buy-in from the public, and (the Bring LA group) didn’t have either.” In LA County, comprised of 88 cities, Bring LA Home is considered the largest effort ever by community leaders to tackle a problem that some say is the biggest one facing the country. The philosophy behind the plans thus far has been to convert emergency shelters into supportive housing. ON THE CENSUS There are as many homeless people in all of Los Angeles County as there are residents in Santa Monica, according to an analysis on the county’s homeless population. Of the 91,000 people who live on the streets at any given time during the year, 35,000 of them are chronically homeless. And 2 percent of the entire homeless population live in Santa Monica. And while Santa Monica handles 2 percent of the county’s homeless population, it’s a huge impact on the community, residents say. With the exception of Venice, there aren’t many westside cities that share the burden of taking care of the homeless, officials say. That’s one of the reasons Bloom is involved — to solve the problem with a regional approach and mandate that other communities help. Santa Monica currently spends about $2 million each year on services for homeless people. The city of Los Angeles spends more than $14 million, most of which comes from the federal government, according to LASHA officials. LA County also spends tens of millions of dollars on homeless services and special needs programs, such as mental health and social services, officials said. Bring LA Home’s goal is a comprehensive plan that would redistribute the economic resources dedicated to the county’s homeless services to include an additional 70,000 emergency shelter beds, 40,000 units of affordable housing and a region-wide housing trust fund that would be based on donations from philanthropists. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 25, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/082505.pdf?ref=smdp.com)