DOWNTOWN LA — A Santa Monica attorney on Friday was chosen to head the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a joint city-county agency that oversees $60 million in programs for the down-and-out.
Rebecca Isaacs was selected by a panel of LAHSA commissioners and city and county officials, including Santa Monica’s homeless czar and former Los Angeles County supervisor Ed Edelman, who believes Isaacs has the qualifications and the energy to further regional efforts to end homelessness.
“While I don’t think we’ll be getting any special treatment being her home town, I think she will want to help us and any city that is doing something to improve how services to the homeless are delivered,” said Edelman, who, along with former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, created LAHSA in 1993. “If the region as a whole does a better job, then Santa Monica doesn’t have to bear all of the burden. I think she wants to work with all jurisdictions, and she’ll have to in order to be successful.”
Isaacs will assume control over the highly criticized agency on Nov. 1, LAHSA officials said, at which time she will be faced with the difficult task of redesigning a 10-year plan to end homelessness that was recently found to be inadequate in meeting federal standards. Therefore, the plan must be revised.
Isaacs must also deal with an agency that has come under fire recently after an audit found significant delays in making payments to homeless agencies and the improper comingling of funds. She replaces Mitchell Netburn, who resigned earlier this year in the wake of the audit.
“We are thrilled Rebecca Isaacs will lead this vital agency during this critical time,” LAHSA commission chair Rebecca Avila said. “She has the perfect mix of executive management skills, creative vision and policy savvy. Through her leadership, we are very confident that LAHSA will make a tremendous impact on the homeless problem over the course of her tenure.”
Following Netburn’s resignation, county auditor-controller Tyler McCauley launched another inquiry into LAHSA earlier this month. The latest focuses on chief financial officer Lorraine Lynch.
The agency’s controller, Ferdinand Lang, was fired earlier this month.
Isaacs said she is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.
“This is an incredible opportunity to make a difference in the region,” Isaacs said in an interview with the Daily Press. “We recognize that homelessness is a crisis and one that must be solved by utilizing regional solutions. I absolutely look forward to working with officials in Santa Monica. I have an incredible interest in what goes on in Santa Monica, not only as the new director of LAHSA, but also as a resident for the last six years.”
Isaacs lives in Santa Monica with her partner of 16 years, Vanessa Schwartz, a history professor at USC, and their 11-year-old daughter, Rachel.
Isaacs is the outgoing executive director of the City Law Center, a legal services and housing advocacy agency serving homeless people and low-income clients, many of them on downtown’s Skid Row. She is also vice chair of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. She formerly served as a legislative aide and communications director for Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D- Los Angeles, and a policy director for People for the American Way in Washington, D.C.
Isaacs also served as policy and public affairs director and then interim executive director for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center from 2000-2003.
Councilman Richard Bloom, who has been at the forefront in the fight to end homelessness, welcomed the appointment of Isaacs, whom he said has a clear understanding of the issues and the needs surrounding homelessness.
“She has very strong administrative skills, and that is extremely important at LAHSA, where there are a lot of employees who are awaiting this new leadership,” Bloom said. “I’ve been beating the drum for the past couple of years on how important it is that we have leadership at LAHSA that understands and fosters an agenda that acknowledges the regional nature of homelessness. That is what LAHSA is all about, so I think a reinvigorated LAHSA is a critical part of moving that agenda forward.
“I have already called her and requested a meeting,” Bloom added.
Isaacs said she received Bloom’s call and is very interested in meeting with him and others concerned about the more than 88,000 homeless sleeping on the streets every night in Los Angeles County.
A man who deals with the down-and-out on a daily basis is John Maceri, executive director of OPCC, a homeless services provider in Santa Monica. Maceri said he is hopeful Isaacs will be able to help LAHSA recover from recent setbacks and bring other municipalities into the mix.
“I think that her work on Skid Row, essentially ground zero for homelessness, as well as the fact that she is a Santa Monica resident and lives in a community that is impacted by homeless, she has a very good grasp of the issues. That can only help Santa Monica and the efforts we are engaged in.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 23, 2006. Read the original PDF.