Elizabeth Chou

1 month ago | lapublicpress.org | Elizabeth Chou |Elizabeth ChouReporter

The Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s budget would get a $9.5 million boost – but the Department of Health Services’s budget would shrink by about $165 million – under a $47.9 billion spending plan advanced Tuesday by the LA County Board of Supervisors. The county’s recommended budget reflects approximately $89 million in cuts and is moving forward as officials forecast major fiscal challenges in the next year.

2 months ago | lapublicpress.org | Elizabeth Chou

Los Angeles County voters decided in 2020 to put real dollars into shifting a punitive approach to criminal justice to a “care first, jails last” model. They did so by approving Measure J, which set aside 10% of the county’s budget to put back into the community. But now members of an advisory committee monitoring those funds say they’re worried those funds will get swept away into other uses, as top LA officials raise alarms about the county’s bad financial health this year.

2 months ago | lapublicpress.org | Elizabeth Chou

Since becoming homeless a decade ago, Hector Aranda Jr. says he has done most of the heavy lifting to find shelter and housing. The lifelong North Hollywood resident said he has sought assistance to get housed from homeless service providers, including the Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency. He rode his bike to different encampments to find outreach workers, sometimes during sweeps, including a 2023 Inside Safe operation on Aetna Street near the Van Nuys bus station.

2 months ago | lapublicpress.org | Elizabeth Chou |Elizabeth ChouReporter

Los Angeles leaders responding to scathing audit findings have renewed calls to gut or dismantle a joint authority that’s been tasked with responding to homelessness for the last 30 years. County and city officials will take up proposals this week aimed at revamping how homeless services are delivered, amid criticisms over the ability of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to handle those services.

2 months ago | lapublicpress.org | Elizabeth Chou |Elizabeth ChouReporter

Marissa Roy, an attorney in State Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, has launched a challenge against Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto, filing paperwork this month to begin fundraising for the 2026 election. “In this moment, we need a city attorney who stands for the people,” said Roy, who currently prosecutes violations of housing law in Bonta’s office.