An event where residents experiencing homelessness receive resources, food and medical attention for free? Sounds perfect. This week I attended the Palms Neighborhood Council Homelessness Advocacy and Public Service Committee meeting to discuss this event called “Connect Day” hosted by Los Angeles. This event, like many others hosted by the committee and others like it, sounds ideal on paper but through the meeting I was able to know how the residents of Palms neighborhood really felt about it.
Neighborhood Councils are one of the many institutions L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti has imagined to incorporate community voices into his policies and practices to ensure that the people of L.A. are able to voice their thoughts on the matters that affect them. These Councils are composed of residents of specified neighborhoods in L.A. with each member elected by the neighborhood to represent a particular type of stakeholders the Councils serve. By providing for residents to speak directly with and receive updates from representatives from the mayor’s office and other elected officials representing areas of this region, the Councils maintain credibility and accountability where everyone of all levels, whether part of elected office or not, are able to know and voice their opinions and ask questions about matters that ultimately affect them. Committees, like the one hosting the meeting I attended, give even more L.A. residents the chance to participate and give their opinions with residents who are interested in a particular issue able to join these committees.
The topic of this meeting being to discuss planning and advertising for Connect Day was especially pertinent given residents’ increasing interest and concern over the growing homeless population in Los Angeles. According to a PPIC poll conducted this past May, homelessness is the second highest concern for L.A. residents, visible in the high support for Rick Caruso, a candidate for L.A. mayor in this year’s election, who’s made his campaign focus ending homelessness in the city. A Palms neighborhood resident voiced this exact concern, exclaiming her dissatisfaction with the work current L.A. elected leaders have put forth regarding this issue resulting in her support for Caruso. This citizen’s exclamations show exactly why it’s important that committees like the Homeless Advocacy and Public Service body exist to display that L.A. elected officials care about the issues important to their constituents and will work with the residents to take action.
One motion put forth during the meeting that caught my eye showed L.A.’s elected officials progressive attempts to integrate the ideas and desires of the community. Josh Nadel, the chair of the Committee and member of the Palms Neighborhood Council, put forth a motion to allocate funds to create water bottles and tote bags with information about Connect Day to give to the residents experiencing homelessness, as opposed to flyers that are trashed within seconds after they’re received. This idea is exemplary of how L.A. elected officials are taking into account the interests of their residents: these materials would provide resources to residents experiencing homelessness and would prevent excessive paper use through printing the flyers, a concern expressed by Angelenos relating to the excessive waste in L.A. that elected officials like Mayor Garcetti and mayoral candidate Karen Bass have addressed.
Meetings like this are integral to the future for politics not only in L.A. but throughout the U.S. Hosting events and meetings where residents can talk to representatives for elected officials who will speak on behalf of their region’s interests and where they hear updates as they occur from these representatives helps ensure transparency and credibility at every level of government. Creating institutions like these Committees and Neighborhood Councils both encourages public engagement and participation but also ensures that the ideas of those who are affected by these policies are heard and integrated at the municipal, county, state and even federal level.