LA Mayor Karen Bass Admits Mistakes on Homelessness: Says She Should Have Transformed the System Earlier, Now Backs a New City-Run System
In Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, in an interview with ABC7 (Eyewitness News) ahead of the November 3 mayoral runoff, publicly acknowledged that she made mistakes on homelessness in her first term: she said she should have pushed to transform the entire homeless services system earlier instead of first trying to reform the existing one, and that she now believes Los Angeles needs an entirely new system, run independently by the city itself.
The live interview aired on October 26, conducted by ABC7 political reporter Josh Haskell. When Haskell asked what she would have done differently on homelessness, specifically in terms of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), Bass replied: "One of the things that I could have done better is paid attention to transforming the system earlier. I was hoping it could be reformed. Now, I believe we need to have an entirely new system." She said she would have pushed earlier for Los Angeles to have its own independent system under city control: "I don't think that taxpayers are aware that the building for homelessness that we have done, that many of those beds are occupied by people outside the city of Los Angeles because the county controls that."
Bass also addressed her absence overseas during the January 2025 Palisades fire, saying her number one focus in her first term was "getting people off the streets." She cited her case for a second term, including preparations for the 2028 Olympics, a decline in crime and new housing units coming online, and said the future of Los Angeles looks bright. Asked whether she was concerned she could lose the runoff, she said she did not know a candidate who is not concerned about winning an election, and that she had been worried in her last election too.
In the interview, Bass also attacked her runoff opponent, Councilmember Nithya Raman, over her shifting timeline for removing Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. "She changes her position every other day. But the latest one was - she would begin the process to remove him on day one. Then she said 2030, then she said, well, you know, maybe a little later," Bass said, adding that when Raman was asked who she would replace McDonnell with, she had no answer. Bass also rejected claims that the city faced bankruptcy, saying spending decisions require City Council approval, and criticized Raman's voting record on police pay and recruitment. Raman has confirmed she would replace the police chief if elected, and has criticized Bass's "Inside Safe" program as costing hundreds of millions of dollars without audits or accountability.
Bass's remarks came days after former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, appearing on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" on October 23, publicly challenged California Governor Gavin Newsom and Bass. According to the New York Post, Leavitt pointed to Washington, D.C., where the mayor has worked with President Donald Trump: "Cleaned up the homelessness, cleaned up the crime, the city is beautiful. I've lived there the past two years." She added: "Maybe your governor should call, maybe your mayor here should call, and California would look a lot better." Newsom adviser Izzy Gardon fired back on X, noting that Newsom spent 90 minutes with Trump in the Oval Office in February 2025 seeking disaster aid, and that Trump later federalized the California National Guard without the governor's consent and deployed 4,700 troops to Los Angeles.
LAHSA is a joint powers authority created by the city and county of Los Angeles in 1993; it has long coordinated homelessness services across the region and applies for federal funds on behalf of the Los Angeles Continuum of Care. On June 11, 2026, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) suspended LAHSA from federal programs, citing alleged failures in financial management, internal controls, grant oversight and conflict-of-interest policies. About $239 million in federal funding was at stake, affecting housing and services for more than 11,000 people in 85 cities across the region. LAHSA sued the Trump administration on June 29; U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction halting the suspension on August 13; and on September 24 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit largely denied HUD's request to stay the injunction. In October, the Los Angeles Continuum of Care voted to designate Los Angeles County to replace LAHSA as the collaborative applicant for federal funds and to lead the annual point-in-time count. On October 27, Bass announced a tentative city-county agreement under which the city will place homeless people directly into city-funded housing and gain corresponding access to data - the same direction as the city control she advocated in the interview.
The latest annual count showed homelessness in the city of Los Angeles rising again after two years of declines, up 3.4% in 2026, with about 29,000 people unsheltered in the city. A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, released this week, showed Bass and Raman tied at 40% each among likely voters, with 19% undecided; reducing homeless encampments was voters' top priority for the next mayor, at 43%. Addressing her standing in the poll, Bass said: "In my four years, I have made mistakes, but we have laid a very strong foundation to go into the future." On November 3, Los Angeles voters will choose between Bass and Raman as the city's next mayor.
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Related: HUD Announces Voluntary Compliance Agreement With Multnomah County, Oregon
Source: GSM America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 洛杉矶市长 Karen Bass 在市政厅出席活动（2026 年资料图）。洛杉矶市长办公室官方照片，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Mayor Karen Bass at a City Hall event (2026 file photo). Official photo from the Office of the Mayor of Los Angeles, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-10-26LA Mayor Karen Bass Admits Mistakes on Homelessness: Says She Should Have Transformed the System Earlier, Now Backs a New City-Run SystemThis story
