MEMO TO:
City Council, City of Los Angeles (CD 1: Gil Cedillo, CD 2: Paul Krekorian, CD 3: Bob Blumenfield, CD 4: Nithya Raman, CD 5: Paul Koretz, CD 6: Nury Martinez, CD 7: Monica Rodriguez, CD 8: Marqueece Harris-Dawson, CD 9: Curren D. Price Jr., CD 10: Mark Ridley-Thomas, CD 11: Mike Bonin, CD 12: John Lee, CD 13: Mitch O’Farrell, CD 14: Kevin de León, CD 15: Joe Buscaino)
Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles
Heidi Marston, Executive Director, LAHSA
FROM: The undersigned faculty, UCLA, USC, UCI, Occidental College
We write to express our grave and urgent concerns about the recent displacement of the homeless encampment at Echo Park Lake. Many of you have either been actively involved in such displacement or supported it through your silent acquiescence. Especially troubling is the Mayor’s statement, suggesting that such displacement serves as a useful precedent and template. As reported by the LA Times on March 27, 2021 “Mayor Eric Garcetti framed the effort as a success, calling it “the largest housing transition of an encampment ever in the city’s history.”