Judge to weigh whether to subpoena Mayor Karen Bass, LA councilmembers

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmembers Traci Park and Monica Rodriguez could still be called to testify in a slow-moving federal court hearing over the city’s homelessness response — but as the hearing wrapped up Thursday evening, a judge had not yet ruled on whether to subpoena the top officials.

U.S. District Judge David Carter, who is overseeing the case, said earlier in the day that the courtroom would remain available until 9 p.m., raising the possibility of a late-night decision. But the session ended around 7 p.m. without a ruling.

The hearing is focused on whether the city has breached its legal agreement to create enough shelter beds for unhoused residents.

Attorneys for the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights accused the city of blocking the officials from appearing in court.

“The city is trying to keep them from having to testify,” Matthew Umhofer, an attorney for the group, said Thursday. “We are troubled by that, given the fact that the mayor and several City Council members have come to court previously, and so the unwillingness of the city to allow the mayor and the City Council members to testify, is troubling.”

He added: “We are looking for accountability, we’re looking for transparency on the issue here in Los Angeles, which is homelessness, and we’re confused and troubled by the fact that the city would try to keep the mayor off the witness stand.”

Bass last appeared in court on this case in March.

Bass, Rodriguez and Park were subpoenaed to testify this week, with Rodriguez and Park scheduled to appear Wednesday and Bass on Thursday, but Umhofer said the city has pushed back, requesting that additional city employees finish testifying before Bass and the councilmembers take the stand.

He said the final city witness is expected to finish Friday, at which point the judge may make a decision on whether to compel testimony from the mayor and councilmembers.

This publication reached out to the City Attorney’s Office and the Mayor’s Office for comments, but did not receive a response as of press deadline Thursday.

The LA Alliance, a coalition of business owners and residents, filed a complaint against the city and county in March 2020, accusing them of failing to adequately address the homelessness crisis.

In 2022, the city reached a settlement agreement promising to create more than 12,000 new beds and house thousands of homeless people within five years. But the Alliance said the city is falling short of its obligations and filed a court order

A court-ordered audit in March was also unable to verify the number of homeless shelter beds the city says it has created.Against that background, several key witnesses took the stand Thursday to testify about the city’s progress – and shortcomings –in meeting the terms of the agreement.

They are City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo and Dr. Etsemaye P. Agonafer, the city’s first-ever Deputy Mayor of Homelessness and Community Health. Elizabeth Funk, CEO of San Francisco-based DignityMoves, an organization dedicated to supporting homelessness, and a witness for the Alliance, also took the stand.

Szabo and Agonafer defended the city’s efforts, and said the city is in compliance with the settlement agreement.

Pressed by the Alliance’s lawyer Elizabeth A. Mitchell about whether the city had fulfilled its obligations to provide 6,000 new beds, Szabo pushed back on the claim that the city “did nothing” to procure those beds.

“I completely disagree with the assertion that the city did absolutely nothing to procure those beds,” Szabo said. “I mean, the fact that we agreed to 6,000 new beds over an 18-month period of time required the city to use every possible resource and pursue every possible pathway to get as many beds out as possible.”

Funk testified that unsheltered homelessness is solvable with faster, scalable housing solutions, such as tiny homes, rather than relying on costly permanent housing.