Los Angeles City Councilmember Joe Buscaino, who is running for mayor, aims to introduce a ballot measure that would lower elected officials' pay, ban homeless encampments, and prioritize the development of temporary housing if goals for reducing homelessness are not met, according to My News LA.
"We have an emergency situation playing out on our streets, and this ballot measure offers an all-of-the-above approach to addressing it,'' Buscaino stated. "Built from my experience on the City Council, where my district has few-to-zero encampments as we have tirelessly pursued shelter for residents experiencing homelessness, this ballot measure connects people in need to services and ensures a roof over their heads.''
The ballot measure, which was submitted to the Los Angeles City Clerk on Friday for review, "calls for the mayor to submit a plan to achieve functional zero homelessness within three years, and if goals are not met, the salaries of the mayor, city attorney and Los Angeles City Council members would be reduced."
Additionally, once adequate levels of temporary emergency shelter are produced, camping in public areas would be banned. If approved by the city clerk and attorney, 65,000 signatures would be needed prior to November to be put on the ballot.
However, not all are in agreement the ballot measure would solve the homeless problem. For Councilmember Mike Bonin, he doesn't believe the initiative would get at the cause of the homeless crisis.
"If we do this measure, if we make enforcement the imperative, if we make enforcement the thing that drives our decisions about what to provide, what type of housing to provide, what type of shelter to provide, it is a guarantee that Los Angeles will provide the lowest common denominator stuff in order to get to enforcement as quickly as possible ... and that's going to be wrong,'' Bonin stated.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.