Karen Bass told us throughout the primary election campaign that the best reason to give her another four years as mayor was that she brought down homelessness.
That argument has now imploded.
Los Angeles’ Point-in-Time homeless count is expected to show a sharp increase, per the latest report due Friday.
Had that reality been known before the June 2 election, the result might have been very different.
The city’s spike in homelessness comes after two years of modestly declining numbers –– and Bass’ sustained touting of those meager gains. Now, Bass and the City Council are scrambling to explain why, despite throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at the problem, LA’s homeless population is growing.
In a horrendous return on investment, the city and county spend a combined $3 billion a year on homelessness –– and get perpetual squalor, The California Post has revealed.
That’s maddening.
And Bass’ preferred narrative –– blaming others, including the Trump administration –– is just pathetic.
The mayor and council members own LA’s homelessness failure.
They perpetually shove taxpayers’ money at programs that fail.
For instance, LA still hands millions of dollars a year to the troubled LA Homeless Services Authority –– even as the county all but shunned the agency in 2025 and the Trump administration pulled $200 million in federal money amid a probe of alleged financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest and poor contract oversight.
Meanwhile, Bass touts her signature Inside Safe program for moving thousands at least temporarily indoors. But the Point-in-Time data spike in street living –– as high as an 8% increase –– unmasks the limits of this much-hyped approach.
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Reality is, too much of LA’s homeless spending flows to a “homeless industrial complex” that exploits and entrenches human misery.
Government agencies and bloated nonprofits, paid to “help” the homeless with Band-Aids like clean shirts, have a huge financial incentive to keep the sidewalks full.
So it’s easy to see why instead of real improvement, LA remains America’s premier showcase for visible homelessness catastrophe –– a city pockmarked by open drug use, fires in vacant buildings and collapsing quality of life in once-vibrant neighborhoods.
What’s more, LA’s homelessness numbers might be even higher than reported.
The Point-in-Time count, an annual volunteer-driven snapshot, has long faced questions about accuracy. RAND studies have documented significant undercounts in areas like Hollywood, Skid Row, and Venice.
The blame for all this dysfunction rests squarely with Bass and council members who routinely vote to waste billions to perpetuate bad policy.
The “Housing First” model –– prioritizing placement without preconditions –– fails to address the causes of homelessness, which often include long-term substance abuse and mental-health disorders. Without serious treatment pathways, many simply cycle endlessly between shelters and the streets, proving once again that ideology makes a poor substitute for results.
Meanwhile, California’s homelessness audits have flagged poor tracking of funds, exorbitant per-unit costs for permanent supportive housing, and underwhelming outcomes from providers.
No wonder Bass would rather focus on Trump, the state, LA County –– anything but her own record.
Her criticism of the president –– she cited rising costs for gas, groceries and rent, plus federal funding suspensions –– fits the all-too-familiar progressive playbook: When results falter, externalize blame with enthusiasm. But slamming Washington for a crisis that’s festered under years of LA’s progressive one-party rule is intellectually dishonest.
Blaming Trump and other “villains” might rally the base. But Angelenos deserve leaders who understand that genuine compassion requires order, accountability, fiscal discipline –– and perhaps above all, the courage to abandon failed policies.
Until that happens, the cycle of touting temporary gains, wasting billions and blaming others will continue.
Richie Greenberg is a political commentator based in San Francisco.
The post Karen Bass’ pathetic push to blame others for spike in LA homelessness appeared first on New York Post.
