The Los Angeles City Council has approved $177 million in contracts for tenant-rights attorneys who frequently sue the city and groups that protest against the LAPD.
The decision, made with a 12–1 vote following a closed-door session with the City Attorney on Tuesday, saw Councilmember John Lee as the sole dissenter among the Independent council members.
Council members were briefed on concerns related to past contracts with these groups, including allegations of improper financial reporting and lack of transparency on how taxpayer funds were utilized.
Tenant-rights activists filled the council chambers and hallways before the vote, displaying signs and chanting in anticipation of the decision.
Councilmember Nithya Raman, who chairs the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee and has been advocating for expanding the city’s eviction-defense network, spearheaded the approval of the $177 million tenant-rights legal services package.
The funding will go to several politically influential nonprofits, including the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), the Liberty Hill Foundation, and the Southern California Housing Rights Center, which collectively form the Stay Housed L.A. eviction-defense coalition.
The $177 million allocation surpasses the annual budgets of various Los Angeles city departments combined, such as Animal Services, the Department on Disability, and the administrative offices of Board of Public Works.
The largest share of the funding, exceeding $106 million, is expected to be received by the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), which has been actively involved in litigation against the city, with 12 pending suits in State and Federal courts.
One of LAFLA's attorneys, Shayla Myers, recently obtained a court ruling that prevented the city from towing and dismantling inoperable RVs used by homeless residents, a move that drew criticism from some city officials.
Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, another organization linked to the contracts, has a history of high-profile activism, including advocating for defunding and abolishing the LAPD, boycotting city hotels, opposing the LA28 Olympics, and supporting rent and mortgage freezes during the pandemic.
The eviction defense initiative began in April 2020 with a $7.1 million emergency contract with LAFLA during the COVID-19 eviction crisis. Subsequent amendments expanded the agreement to $76 million over three years, prompting concerns from the City Attorney’s Office about the lack of competitive bidding.
Funding for these contracts primarily comes from Measure ULA, a voter-approved "mansion tax" aimed at addressing housing instability and homelessness. However, there are concerns that an upcoming ballot measure could repeal ULA, potentially requiring the city to reimburse funds already spent.
During the council session, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez highlighted the need for proper oversight of the contracts, emphasizing the importance of detailed documentation for payments. Rodriguez introduced an amendment requiring contractors to clearly differentiate administrative costs from direct program services and mandated the Housing Department to provide annual expenditure reports to the City Council.
Despite some opposition, including from Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Nithya Raman, the amendment was passed along with the broader motion approving the funding.
0 Comments