By Los Angeles County Politics
The fight over who controls Los Angeles County’s homelessness system is on hold, as members of the Los Angeles Continuum of Care (CoC) wait for a new date to vote on whether to hand the county sole authority over the region’s federal homelessness functions.
The county’s Department of Homeless Services and Housing (HSH) postponed the vote Friday after attendance exceeded the meeting’s online platform capacity. Mayor Karen Bass’ office had urged supporters to attend and reject the county plan, arguing that 62% of the county’s unhoused residents live in the city, according to the LA Squawk Box newsletter.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson (D-South Los Angeles) and Councilmembers Ysabel Jurado (D-Boyle Heights), Tim McOsker (D-San Pedro) and Imelda Padilla (D-Van Nuys) blasted the board afterward in a joint statement, saying a county-only plan shuts the city out.
“Let’s set the record straight: the City of Los Angeles provides the overwhelming majority of housing for the region. Although LA City funds hundreds of millions for housing, the County decides who gets placed in it, putting people from surrounding cities in beds funded by LA City taxpayers,” said the mayor and councilmembers.
The county’s HSH disputes that.
“LA County doesn’t currently decide who is placed into beds funded by the City of Los Angeles. Those decisions are made by the City and would continue to be if HSH were chosen,” the department said in a statement.
The CoC is the federally required body that coordinates U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) homelessness funding for the region, covering all of LA County except Glendale, Long Beach and Pasadena. For decades, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) has led the effort, submitting the region’s joint funding application, running its homeless data and coordinated entry systems, and conducting the annual homeless count.
That arrangement unraveled this year after the Trump administration suspended $239 million in federal funding to LAHSA this summer. In September, LAHSA said it would not continue as lead agency starting next year. A federal appeals court has ruled that LAHSA remains the lead for 2026, with this year’s funding application due Wednesday.
The county applied for all four of LAHSA’s roles and the city for two, according to the Westside Current. A CoC board panel scored the county highest, according to the LA Squawk Box, and the board recommended HSH for all four roles.
The county says HSH received the highest score on every application and recused itself from votes where it had a conflict, according to its statement.
The vote is the latest chapter in a power struggle that began when the Board of Supervisors voted in April 2025 to pull hundreds of millions of dollars from LAHSA and create HSH, over Bass’ objections. LAHSA was created in 1993 as a joint city-county agency.
The mayor and councilmembers said the current proposal leaves no room for collaborative governance or public input, and urged residents, business owners, advocates and providers to attend the rescheduled meeting.
The county countered, saying in its statement that it is committed to a collaborative, transparent and fully regional homelessness response.
The CoC’s board is scheduled to meet in closed session at 10 a.m. today at LAHSA’s downtown offices to confer with legal counsel on LAHSA’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over the funding suspension. The agenda does not include the vote on the county proposal.
No new date for the general membership vote had been announced as of the time of posting.
