Mayor Bass Criticized for Missing Half Homeless Board Meetings

Mayor Karen Bass faces a fresh storm of criticism after missing more than half the recent board sessions on homelessness while the city reels from high rates of vagrancy. LAist uncovered that Bass skipped 13 out of 21 Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority meetings since last August. The numbers are even starker when looking at her entire tenure: she has missed 25 of 47 gatherings since appointing herself to the commission in October 2023. City rules updated in March allow for removal after just four absences within a year, yet here we are with over half the sessions left empty.

This controversy erupts right as liberal leaders in Los Angeles voted to lift bans on certain homeless encampments. Last Tuesday, the City Council dropped restrictions on 12 sites in neighborhoods led by District 13 Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez. Expectations now point toward a surge of unhoused individuals returning to places like the Hollywood Rec Center, Barnsdall Art Park, Silver Lake, and Echo Park. When Bass joined the ten-member commission back then, officials billed her move as stepping up to transform the agency for the better.

Questions about her focus on this crisis have now surfaced hard. Justin Szlasa, the agency's commissioner, slammed the pattern of no-shows. "That's why we have a commission," he told LAist. "It's not just about achieving a quorum. It's about people who are focused on considering the issue, tracking the things as they unfold and being part of that deliberative process. If people don't show up, they can't do that." This reality ignores his earlier promise to bring Angelenos inside from encampments with locked arms.

Public sentiment remains severe. A 2024 survey by the University of Southern California found that roughly 93 percent of LA residents see homelessness as a major problem in the county. Nearly two-thirds, about 64 percent, believe it is an issue right here in their own neighborhoods. Despite these staggering figures and Bass's absence from the room, her office claims she stays up to date on all actions taken by LAHSA. Data released by the authority puts the count at 72,195 homeless people in Los Angeles County as of 2025. The situation is dire, and the lack of leadership presence feels like a massive failing right now.

A photo from June 2026 shows an encampment in Skid Row while the larger story plays out behind closed doors at LAHSA. The agency has not moved to remove Bass from her role on the commission despite ongoing disputes over her attendance record. Ahmad Chapman, the communications director for LAHSA, explained to LAist that the board and its committees have consistently achieved a quorum. They fulfilled their responsibilities so LAHSA did not notify the City or the County regarding commissioner attendance issues. This silence from officials suggests limited access to information about internal governance failures. The LAHSA Commission manages budgeting, funding, and planning for the homelessness-related agency while overseeing hundreds of millions in public funds. Bass recently touted her administration's record on homelessness, stating that city leaders ignored this crisis for decades. She declared she would never stop fighting until street homelessness ends because no Angeleno should sleep outside. Data released last year showed 72,195 homeless people in LA County, a slight drop from the 75,312 count recorded in 2024. A survey found that roughly 93 percent of residents consider homelessness a major problem for their county. Soto-Martínez argued banning encampments makes it harder for outreach workers to engage people and connect them with housing. He led a measure aiming to lift the prohibition on encampments which passed last Tuesday with a 10-3 vote. The municipal code at the heart of the ban makes it illegal for anyone to sit, lie, sleep or place property on any street, sidewalk or public right-of-way. Soto-Martínez claimed his district reduced street homelessness by more than 40 percent by connecting people with housing and services instead of simply moving them. He emphasized that schools would not be affected by this legislative change. Bass is currently running against Nithya Raman for mayor while Raman voted in favor of removing the ban on encampments. A spokesman for LAHSA told the Daily Mail that commission bylaws contain a specific section on attendance requirements. The board maintained it has consistently achieved a quorum and fulfilled its duties so no notification was sent to city or county officials. The Daily Mail reached out to Bass's office and campaign for comment but received no immediate response.