Los Angeles community organizations and unions call on the LA City Council to hold emergency meeting in response to COVID-19.
Renters, unhoused residents and workers need immediate relief, groups say.
In response to Council President Nury Martinez’ cancellation of a scheduled Tuesday, March 24, 2020 City Council meeting, organizations working in a newly formed network called Healthy LA responded by calling on LA City Council to immediately schedule an emergency council meeting this week.
Groups operating under the Healthy LA banner have been calling on Council to enact a number of emergency responses to protect the city’s most vulnerable. The coalition’s legislative proposals can be found here.
“Los Angeles City Council must show leadership during a crisis that will have devastating impacts on Angelenos,” said Laura Raymond from Alliance for Community Transit – Los Angeles, a broad coalition endorsing Healthy LA.
“The city council has a moral obligation to do their job during this crisis to listen, respond to, and protect the health of their residents. We urge the City Council to call for an emergency meeting before the end of the week to ensure the public health, well-being, and future of our city.” said Rev. Rae Chen Huang from LA Voice.
“The last thing tenants should be worried about during this time is getting evicted. Council must address the gaps in the current eviction limits this week,” said Cynthia Strathmann, Executive Director of Strategic Action for a Just Economy.
“In this moment of unprecedented unity among 150 organizations and massive civic mobilization in support of the Healthy LA platform, we expect to see the City Council step up and pass bold measures to protect workers, support our unhoused neighbors, and ensure people can stay in their homes without fear of eviction or foreclosure,” said David Levitus, Executive Director of LA Forward
“For the past year, the Services Not Sweeps coalition has demanded basic public health measures at encampments. It is more urgent than ever that City Council follows through with deploying bathrooms, handwashing stations, showers, and dumpsters at informal settlements throughout Los Angeles to protect the health of all Angelenos,” said Jane Nguyen, Co-founder of Ktown for All.
