At a heated meeting at City Hall, Los Angeles lawmakers pressed forward Friday with a plan to set up emergency shelters for homeless people across the city, voting unanimously to start assessing possible sites in Koreatown, Venice, Hollywood, Harvard Heights and the Westside.
The debate in council chambers revolved entirely around Koreatown, where massive protestshave erupted over a possible site near the busy hub of Vermont and Wilshire. The plan has become politically explosive for City Council President Herb Wesson, who urged Angelenos to rally behind the effort to get people off the streets.
“I’m asking for the people of this city to say, we are sick and we are tired of people sleeping on the street,” Wesson said before the vote.
“Good people, do you know what’s happening here in L.A.? We are driving past — oh my God, we are driving past homeless people and we’re not seeing them. When that happens, that is the end of our humanity,” Wesson said, his voice ragged with emotion.