Brickbat: Handholding on Homelessness

U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter sharply criticized Los Angeles city officials for mismanaging billions of dollars spent on homelessness, calling it a “slow train wreck” during a hearing with top leaders like Mayor Karen Bass and City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson. Carter pointed to a recent audit showing the city couldn’t track over $2 billion because the Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency failed to collect accurate data or hold contractors accountable, a problem consistently seen in audits of the agency. Carter demanded a new forensic audit to check for fraud and waste, giving officials until May to fix the issues, and warned he might appoint an outside receiver to take control of the city’s homelessness funds if they don’t improve transparency and accountability.