Nov. 21, 2025 7 AM PT
To the editor: Urban Alchemy, a homeless services provider for the city of L.A., received $2.3 million for providing 88 beds, but on an inspection in June, the special master saw only 44 in use (“L.A. city told the court there were 88 beds at a homeless shelter, but 44 of them were missing,” Nov. 14). Yet the provider was paid in full because while the city checks invoices against contracts (what accountants call a “two-way match”), it does not bother to verify the invoice against the actual services provided (a necessary “three-way match”).
Worse, an attorney for the city from Gibson Dunn insisted to U.S. District Judge David O. Carter that the appointed special master “has no authority” to review the city’s compliance with the law.
Every bit of this process has to change. Where are Mayor Karen Bass and our City Council in this?
Denis Cagna, Los Angeles