The Mayor\u2019s Office told LAist that, regardless of Bass’ attendance record, she has kept up to date on what LAHSA \u2014 which is responsible for managing the region\u2019s homelessness response \u2014 has been doing.<\/p>\n
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But the optics could be a problem, especially as Bass fights for reelection in November and as LAHSA, which has been under intense scrutiny, fights for its survival in and out of court.<\/p>\n
LAHSA Commissioner Justin Szlasa told LAist that attendance at the commission meetings, which require a majority of commissioners for a quorum, is important, whether it\u2019s the mayor or any other appointee. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we have a commission,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s not just about achieving a quorum. It\u2019s about people who are focused on considering the issue, tracking the things as they unfold and being part of that deliberative process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people don\u2019t show up, they can\u2019t do that,\u201d Szlasa said.<\/p>\n
Wendy Greuel, the former L.A. city controller and a member of the commission, said Bass\u2019 attendance record hasn\u2019t been a problem. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s never been a mayor that has understood more the issue of homelessness and been as engaged as Mayor Bass,\u201d said Greuel, who was reappointed to the commission by Bass after being named a decade ago by former L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer voice, whether in a commission meeting or outside of the commission meeting, has been important and greater than any mayor in my history,\u201d she told LAist.<\/p>\n
Why the LAHSA Commission matters<\/p>\n
The members of the LAHSA Commission make policy and funding decisions for the agency, including approving its nearly $500 million budget and its contracts with local shelters and nonprofit service providers. LAHSA directs 86% of its funding to those providers, and commissioners are responsible for overseeing how hundreds of millions of public dollars are spent.<\/p>\n
Representation on the commission is split evenly between city and county. L.A.\u2019s mayor chooses half the commission\u2019s voting members. Each of the five county supervisors choose one appointee.<\/p>\n
Commissioners are unpaid volunteers, most of whom have full-time jobs and other responsibilities.<\/p>\n
According to the bylaws, commissioners who are absent four times within a year may be subject to removal. The elected official who appointed them \u201cshall be notified that an appointment needs to be made to fill a vacancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
But LAHSA said it did not notify Bass\u2019 office about her own pattern of absences, or any other commissioner. The agency has interpreted the bylaws to give it discretion on whether or not to make those notifications. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commission and its committees have consistently achieved a quorum and fulfilled their responsibilities, so LAHSA has not notified the City or the County regarding commissioner attendance,\u201d said Ahmad Chapman, LAHSA\u2019s communications director, in a statement. <\/p>\n
At least six of 10 members must be present to open the public meeting or for the group to vote on anything.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Mayor\u2019s Office told LAist that Bass\u2019 four other appointees \u201calerted her when her attendance was needed,\u201d and kept her informed about its activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is unprecedented for a mayor to sit on the Board of LAHSA,\u201d Ilanna Morales said in a statement. \u201cShe was on the Commission to make key decisions and participate in key discussions that impacted the City.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Panelists](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783945937_127_.jpeg\")
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A LAHSA Commission meeting on April 25, 2025. Mayor Karen Bass was not in attendance.<\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Samanta Helou Hernandez<\/p>\n
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LAist<\/p>\n
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How LAist checked attendance<\/p>\n
LAist reviewed three years of meeting records and found that other commissioners had four or more absences over a single 12-month period.<\/p>\n
Those records show that one of Bass’ appointees, Tanisha Saunders, missed 12 of 21 commission meetings between Aug. 15, 2025, and Aug. 15, 2026. Since Bass appointed Saunders in May 2023, Saunders has been absent from 18 of 53 LAHSA Commission meetings, with an uptick in absences this year, according to an LAist analysis of meeting records.<\/p>\n
Saunders is a former foster youth and a former child development advocate who manages a permanent supportive housing site for an affordable housing nonprofit in Venice, according to her biography<\/a> on LAHSA\u2019s website. She did not immediately respond to LAist\u2019s interview requests, or questions about her attendance record sent by email.<\/p>\n Greuel told LAist that Saunders is an important voice on the board. <\/p>\n \u201cI value the perspective Commissioner Saunders brings to the Commission, including being a person with lived experience and a full-time job who understands firsthand the systems and communities affected by our decisions,\u201d Greuel told LAist. <\/p>\n \u201cIf she has a conflict due to her work schedule or other obligations, she routinely confirms proactively whether the meeting has a quorum so her absence will not impact the commission’s work,” Greuel continued. <\/p>\n Bass reappointed<\/a> Saunders to the commission in May to serve through 2029.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last month, county Supervisor Holly Mitchell replaced her appointee Yasmine-Imani McMorrin on the commission. McMorrin, a Culver City Council member, had missed half of the 22 meetings held over the previous year. It is unclear whether that\u2019s the reason she was replaced. <\/p>\n Neither Mitchell nor McMorrin responded to requests for comment. <\/p>\n Szlasa, an entrepreneur and homelessness policy advocate, said a seat on the commission is more than a part-time job. He has argued<\/a> the agency should offer an optional financial stipend to the commissioners.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a lot of time, a lot of commitment,\u201d Szlasa told LAist. \u201cIt\u2019s something valuable that\u2019s happening and the commissioners should receive a stipend, if they opt for it, for the meetings they attend.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to the 21 LAHSA Commission meetings over the past year, commissioners are also assigned to working committees focused on specific subject areas. Each of those groups has its own regular meetings. <\/p>\n For example, Saunders serves on the audit committee, which directs internal audit reviews of LAHSA\u2019s spending, policies and performance. Saunders missed just one of 13 audit committee meetings during her time, according to public records. <\/p>\n Bass served on the same audit committee for several months, until January. She did not attend a single meeting, recording five straight absences before being replaced by another commissioner. <\/p>\n Why another elected official left the LAHSA board <\/p>\n While Bass was the first L.A. mayor to appoint herself<\/a> to the LAHSA Commission, she was not the first or only elected official to do so.<\/p>\n County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath appointed herself to the commission nearly a year earlier. Horvath told LAist she originally appointed herself to the board to try to reform LAHSA, encouraging her colleagues to do the same. <\/p>\n \u201cBroken systems can\u2019t be reformed from the sidelines,\u201d Horvath said. <\/p>\n After serving two years, Horvath said she determined LAHSA could not make necessary changes. She last attended a meeting on Nov. 15, 2024, and said her commission experience “helped drive the County\u2019s decision to fundamentally change the homeless services system.”<\/p>\n Within months of Horvath resigning from the commission, the Board of Supervisors voted to divert more than $300 million in annual funding from LAHSA. By then, a string of reviews found LAHSA had failed to properly manage the tax dollars she and other regional leaders have entrusted to it.<\/p>\n Horvath told LAist she worked to stop “millions of County dollars from flowing through LAHSA when it failed to deliver the accountability and results taxpayers deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n LAHSA’s future remains deeply uncertain.<\/p>\n In June, the Trump administration suspended LAHSA from federal grant activity, citing financial mismanagement. LAHSA sued to overturn the suspension, and a judge paused it. A trial is now set for April 2027.<\/p>\n A tent in downtown Los Angeles on June 11, 2026. Mayor Bass has said eliminating street homelessness is a top priority.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Apu Gomes<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n How homelessness factors into the race for mayor<\/p>\n Bass is running for reelection in November and one of her key promises is to make progress on homelessness. After celebrating<\/a> two years of decreases in the annual homeless count, this year’s annual count <\/a>found street homelessness rose 8% in the city of L.A. That increase has weakened Bass\u2019 pitch to voters. <\/p>\n Bass says she\u2019s still working to end street homelessness. She’s promising a shift away from pricey motel rooms to cheaper types of shelter and services for unhoused Angelenos, including on city-owned land. <\/p>\n \u201cWe actually need to transform the entire system,\u201d Bass said last week at a mayoral debate hosted by the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association. \u201cThe city needs to be in control.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cRight now, one of the fundamental dysfunctional features of the system is it’s governed by the city, it’s governed by the county, and it’s governed by LAHSA,\u201d Bass continued.<\/p>\n As of this year, LAHSA is funded primarily by the city of L.A., which now provides 73% of the regional homelessness agency\u2019s budget. City officials have been slowly considering L.A.\u2019s next steps for managing the city\u2019s approach to homelessness, including whether LAHSA will remain involved.<\/p>\n Bass made absenteeism an issue in mayoral debate <\/p>\n During last week’s debate<\/a>, Bass brought up meeting absenteeism, accusing Councilmember Nithya Raman, her rival on the November ballot, of skipping Los Angeles City Council meetings specifically \u2014 and missing \u201cthousands of votes.\u201d<\/p>\n Raman said some of her absences were because she was attending other board meetings she served on as a city representative. Raman noted that Bass had appointed her to serve on some of those boards.<\/p>\n \u201cOther council members have outside appointments, too,\u201d Bass fired back. \u201cYou are not the only one. But they find their way to work.\u201d<\/p>\n Bass serves on various governing boards, including chairing the board of directors for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. She has faced some criticism<\/a> for absences on the Metro board. <\/p>\n Metro has a reserved board seat for L.A.\u2019s mayor, making that role a requirement of Bass\u2019 full-time job \u2014 unlike the LAHSA Commission. <\/p>\n Bass\u2019 self-appointed three-year term on the Commission expired June 30. LAHSA and a spokesperson for Bass\u2019 office said she is still a member, but did not confirm whether she had formally reappointed<\/a> herself. <\/p>\n The next LAHSA Commission meeting is scheduled for Friday.<\/p>\n How to attend<\/p>\n When: Friday, Aug. 28 at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n Where: LAHSA, 637 Wilshire Blvd.<\/a>, 1st Floor commission room, Los Angeles<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787576772_555_.jpeg\")
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