Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass visited a senior center in Koreatown Oct. 20 as she campaigns for reelection, touting a reduction in homelessness during her first term and committing toward increasing Korean representation in L.A. government and the Los Angeles Police Department.<\/p>\n
About 100 seniors welcomed Bass during their regular morning gathering, despite initial unease over the campaign posters and cameras. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe mayor\u2019s residence is right by, so I\u2019m your neighbor,\u201d Bass said at the start of her speech at the Koreatown Senior Center. <\/p>\n
The Getty House, the official residence of the mayor, is an estimated five minute walk or 0.2 mile distance from the Koreatown Senior Center.<\/p>\n
Bass told stories of her early years as a community organizer in the late 1980s and 1990s, where her grassroots campaigns intersected with Korean American business owners and residents.<\/p>\n
During her speech, Bass also pointed to her appointment of Dominic Choi, the first Korean-American to hold the interim position as chief of the LAPD. <\/p>\n
On addressing homelessness in City Council District 13, which includes Koreatown, Bass promised residents safety and security with her signature Inside Safe initiative.<\/p>\n
CD 13 recorded three consecutive years of declining homelessness; unsheltered homelessness decreased by 21% since last year, and by 40% since Bass took office, according to the Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the press after the event, she addressed managing the budget for Inside Safe considering recent cuts from the federal government and pauses on subsidies. <\/p>\n
She called for city control over homelessness services, describing the current city\u2013county joint powers agreement as \u201cdysfunctional.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to be in control, so we can have a transparent and accountable system,\u201d Bass said. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard right now when you\u2019re mixed between the city and the county. So that\u2019s one fundamental change that needs to take place.\u201d<\/p>\n