Before the vote, a group of advocates for the unhoused disrupted the meeting; two people were taken away in handcuffs.
. At that time, L.A. Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told Council members that students at some schools were seeing and hearing things that no parent would find acceptable for kids.
“There is a fair balance that needs to be achieved in terms of long-term development of strategies and plans to deal with homelessness in our community,” he said.Last week, activists took over City Council chambers for about an hour, saying the ordinance would criminalize unhoused people in L.A. Council President Nury Martinez defended the proposal, saying it will protect L.A. Unified School District students.
"The least I can do for my community is to be able to clear the public right-of-way for them to send their kids to school every day and feel safe," she said."If it was really about children's safety, you would be investing more money in permanent supportive housing, wraparound services and ensuring that people are able to access housing as needed," he said.
"Who is going to be responsible for reporting and monitoring these situations?” she said. “If it's school administration, if it's teachers and families, then it doesn't sound like a good use of resources."Some Council members said they are already doing so.