First, you may recall that a couple weeks ago the City of LA filed a couple of motions in the street vending lawsuit. These were:
- A motion to dismiss the case and
- A motion to strike some material from the Plaintiffs’ complaint.
Tonight the plaintiffs filed their responses to these motions:
And turn the page for some material from the Department of Sanitation relating to homeless encampment cleanups. Most importantly, there is the City-Attorney-approved Standard Operating Procedure manual for cleanups. This is stunning, essential information.
You can see the whole set in the usual places:
But most importantly, read that Standard Operating Procedure manual. It confirms and fleshes out the procedure that Sean Starkey, CD13 intern, laid out for the cat-kicking landlord, Bryan Kim. In fact, I daresay that this detailed procedure, approved by the City Attorney and no doubt meant to prevent Judge James Otero from extending his injunction against enforcing LAMC 56.11 on Skid Row to the whole City, as happened with the Lavan thing, is too hard to actually follow to the letter, which, of course, is how such things must be followed.
It’s even plausible that the reason that the City is so unbelievably obstructionist with respect to attempts to get advance notice of encampment cleanups is that they aren’t actually able to follow this protocol, so that scrutiny of their efforts will inevitably lead to another City-wide injuction or at least other embarrassments and liabilities that they’d just as soon avoid. The political stakes are quite high, with the City’s zillionaire elite FTFO about Lavan itself, let alone another renewed version, just when they’re getting all jeansy-creamsy about the thought of Lavan ending. E.g. see here for slavering psychopath Mark Ryavec‘s lunatic screed on the matter. The idea that enforcement of the putatively new and improved LAMC 56.11 might be halted altogether no doubt has our councildudes and dudettes just terrified. How will they explain such a development to their lords and masters? Here’s a list of the steps the City’s supposed to follow. There’s really no chance that they’re actually following them:
Homeless Encampment Clean-up Authorization Protocol
Step #1 – REFERRAL: LASAN will initiate the Homeless Encampment clean-up authorization process by verifying the encampment and its location including City owned, managed, or maintained property, and by taking photographic evidence of the location. LASAN will then submit the information into a Homeless Encampment data management system. The required information fields consist of, but are not limited to the following:
1. Address and/or cross street locations of the homeless encampment (or closest address);
2. Description of the encampment(s), including photographs of the encampment;
3. Additional location description (i.e. alley, under bridge, on overpass, etc.),
4. Date location visited /assessed.
Step #2 – LAHSA AUTHORIZATION: Outreach to the homeless individuals in the area will be conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) or Other Homeless Service Provider (OHSP) to inform the homeless residents of the upcoming clean-up efforts and the requirement to relocate both themselves and their possessions from the clean-up areas prior to the clean-up date/time. During these visits, LAHSA or the OHSP shall offer available assistance and social services to the homeless in the designated area. Upon completion of the visits, LAHSA will sign off on the authorization.
Step #3 – LASAN – CHIEF ECO Authorization: Once LAHSA or OHSP has signed off, the authorization shall be reviewed and approved by the LASAN – Chief Environmental Officer, or his/her designee.
Step #4 – BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AUTHORIZATION: The President of the Board of Public Works or designated commissioner shall review and approve the clean-up. The authorization is valid for up to 90 days from BPW approval or through completion of the clean-up at the
location, whichever comes first.
Step #5 – HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT CLEAN-UP SCHEDULING: LASAN shall program and schedule encampment clean-ups.
Step #6 – NOTICING: As required in Procedure #3, a notice will be posted at the clean-up location a minimum of 24 hours in advance of the clean-up date/time (See Appendix 1). The posted notice shall be photographed by LASAN to document the notification of the pending clean-up. The Notice shall be valid for only 72 hours from posting. If the encampment clean-up cannot commence within 72 hours from posting, then a new posting must re-occur before the clean-up may commence.
Step #7 – DOCUMENTATION: The Designated LASAN Employee overseeing the clean-up shall document the clean-up, health hazard assessments and impounded property.
Image of the Fashion District is ©2016 MichaelKohlhaas.org.
