Letters to the Editor: How an RV park crackdown shows L.A. still doesn't get it on homelessness

Los Angeles Times Opinion
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Residents are concerned over an illegal, makeshift RV park behind a Sylmar home, with some saying the unsanitary conditions are posing major safety concerns. The residence is zoned as a single-family home which neighbors said is not meant to accommodate such a large number of people. Located on the 14000 block of Hubbard Street in Sylmar.
Residents of a Sylmar neighborhood say a makeshift RV park behind a home poses major safety and sanitation concerns. (KTLA)

To the editor: From reading articles in The Times about homelessness, one understands that homeless housing construction in Los Angeles costs at least $500,000 per unit. So, the Sylmar lot with its 20 units of recreational vehicle sites represents at least $10 million of value to the city of Los Angeles. ("Makeshift RV park stirs controversy in Sylmar. But is it a hazard or a help?" July 1)

That lot provides homes for folks that might otherwise be queued up for those $500,000 units. Is the city helping this place exist? Perhaps with minor subsidies, permit assistance or utility connections?

Afraid not. The owner of the lot is facing a criminal complaint from the Los Angeles city attorney's office.

This article could have been about our new mayor's administration stepping to the plate to support a struggling community resource; instead, we are faced with just another example of bureaucratic heavy-handedness.

John Arcos, Long Beach

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To the editor: With so much of the focus on building new shelters, new subsidized apartments and new "tiny homes" for the unhoused, there is one simple, elegant solution that never seems to be discussed — having local governments simply pay the rent.

Similar to a federal Section 8 voucher, this program would identify residents behind on the their rent payments for two to six months, and once qualified, the local government would directly pay the landlords.

People in this program would need to receive intensive case management in getting mental health counseling, job assistance and other vital living skills until they could start to pay a portion of their rent and over time pay at least 50% of their rent.

This "rent-first" program would keep people in their current place of residence and prevent people from ever pitching a tent on the sidewalk in the first place.

Michelle Wolf, Los Angeles

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.