A video posted on social media by Westside For Everyone showed some members of the crowd disrupting the Aug. 3 meeting. (photo courtesy of Westside for Everyone)

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, 5th District, is making efforts to better inform constituents about a new interim housing project at Pico Boulevard and Midvale Avenue in Westwood after a group of 15-20 opponents disrupted a meeting on the project on Aug. 3 at Temple Isaiah.

Yaroslavsky and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass attended the community meeting, along with approximately 100 people, at the synagogue at 10345 W. Pico Blvd. They were outlining the interim housing proposal when a group began booing and jeering. A video filmed by an unnamed person in the crowd shows the disruption. The video was posted on social media by Westside For Everyone, a volunteer grassroots group working for more inclusive housing on the Westside. Some of the opponents wore blue tape over their mouths to illustrate that they feel they were being silenced.

City officials and Temple Isaiah leaders attempted to calm the opponents, and Bass said the meeting would be canceled if order was not restored. Shortly afterward, the crowd quieted and the meeting continued as Yaroslavsky outlined the project and answered questions. The councilwoman also held a Zoom meeting on the project on Aug. 6 attended by approximately 250 people.

“It was unfortunate, because most of the people who were there were really there to learn more and to have their questions answered, and a small number of people made it hard for others to get that information, which was disappointing,” Yaroslavsky said. “It was loud in the beginning, but once people quieted down and others were able to have their questions asked and answered, I think we were able to clarify and mitigate some of people’s concerns.”

The interim housing proposal calls for approximately 30 beds to be created on a city-owned parking lot at Pico Boulevard and Midvale Avenue. The goal is to house homeless individuals while permanent housing is built or identified, and they can be linked with city services. Because the city owns the lot, the project does not require planning commission or City Council approval. Yaroslavsky said interim housing is sorely lacking in the 5th Council District, and she hopes to open the site in 2024. Opponents of the project voiced concerns over transparency and a lack of information presented to the public about potential impacts at the site. Security and enforcement of rules preventing camping around the interim housing site were chief concerns.

The project will be constructed by LifeArk and will be operated by L.A. Family Housing, an organization that helps people transition out of homelessness. The site will have 24-hour security. Yaroslavsky said it is critical to create interim housing sites to ensure there are temporary shelters for homeless individuals entering the housing system. Because property values are high in the 5th District, the city is looking at locations where housing can be created on city property to reduce costs, she said.

“As I said before, my district is the only district in all of Los Angeles that doesn’t have any general population adult beds, and so we get calls all the time from constituents and businesses, especially in that neighborhood, with complaints wanting us to clear an encampment,” Yaroslavsky said. “As a candidate for office, I said we need to be offering people credible offers of housing. Otherwise, we’ll just move them from one sidewalk to another. So these beds are part of a larger strategy to bring beds online across the district and the city.”

Scott Epstein, former chair of the Mid City West Neighborhood Council and current policy and research director for the nonprofit Abundant Housing L.A., attended the meeting at Temple Isaiah and said the tension at the beginning was palpable. He supports the project at Pico and Midvale because it will create housing. Epstein said he also understands the public’s desire to be part of the planning process and added that the meeting was a chance to be heard.

“I think the meeting was well publicized. It was announced on multiple platforms,” Epstein added. “Could more have been done? I guess more could be done, but I think there [should be a] balance between public engagement and urgency. It’s important to understand the sample of people you see at these meetings is not representative of the public at large.”

Brad Kane, president of the South Carthay Neighborhood Association, did not attend the meeting at Temple Isaiah, but said part of the problem is people feel there is not enough responsiveness from the council office. He believes some people felt like the project was already a “done deal” when Yaroslavsky presented it at the meeting, and their opinions didn’t matter.

“Where is the dialogue with the community? Where is the conversation? This is one more thing that will get developed,” Kane said. “It comes across as, ‘we know better than you know.’ The community wants to know how we can work together.”

Yaroslavsky said her staff and the city worked to ensure that formal plans for the project existed before it was presented to the community.

“In terms of the process by which it was made public, it was important to us that we had thought through what we wanted to do before we went to the public, because we knew people would have questions, people would have concerns. We felt like it was important to be in a position to be far enough along that we can answer people’s questions, to show that we really put in a lot of thought and effort,” Yaroslavsky said. “Like I said to folks both on Thursday night in person and on the Zoom that we held on Sunday morning, this is the beginning of the process, and we’re going to have plenty of opportunities for community input. We want to make sure that this is something that’s a net positive for the community. I truly believe that a well-run housing development here will make the community safer, and it’s on me and my team and L.A. Family Housing, who’s going to be operating the facility, to really keep that promise.”

Yaroslavsky’s spokesman Leo Daube said people will have more opportunities to weigh-in on the project in the coming weeks. He also encouraged those who would like to provide additional input to email them to councilmember.yaroslavsky@lacity.org.

A rendering shows the new interim housing project at Pico Boulevard and Midvale Avenue. (rendering courtesy of Katy Yaroslavsky’s office)

Editor’s Note: The subhead for the print version of this story mistakenly described the project as an interim “shelter.” The project will provide interim housing, which is different than a shelter, which only allows people to stay overnight and requires them to leave each day. Interim housing, while temporary, allows people to stay for extended periods while they receive services and are connected with permanent housing.