Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch Englander has to be the king of understatement. In a press conference this week he stated simply that Southern California cities’ approach to addressing homelessness is not working. It seems that across the West Coast cities are grappling with the same scourge: homelessness. I have often mused as to why that is? One thing that is undeniable is that many of the West Coast states, where policies have contributed to home prices skyrocketing, are run by Democrat governors. California has Jerry Brown, Oregon has Kate Brown, and Washington has Jay Inslee. All of these areas also have policies in place that limit growth, which causes the price of homes to rise. This, in turn, creates more homelessness when people cannot afford housing and are eventually forced onto the streets.

According to Councilman Englander, cities in the San Fernando Valley, just north of the greater LA area, cannot ignore the problem anymore. Everyone is affected. Businesses, homeowners, and visitors alike. According to Englander, it is also monopolizing public discourse. According to an article on the Daily News website:

“There’s not a conversation I have — whether it’s fixing a street, trimming a tree, walking to school or going to a grocery store — where we don’t talk about homelessness,” he said.”

His colleagues in Los Angeles Proper agree wholeheartedly. Many Southern California cities are grappling with the same kinds of issues that we in the PNW are dealing with in our own homeless crisis. Zombie RV’s that are littering neighborhoods, tents blocking public sidewalks, homeless begging on the highway on and off ramps. Seattle FINALLY decided to break up an area known as “The Jungle” due to the murder of a citizen by a homeless person who lived there last summer.