Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing renewed criticism after the latest annual homeless count showed a 3.4% increase in homelessness within the city, breaking two consecutive years of decline. Local real estate veteran and activist John Alle accused the mayor of failing to understand the severity of the crisis, saying she has repeatedly refused invitations to see conditions firsthand in the hardest-hit neighborhoods.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released its 2026 homeless count Friday, estimating 45,194 people experiencing homelessness in the city and 73,040 across the Los Angeles Continuum of Care, which excludes Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale. The agency noted that while the increases were not statistically significant, street homelessness rose 7.9% in Los Angeles and 3.3% countywide, with an estimated 29,115 people living on the streets in the city. Funding cuts affecting Time-Limited Subsidies and other economic factors reduced the number of people permanently housed by about 5,100 from the 2024 record high of 28,625.
«She doesn't get it. She doesn't see it,» Alle, a Santa Monica business owner and co-founder of the Santa Monica Coalition who owns properties across Los Angeles, told Fox News Digital. «We've invited her numerous times to ride along with us through Alvarado, Third Street, Park View, MacArthur Park and Westlake. Come drive with us. Have a police officer follow behind for security. And she refused.» Alle described conditions in neighborhoods such as Little Bangladesh, which Bass has previously called one of «LA's most vibrant communities,» saying crime «has gotten so bad.» He reported finding people unconscious on the streets, handymen picking up discarded needles, and tenants witnessing overdoses, attacks and murders outside their apartment buildings. He also noted that 911 calls sometimes go unanswered for an hour or more.
In a press release responding to the data, Bass argued that funding cuts «at the federal and state levels» contributed to the rise, adding that the Trump administration had «driven up the cost of gas, groceries, and rent — pushing more families to the edge — and slashed critical safety net funding.» She also acknowledged in a May interview that she did not fulfill her promise to end street homelessness by 2026 because she «didn't anticipate some of the bureaucratic barriers» her administration would face. The mayor pointed to two years of historic reductions before the latest uptick, but Alle dismissed those claims, saying the lived reality for residents and small businesses has not improved.
Alle’s coalition has taken a different approach. He partnered with an artificial intelligence company to create an AI-powered hotline that has helped more than 40 homeless people return to their home states over the past year. The coalition collaborates with local law enforcement to pay for bus, plane or train tickets for those who voluntarily leave — a program aimed at reuniting people with family or connecting them with treatment programs. «They've called us from shelters. They've called us from parks. The people calling aren't entrenched with the drugs or the gangs. They came here for noble reasons,» Alle said, describing the «heartbreaking» but hopeful scenes of families embracing loved ones who return home after recovery. «One person saved is great. Fifteen percent, and the 40 people we've saved, is tremendous,» he added, while acknowledging the program will not solve the entire crisis.
The ongoing crisis and the mayor’s record are likely to feature prominently in the upcoming mayoral election. Bass will face off against progressive City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who chairs the city’s Homelessness and Poverty Committee and has her own record on the issue. For now, activists like Alle are pressing Bass to see the problem up close — and to take what they consider more concrete action. «The streetlights are out. The rubbish isn't collected. The streets are dirty,» he said. «It's one thing to complain about copper wire theft, but we're just talking about normal streetlights and replacing the bulbs.»
