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Garcetti’s homeless director departs for Santa Monica job

A scene of homelessness last month in downtown Los Angeles.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
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Alisa Orduña, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s homelessness policy director, is leaving her post to take a similar position with the city of Santa Monica.

Orduña was appointed director in 2016, when then-director Greg Spiegel left to go to the Inner City Law Center, where he previously worked.

Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar said Orduña’s last day will be Feb. 2 and that the mayor’s office is working to fill the director position “as quickly as possible.”

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The turnover on Garcetti’s team comes as city leaders struggle with a rise in homelessness and neighborhood complaints about encampments and trash.

Signaling a new approach to the crisis, Garcetti is looking to house dozens of homeless people in trailers on a city-owned downtown lot — a possible model for citywide temporary shelters.

Orduña didn’t respond to a request for comment. She will work as Santa Monica’s senior advisor on homelessness, a newly created position, said Santa Monica spokeswoman Constance Farrell.

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dakota.smith@latimes.com

Twitter: @dakotacdsmith

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