L.A. Sues County on Homeless Aid; Antonovich Calls Action ‘Frivolous’

Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn, charging that Los Angeles County has been derelict in caring for the homeless, filed suit Wednesday asking for court action to compel the county to provide more housing and relief for the needy.

But Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Antonovich, responding to Hahn’s allegations, said the county has met its obligations and announced plans to file a countersuit against the city.

“Today’s (city) action falls in the category of a frivolous lawsuit,” Antonovich said. “The county in its last budget spent in excess of $184 million for those who are in need.”

In announcing the city’s lawsuit, Hahn said Los Angeles has spent about $1 million this year to provide emergency care for the homeless that the county is legally obligated to provide.

“What we’re trying to do is get the county to pay for their fair share of the burden,” said Hahn, adding later, “It’s been very convenient for the county to sit by and watch the city try to fashion solutions.”

The county provides mandatory and discretionary aid to the county’s needy, with the lion’s share going to the homeless, according to county officials. Much of that assistance comes in general relief payments to qualified applicants, hotel room vouchers and the food stamp program, which the county administers.

Citing a study he released Wednesday, Hahn charged that the complicated relief procedures seem designed to discourage applicants and said the supervisors are more concerned about saving money than doling it out.

The city attorney criticized county supervisors for not reacting to the “emergency situation” created by the influx of thousands of homeless people into the city. With the city’s “urban campground” scheduled to close Aug. 10, Hahn said the action was timed to allow the court to take action before the homeless return to the streets.

City’s Attack on Problem

The campground, opened in June after a police crackdown on homeless encampments on Skid Row streets, was the latest in a series of efforts by the city to combat the homeless problem. Last winter, prompted by cold weather and a burgeoning homeless population, the city opened temporary shelters while the county did nothing, he said.

“We have been fulfilling our obligation,” Hahn said. “What we’re asking the county to do is fulfill theirs.”

In the suit, Hahn alleges that the county has failed to aid the mentally ill, makes it difficult to get relief and has refused to provide enough housing for the county’s homeless population.

Critical of City

But Antonovich responded that the city has exacerbated the problem, saying that the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency has been responsible for the destruction of “over 4,000 units” of low-income housing in the Skid Row area.

He said the county’s efforts have been “adequate to meet basic food, clothing and shelter needs of the indigent,” and defended the procedures of the general relief program, which restricts eligibility. He said the county’s actions have been upheld in previous lawsuits.

The supervisor charged that the Hahn is asking for easy distribution that would “lead to rampant welfare fraud.”

The countersuit will be “against the city, charging that the City of Los Angeles under its Charter . . . has a duty to provide care and shelter for the homeless,” he said. “The CRA has a duty to replace the low-income housing it has destroyed in the commercial center.”

County Counsel De Witt Clinton said the county has fulfilled its obligation to the needy. And he made a distinction between those who are indigent and homeless.

“Homeless people may or may not be indigent,” he said. “State law imposes the duty on the county to help indigents. However, homelessness and indigency are not the same.”

Clinton said those people are indigent when “unable to provide care for themselves . . . they have inadequate sums of money.” A homeless person, he said, may have the resources, but chooses to live on the streets.

“One example is someone who is mentally ill . . . and wants to live on the streets,” he said.

Clinton said the countersuit will be filed on or before Aug. 6, before the day the city wants to begin courtroom proceedings against the county.

There was confusion over which side Mayor Tom Bradley was on. Hahn said he consulted with the mayor.

However, Antonovich said Bradley told him he “was not involved in this litigation effort,” citing their ties on a city-county homeless task force.

But Bradley spokeswoman Ali Webb said the mayor supports the suit.

“He thinks the lawsuit may serve as an inducement to the work of the task force,” Webb said.

Times staff writer Penelope McMillan contributed to this story.