Bradley Proposes Wider Use of Homeless Shelters

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley on Monday proposed keeping armories and recreation centers open to the homeless from mid-December through mid-February regardless of weather conditions. Bradley’s proposal comes in the wake of criticism that the current policy--which is to open shelters only when temperatures drop below 40 degrees or when it is raining and below 50 degrees--fails to meet the needs of the tens of thousands of homeless in the city.

Under Bradley’s plan, the shelters would be kept open between Dec. 16 and Feb. 13, and would also be open from as early as Nov. 1 and as late as March 31 whenever the cold and wet weather criteria were met.

There would be eight central shelters in six areas of the city, including three downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods, and one each in the South-Central and Harbor districts as well as the Westside, San Fernando Valley and Hollywood.