Letters to the Editor: A lot of L.A. tenants will be evicted Feb. 1. How will Mayor Bass handle that?

To the editor: I agree with Mayor Karen Bass that a state of emergency needs to be implemented to tackle the myriad problems associated with homelessness in the city of Los Angeles.

However, how is Bass going to prevent thousands of people from being pushed into homelessness when the emergency tenant protections end on Feb. 1, 2023, and evicted tenants will end up on the street? How will the mayor and other city officials urge landlords to accept housing vouchers like Section 8? Landlord discrimination against tenants with housing vouchers is a violation of state law, but ample evidence shows the law is not being enforced.

Certainly, in the short term, streamlining access to hotels and motels for temporary housing is a good idea. But in the long term, low-income permanent housing is extremely scarce, and the brittle and recalcitrant reasons why people become homeless in the first place must be addressed.

Jane Demian, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I voted for Bass, who has made homelessness her top priority. And yet, a homeless encampment outside L.A. City Hall was cleared before her inauguration Sunday.

As an English teacher and author for more than 40 years, I am at a total loss for words. Hypocrisy? Stupidity? Narrow-mindedness? Nothing can describe this.

This could have been such a spectacular photo op for her first day. She becomes mayor and instantly “walks among them,” promising help.

Planaria Price, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Most Angelenos were excited about the inauguration of our new mayor. However, I believe it was wrong for the encampment outside City Hall to have been cleared. We should not pretend we are as clean and lovely as Disneyland.

The city should not hide its reality.

In 2008, Beijing was oddly spotless for the Summer Olympic Games. The poverty and unpleasantness were pushed aside.

I wish Bass all the best with the tremendous workload she was chosen to take on. But let’s present L.A. as it really is.

Christine Peterson, Woodland Hills