Karen Bass officially kicks off her run for the Mayor of Los Angeles at the Saturday event – CBS Los Angeles

Los Angeles (CBSLA) – Rep. Karen Bass used the kick-off event for her election campaign for the Mayor of Los Angeles on Saturday to reaffirm her promise to resolve homelessness if she is elected.

“In 1994 we treated the emergency (earthquake) as an emergency,” said Bass, D-Los Angeles, at Los Angeles Trade Tech College. “We have mobilized local, state, state, private and not-for-profit sectors. Neighbors helped neighbors. We found shelter and rebuilt our city. In record time. We can fix our city again. Forty thousand people on the street are an emergency. Solving this emergency – solving homelessness – will be my overwhelming number one priority as Mayor. “

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Bass also pledged to “work to support and empower the business world because I care about income inequality and we need to make LA attractive to businesses big and small that offer living wage jobs so people can buy homes” .

“We need to ensure that minority and women-owned companies are involved and fully involved,” said Bass. “We need to use the platform the mayor has, the harassed pulpit, and the mayor’s formal authority to celebrate our city, recruit employers, clean up neighborhoods and cut red tape so we can bring good jobs to LA and our middle class back That we can create jobs that provide mortgages that pay for college savings, that pay for retirement, and that provide dignity and stability. “

Tiffany Haddish speaks in support of MP Karen Bass as LA Mayor. (Credit: CBS)

Emmy and Grammy award-winning comedian Tiffany Haddish also spoke, telling of her foster upbringing and homelessness.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who announced his support for Bass Friday, was among the other speakers alongside MP Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park.

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Bass was the first female mayor of Los Angeles and the second black female mayor after Tom Bradley, who was mayor from 1973 to 1993.

Bass’ focus on homelessness echoes the rest of the field seeking to succeed Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is banned from re-election due to term restrictions.

City Attorney Mike Feuer has pledged to declare a state of emergency for homelessness on his first day in office and “appoint and empower a senior homeless person to report directly to me.”

Fire said his “goal will be to provide shelter for everyone by the end of my first term”.

Councilor Joe Buscaino has also called homelessness an emergency and pledged to “treat it with that urgency.” His plan for the homeless envisages building “more living space, faster” and connecting people who have become homeless with temporary living space.

Councilor Kevin de Leon has called homelessness “the moral problem of our lives”. He is committed to creating 25,000 new housing units by 2025, cutting red tape to expedite construction and approval, demanding affordable housing in new buildings, and identifying ways to take advantage of unused public and retail space.

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