Homeless encampments are blighting schools and playgrounds across Los Angeles — but lefty Los Angeles City are still trying to stop a crackdown.
The California Post found numerous parks across the city being hijacked by vagrants, with shocking pictures showing public spaces being turned into decrepit shelters, with the homeless choosing to sleep wherever they wanted, including beneath a child’s slide.
On Tuesday April 14th, the LA City Council approved a new anti-camping designation for a stretch of Venice at Rose Avenue and Hampton Drive — but four socialist councilmembers, Eunisses Hernandez, Nithya Raman, Hugo Soto-Martínez and Ysabel Jurado, all voting against the measure.
Los Angeles’ anti camping law is needlessly complex: Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.18 bans encampments within 500ft of schools and day care centers — but in other public areas such as children’s parks, libraries and certain public routes, a City Council vote must be held to create a designated zone before enforcement can begin.
That’s what Tuesday’s vote did in Venice: it opened the door for the city to post notices and, after a waiting period, clear encampments along that corridor.
Supporters argue it’s one of the only immediate tools the city has to restore access to public spaces, while opponents say all it does is push encampments from one block to another.
But while the debate plays out at City Hall, the reality on the ground remains unchanged in many neighborhoods, including those represented by the councilmembers who voted no.
The Post has documented for months what residents describe as a “zombie apocalypse” unfolding at MacArthur Park, as encampments take over public space.
On a recent visit to Council District 1, represented by cop-hating radical Eunisses Hernandez, there were encampments clustered around schools and parks across neighborhoods such as Westlake, Echo Park and Chinatown, with residents left incresingly frustrated.
The Post toured the district with Raul Claros, who is challenging Hernandez in the upcoming elections, who pointed to newly-posted cleanup notices at encampments next to schools and children’s parks.
There were also multiple official notices posted at encampment sites across the district warning of upcoming cleanups — but residents all that ever happens is the encampments are cleared for a short time before the tents begin to reappear.
Claros said the upcoming City Hall elections on June 2 had inspired the first clean ups in ”four years.”
“If this had been happening all along, you wouldn’t see this many people stepping up to run (for council).”
“She voted no on expanding enforcement in Venice.
“But now you’re seeing cleanups happening in her own district. People can judge that for themselves.”
Claros said families across the district have expressed their growing concerns about safety and have urged stronger enforcement, especially near schools and parks.
“Look around you,” said Raul Claros. “This isn’t complicated. People are tired of it. They want action.”
Raman, who is now running for mayor, has long argued the law creates a “district-by-district arms race” that simply shifts encampments — a stance that offers a clear glimpse into how she approaches homelessness as a citywide issue.
“She can’t even manage Council District 4, let alone a city the size of Los Angeles.,” said local community member Cameron Flannagan.
“Tools like 41.18 are among the few the city actually has, and she hasn’t used them where it matters.”
Flanagan said Griffith Park is a prime example: “There is no urgency, no action. What you do see is a focus on political power, not public safety. She’s not addressing the real consequences in her own backyard—dogs are being poisoned by fentanyl, people dying in the river.”
Raman’s office told The Post on Wednesday that “in Council District 4, we follow the laws in partnership with appropriate City departments, including Bureau of Sanitation, Department of Transportation, Recreation and Parks, and LAPD,” adding that outreach and housing placements, not enforcement, are driving reductions in homelessness.
Still, like other parts of Los Angeles, residents in her district continue to push for enforcement and cleaner, safer public spaces for families and children, frustration fueled in part by past remarks from Nithya Raman.
At a 2024 Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association debate, Raman dismissed distance-based restrictions near schools, saying, “I don’t think a kid’s gonna be safer if they are 10 feet or 500 feet away from a school.”
Soto-Martínez represents neighborhoods where encampments line both commercial strips and residential streets, with ongoing enforcement activity but little lasting resolution.
His office told The Post: “We have voted against every 41.18 zone introduced since taking office and have not added any new 41.18 zones in District 13. For those implemented before we took office, we have asked LAPD not to enforce them, and repealing the zones would require majority support on the City Council.”
Jurado’s district includes Downtown Los Angeles and Skid Row, where encampments and enforcement operations are a constant part of daily city life.
Meanwhile, Claros says families are left navigating the fallout, walking past encampments on the way to school, a reality parents describe as happening “at least twice a day,” and even more for those making regular trips to nearby parks, waiting for solutions that remain stuck in debate.
The Post reached out to Hernandez and Jurado for comment and have not heard back.
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