Los Angeles – City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto today released a public report outlining the challenges the City is facing in negotiating four contracts between the City of Los Angeles and Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), Liberty Hill Foundation (Liberty Hill), and Southern California Housing Rights Center (HRC). The contracts support key tenant protection programs, including Eviction Defense and Prevention (LAFLA), Tenant Outreach and Education (Liberty Hill), Protection from Tenant Harassment (SAJE), and Short-Term Emergency Rental Assistance (HRC).
Throughout the negotiating process, LAFLA has refused to agree to the compliance, reporting, and oversight provisions that are required for contracts with the City and that are appropriate to the expenditure or grant of public funds.
The Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney has had difficulty getting LAFLA to agree to the same terms that LAFLA previously agreed to with the City, and currently agreed to with the federal government. These provisions preserve the basic reporting, oversight, transparency and audit trail required to check that the City's funds are properly spent, that services paid for have been delivered, and that the costs incurred conform to the City's requirements. LAFLA has taken this position based on its claims that, because the City is not using federal funds for this award, the reporting and oversight should not be as robust for City funds as they are for federal funds. The Office disagrees with LAFLA's claim that City funds should not be as protected as federal funds. These programs are funded with taxpayer dollars and are therefore entitled to the same industry standard reporting and auditing.
“It is unconscionable that LAFLA has chosen not to agree to the accountability and reporting requirements necessary to finalize these contracts,” said Hydee Feldstein Soto, Los Angeles City Attorney. “Basic oversight, transparency and audit requirements are necessary to protect the residents of Los Angeles and the tenants that these programs intend to serve. This Office will continue to work with proposed contractors until the concerns are sufficiently addressed. That is what the City Council required and that is what Angelenos deserve.”
The initial contract for the Program was a $7 million "pilot" contract awarded to LAFLA in 2021, based on an exception to the City Charter's competitive bidding requirements for exigent circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. That contract was amended and extended nine times, growing to a total of more than $90 million, all without the information, access and reports required by the original $7 million original agreement.
The Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney recognizes the importance of tenant services and has been working to ensure that constituents receive access to the resources and support authorized by the City Council. We have a responsibility to ensure that public funds are used legally and appropriately, that services are delivered, and that there are clear accountability measures in place. Our goal is to ensure that residents receive the services they were promised and that taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly, transparently, and with clear accountability.
Link to public report: HERE
###
Hydee Feldstein Soto is the 43rd Los Angeles City Attorney, elected in November 2022 and sworn into office in December 2022. Her team of nearly 1,000 legal professionals, including 500+ attorneys, carries out legal work for the City of Los Angeles at her direction and under her supervision. She is the first female City Attorney in L.A. history.