After a worker sprayed water near a homeless person on Skid Row, Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia announced that he is launching an investigation into the worker’s employer, Urban Alchemy.
A video shows the worker hosing down a sidewalk a few feet from a homeless person who was on their knees scrambling to pick up their possessions off the ground. Urban Alchemy, which has received millions of dollars in city contracts, said it fired the worker after the incident at a “climate station,” where Skid Row residents can receive services and relief from harsh weather in winter and summer.
On Jan. 18, Mejia shared a still image from the video on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said his office will look into the San Francisco-based nonprofit’s contracts with the city and the circumstances that led to what he called a “disturbing” incident.
“The City Charter puts the Controller in charge of ensuring tax dollars are well spent. That includes accountability for City contractors,” Mejia wrote. “More unhoused people die in LA than in NYC of hypothermia. Acts of cruelty like the one in the video can be life-threatening in the winter.”