Los Angeles officials moved Tuesday to take control of hundreds of millions of dollars in homelessness spending, citing two scathing audits that found the government agency currently responsible for that money has spent it recklessly and without transparency.
An audit this month found poor record-keeping prevented the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA, from tracking spending and verifying whether paid-for services were provided. The authority also paid invoices late, lacked an adequate system to monitor contracts and could not provide documentation to account for $5 million in cash advances sent to five service providers, according to a report in November.
On Tuesday the LA City Council unanimously approved a motion asking staff to produce a report on how Los Angeles could effectively sidestep the authority and directly contract with homeless service providers…