Before we take a look into just how profitable and luxurious it is not to solve the Los Angeles homelessness crisis, let me first advise you to delay that next cup of coffee and make sure that you've taken any and all prescription blood pressure medication.
A California-based independent journalist going by InnerRhythmMedia — think of him as Nick Shirley 2.0 — recently looked into the headquarters of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and what he found looked more like a multibillion-dollar Silicon Valley firm than a joint city-county government project.
The video is actually from September 16, but didn't go wide until this week due to IRM's inexplicably tiny number of followers:
Los Ángeles Housing Services Authority is headquartered in a luxurious building with many financial institutions. Amenities include Commercial Matrix equipment, free weights, cardio, rowers, TRX, interactive bikes • Rock climbing wall • Locker rooms and showers • Infrared sauna and cold plunge Croft Alley café (on-site), valet parking and a Helipad
— Inner Rhythm Media (@InnerRhythmWave) September 16, 2026
As broken down by Wall Street Apes on Tuesday, LAHSA "is headquartered in a luxury high rise building where employees enjoy VIP amenities like a fitness center, rock climbing wall, an infrared sauna, a cold plunge, and a helipad."
And the pay? Oh my, the pay:
- Chief Executive Officer, Va Lecia Adams Kellum, $491,908
- Chief Financial Officer, Janine Trejo, $299,912
- Deputy Chief, Systems, Nathaniel VerGow, $257,196
- Chief of Staff, Rachel Johnson, $252,079
- Chief Operating Officer, Tifara Monroe, $248,367
More at the original Wall Street Apes post. Much more.
L.A.'s homeless problem will remain unsolved as it remains so lucrative to "administer" to them instead.
It seems like just earlier this week [It was just earlier this week, Steve —Editor] that I looked into the city's "mansion tax" that was supposed to help the homeless and build low-cost housing, but after three years, has raised less than half the expected revenue, destroyed an estimated 16,650 construction jobs, cost the city about $450 million in lost tax revenue, and actually disincentivized the construction of 9,100 housing units (in a city with a permanent housing shortage), including about 1,000 low-income units.
But the weirdest part of that story is how little money the city has spent so far — and where it's gone. So far, Los Angeles has spent just $114 million over three years, or a little less than 10% of the $1.2 billion raised so far.
Where the money has gone... well, this is where things start to come together.
And Another Thing: Let the part about the $114 million serve as a correction to Monday's column, where I made a mistake based on some unclear reporting.
I had both Grok and ChatGPT break down the numbers for me, and since the differences basically came down to rounding errors, I trust them:
- Emergency rental assistance: $32.49 million
- Eviction defense and prevention: $24.15 million
- Multifamily affordable housing: $15.87 million
- Income support for at-risk seniors/disabled: $9.88 million
- Tenant harassment protections: $6.93 million
- Tenant outreach and education: $4.05 million
- Homeownership assistance: $3.62 million
- Administration & oversight: $17.20 million
Without getting into the wisdom of a slow-moving and often corrupt city government doing all these things — spoiler: it's unwise — let's take the best possible case for each of these items, assuming that the money is actually spent as described.
Emergency rental assistance? Sure, let's help people who lost their jobs or whatever pay the bills. Build some low-income apartments ("multifamily affordable housing"), fine. And nobody wants to see seniors or disabled people kicked out on the streets, and maybe helping people with the down payment on a house wouldn't be so bad. Add it all up, and that's $61.86 million.
The rest — that's $52.34 million, or nearly half of the $114.2 million for the various programs — goes to lawyers, consultants, administrators, and overseers. And that's assuming, as stipulated above, that every single cent of the other half goes where it's meant to.
Now do you start to understand how the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority can afford to pay its "risk management" gal nearly a quarter of a million dollars each year, along with the fitness center, rock climbing wall, infrared sauna, cold plunge, and helipad?
Back in May (this goes with the earlier correction above), the city council voted to disburse an additional $466.6 million on affordable housing, with $324 million of that from ULA funds. The plan is to someday — these are allocations, not actual awards — build just 1,528 new affordable housing units, and "preserve" or "stabilize" another 3,713.
Meanwhile, ULA prevented the construction of that estimated 1,000 affordable units — so far — which means that the city might eventually catch up to the new housing that never got built. But if ULA prevented 1,000 homes from being built in three years, and has yet to award any money to build 1,500 or so, my best guess is that they'll break even on the fifth of Never.
And the homeless? They're administered to at great expense, while remaining untreated for drug addiction and/or potentially dangerous mental health issues.
But all the right people get big, fat paychecks for making the city less affordable and less livable for regular Angelenos, and that's what really matters.
Recommended: NOW Will the Islamic Republic Finally Run Out of Money?
Be better informed. Get cool stuff.
PJ Media VIP members get tons of exclusive goodies, including podcasts and video live chats with your favorite writers. You can support alternative conservative news and save 60% with promo code FIGHT.
Join the Conversation
VIP members get the ability to comment on articles.