LOS ANGELES, CA – As new data show homelessness rising in Los Angeles, local activist John Alle said Mayor Karen Bass has neglected her responsibility to address the issue and witness firsthand the crime, drug use and deteriorating conditions in some of the city's hardest-hit neighborhoods.The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released its 2026 annual homeless count Friday, finding overall homelessness increased 3.4% in LA and 1.2% across the Los Angeles Continuum of Care following two consecutive years of declines, though LAHSA said "neither change is considered statistically significant."The count estimated 45,194 people were experiencing homelessness in LA and 73,040 across the Continuum of Care, which excludes Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale."She doesn't get it.She doesn't see it," John Alle, a Santa Monica business owner and co-founder of the Santa Monica Coalition who owns properties across Los Angeles, told Fox News Digital in an interview last month.KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESSJohn Alle, a Santa Monica business owner and co-founder of the Santa Monica Coalition, blasted Mayor Karen Bass' response to homelessness as new data show the crisis is worsening in Los Angeles.
(Allen J.Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images ; Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)"We've invited her numerous times to ride along with us through Alvarado, Third Street, Park View, MacArthur Park and Westlake.
Come drive with us.Have a police officer follow behind for security.
And she refused."The report also found street homelessness rose 7.9% in Los Angeles and 3.3% countywide, with an estimated 29,115 people living on the streets in the city.LAHSA said funding cuts affecting Time-Limited Subsidies and other economic factors reduced the number of people permanently housed by about 5,100 from the "record high of 28,625 people housed permanently in 2024."In a press release Thursday responding to...