Covina Homeowners Sound Alarm On Hotels For Homeless Near Parks, Schools
COVINA (CBSLA) - Protesters who say a plan to house the homeless in a Covina hotels poses a threat to neighboring schools and parks were set to hold a rally Friday.
Homeowners were set to gather in front of the Vanllee Hotel & Suites, where Los Angeles County made an agreement with California under the state's Project Roomkey to address the plight of homelessness during the coronavirus pandemic.
A flyer for the event called for protesters to gather starting at 9 a.m. and urged them to be "peaceful", "proud", and "keep social distancing".
Citing what she said was a "lack of transparency" on the part of the Board of Supervisors, homeowner Monica Torre said when it comes to Project Roomkey, "our cities and citizens have been blindsided, and the locations chosen are beyond inappropriate, in residential and business areas bordering hospices, schools, children's parks, and hiking trails."
Covina and West Covina joined other cities such as Bell Gardens and Lawndale in considering legal action over the move.
Project Roomkey is a statewide California initiative in partnership with FEMA which launched earlier this month to temporarily house homeless people in available hotel and motel rooms in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. State and local governments are then reimbursed by FEMA for up to 75 percent for the cost of those rooms.
L.A. County is attempting to secure up to 15,000 hotel rooms through the project.