LA Controller: LAHSA needs 'major reform' after workers caught dumping food meant for homeless
After watching CBS 2's investigation of food for the homeless being trashed by outreach workers, Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin was astounded at what he saw.
"I don't know if there's much of a greater sin than throwing good food away especially when people are hungry," he said.
CBS 2's investigative team and David Goldstein caught workers with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority throwing away county-funded food into the dumpster repeatedly for weeks.
"It's outrageous," said Galperin. "It's insulting. It is disturbing and unfortunately, it's not surprising."
Galperin conducted a scathing audit on LAHSA in 2019 and found that outreach workers failed to meet seven out of nine goals. The same classification of workers that was caught trashing food and spending their days walking in the park, Targets, Starbucks and McDonald's all while passing dozens of homeless along the way.
"Major reform is necessary not just to deal with food but to deal with all of the failures that we've seen from LAHSA," said Galperin.
In a written statement, LAHSA said they throw the food court because it is perishable, but many have criticized that process insisting that the food should instead be donated.
"I was outraged when I saw your piece," said City Attorney Mike Feuer.
Feuer also wrote a letter demanding to know why the food was being trashed.
Galperin, who is now running for state controller said that there have been improvements since his audit, but as our investigation uncovered, the improvements were not enough.
"It's still a broken entity and needs to be fixed," he said. "It's got to be reconstituted or fixed."
L.A. County has already started discussions to break away from LAHSA and form its own agency.
LAHSA has refused to provide anyone for an on-camera interview to answer questions.
