L.A. TO LEARN FROM NYC ON HOMELESSNESS TIMES SQUARE EXPERIENCE MAY HELP PROVIDE SOLUTION.Byline: Harrison Sheppard Sacramento Bureau SACRAMENTO - As Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. struggles with a burgeoning homeless population, a state lawmaker is leading a delegation to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of today to seek advice and is preparing to introduce a package of legislative measures to tackle the problem statewide. Under a series of measures last year by Mayor Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born 14 February 1942) is an American businessman, and the founder of Bloomberg L.P., currently serving as the Mayor of New York City. He was a general partner at Salomon Brothers before founding the financial software service company in 1981. , New York experienced its biggest six-month drop in homelessness in 15 years, allowing the city to close a major shelter because of the drop in demand. ``We want to learn from best practices what it is that New York does to address the issues and challenges that they were confronted with,'' said Sen. Gil Cedillo Gilbert Cedillo (born March 25 1954 in Barstow, California) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He is currently serving in the California State Senate, representing the 22nd District, which covers the diverse cities of Los Angeles, Alhambra, Maywood, San , D-Los Angeles. ``Much like ours, where in areas like Skid Row skid row a run-down area frequented by alcoholics. [Am. Culture: Misc.] See : Alcoholism Skid Row district of down-and-outs and bums. [Am. Usage: Brewer Dictionary, 1008] See : Failure and others regionally, we have an acute challenge with respect to the homeless.'' A report released earlier this month estimated the homeless population in Los Angeles County at 88,000 - the highest in the country and twice that of New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . Cedillo said he plans to introduce bills aimed at dealing with homeless issues in major cities like Los Angeles, including efforts to reduce other cities' ``dumping'' of homeless into downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . Measures also would include establishing areas of downtown near recovery facilities as ``narcotics narcotics n. 1) techinically, drugs which dull the senses. 2) a popular generic term for drugs which cannot be legally possessed, sold, or transported except for medicinal uses for which a physician or dentist's prescription is required. recovery zones,'' where penalties would be harsher for those who try to sell drugs nearby, and where people on probation would be prohibited unless they are receiving services in that area. He is also looking to create a community courts system in Skid Row areas with expertise in homelessness, mental illness and drug problems, similar to a New York program that is credited with helping clean up Times Square. The New York delegation includes more than two dozen people from city, county and nonprofit agencies throughout Los Angeles, including City Council members Jan Perry and Bill Rosendahl; Santa Monica city officials; representatives of the local American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. , the Central City Association and Midnight Mission; a Los Angeles police captain; a private developer and county officials. Participants or their organizations are financing their own expenses on the trip. Carol Schatz, president of the Central City Association and the Downtown Central Business Improvement District, said her groups support Cedillo's proposals and other areas of the city should share responsibilities on homeless issues. ``We want to create here the same kind of quality of life that everyone else wants and demands for their neighborhood,'' Schatz said. The New York trip comes as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has recently stepped up efforts against homelessness, is scheduled to speak today on the topic of poverty at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C. The mayor also will meet with national leaders, including Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, on a variety of issues. He is also meeting with scholars from the Brookings Institute on the issue of poverty. As part of the two-day trip, the mayor is scheduled to appear on C-SPAN's ``Washington Journal'' program at 9:30 a.m. Thursday and will be among a group of Democrats offering a pre-rebuttal to the State of the Union address “State of the Union” redirects here. For other uses, see State of the Union (disambiguation). The State of the Union is an annual address in which the President of the United States reports on the status of the country, normally to a joint session of Congress (the by President Bush. Staff Writer Rick Orlov contributed to this report. Harrison Sheppard, (916)446-6723 harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com |
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