Westside Council of Governments Want Formal Response to Homelessness

The Santa Monica Daily Press is reporting today that the Westside Cities Council of Governments (COG) are looking into developing a legally recognized government association as a way to better lobby the federal government for funding homeless initiatives. Here is the Daily Press article.

The article states that for the last few years, this effort has been delayed because the Westside of Los Angeles has not signed on to this yet. So the COG will proceed with or without representation from Los Angeles officials.

The Westside COG consists of Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Culver City. Here is the link to the COG.

Part of this recent activity is based on the current debate over what to do with some of the Veteran Administration’s under-utilized property in West Los Angeles. One proposal is to use some of the empty buildings to house 300 to 500 homeless veterans.

The COG wants a formal legal lobby entity to help push for this veterans initiative.