Jacob Woocher is a tenant lawyer in Los Angeles. He organizes with the Los Angeles Tenants Union (LATU) and is the author of the series LA’s War on Public Housing.
LA mayor Karen Bass has burnished a progressive reputation throughout her political career. But that reputation has helped legitimate her move toward punitive approaches to homelessness and other social problems.
Since the 1990s, Los Angeles has been privatizing its public housing even as its residents repeatedly organize to defend their homes. That organizing demonstrates the importance of public housing — and why the Left should demand we build more of it.