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A lot has been happening with the agency that manages homelessness funding for L.A. city and county.
One of the latest controversies is over public records about alleged wrongdoing at the L.A. Homeless Services Authority.
As LAist revealed earlier, LAHSA leaders and their attorneys at the County Counsel’s Office have repeatedly refused to release public records about allegations of high-level wrongdoing — including whistleblower retaliation — that led to $800,000 in taxpayer-funded payouts to settle the claims.
Legal experts told LAist the documents are being unlawfully withheld.
Courts have repeatedly ruled these types of records must be disclosed to the public under the California Public Records Act, according to David Loy, a public records attorney at the First Amendment Coalition.
The fact that the claims have been settled — and taxpayer money paid out — makes it even more clear that the public has a right to see them, Loy said.
The records “clearly should be available to the public,” he added.
LAHSA argues that several exemptions allow it to withhold the whistleblower retaliation claims Kristina Dixon and Emily Vaughn Henry submitted to LAHSA after they were fired — including attorney-client privilege.
But Loy says none of them apply. For example, attorney-client privilege is about communications between an attorney and their own client — not claims filed by an outside...
it made false statements on customs forms to avoid paying tariffs on some imports from China, rejecting the company's argument that the Tariff Act leaves no room to invoke the False Claims Act. . ....