Los Angeles County voters broadly support a legal right to shelter for all but offer tepid backing for new taxes that might pay for it, a new poll finds.
The contrast highlights a key tension in voter attitudes toward solving the region’s persistent homelessness crisis: Even as voters want to see dramatic government action to reduce the number of people sleeping in streets and parks, many doubt the capacity of the region’s leaders to get the job done.
The new poll, conducted by the Los Angeles Business Council Institute in cooperation with The Times, found that a significant majority of voters, 58%, said they believed the region can solve the problem of homelessness. By contrast, 31% said they believed homelessness would always be part of life in Los Angeles.
Even among those who expressed pessimism about solving the problem, 43% said their concern was a “lack of leadership” as opposed to 26% who said they believed there were “no realistic solutions.”
