Garcetti’s homeless director departs for Santa Monica job
Alisa Orduña, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s homelessness policy director, is leaving her post to take a similar position with the city of Santa Monica.
Orduña was appointed director in 2016, when then-director Greg Spiegel left to go to the Inner City Law Center, where he previously worked.
Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar said Orduña’s last day will be Feb. 2 and that the mayor’s office is working to fill the director position “as quickly as possible.”
The turnover on Garcetti’s team comes as city leaders struggle with a rise in homelessness and neighborhood complaints about encampments and trash.
Signaling a new approach to the crisis, Garcetti is looking to house dozens of homeless people in trailers on a city-owned downtown lot — a possible model for citywide temporary shelters.
Orduña didn’t respond to a request for comment. She will work as Santa Monica’s senior advisor on homelessness, a newly created position, said Santa Monica spokeswoman Constance Farrell.
Twitter: @dakotacdsmith
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