Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass greenlighted a multi-million dollar project to clean up the city’s drug-filled MacArthur Park — mere months after the Democrat berated immigration officers who tried to do the same thing in the troubled greenspace.
The city just approved a $2.3 million plan to build a wrought iron fence around the park, which the project proposal says suffers from “ongoing public safety and quality of life challenges.”
Those challenges include the second-highest overdose deaths in the city behind the infamous Skid Row drug den, according to the LA Department of Health Services Harm Reduction, which the new fencing would address by allowing the park to close and clear out nightly so the grounds can be maintained.
Bass backed the plan — unanimously passed by the LA Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners on Oct. 16, the LA Public Press reported — which comes more than a year after she began talking about cleaning up MacArthur Park when complaints from neighboring businesses and residents became overwhelming.
It also comes just months after Bass marched to the park in July to confront federal immigration officers sweeping the grounds on foot and horseback, in what agents said was intended to be a show of force against drug dealers and other nefarious elements who had set up shop in the park.
The mayor ordered the officers to leave, calling their presence a “siege” that was terrifying local kids — which some critics called a rich dose of hypocrisy.
“This pisses me off. She is scared for the kid’s safety … due to immigration officials at the park, but never scared for their safety when the park is filled with homeless, drugs, MS-13 and violence,” one federal agent told The Post at the time.
“Make it make sense,” they added, while others pointed out that MacArthur Park is known across the city as being a den of homelessness, drug dealing, gang activity, and all sorts of criminal elements.
Bass acknowledged a year earlier that gang members operating out of the park appeared to be extorting neighboring business owners, and said something needed to be done to clean things up.
But when immigration officers tried to do just that while conducting operations against LA gang members in July, Bass tried to stop them and later accused them of trying to “spread fear.”
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“It’s outrageous and un-American to have armed vehicles in our American parks,” she told reporters in the park after the officers left, also calling the operation a “political stunt.”
Bass also expressed outrage that both a children’s summer camp and a health group conducting check-ups on homeless people in the park were forced to flee from the immigration officers.
Bass’ office told the LA Public Press the fencing project would address “longstanding public safety issues at MacArthur Park” by helping people dealing with addiction and homelessness find help.
“These challenges have impacted quality of life for residents and their ability to utilize the park safely,” the mayor’s office added.
“A decorative fence around the perimeter of MacArthur Park is a positive step that could help the City secure the park after hours and prevent vandalism and the destruction of park amenities.”
