By Toi Creel
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s top advisor on homelessness Christina Miller has told her colleagues she will be resigning at the end of the month.
Deputy Mayor Christina Miller has held the position since December 2018. Miller did comment on her resignation, saying the following in an email to those working on homelessness around Los Angeles.
“It has been an incredible journey and unique privilege to serve under Mayor Garcetti who has been and continues to be deeply committed to solving homelessness in our region,” Miller wrote. “From growing the homelessness budget for the City exponentially, to banner initiatives such as HHH and A Bridge Home, it has been a meaningful and exciting time to be part of the City’s work to address this crisis.”
Under the 2016 bond initiative Measure HHH the city was able to raise $1.2 billion to relieve homelessness. A Bridge Home is a program that aimed to have homeless shelters built in every council district.
At her new position, Miller is going to do more policy work. On September 1st she will become a senior policy fellow with the Washington-based National Alliance to End Homelessness on Sept. 1.
In an interview, Miller told the community
“Homelessness is going up across the state.“
She also said highlighted how much can be done at a local level.
“There’s so much stuff the mayor can do and has done, but if we can’t figure out a regional plan that originates in some respects from Sacramento, we’re just holding our head above water.”
Through her tenure, Miller was able to advocate for additional state funding and has also been present with Mayor Garcetti during the lawsuit filed against the city by the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights to help reduce encampments.
After departing the Mayor’s Office, Miller will take on a leadership role with The National Alliance to End Homelessness, where she will continue contributing to the battle against homelessness across our country.
Garcetti recently named longtime homelessness services advocate and provider, Jose “Che” Ramirez, as the new Deputy Mayor for City Homelessness Initiatives.
“When COVID-19 reached our city, we doubled down on our work to deliver housing, healing, and hope to Angelenos experiencing homelessness — and we remain laser-focused on putting a roof over the heads of our most vulnerable neighbors,” Garcetti. “Homelessness has long been the most urgent moral and humanitarian crisis of our time, and Che’s life experience and professional expertise make him the perfect person to lead our efforts to confront it.”
Before joining the City, Ramirez was the Executive Director of the St. Anthony Foundation in San Francisco, where he took the helm of a landmark institution’s work to feed, clothe, serve, and house homeless residents from the surrounding community.
“I’m excited to come back and work in Los Angeles with an amazing team and Mayor who are dedicated to serving our homeless community,” Ramirez said. “I look forward to leading a movement of compassion in Los Angeles to house and heal our homeless guests in these challenging times. We all have a role to play in solving homelessness, and it’s in these unprecedented moments that we truly learn what it means to be a community.”
Previously, Ramirez served as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at St. Francis Center (SFC) in Downtown Los Angeles, where he led programs to connect people experiencing homelessness to housing, employment, medical needs, and referral services.
