‘Why Should People Trust You?'[WATCH]

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass acknowledged in an interview released Wednesday that the city has not met her earlier goal of ending street homelessness by 2026, blaming bureaucratic barriers while arguing that her administration has still made progress on the issue.

Bass, who is running for re-election, spoke with CNN at the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, a former hospital being converted into a facility for mental health, addiction treatment, and housing for the homeless.

Los Angeles has been among the California cities most closely associated with homelessness, particularly in recent years following the pandemic.

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CNN anchor Elex Michaelson pressed Bass on a pledge she made during a 2023 interview with Jake Tapper, when she said her goal was to end street homelessness in Los Angeles by 2026.

“So, when you talked to Jake Tapper in 2023, you said that your goal was to end street homelessness in LA by 2026. It’s now 2026 and we haven’t ended it. How are you so off?” Michaelson asked.

“We haven’t ended it,” Bass replied.

“Basically, when I said that, it was at the beginning of my term. I am very committed to achieving that goal. I didn’t anticipate some of the bureaucratic barriers that I would experience, but I am prepared to take those on now.”

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Bass said Los Angeles city and county leaders had previously focused on building while accepting street homelessness, a policy she argued failed to deal with the scope of the crisis.

“So, basically, the policy of LA City and LA County was we could accept street homelessness as long as we were building. We didn’t anticipate the problem metastasizing,” Bass said.

“In my three and a half years, for the first time, two years in a row, street homelessness has decreased in our city. There hadn’t been a decrease before.”

Bass said the issue affects Angelenos across the city and claimed she encountered internal resistance from people working within the system.

“So this is a problem that all Angelenos experience, and we have got to have a commitment that this has to end,” she said.

“The city and the county never made that commitment before, and I found something that surprised me. I found a lot of people who work internally in the system who were very resistant to ending street homelessness.”

Michaelson challenged Bass on the gap between her pledge and the reported results, noting that street homelessness had only decreased by about 17.6%.

“But you promised that it would go away 100%. And it’s only gone down about 17.6%. So why should people trust you that you’re going to be able to get to the 100%?”

Bass responded by pointing again to the decrease, arguing that the city had seen progress under her leadership after years without a decline.

She said Los Angeles must move away from previous policies that focused on construction while leaving street homelessness unresolved.

“We need to end the failed policies of the past, which is, ‘All we’re going to do is focus on building, and we are going to ignore street homelessness.’ That is what the city and the county has done for years,” Bass said.

Karen Bass, 2023: Asked what her goal is with homelessness by the end of her first term.

Answer: To end it.Karen Bass, 2026: Asked how she failed so miserably on that goal, and why voters should trust her now.Answer: It was just too hard. But I really mean it this time. pic.twitter.com/roa70BLKYA— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 20, 2026

The interview comes as Bass seeks re-election while facing continued scrutiny over homelessness in Los Angeles.

The St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, where the interview took place, is being transformed from a former hospital into a site intended to provide mental health services, addiction treatment, and housing for homeless individuals.

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