You’d expect that people working for Homeless Services in California would have the public’s best interests at heart. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case for the head of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). It all began when two employees were wrongfully terminated. Why? According to whistleblowers, Va Lecia Adams Kellum wanted her friends in those roles, so the current staff had to be forced out. Feeling mistreated, the two employees sued LAHSA and ultimately received an $800,000 settlement.
At first, there wasn’t much public information about the case. But recently released whistleblower letters have shed more light on the situation. And it’s worse than anyone thought.
Beyond firing staff for personal gain, Adams Kellum also allegedly ordered employees to delete or hide data related to Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe homeless program. Apparently, the program has been underperforming, and Adams Kellum didn’t want the mayor to look bad. One IT employee was even told to delete official emails to protect the sender, which is blatantly unethical, if not outright illegal.
And it doesn’t stop there. Adams Kellum reportedly behaved unethically at a conference in Washington, D.C., and retaliated against the staffer who reported her actions. To top it all off, she wanted to use public funds to host the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s holiday party. When others pushed back, pointing out that it would be illegal, she allegedly became furious.
Clearly, she’s had no issue using Los Angeles public money for things it should never be spent on. Out of the $800,000 settlement, $600,000 came from insurance, but the remaining $200,000 was paid using taxpayer money.
Despite everything, there has still been no thorough investigation into Adams Kellum. LAHSA tried to keep the whistleblower letters hidden and only released them after pressure from the media. Even then, they redacted key information, which only made the whole situation look more suspicious.
Many people couldn’t believe what Adams Kellum had done. Across Reddit, users heavily criticized her actions. One even described it as “scumbaggery,” while another pointed out that the lawsuit clearly wasn’t frivolous if LAHSA agreed to an $800,000 payout.
One redditor shared a personal experience, saying, “I have direct experience with this. I also have a ton of written evidence that directly supports the accusations of incompetence. When I tell you they have no idea what they’re doing, I’m not exaggerating. We’re talking about repeated offenses on the same issues. I can confidently say I’d be far more capable of guiding someone than 95% of LAHSA’s staff. It’s not something I want to be able to say, it’s just the reality.”
