LA Homeless Services Authority Director Heidi Marston resigns after objections she froze high salaries to raise pay for nearly 200 employees

The executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority resigned Monday, citing low pay to the agency's employees as a major reason for her resignation.

In a statement posted on Medium, Heidi Marston said when she became executive director of LAHSA, some of the organization's employees earned as little as $33,119 a year, or about $2,760 a month before taxes. She noted that by federal government standards, that salary is well into the "very low income" category.

"The employees of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority should not make so little that they qualify for homeless services themselves," she wrote.

She says she increased the minimum pay at LAHSA so no one would make less than $50,000 a year, raising the salaries of 196 of its lowest-compensated employees. But the raise came at the expensive of the organization's 10 highest-paid employees, whose compensation was frozen. 

These moves prompted accusations that Marston was "undermining management's position" in labor negotiations and trying to "poach" LAHSA's staff. So Marston said she decided to resign, which would be effective May 27.

"This decision did not come easily but it was the right thing to do," she tweeted. "LASA and our system partners work miracles every day and unfortunately, they will continue to hit a wall until there are fundamental shifts made in the way we address homelessness in LA and across the country."

"We value the men and women at LAHSA who are working every day to end homelessness in the city and county of Los Angeles. Our LAHSA staff are at the heart of what we do and who we serve. We will continue to focus on the most important issues which is ending homelessness and making sure people transition from shelters to permanent housing," said LAHSA Commission Vice Chair Wendy Greuel.

Jennifer Hark Dietz, CEO of People Assisting The Homeless, which contracts with the city of Los Angeles to provide services to people experiencing homelessness, lamented Marston's decision to resign.

"Unfortunately, the current homeless services system is highly politicized and funding for proven solutions are subject to frequently changing winds of public opinion," Dietz tweeted. "Much of the work the current LA system does address the symptoms of homelessness, not the systemic causes. I applaud Heidi's strength to call out the systems that cause and perpetuate homelessness."

LAHSA released a statement announcing Marston's decision to leave the company and praised her leadership for the agency in the last two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

LAHSA Commission Chair Jacqueline Waggoner stated that, "LAHSA's priority is serving people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County. We will ensure LAHSA staff continue to be fully supported as they carry out their essential day-to-day tasks to fulfill LAHSA's mission. Interim leadership will be appointed in short order to ensure continuity in services to the community."