A critical decision on whether to give Los Angeles County control of key administrative functions for regional homelessness programs will be up for a vote Tuesday.

Los Angeles Continuum of Care general membership is expected to meet Tuesday afternoon to potentially designate the county as the lead agency overseeing the region’s homelessness response. The vote was originally scheduled for Friday, but it was delayed because organizers were unprepared to accommodate the large crowd of people who wanted to weigh in on the issue.

Mayor Karen Bass and four City Council members criticized the CoC general membership for rescheduling the meeting, arguing that Angelenos were silenced by the delay.

Bass, Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and council members Ysabel Jurado, Tim McOsker, and Imelda Padilla said the city should retain a role in decisions about homelessness programs and housing placements.

In a statement released Saturday morning, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the county is ready to lead the CoC and unite the region’s response to homelessness. She also emphasized the county’s municipalities and unincorporated areas deserve to be part of the process and have their voices heard.

“Los Angeles County is prepared to partner with every city in the county, listen to their concerns, and work toward solutions that address them,” Horvath said in her statement. “We have already committed to the city of LA that, at a minimum, they will maintain the HMIS and CES access they currently have working with LAHSA, and we will continue working with all communities to improve the effectiveness of all functions in the Continuum of Care.”

Horvath had urged the CoC general membership to reschedule the meeting as soon as possible, saying that failing to make a decision sooner erodes public trust.

“People experiencing homelessness cannot afford more delays in getting the housing and services they deserve,” Horvath concluded.

Bass and the four council members criticized the existing process for placing people experiencing homelessness into housing funded by the city. They said Los Angeles spends hundreds of millions of dollars on housing but does not have sufficient authority to determine who occupies those units.

“The city must be able to help the people on our own streets by placing them into the housing that we build and fund in order to solve the homelessness crisis,” they said in a statement.

The dispute comes amid an effort to restructure administration of regional homelessness services following years of scrutiny of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the joint city-county agency established in 1993.

The Continuum of Care is responsible for coordinating regional homelessness programs and federal funding. Its administrative functions include managing homelessness data, coordinating housing placements and overseeing applications for federal grants.

Los Angeles County has sought to assume those responsibilities as part of a broader effort to consolidate homelessness programs under its new Department of Homeless Services and Housing. City officials have argued that the governance structure should reflect Los Angeles’ substantial financial contributions to homelessness programs and housing.

“The current proposal for county-only administration, recommended by the LA CoC Board, leaves no room for those voices to be heard,” the mayor and council members said. “Without collaboration and transparency, management of this complex issue will continue to falter, and worse, our unhoused neighbors will continue to suffer.”