Residential Hotel Ordinance: A Huge Affordable Housing Victory!
LA Times Coverage
On Tuesday, May 6th, the Los Angeles City Council voted
unanimously for a permanent, citywide residential hotel preservation ordinance,
which will protect 19,000 housing units and almost 30,000 people. Housing LA
would like to congratulate our supporters, endorsers, and members, especially
the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) who led the effort, for
working tirelessly to pass the ordinance.
The ordinance represents a huge victory for affordable
housing as it will give permanent protections to residential hotels, the
housing of last resort for some of the city's most vulnerable residents.
It will also prevent developers from demolishing or converting the hotels
without paying significant fees or replacing the units at the same income
level.
Many of you turned out to rallies, gave public testimony at
council hearings, participated in delegations, and contributed in various other
ways to ensure the passing of this historic preservation ordinance. In
addition to representing an important preservation milestone, the ordinance is
a testament to what we can achieve by working together to pressure the city to
address the housing needs of all its residents. We thank you, and
encourage all of you keep up the hard work as we continue to fight for the 3-Point
Plan to address the lack of affordable housing in Los
Angeles.
Good Job Everyone! Keep it up!
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No on Prop 98!
On June 3rd, the extremely important Proposition 98 will be on the ballot for Californian voters. Housing LA joins many of
our coalition partners in opposing Prop 98, which would end rent control, severly curtail tenant's rights, and eliminate the possibility of a citywide mixed income housing ordinance. We also strongly encourage all of our supporters to spread the word and join the movement to defeat this ominous proposition. Various organizations and elected officials, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Los Angeles City Council, the California Labor Federation, and the California Chamber of Commer, have come out against Prop 98.
Read the
LA Times Opinion against Prop 98 or for more information download the detailed analysis of
Prop 98 from the Western Center on Law and Poverty.
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Housing Element in
the News
Last month the Planning Department
released a draft of the Housing Element (a part of the City's General
Plan). The Housing Element outlines how
the City of LA plans to meet its
housing needs in the next 5 years and is an excellent setting to advocate for
the adoption of strong preservation laws as well as a citywide mixed-income ordinance.
The Element contains some glaring holes. Mainly, our analysis of the site inventory
revealed that many of the properties deemed appropriate for affordable housing
developments are occupied, too small, or otherwise inappropriate. At the
same time the city's effort to adhere to a state law mandating a "diligent
effort to achieve public participation" fell well short of satisfactory, as covered
in the LA Weekly's Westsiders Slam Villaraigosa's Push for Apartments Citywide.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks as the dates for public
comment before the City Council become available.
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1,000 People March for Affordable Housing
On April 25th members
of SEIU Local 1877 and UNITE HERE Local 11 joined ACORN in a march through the Central
City West / Westlake area. The march
focused on two closely related issues faced by many residents of Los Angeles, the need for higher wages
and lack of decent affordable housing. The march attracted close to 1,000 participants and ended with a rally
in front of a building where tenants are facing evictions due to condo
conversion.
Read a Bill Boyarsky article about the march.
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New Permanent Supportive Development in the Valley
Housing LA is very
proud to announce that our Valley partner LA Family Housing has acquired the Glenoaks Gardens site where new permanent supportive housing
will be developed in the San Fernando Valley (City Council District 6 and County Supervisorial District 3).
The site will be redeveloped into studio apartments for very low income
individuals as well as homeless and chronically homeless individuals with
diagnosed mental illness.
LA
Family Housing will be hosting a press conference with Mayor Villaraigosa and Councilmember Tony Cardenas at
the proposed development site on Monday, May 19th at 12:00pm at 8925 Glenoaks Boulevard in Sun Valley to celebrate this successful acquisition. For more details and information on the press conference,
please contact Housing LA at 213-480-1249.
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Sincerely, Housing LA Staff
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Housing LA 213.480.1249 3345 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90010
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