As homeless and affordable housing crises metastasize in Los Angeles,
City Council is poised to continue ‘pay-to-play’ culture, evidenced by
council’s reluctance earlier this week to restore public trust and ban
or limit campaign contributions from real estate developer and
stakeholders.
“I’m not quite sure — what’s the problem we’re trying to solve?” —
Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As government officials prepare to release the official 2019 homeless
count for Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 4th, housing justice
and homeless advocates with Housing
Is A Human Right, Healthy
Housing Foundation by AHF, Coalition
to Preserve L.A. and AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
continue their scorched earth criticism of L.A. elected officials’
bald-faced greed and ineffectual response to the metastasizing and
intertwined homelessness and affordable housing crises in Los Angeles.
Today’s focus is the ‘pay-to-play’ culture found at Mayor Eric
Garcetti’s scandal-tinged City Hall, which earlier this week
demonstrated it lacked the vision—and spine—when the city council
refused to institute any sort of ban or restriction on campaign
contributions from real estate stakeholders and developers.
Among many Angelenos, there is a widespread perception that developers
wield undue influence in City Hall with campaign contributions and
‘behested payments’ made to pet charities or causes of councilmembers.
The cash contributes to the perception—and possible reality—of ‘quid pro
quo’, that developer projects may be getting fast track approval, zoning
variance approvals and exceptions granted.
Two recent back scratching, developer-friendly actions: L.A. City
Council’s recent unanimous (14-0) vote to approve a 725-unit
Chinatown project by Atlas Capital Group with NO affordable
units. Councilman Gil Cedillo (First District) even overrode some
Garcetti-appointed planning commission members’ recommendation that 37
units be set aside as affordable for very low-income tenants. This, as
over 53,000 remain homeless on L.A. streets and City Council seems bent
on perpetuating developer-friendly policies that lead to gentrification,
tenant evictions and additional city residents forced into homelessness.
Second, again, Councilman Cedillo, tag-teaming with his fellow visionary Councilman
Mitch O’Farrell (13th District) last week sought to
grandfather and exempt a single development project by La Terra
Development, LLC to avoid requiring just six additional
affordable housing units—30 up from 24 units—in a 150-unit Hollywood
project.
“The fact that Councilmembers Cedillo and O’Farrell would stake their
credibility and reputations as public servants on this shows just how
entrenched and myopic public officials may be in their fealty to private
business over public good,” said Michael Weinstein, president of
AHF. “City Council would be wise to veto this latest developer
exception. As for the developer, given both the robust profit margins
developers extract and the oversupply of luxury and market rate units in
Los Angeles, if La Terra Development is unable to make this project
‘pencil out’ with the six additional affordable units, they need a
sharper pencil … or perhaps they are in the wrong business.”
For more information on housing and homeless advocates’ concerns, please
visit: ‘LAScandal.org’.
Contacts
Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications, AHF +1.323.791.5526
cell [email protected]
Marin
Austin, Communications Director, AHF +1.323.333.7754 cell [email protected]
