A monthly newsletter published by United Neighborhoods for Los Angeles.
UN4LA’s mission is to bring communities together to plan for a sustainable future. Growth must be shaped by community engagement, not developer dollars.
RESDISTRICTING: NEW MAPS AVAILABLE FOR L.A. CITY & L.A. COUNTY
The redistricting process is over, and updated maps are available for LA City Council districts and LA County Supervisorial districts. Follow the links below to see if the new boundaries affect you.
Los Angeles City Redistricting Home Page (includes demographic data)
Los Angeles City Council District Map
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors District Map
CONTROVERSY OVER L.A. CITY’S ADOPTION OF HOUSING, SAFETY AND HEALTH ELEMENTS
At the end of November, the LA City Council approved an updated Housing Element, as required by the State of California. While the update has fervent supporters, there are also those who are strongly opposed, and Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has sent a letter informing the City that it intends to file a lawsuit. AHF asserts that approval of the Housing Element violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the State Planning Code. In addition to CEQA concerns, AHF has cited the Housing Element’s assumption that the City’s population will grow substantially, when census data shows that population growth is actually slowing. The organization also points out that in recent years the City has produced three times the number of Above Moderate Income units needed according to the State’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), while failing by a long shot to build the necessary number of Moderate, Low Income and Low Income units.
Housing Element / General Plan / 2021-2029
Letter Re AHF Intention to File Petition for Writ of Mandate
Along with the Housing Element, the City of LA also approved updates to its Health and Safety Elements, a move which has sparked concern in other quarters. Specifically, some have objected to the City’s claim that the Health and Safety updates satisfy the State requirement that every jurisdiction develop an Environmental Justice Element. In a letter to the Council, Esperanza Community Housing says that the City has failed to conduct meaningful community outreach and based its assumptions on data collected years ago.
Concerns Re Environmental Justice Element from Esperanza Community Housing
MELLO ACT ORDINANCE: COASTAL ADVOCATES FEAR DISPLACEMENT OF LOWER INCOME RESIDENTS
At their meeting on November 30, the City of LA’s Planning & Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee voted to recommend approval of an ordinance implementing the Mello Act, which the California legislature approved in 1982 to protect housing from commercialization and to preserve and increase affordable housing in coastal zones. This might seem like good news, since the City has delayed taking action on this issue for years. Unfortunately, the ordinance that will be sent to the City Council in January would end up undermining the Mello Act’s mandate to protect low-cost housing. As currently written, the ordinance allows the replacement of residential structures with mixed-use projects having the same number of units. Concerned community members maintain that this is not authorized by the Mello Act itself and promotes commercial interests at the expense of residential needs. The fear is that this will incentivize and accelerate development of mixed-use projects, causing increased displacement of lower income residents and gentrification in coastal areas.
Since the City of LA already has a severe shortage of housing for lower income residents, and City Hall is apparently unable to even account for all the affordable units that are available, it’s hard to understand how the PLUM Committee could recommend approval of an ordinance that will likely lead to the destruction of rent-stabilized housing and increased displacement to make way for commercial uses. This flies in the face of one of the top four priorities in the City of LA’s recently approved Housing Element: “Preventing displacement and protecting Angelenos.”
Draft Mello Act Ordinance Comments from Citizens Preserving Venice
Click on the links below to view the council file on the ordinance and the recommendation report from the Department of City Planning.
Mello Act / Coastal Zone / Affordable Housing / Ordinance
Recommendation Report from LA Department of City Planning
L.A.D.W.P. SCANDAL CONTINUES TO UNFOLD
December saw yet another plea deal in the LA Department of Water & Power (LADWP) corruption scandal, which has dragged on for years and appears to implicate the LA City Attorney’s Office as well. Former LADWP executive David Alexander pled guilty to the charge of lying to the FBI about his role in pushing for the approval of a contract with the agency in exchange for the promise of high-paying job. This follows guilty pleas by attorney Paul Paradis, who was instrumental in setting up the scheme, and former LADWP General Manager David Wright, who also played a leading role.
Wright’s plea agreement lays out an intricate series of scams, by which he worked with Paradis to secure contracts for Aventador Utility Solutions, a company controlled by Paradis. Back in 2016 and 2017, the two discussed an arrangement whereby Aventador would get a $30 million contract with the LADWP, and in exchange for his help in securing the contract, Wright would later become Aventador’s CEO, a job that would pay about $1 million a year. During the same period, Paradis also helped set up a sham lawsuit that would allow the LADWP to quickly resolve the mess caused by the utility’s catastrophic rollout of its new billing system. In August 2017, when the attorney was writing the settlement agreement for the lawsuit, Wright sent a text message to Paradis, directing him to insert language that would help create more opportunities for Aventador. Later that year, Wright sent another text to Paradis telling him they should do “the minimal possible” when it came to upgrading the flawed billing system, because Wright didn’t want to deal with it in the time remaining before his retirement.
There’s actually much more to it than this. If you really want to dig into the sordid details, follow the link below to Wright’s plea agreement. A full account is contained in Attachment A, which begins on page 17.
SEWAGE SPILL IN CARSON CAUSES BEACH CLOSURES
Raw sewage spilled into Dominguez Channel last week when a sewer line failed in Carson. LA County Sanitation estimates that as much as 7 million gallons of sewage was released, causing beaches to be closed in a number of coastal communities. This comes on the heals of a recent episode in which Carson residents complained of foul odors emerging from Dominguez Channel during September and October. Also, in July 2021, a major sewage flow overwhelmed the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey, which resulted in nearby communities being plagued with overpowering odors for weeks.
LA County Crews Scramble to Clean Up after Sewage Spill
UN4LA News – December 2021