(October 23, 2012) This morning, the Board of Supervisors for the County of Los Angeles unanimously approved a motion to release a NOFA for $11 million to build affordable housing in the County. Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Zev Yaroslavsky made the motion to allocate the funds from the millions of dollars the County has received from the dissolution of redevelopment agencies. The intent is to award the funding in time to qualify for the next TCAC funding round.
Several representatives of communities that need affordable housing spoke in support the motion, including Steve Peck, President of US Vets, who spoke compellingly of the need for affordable housing among veterans, Tony Walker, of St. Anne's, who spoke of the need for permanent homes for many single mothers and their families, Kate Kang, of the Korean Resource Center, who spoke of the need for homes affordable to seniors on restricted incomes, and Roshe Malkuti, of the United Friends of the Children, who spoke of the need for affordable homes for emancipated foster youth. Developers and intermediaries who turned out were Tara Barauskus of A Community of Friends, Jim Bonar of Clifford Beers Housing, Veronica Garcia of Habitat for Humanity, Maura Johnson of Hollywood Community Housing Corporation, Keon Montgomery of Los Angeles Family Housing, Ben Phillips of Mercy Housing, Molly Rysman of Corporation for Supportive Housing, Mike Alvidrez of Skid Row Housing Trust, Thomas Yee of Little Tokyo Service Center, and Lisa Payne of SCANPH.
Last Tuesday, affordable housing advocates and allies were also before the LA County Board of Supervisors to request that they make sure that the County took necessary administrative steps to preserve the City of Industry Funds for affordable housing in the face of the initial determination by the Department of Finance that it should be dissolved as part of the dissolution of RDAs. An independent counsel retained by the City of Industry Oversight Board has found that the Industry funds were an enforceable obligation that found that had to continue. Testifying about the importance of the City of Industry Program and the legal grounds for it to continue beyond the dissolution of the RDAs were Bill Huang of the City of Pasadena, Scott Chamberlain of the San Gabriel Valley Consortium on Homelessness, Gigi Szabo of New Directions, Annie Marquit of Public Counsel, Tara Barauskus of A Community of Friends, Alfredo Izmajtovich representing National CORE, David Ryan of Corporation for Supportive Housing, and Lisa Payne of SCANPH.
No comments:
Post a Comment