Mayors Push for Housing in Rebuilding Plan

Democratic mayors representing several of the state’s big cities called on Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday to include money for housing in his massive proposal to rebuild California’s aging roads, schools, water facilities and jails.

“We need a comprehensive investment in infrastructure in this state,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said.

In a Capitol news conference room, Villaraigosa joked with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales about whose city has the highest housing costs. But all agreed that the lack of affordable housing in California is reaching “epidemic” proportions -- with four out of five residents in the state’s largest urban areas unable to afford a home.

Legislators face a March 10 deadline to get any part of the public works proposal on the June ballot. Lawmakers are crafting their own versions of the proposal offered by the governor.

“One piece that is missing from the current proposal made by the governor is housing -- there’s no more important issue in the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Newsom, adding that the median home price in his city is $770,000 -- 264% higher than the national median.

The mayors stood with Senate Leader Don Perata (D-Oakland) and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), who said they supported including housing in any infrastructure measure. Perata has included $1.4 billion for housing in his version of the bond proposal, with Nunez offering up $2 billion in his.

City leaders also said they favored including money for mass transit and linking these systems to high-density housing. Villaraigosa is particularly interested in money for the first phase of extending the Red Line rail system to the ocean -- a project estimated to cost $4.8 billion. He campaigned on the issue.

“All of us were quite worried when the original proposal didn’t include anything for mass transit,” said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who attended meetings with Villaraigosa and Los Angeles-area legislators Tuesday and Wednesday.

So far, Schwarzenegger’s $222-billion public works proposal includes less money for mass transit, focusing instead on building more roads, a high priority in suburban and rural areas. The governor and GOP legislators have resisted including housing in his plan.

But Villaraigosa, who met with the governor privately for 45 minutes Wednesday, said he was optimistic that Schwarzenegger, who lives in Los Angeles, would consider his suggestions.

“You don’t have to introduce him to what the challenges are in our region and our city,” Villaraigosa said, during his second trip to the state capital since being sworn in last summer.

The mayor’s discussion with the governor followed a day and a half of back-to-back meetings between Villaraigosa and legislators, including private talks with Nunez and Perata.

Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, Councilwoman Janice Hahn and Greuel joined Villaraigosa in lobbying legislators to include enough money for Los Angeles in any bond measure. Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, and Mercedes Marquez, general manager of the Los Angeles Housing Department, joined Villaraigosa on Tuesday.

The Los Angeles city officials repeatedly told legislators that they wanted assurances that the state would not use gas tax revenues to plug holes in its budget. In recent years, legislators have diverted money that was set aside under Proposition 42 to avoid cuts in other services.

In last year’s budget, Schwarzenegger agreed to return the funding to cities -- including $16 million to Los Angeles -- to repave streets and repair potholes.

The officials told legislators that they were particularly concerned that although Los Angeles County has 28% of the state’s population, under the governor’s plan it would get 18% of the highway funds and 11% of the total transportation funding.

“We need to make sure the money gets distributed evenly,” said Garcetti, who declined, along with others, to provide specifics. “We’re saying design this right and make the categories meaningful.”

Money is needed to improve roads around the port to more efficiently move 80% of the state’s goods that come into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, city officials said.

Legislators said they favored including money for mass transit in any bond proposal but refrained from making promises for specific projects.

“This was not a commitment conversation,” Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, (D-Long Beach) said of her meeting with Villaraigosa. “I listened to what he had to say.”

During a two-day visit to his old stomping grounds, Villaraigosa, a former Assembly speaker, spent almost as much time in the hall chatting with legislators and former staffers as he did in meetings. He even hugged an elevator operator, who said, “We miss you up here, you know.”

His celebrity was not lost on Newsom, who repeatedly arrived in top legislators’ offices Wednesday to find Villaraigosa already in private meetings with them.

Villaraigosa said he was not in Sacramento to get promises for projects but to urge legislators to consider allocating money to Los Angeles based on its reputation for “the dirtiest air and the biggest homeless population.”

The city’s efforts to fix its problems, including forming a $100-million housing trust fund and the mayor’s pledge of $50 million to combat homelessness, should qualify it for further state funding, he said.

“Los Angeles understands that we can’t get more than our fair share,” the mayor said between meetings. “But we shouldn’t get less either.”