Berman to Seek Funds for Public-Housing Security

Congressman Howard Berman (D-Panorama City) toured two of Pacoima’s largest federally funded housing projects Tuesday, promising tenants that he and local housing officials will seek funding to improve security and provide more recreational facilities for youngsters at the complexes.

Berman said last June’s fatal shooting of a Los Angeles police officer at a public-housing apartment complex in Sylmar and recurring drug-trafficking problems at other projects prompted him to examine ways to improve the safety of tenants.

Benjamin Bobo, Southern California regional manager of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Leila Gonzalez-Correa, executive director of the Los Angeles City Housing Authority, accompanied Berman to Van Nuys Pierce Park and nearby San Fernando Gardens.

Berman said he will seek federal funds to build a security fence around San Fernando Gardens, a project owned and operated by the city. A gated system, he said, could help keep drug pushers out of the complex. Gonzalez-Correa told Berman that city officials intend to apply for state funding to build a recreation center at the Gardens.

“There is a lot of attention paid to the housing projects in central Los Angeles but not out here in the Valley,” Berman said.

Last week Berman met with members of a recently formed coalition of managers and tenants of federally subsidized apartment complexes. The group is trying to organize a tenant-screening process so that known drug offenders can be kept out of public housing.