Bradley Appoints Coordinator to Help Develop Low-Cost Housing
With the City of Los Angeles in the midst of a housing crisis for the poor and homeless, Mayor Tom Bradley on Thursday named a new city housing coordinator whose uphill task is to find ways to preserve and build affordable homes for thousands of low- and moderate-income residents.
Gary Squier, a Santa Monica developer and community planner, was appointed to the newly created post, joining the Bradley Administration at a time when officials are scrambling to find shelter for the city’s poor and when federal housing subsidies are waning.
As he introduced Squier at a Chinatown news conference, Bradley called the lack of inexpensive housing “a critical problem” which has worsened as the population of low-income and moderate-income residents grows and the city’s stock of older, more affordable homes dwindles.
“If we wait until the homes have been demolished, if we wait until the population makes the heavy demand on available housing, it will be too late,” Bradley said in naming Squier and announcing that he will form a Mayor’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee.
As housing coordinator, Squier, 36, will be responsible for pulling together the efforts of private developers and various city departments--including the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Community Development Department, the Planning Department and City Housing Authority--in developing a citywide housing policy. Under Squier’s renewable, one-year contract, he will receive up to $65,000, paid from the CRA’s budget.
At present the city deals with the housing shortage on a piecemeal basis featuring individual programs for the homeless, low-income families and the elderly. One of the most publicized efforts--the city’s urban campground for 350 homeless--which has been operating since June 15, is scheduled to be shut down next Friday.
Squier acknowledged Thursday that he has a formidable task helping those who have already lost their homes. Additionally, he said, another “time bomb” is primed to go off during the next few years when federal rent and mortgage insurance subsidies are scheduled to begin expiring.
Rent Hikes Possible
Those subsidies, dating back to the early 1970s and authorized for periods of 15 and 20 years, had encouraged developers to build low-income housing and helped pay the rent for poorer families. But with the lost subsidies, tenants now face the likelihood of sharp rent increases or evictions.
“We’re talking about thousands of families . . . (who) may find themselves without homes,” said Squier.
To compensate for the absence of federal money or lack of state aid, city officials are expected to turn toward the private sector for help. And Bradley sought to showcase one of the city’s more successful private-public partnerships during his news conference.
As he spoke, Bradley stood on a street corner before an unfinished three-story, 65-unit development being built by private developers--the Lowy Development Corp. and H.L.L. Properties--with help from the city Community Redevelopment Agency and the Community Development Department.
Partly financed by federal dollars, the $6-million Bartlett Hill Manor is expected to be completed next February. Rents for the two-bedroom apartments will range from $336 a month for the lowest-income residents to $575 a month for moderate-income tenants.
Under the present federal formula, a family of four qualifying as very low income could not make more than $17,950 a year. A low-income family of four could not exceed $26,550 while a family of four qualifying as moderate income could not exceed $39,800.
