Bradley Moves Quickly to Stifle Opposition to His Housing Proposal

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley moved quickly on Wednesday to overwhelm county critics of his low-income housing plan.

After Bradley gave them a talk on the need for low-cost housing, his appointees on the city Community Redevelopment Agency board unanimously, and without debate, approved the first phase of the mayor’s proposal. It envisions using property tax revenues generated by new building in the downtown redevelopment area to finance housing for the homeless and for the poor who are being forced out of apartments by high rent.

Bradley also took a step toward broadening political support for the program. He reached into the ranks of city political dissidents and asked the Center for Law in the Public Interest, a frequent critic of local government housing policies, to help build community support for his program. The redevelopment agency board voted to pay the center up to $35,000.

Strengthens His Hand

Those actions helped strengthen Bradley’s hand in a struggle with Los Angeles County officials, as did the backing of City Councilman Ernani Bernardi, a San Fernando Valley representative who often attacks city housing policy and the redevelopment agency.

Richard B. Dixon, Los Angeles County chief administrator, had charged that the plan would take property tax revenue away from the huge programs the county must support, ranging from law enforcement to public health.

Asked about the county opposition, Bradley, interviewed on the run by reporters as he hurried away from the redevelopment agency meeting, said that downtown redevelopment construction has generated so much property tax revenue that it has helped all levels of government.

Referring to the city’s first redevelopment project, on Bunker Hill, the mayor asked, “Would they have preferred to keep that ratty old run-down property on Bunker Hill?”

Dixon said he will continue to oppose the plan if he feels that the county will be hurt financially, but added the county would compromise if “the city could come forward with something where the net impact is favorable (to the county) or at least neutral.”

In the downtown area, the redevelopment agency has obtained land, much of it containing old buildings, at comparatively low prices and then sold it to developers, also fairly cheaply. As high-rises went up, land values increased, as did property taxes.

Up to $750 million in the new tax revenue has gone to the city redevelopment agency under a 1977 agreement negotiated after Bernardi and Los Angeles County went to court to stop the property tax diversions.

Under the Bradley plan, the court would be asked to raise the $750 million limit to $5 billion.

Half of that money would be used to back revenue bonds to finance housing. A summary released by the redevelopment agency said the money would be used to rehabilitate old buildings prone to earthquake damage, construct shelters for the homeless, subsidize rental housing for low-income people and build new housing.

The other half would be used for public works and amenities for the downtown redevelopment area, including parks, parking, a subsidy for the downtown mini-bus, street lighting and street improvements, financial assistance to facilities for industrial areas and for the fish-processing industry.