Council Takes New Approach With Affordable Housing Plan
Community Development Director Madalyn Blake was sailing in uncharted waters Tuesday when she introduced a comprehensive affordable housing plan that was approved by the Glendale City Council.
In a city that prides itself on its conservatism, the phrase “affordable housing” has been, in the words of one councilman, “a very unpopular cliche.” As a result, city government has done little more than channel federal rent subsidies to the needy and watch the waiting list for such grants swell.
But in an apparent change of philosophy, the council approved 4 to 1 a two-year, $8.7-million spending plan for affordable housing.
The plan combines $5.6 million in federal grants and $2.9 million set aside by the city, in a formula mandated by a state law that became effective this year. The 1988 law requires cities to spend 20% of Redevelopment Agency tax-increment funds for affordable housing programs. The remaining $135,000 will come from the city’s general fund.
Councilwoman Ginger Bremberg opposed the plan, saying it goes “against everything my conservative soul believes in.”
Federal Allocation
Almost all the federal funds--$5.1 million--will continue to go for rent subsidy programs. The rest will be spent for apartment rehabilitation, building code enforcement, counseling for low-income residents, a home-sharing program for the elderly, moving money for senior citizens who get evicted and housing vouchers for the homeless.
“Our flexibility with the federal funds is very, very limited,” Blake said.
The bulk of the city funds, however, will be used for incentives for developers to build low-income housing projects for the handicapped and disabled, officials said.
Mayor Jerold Milner praised Blake for proposing programs for the city funds that are “investments, not handouts, and give the city something in return.”
The plan calls for $2.4 million to be spent for land write-down programs, in which the city buys property and leases it to a developer in perpetuity. The developer, in exchange, builds affordable housing for senior citizens and pays rent to the city.
Another $300,000 of the city funds is earmarked for rehabilitation of the city’s old single-family homes in neighborhoods zoned for apartments. Council members asked Blake to consider two alternatives: buying into the owners’ equity or paying owners not to tear down houses but to sell them to an apartment developer.
The remaining $200,000 had been earmarked for rent subsidies, but council members told Blake that they were not interested in “handouts” and instructed her to redirect the funds into either the write-down or housing rehabilitation programs.
The plan approved Tuesday was hailed as a major breakthrough by members of the city’s nonprofit organizations that aid low-income residents.
“We sense a new attitude, a new resolve toward looking at the community and making some changes,” said the Rev. Greg Roth, head of a coalition of nonprofit organizations that works with the city’s estimated 300 homeless people.
No Surprises
However, critics contend that the city was forced into action by the state mandate. They said they were not surprised when Milner instructed Blake to strike the $200,000 rent subsidy proposal from the plan and to make sure that all city funds are used for investments.
“The city of Glendale is nowhere near responding to the housing needs of the elderly, the disabled and the poor,” said former Councilman John F. Day, who retired earlier this year after 12 years in office.
“Sure, now they have affordable housing policies because they are mandated by the state, and they will do whatever is necessary to comply with the law, rather than meet the population’s needs,” said Day, a Democrat who championed the rights of the city’s elderly population and often disagreed with his four Republican colleagues.
But most council members say they have a new awareness of the problems of Glendale’s lifelong residents, who can no longer afford rents, and of young people who have to move from the city where they grew up because they cannot afford down payments on new houses.
“Our affordable housing policy is the result of a marriage between the state mandate and our recognition that, in the past few years, our elderly population and young families have suffered significantly,” Milner said. “It’s not that I’ve become more liberal; it’s just that I realized that certain things had to be done.”
Milner has vowed never to support a public housing project in the city. Yet he is proposing public subsidies for first-time buyers. Milner told Blake on Tuesday to consider equity-sharing programs, in which the city would help qualified applicants with down payments and part of their mortgage payments.
In exchange, the city would gain a proportional share of the equity from an increase in property value, he said. The owner would eventually pay off the debt to the city with proceeds from the sale of the house or would begin to pay the debt after the last mortgage payment.
Councilman Larry Zarian also said he has changed his view of the city government’s role in providing affordable housing.
Soaring Prices Cited
“A couple of years ago, the phrase affordable housing was a very unpopular cliche,” Zarian said. “But then again, property values were not as astronomical as they are today. My own sons have come of age and cannot afford to stay in the city. We can’t allow Glendale to become a city only for the wealthy.”
Like Milner, Zarian came up with his own proposal for affordable housing. City funds could be used to subsidize the mortgage payments of first-time buyers, he said. In exchange, such buyers would bring houses up to code and would give up their zoning rights to sell houses to apartment developers.
Councilman Carl Raggio said the city would have hammered out an affordable housing plan without the state mandate. Last year he chaired the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing for the Elderly, which officially recommended that the city spend redevelopment funds for affordable housing. Under state law, cities have the option of holding off payments until 1992.
“The task force identified affordable housing as a problem, and we decided to do something about it rather that wait until things got worse,” he said.
