REGION : Spread Public Housing Around, Svorinich Says

Calling for an end to “the inequitable distribution of public housing” in Los Angeles, Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr. is asking the City Council to consider a motion that would require other council districts to develop more low-income housing.

The motion calls for the city’s Planning Department to submit a report outlining each district’s share of public housing, and recommends that the Housing Authority “limit the development of public housing to communities that have not fully contributed to their ‘fair share.’ ”

Svorinich’s motion came just days before families began moving into a new nine-unit public housing development in his 15th District, which includes Watts and Wilmington.

More than 65% of the city’s public housing units are in the 15th and 14th districts that includes Boyle Heights, El Serano, Highland Park and Eagle Rock, while Districts 2 and 11 that include parts of the Valley and West Los Angeles have less than 1%, according to Svorinich’s office.

“There is an overprofileration of public housing in certain areas of the city that have contributed to deterioration along with the issues such as lack of schools, city services and economic infrastructure to support these public housing developments,” Svorinich said.

Svorinich’s motion would allow the council to provide funding to help purchase land in cases where the high cost of the property could be an obstacle to developing public housing.