Trust Fund for Affordable Housing Approved

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a plan Friday to create a $100-million trust fund to build affordable housing throughout the city.

For housing advocates who have been fighting for such a fund for more than three years, the vote brought cheers and sighs of relief.

“To have a unanimous vote means that we did our job,” said Jan Breidenbach of Housing L.A. “Los Angeles is going to be changed.”

Mayor James K. Hahn unveiled the plan in January. It has received the support of housing advocates and the city’s business community.

“L.A. is a great city where no one, especially workers, should be forced to live in overcrowded conditions or slum conditions,” Hahn said at a news conference Friday. “We are moving from a housing crisis to a housing revival.”

The trust fund will be built without imposing new fees or subtracting from existing services, the mayor said.

Councilman Eric Garcetti called the plan a heroic accomplishment at a time when the city is facing a budget deficit.

According to housing experts, the city needs to build 4,000 to 5,000 units of affordable housing a year to meet growing demand. The city has been able to build about 900 yearly, Garcetti said.

Currently, the housing fund is $10.5 million. Under the plan, $42.4 million will be added during the 2002-03 fiscal year and $47.1 million more will be added in the 2003-04 fiscal year, increasing the fund to $100 million.

The dollars will come from redirecting city revenue from several sources, including Community Redevelopment Agency funds, federal community development block grants and an anticipated increase in vehicle license fees, according to the mayor’s plan. Tobacco settlement funds also will be added.

However, Councilman Nate Holden expressed concern that the plan might take away from funds that could be used to pay for more police and fire services--services that he says are essential to ensuring that all housing is safe.

He said the council would be paying lip service by approving the plan without definite funding.

However, advocates say they aren’t worried about the funds materializing.

“Having the money phased in is perfectly reasonable,” Breidenbach said. “They’ve made their commitment.”

Historically, the city has spent about $23 per person annually on affordable housing compared with New York, which spends $89 per person, and Chicago, which spends $76 per person, the mayor’s office says. It also noted that 39% of Los Angeles residents are homeowners. The national average is 66%.

Although the trust fund will eventually be the largest such fund of any city in the country, advocates say, some council members said they know it will not eliminate Los Angeles’ housing crunch.

“We are so far behind that this is just the beginning of addressing the problem,” said Councilman Nick Pacheco.

“It will be another five to 10 years before we get on pace or really make a dent.”

“We are falling further and further behind each year,” Garcetti said. “But we can at least stem the tide.”

City officials estimate that the fund will help build an additional 2,000 units yearly, but Pacheco and Garcetti are hopeful that number can be 3,000 to 4,000 units.

“It all depends on how we configure it, “ Pacheco said, adding that the city will need to decide how much to devote to multiunit housing, single-family housing or to rehabilitating blighted structures.

The plan calls for an advisory committee that will include community and business leaders, housing advocates and land use experts to decide how and where the trust fund should be spent.

That committee should be put in place now, rather than waiting until the fund is in place, Hahn said.

Another challenge the city will face, Pacheco said, is changing the public’s image of affordable housing.

“Far too often when we talk about affordable housing, communities don’t welcome [it],” he said.

“People look at affordable housing as a place where crime will occur. We need to break down that myth. Renters aren’t second-class citizens.”