UN4LA News - June 2022
A monthly newsletter published by United Neighborhoods for Los Angeles.
UN4LA's mission is to bring communities together to plan for a sustainable future. Growth must be shaped by community engagement, not developer dollars.
L.A. CITY COUNCIL APPROVES FUNDS TO PURCHASE AT-RISK AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The struggle over the Hillside Villa apartments in Chinatown continues. The building, which contains 124 affordable units, has housed low-income tenants for three decades, but when the affordability covenant expired a few years ago, owner Tom Botz started raising rents. Some tenants say their rent has more than doubled, and they fear eviction because they're unable to pay the higher rate.
So tenants and activists were thrilled when, on Friday, May 27, the LA City Council approved a motion to borrow up to $45 million from the Reserve Fund to purchase Hillside Villa. Unfortunately, there's no guarantee that the deal will go through, since it appears Botz doesn't want to sell. Councilmember Gil Cedillo recently floated the idea of using eminent domain to acquire the building, but that isn't part of the motion that was approved.
Unless the owner changes his mind, the Council's approval of the loan may turn out to be nothing more than a symbolic gesture. What's worse, the situation at Hillside Villa is just a preview of what's to come. Over the course of this decade, affordability covenants for thousands of apartments in the LA area will be expiring. Though the State's current budget includes significant funding for affordable housing, it's a temporary infusion, and Federal funds for housing have mostly disappeared. If no long-term solution can be found, many more low-income households will be facing eviction.
LA Approves ‘Unprecedented’ Plan To Take Over Chinatown Apartment Building, Against Owner’s Wishes
Motion No. 42 / Hillside Villas
CITY OF L.A. CONTINUES TO TURN HOUSING INTO HOTEL ROOMS
While the folks at LA City Hall are constantly reminding us that we're dealing with a housing crisis, they somehow seem to forget their own rhetoric when it's convenient. Take the City's recent approval of a new hotel at 1723 Wilcox, a project that involves the demolition of an 18-unit apartment building. When LA City Planning is considering a high-end residential high-rise, they'll tell you every unit counts. But in this case it seems that building another party hotel is more important than preserving existing housing.
This isn't the first time this has happened. In 2016 the City turned the 18 rent-stabilized units at 1850 Cherokee into a boutique hotel. In 2017 they allowed the owners of the apartments at 5825 Sunset to turn 52 units into hotel rooms. That same year the City issued a permit allowing the conversion of 97 units at 888 S Olive into hotel rooms. And in 2019 the City approved another hotel project at 1719 Whitley that involved the demolition of 40 rent-stabilized units.
UNITE HERE has filed an appeal of the 1723 Wilcox project approval. The hearing will be held on Tuesday, June 28 at 4:30 pm. Click on the link below for details.
1723 Wilcox Appeal, Central Area Planning Commission Hearing
TRES HERMANOS SOLAR PROJECT COLLAPSES AMID ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION
The Tres Hermanos solar project was touted as a way to provide clean, renewable energy to cities in LA County. The project was approved by the City of Industry in spite of the fact that serious concerns had been raised about the project's backers, a group which included a convicted felon and a developer whose companies had defaulted on numerous loans.
Now the project has been abandoned and prosecutors allege that key figures involved in promoting the deal were using it to fatten their own bank accounts. This story from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune has more details.
How a Coup in the City of Industry Opened the Door for a $20 Million Corruption Scandal
ORANGE COUNTY CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION REVERBERATES IN L.A. COUNTY
The corruption scandal that has rocked Orange County appears to reverberating in LA County. More than one news source has identified Melahat Rafiei as the person referred to as Cooperating Witness 1 (CW1) in the criminal complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Brian Adkins.
Rafiei has deep ties to the political establishment in Long Beach, where in 2009 she started the political consulting firm Progressive Solutions Consulting (PSC). A number of Long Beach officials have used PSC’s services when running for office, including Councilmembers Rex Richardson, Mary Zendejas and Roberto Uranga. Rafiei also served as Secretary for the California Democratic Party, a position she resigned from after the media reported her involvement in the corruption scandal.
In the complaint, Special Agent Adkins stated, "I believe CW1 lied to FBI SAs during CW1’s interview on October 28, 2019. I also believe CW1 has omitted material facts to investigators throughout CW1’s cooperation with the FBI, including additional instances where CW1 has offered to pay bribes to elected public officials." This appears to indicate that charges could still be filed against Rafiei.
When Will the FBI Swoop into Long Beach?
California Democratic Party Leader Steps Down amid Angel Stadium Probe
