Reyes Profile in the LA Weekly
Stepping into the wayback machine, I thought this article profiling Ed Reyes in the LA Weekly from back in November of 2004 lent some credence to the current batch of newbies nominated to be on the Planning Commission.LA Weekly: Rebel With a Plan
Ed Reyes is angry. He wants the "zombies" in LA's Planning Department out. He wants affordable-housing supporters in. And he wants his more polite colleagues on the City Council to help him pull it off.
Robert Green also had a second article in that issue entitled "Welcome to Planning 101"
So, did he get what he wanted?
Posted by Anonymous @ 10/07/2005 06:15:00 AM
28 Comments:
I read that article right before I had to start spending a lot of time in the Planning Department.
In terms of the staffers who man the public counter... they really can't help but be zombies. No sunlight + an always bitter and annoyed public + boring and needlessly complicated paperwork = you become a zombie at work.
I spent two hours at the planning public counter yesterday because every clerk except one had either taken a late lunch or found a way to avoid being at their desk.
It is expensive to hire staff in these city departments - but when the real estate industry is booming, there really needs to be a mechanism to allow the City to keep pace with commerce.
Just my two cents.
Our city needs affordable housing and fast.
Have you seen the homeless kids on our district, it is pathetic. Why do working parents both earning minimum wage cannot afford to rent a home or apartment? Rents are too high. I don't understand how a society chooses to ignore this problem.
The city must eliminate 3rd party nonprofits and directly buy, build, and manage affordable housing. The 3rd party so called affordable housing entities are ripping off the city with failed projects. The city of Los Angeles can make a huge amount of money with this type of project. Acevedo is a disgrace, those loans, projects failed because they probably lined their pockets with laundered money.
Affordable housing would prosper directly from the city.
REYES -- who has no use whatsoever for Villaraigosa, but bends to his master's will to endorse an even less substantive CM candidate -- Huizar, is NO rebel.
It takes a spine to be a rebel. Get one homie, then check back with us.
9:09:
Well said.
Reform affordable housing. How many homeless families do we have on the street?
How many of these families work and pay taxes, but do not afford a home to live in?
Are you proud of watching minors living in cars, unstable situations, in danger of being abducted or physically hurt.
Where can we start a movement to help find a solution to this problem.
If anyone in the Mayor's office reads this, please consider starting affordable housing projects.
Do not use Padilla or Acevedo, we know what happens when you use companies which they are partnered with.
Thanks 9:15. The more we investigate or read another's research into this problem, it sickens me. It sickens me to observe with proof that politicians are partnered with the 3rd party organizations, they steal funds from the city by doing bogus projects, and ultimately try to stay quiet about it. It is good for people to investigate and protect their hard earned money from crooked politicians. I would hate to find out how many other local politicians own, partner, or have interest in real estate companies who line their pockets from taxpayers earned cash. There is no room for this abuse.
I can't testify to any third-party affordable housing entities running scams. BUT I can testify to the massive amount of NIMBYism that people in L.A. have about anything over three stories, and especially anything that propses having affordable housing. Proposition U and "slow growth" ring any bells?
HACLA, from what I have learned, has wads of cash lined up to spend on projects - but they literally can't find places where public opinion will let them build.
The affordable housing racket doesn't pay too well either, for private developers. Even in this inflated market, you will lose your shirt providing anything less than market rate housing because of restrictive zoning.
If you decided to build affordable housing, you have to make money off of fees, not the sale of units. And whatever you want to do with gubmint $ will take 2 times longer than if you didn't have that money. That is time that all your aqcuisition loans just sit there collecting interest for the banks.
The whole situation stinks - but the reason why housing isn't affordable is that there is not enough supply to meet demand AND the only supply we'll let people provide is the most inefficient use of real estate (single family detached housing).
ubrfayj02
In a seminar conducted by lawyers, there was a clear point made recently. The real estate market is currently manipulated by investors and real estate agents. They buy the property themselves and erroneously inflate the market. The housing prices were not done by the people, but by investors. It will burst, and when it does it will be awful.
Interesting that when Katrina hit all of a sudden Antonio and others found housing for the victims. Yet, there are over 90,000 homeless in LA alone and no one bothers to try and do anything about it. Wonder what is going to happen when the million dollar hotel near Staples that council just approved money to help with goes up? You don't think they are going to move the homeless out of downtown. Where will they go?
UBRAYJ02 hit the nail on the head. Having worked at the Council level, I've been to countless community meetings where even the liberal crowd opposes affordable housing. Of course, they make the argument that they "support affordable housing, just not on this street or in this community."
Everyone equates affordable housing with "the projects" and "those people."
Two more things: (1) there are an estimated 90K homeless in LA County, not the City; (2) real estate prices are a matter of what people will and can pay, not what's asked. I had to bid against 4 other people for my house a few years back. If asking prices were lower, you'd simply have more people putting in offers trying to "one-up" the others.
I also agree with ubraj02 the NIMBYism is evident in the liberals living in city of los angeles. I do have an affordable housing near my home, and it is fine. There should be more. Human beings should not be without shelter. The city may want to consider building a 200 unit affordable housing in Mt. Washington. What do you think?
1:23 You have it partially right, this is where you are incorrect. The housing prices are manipulated currently by real estate agents who are buying the property themselves and manipulating the housing market. Yes, the buyer bids on a property, but usually 90% of the time the owner is an investor not a resident of the property or real estate agent who could have sold it a a less price, but they are running the market ridiculously. You will see, the prices will burst.
High-priced housing faces risks
Fifty-three metropolitan areas representing 31% of the total U.S. housing market are considered extremely overvalued and confront a high risk of future price corrections, a study conducted by National City Corp. says. The study determines a market extremely overvalued if prices are 30% above where the study estimates they should be based on historic price data, area income, mortgage rates and population density.
Metro areas that are extremely overvalued and vulnerable to price correction:
Rank Metro area Q1 valuation
1 Santa Barbara, Calif. 69%
2 Salinas, Calif. 67%
3 Naples, Fla. 62%
4 Riverside, Calif. 60%
5 Merced, Calif. 59%
6 Stockton, Calif. 58%
7 Port St. Lucie, Fla. 58%
8 Madera, Calif. 57%
9 Napa, Calif. 57% ...
...18 Oxnard, Calif. 48%
19 Fresno, Calif. 48%
20 Los Angeles, Calif. 48%
Only if we can build the same size units in the Palisades, West Hills, Encino, Westwood, Brentwood, Silver Lake, Sunland Tujunga and Westchester.
Adding 200 in those communities gives us another 1600 units.
Peak for Housing Said to Be Near
Slowing price increases in California may cause a recession by 2007, UCLA economists say.
By Bill Sing, Times Staff Writer
California's housing boom appears to be peaking, and the resultant slowdown is expected to produce "weak growth" in the state's economy during the next two years and a possible recession by the end of 2007.
That's the view of economists at the UCLA Anderson Forecast, which plans to release its widely watched quarterly outlook this morning.
go to LA TIMES FOR COMPLETE STORY
I used to live in Sunland, the area is not that great. The Valley is way overpriced and has the same Mara Salvatrucha, cholos (gangs), racist white folks, and Jews that hate Latinos (Mexicans, Salvadoreans, Nicaraguens, Brazilians, Columbians, Honduran, etc..)
The person talking about investors and real estate agents inflating prices: you are probably right, but what does knowing that give you?
Seriously, in L.A. it has been next to impossible to build anything other than freakin' ranch-style houses. There are corridors that long ago should have been developed (in the 1980's and 1990's) - but had the market totally suppressed by NIMBY's and politicians who wanted their votes.
It seems like everyone collectively lost their mind 20 years ago on the planning issue. Any time you want to build something profit-making, and substantial (these days, with such high land prices, that would have to be something 4 stories and up), everyone thinks you're trying to create an urban hell-hole.
It's like there's no in-between state allowed: it is either mind-numbing suburbia ("Yay!", screams the public) or "urban blight" ("Boooo!").
I offer as an example Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock, heading into Pasadena and Venice Blvd. inbetween Marina Del Rey and Santa Monica. These are some of the ugliest street-scapes I can think of. Bleah.
The land is incredibly valuable but already built-out to its zoning maximum - so at two to three stories it is a massive money losing proposition to buy it and improve it.
Ain't got a thing to do with Real Estate Brokers inflating the industry.
California Real Estate Cools
Decreased sales forecasted
by Don Hamon
Posted: Friday, October 7, 2005 10:31 AM
The California Association of Realtors® 2006 forecast calls for a slow down in price appreciation especially in booming costal areas. The already high priced regions of Los Angeles, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area may be affected to an even greater extent, according to the report.
Home prices in California have ridden the tide of a supply and demand system always out of balance. As 250,000 new households are added in the state each year and only 200,000 new housing units are built, the scales continue to tip toward demand and prices rise. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight reports California’s home prices rose 25% in the year ended in the second quarter of 2005. But now if the forecast is correct, there will be a moderation in the rate prices will rise.
The Association’s forecast also call for a 2% decrease in sales, reversing the trend of higher sales and even record sales.
Acevedo Reappointed to Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners
SAN PEDRO, Calif.--(HISPANIC PR WIRE - BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 2003--San Fernando Valley resident James Acevedo has been reappointed to the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners by Mayor Jim Hahn. The Los Angeles City Council unanimously confirmed Acevedo's reappointment through June 30, 2008.
In addition to his role as Harbor Commissioner, Acevedo concurrently serves as president of Neighborhood Empowerment and Economic Development, Inc., where his efforts have yielded the development of more than 600 senior, single- and multi-family affordable, residential housing units.
ACEVEDO IS #1
Katrina victims unwelcome in some towns
10/4/2005, 4:13 a.m. ET
By JULIANA BARBASSA
The Associated Press
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — When Fresno's mayor decided to travel to Louisiana and invite 400 hurricane evacuees to relocate in California's rural Central Valley, other local officials begged him to reconsider.
Mayor Alan Autry's grand gesture seemed impractical at best — with a quarter of the population in poverty, the unemployment rate set to rise as the fall harvest ends, and 2,000 Hmong refugees still to settle.
The blogger who is doing the cut & paste, well usually I would get upset, but the information is interesting.
There are Real Estate Brokers who differ with the Anderson report.
There is a 3 bedroom 1 bath home in Highland Park, drove by, shitty place.
The owners want $2700 a month rent. I told them to remodel the house and maybe I would consider the fact that they could rip me off.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Wonder what kind of post made the Mayor delete it. We do have some morons bloggers that are plain stupid.
What I'm shocked that no one has pointed out is that this article in the LA Weekly features massive quotes by none other than John Edwards.
Edwards calls Reyes a "racist" who hates white people.
Those of us from the same neighborhood remember the days when Edwards would go around saying that all Latino politicians hated whites, among other things. It didn't take too long to figure out who hated who...
How ironic that this is the same guy who has a high position for a Latino candidate for City Council.
Nick: you get what you pay for with Mr. Edwards.
AND, NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE IN CITY HALL REFER TO ED AS THE 15TH COUNCILMEMBER.
Last I heard and seen from the filings, Nick hasn't paid John Edwards. So I guess he's getting nothing since he paid nothing. John Edwards was run out of Nick's campaign a long time ago - perhaps reinforcing his white hatred stereotype since those in the know, know who ran him out.
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