More Shady Privatization of PUBLIC MONEY Through Non-Profits: NOW CRA Wants to "Loan" $50 Million for Downtown Residential Hotel Redevelopment
ZD video blog All ZD TV shows from this week.
Great article in "Downtown News". They tell me it's practically a propoganda arm for City Hall, but it's a good public warning system because as they a proudly proclaiming, they are also alerting the watch doggs. Meanwhile, you know my NUMBER ONE ISSUE is the privatization of public money through all these non-profit schemes I have been hollering about on the radio, TV and blog. I discussed it with Bill O'Reilly this week and even he provided an example in his area that supported my concerns. Then of course, this week's story about the once largest Charter school operator in the State being busted for some big time fraud, waste and abuse. (But nothing compared to the scale possible at LAUSD.) And how about the story in New Jersey about the politicians busted over non-profit abuse.
Well this week, the shadiest mayor in human history has announced he has his own "education" non-profit to assist him in his mayoral takeover of his LAUSD clusters he hopes to be able to pull together. story here (And it won't be easy. It may not even happen before the next mayoral election that he is now certain to lose, if he even makes it that far/the Feds catch up to him.)
So you got non-profit organizations working with City of Los Angeles elected officials on:
* Schools
* Parks & Rec
* Health Care
* (Profitable) Affordable Housing
* Aging/Elderly New shady angle/see story
* What else didn't I mention
AND NOW...
* Residential Hotels!!!
Agency Would Buy and Hand Over Seven Low-Income Hotels to Local Providers
by Evan George
(Evan, great article, my man!)
The Community Redevelopment Agency has begun a low-profile but sweeping plan that would use more than $50 million to buy seven dilapidated low-income hotels and put them in the hands of experienced operators. It would transform more than 1,300 rooms, making it one of the biggest moves in low-income housing in decades. [In LA City, "experienced" means experienced having connections with all the right agencies, consultants and elected officials to get the approval, then you ca use your "experience" in creating front-end loaded contracts and waste like the largest Californina Charter operators who got busted this week. Same blueprint, just different "warm and fuzzy" cause to hide behind: Affordable Housing instead of Schools.]
ZD SUMMARY: Between the CRA, LA CIty Hall and these non-profits I don't expect a fiscally vibrant future for this city. If someone put, "LA will become a bankrupt third world community" on a Vegas odds board, I would not bet against that one.
Hopefully the Feds will swoop in like they did in New Jersey and save the region, which ties into saving the country.
CLICK READ MORE FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE
The Rosslyn Hotel at 112 W. 5th St. is the first of seven residential hotels the CRA hopes to buy and hand over to a nonprofit operator. The strategy would secure 264 low-income units at the Rosslyn and as many as 1,323 in total. Photo by Gary Leonard. [Like the use of the term "hand over"! That's what I call it, too!]
On Aug. 23, at a little-publicized special meeting, the CRA Board of Commissioners approved the plan aimed at loaning city grant money to local nonprofits to help them buy, and eventually rehabilitate, some of the most affordable and shabbily maintained residences on Skid Row.
The unusual move, which still requires City Council approval, targets seven hotels, many of them single room occupancy buildings: the Ford, the Leland, the King Edward, the Baltimore, the Madison, the Rosslyn and the Huntington. The latter is one of the most crime-plagued buildings in Downtown Los Angeles, according to the LAPD.
Officials with the CRA are calling it the first push in a major effort to preserve such units in Downtown. Supporters say it is a needed step before the Interim Control Ordinance, which currently protects the hotels from renovation into pricy market-rate units, expires.
"Our hope is that it becomes the strategy, because we have identified 30 hotels in the Downtown area that could be part of this inventory," said Len Betz, a CRA administrator heading the project. [A wedge in, then expand the shadinesss.]
However, the deals are far from done. Few officials at City Hall would comment on the endeavor, noting that final approval could take several months.
The CRA vote came just one week after its Board of Commissioners entertained a contentious four-hour hearing on whether to grant a second round of financial assistance to for-profit developer Amerland Group, which has moved to buy two residential hotels near Skid Row. Amerland is renovating the Alexandria Hotel and plans to rehab the former Frontier Hotel as mixed-income projects with about $85 million in tax-exempt bonds, loans and other public funding. [
ZD coverage of meeting]
At the Aug. 16 meeting, many opponents of Amerland voiced concern that public subsidies are going to for-profit projects that do not preserve all the units for low-income tenants. Eventually voting 4-2 in favor, several commissioners expressed reluctance and questioned the use of that funding money.
Entire Article
ZD's Executive Strategy Blog
Great article in "Downtown News". They tell me it's practically a propoganda arm for City Hall, but it's a good public warning system because as they a proudly proclaiming, they are also alerting the watch doggs. Meanwhile, you know my NUMBER ONE ISSUE is the privatization of public money through all these non-profit schemes I have been hollering about on the radio, TV and blog. I discussed it with Bill O'Reilly this week and even he provided an example in his area that supported my concerns. Then of course, this week's story about the once largest Charter school operator in the State being busted for some big time fraud, waste and abuse. (But nothing compared to the scale possible at LAUSD.) And how about the story in New Jersey about the politicians busted over non-profit abuse.
Well this week, the shadiest mayor in human history has announced he has his own "education" non-profit to assist him in his mayoral takeover of his LAUSD clusters he hopes to be able to pull together. story here (And it won't be easy. It may not even happen before the next mayoral election that he is now certain to lose, if he even makes it that far/the Feds catch up to him.)
So you got non-profit organizations working with City of Los Angeles elected officials on:
* Schools
* Parks & Rec
* Health Care
* (Profitable) Affordable Housing
* Aging/Elderly New shady angle/see story
* What else didn't I mention
AND NOW...
* Residential Hotels!!!
Agency Would Buy and Hand Over Seven Low-Income Hotels to Local Providers
by Evan George
(Evan, great article, my man!)
The Community Redevelopment Agency has begun a low-profile but sweeping plan that would use more than $50 million to buy seven dilapidated low-income hotels and put them in the hands of experienced operators. It would transform more than 1,300 rooms, making it one of the biggest moves in low-income housing in decades. [In LA City, "experienced" means experienced having connections with all the right agencies, consultants and elected officials to get the approval, then you ca use your "experience" in creating front-end loaded contracts and waste like the largest Californina Charter operators who got busted this week. Same blueprint, just different "warm and fuzzy" cause to hide behind: Affordable Housing instead of Schools.]
ZD SUMMARY: Between the CRA, LA CIty Hall and these non-profits I don't expect a fiscally vibrant future for this city. If someone put, "LA will become a bankrupt third world community" on a Vegas odds board, I would not bet against that one.
Hopefully the Feds will swoop in like they did in New Jersey and save the region, which ties into saving the country.
CLICK READ MORE FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE
The Rosslyn Hotel at 112 W. 5th St. is the first of seven residential hotels the CRA hopes to buy and hand over to a nonprofit operator. The strategy would secure 264 low-income units at the Rosslyn and as many as 1,323 in total. Photo by Gary Leonard. [Like the use of the term "hand over"! That's what I call it, too!]
On Aug. 23, at a little-publicized special meeting, the CRA Board of Commissioners approved the plan aimed at loaning city grant money to local nonprofits to help them buy, and eventually rehabilitate, some of the most affordable and shabbily maintained residences on Skid Row.
The unusual move, which still requires City Council approval, targets seven hotels, many of them single room occupancy buildings: the Ford, the Leland, the King Edward, the Baltimore, the Madison, the Rosslyn and the Huntington. The latter is one of the most crime-plagued buildings in Downtown Los Angeles, according to the LAPD.
Officials with the CRA are calling it the first push in a major effort to preserve such units in Downtown. Supporters say it is a needed step before the Interim Control Ordinance, which currently protects the hotels from renovation into pricy market-rate units, expires.
"Our hope is that it becomes the strategy, because we have identified 30 hotels in the Downtown area that could be part of this inventory," said Len Betz, a CRA administrator heading the project. [A wedge in, then expand the shadinesss.]
However, the deals are far from done. Few officials at City Hall would comment on the endeavor, noting that final approval could take several months.
The CRA vote came just one week after its Board of Commissioners entertained a contentious four-hour hearing on whether to grant a second round of financial assistance to for-profit developer Amerland Group, which has moved to buy two residential hotels near Skid Row. Amerland is renovating the Alexandria Hotel and plans to rehab the former Frontier Hotel as mixed-income projects with about $85 million in tax-exempt bonds, loans and other public funding. [
ZD coverage of meeting]
At the Aug. 16 meeting, many opponents of Amerland voiced concern that public subsidies are going to for-profit projects that do not preserve all the units for low-income tenants. Eventually voting 4-2 in favor, several commissioners expressed reluctance and questioned the use of that funding money.
Entire Article
ZD's Executive Strategy Blog
Posted by Zuma Dogg @ 9/08/2007 12:09:00 PM
20 Comments:
After reading Zuma’s analysis in the previous thread, the earlier Downtown News article “CRA Launches $50 million SRO Grab” (would use more than $50 million) makes a lot more sense now.
On Aug 23 (one week after the 8/16 fight), at a little-publicized special meeting, the CRA Board of Commissioners approved the plan aimed at loaning city grant money to local nonprofits to help them buy, and eventually rehabilitate, some of the most affordable and shabbily maintained residences (7 old hotels) on Skid Row.
As if someone is saying: “Don’t fight, don’t fight over that $8 million.” or “OK, you win, you win, even after losing the vote”.
“Here is $50 million or more to buy 7 more old hotels for your local nonprofit friends so that everyone can play. OK?”
Every time the affordable housing groups (for-profit, non-profit or whatever, they are all profitable) fight, they will all win, only the low-come people get used and shortchanged, and all tax payers lose big time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuBo4E77ZXo
http://www.halturnershow.com/AmeroCoinArrives.html
THE AMERO IS REAL
UNITED STATES, CANADA AND MEXICO TO BE MERGED INTO SINGLE NEW ENTITY NAMED NORTH AMERICAN UNION!
The governments of the US Canada and Mexico are conspiring in secret to merge the three nations into a new entity called the North American Union.
The US Government has intentionally overspent itself for the purpose of irreversibly Bankrupting the country. The idea is that they will drive the country into economic failure, then when millions of Americans are panicking at the prospect, offer them a solution of merging the three countries as "the only possible way" to avoid losing everything.
They will force Canada into the merger by telling them the US currency they hold and rely upon will be worthless and the only way Canada can even hope to salvage any of the funds is to join the NAU.
They will sell it to the Mexican people by saying it will instantly improve their buying-power and quality of life.
In reality, the value of the US and Canadian dollars will be significantly reduced to counter the worthless peso being absorbed. People in the US and Canada will suffer great financial loss while Mexicans will see significant gain. In the meantime, the financial elite and the politicians they own will make out like bandits!
TV NETWORK CNBC CONFIRMS: U.S. DOLLAR, CANADIAN DOLLAR AND MEXICAN PESO TO BE REPLACED BY THE "AMERO"
THOSE WHO ARE DELUDED INTO THINKING THESE ARE "FANTASY COINS" NEED TO GET THEIR HEADS OUT OF THEIR ASS!
CNN's "Lou DObbs" Reports President Bush Signed Formal Agreement to End United States as we know it!
Reports our country will become part of the North American Union including Mexico and Canada!
The words "Zuma" and "analysis" used to be mutually exclusive.
No longer.
Nice work, Zooms.
1:35pm
yeah, yeah!!! thanks.
Jack, didn't you admit you fell on your head once or twice as an infant?
11:47, He (jack) still falls on his head.
Pitiful. Zuma, you are pitiful.
Same guy with new word "pitiful". Give it up Jack. If you cant or wont contribute something that we can all learn from don't post.
These kinda deals are happening a lot across the country. It's a new trend in investment capital, and it's disgusting! We could all thank the shadiest leader in the history of our country, Bush, for setting the example that all would follow. As a new way to do business in his first week in office, bush started 'the faith based initiative', but no one complained. There's no difference between that act and what Villarigosa is doing, except that the mayors actions are secular.
As usual, the clown has no idea what he's talking about, and then says it over and over again, repeated even by Joe Mailander in the newest post, who should know better. Read the comments in the Sunday Mimosa post of 9/9 by some dgarzila guy if you want to know what's happening. The SRO has a proven track record of building and operating truly drug-dealer free, top-drawer affordable housing downtown -- kicking out some drug dealers to build is hardly a crime.
DT News: The unusual move, which still requires City Council approval, targets seven hotels, many of them single room occupancy buildings: the Ford, the Leland, the King Edward, the Baltimore, the Madison, the Rosslyn and the Huntington. The latter is one of the most crime-plagued buildings in Downtown Los Angeles, according to the LAPD.
Sounds like we should send in Bratton to clean up the hotel instead. But Bratton wouldn’t touch this with a 10 ft pole while current bunch of city politicians/leaders are in office. Or would he? If not, SAD. Criminals routinely committing crimes against mostly elderly, disabled and very low-income people, are hiding behind their victims and become untouchable?
DT News: Lt. Paul Vernon of the LAPD Central Division, which patrols Downtown, said the 204-room Huntington Hotel is "one of our high-call locations, one of the magnets for problems in Downtown."
DT News: All seven buildings are comprised mostly of elderly, disabled and very low-income residents especially vulnerable to rent increases.
And they are vulnerable to crimes too. But don’t you think the reporter forgot to mention some drug dealers and users (unless we count them as very low-income residents) there? Otherwise how could one (actually more or maybe all) of the old residential hotels become magnets for problems in Downtown?
DT News: Observers note that problem properties that have been scooped up in the past by well-established housing operators generally see a drop in unchecked crime and police calls.
How did those well-established housing operators do it? Whatever they did, wouldn’t it involve some evictions of tenants who were hard-core drug dealers?
DT News: No detailed plan exists yet for how to smoothly rehabilitate the buildings, but the CRA has affirmed to not displace current tenants.
CRA has affirmed to not displace current tenants - Really? Not even some of those hard-core drug dealers?
I love it when the fool "discovers" something that not only is well known in the city by all of us, but then he just totally gets it wrong.
How long will Sam put up with this crap?
I agree that the guy who posts "pitiful" needs to cntribute something besides his comment, but, indeed, ZD is pitiful.
I would prefer to comment on the thread, not on Zuma, and not on my series of unfortunate "accidents" as a child....
But, hey, Zuma's improved in a big way. I can't fault a guy for upgrading and doing good work.
(Although, truth to tell, that "Zuma/Shaft" song parody elsewhere is...almost...too...much to...resist!)
As for Pitiful Man, the anonymous cyber-stalker, it's difficult for me to see what the ROI (return on investment) is. I hope this is not the most fulfilling part of his day.
Okay, back to the thread...!
I LOVED those Shaft lyrics. You mean you were making fun of me. I thought it was a complimentary tribute!!! Huh..huh..huh...maybe I AM delusional!
12:41PM said: …. kicking out some drug dealers to build is hardly a crime.
12:41, seems like you are agreeing with Zuma then.
I read Zuma’s long posts about a big fight during a 8/16/2007 CRA board meeting but a 4:2 vote in favor of giving a loan to Amerland to rehab the Frontier Hotel.
Zuma was either neutral with or on the side of the 3 or 4 commissioners, and against the 2 or 3 non-profit type, although Zuma found CRA in general is in serious trouble (because of the 2 or 3, the non-profits, the convoluted process, the corrupted systems, conflict of interest … ?)
The 2 non-profit type voted against giving the loan to Amerland, who according to Dgarzila in the other thread is in the process of a huge legal fight with a drug dealing tenant over eviction at Alexandria. The 2 or 3 non-profit commissioners during the 8/16/2007 meeting sided with the tenants/speakers (tenants from Alexandria?) and wanted to listen more to them complaining about Amerland’s evictions. Zuma poked fun at the 2 or 3.
By the way, according to another Downtown News article: No detailed plan exists yet for how to smoothly rehabilitate the buildings, but the CRA has affirmed to not displace current tenants. --- Didn’t say they would kick out drug dealers.
Zuma, if I did write the lyrics, I'd cop to it. They were definitely written by a ZD groupie, tho, lol.
If Downtown News’ reporter is accurate: CRA has affirmed to not displace current tenants.
Is that the current CRA policy not to displace any current tenants from downtown residential hotels? It seems to me that if they won’t displace any current tenants, they wouldn’t kick out any drug dealer tenants either.
What is that $50 million for again?
9:40, You are cordially invited to either get lost, or take a three-day, two-night all-expenses paid vacation to the theological place of eternal punishment.
At least you have a choice! Some people don't get that!
"...maybe I AM delusional"??
Did he say "Maybe"?
4:07am,
Did you say "maybe" at 4:07 AM! Yikes! You must suffer from something real, that is not joke. 4:07 AM and you are blogging about yours truly. Thanks! I guess it worked. (A little TOO much.)
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