Scrap the housing pocket veto
It’s not easy building supportive housing for homeless people. The city of Los Angeles puts plenty of reasonable demands on developers who want a share of its $1.2 billion Proposition HHH fund for homeless and low-income housing. But requiring a developer to get a letter of acknowledgement from a City Council member before even applying is neither reasonable nor necessary.
Now, a community group is contending the policy illegally gives council members unrestricted veto power over affordable and supportive housing. In a Superior Court lawsuit filed last week, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment argues that requiring a developer to get a letter from the council member representing the project’s site violates the California Fair Employment and Housing Act as well as a state statute that prohibits local government from imposing requirements on residential projects that it doesn’t impose on all other types of developments.
Lawyers for the group contend that requiring the letter “causes a discriminatory effect against people of color, individuals with disabilities, and families with children.” The suit notes that certain racial and ethnic groups and disabled individuals disproportionately make up homeless and low-income households. The lawsuit asks that the courts overturn the letter requirement for developers seeking either HHH funding or financing from the city’s Affordable Housing Managed Pipeline.
The letter requirement has long been troubling because it allows a council member to squelch a project privately and preemptively for any reason — such as the design or the makeup of the tenants — or no reason. On some occasions, council members have given over letters only after developers gave in to their demands. One developer recounted nixing a plan to even apply for HHH funding for a project after talking to a council member who balked at the idea of putting homeless housing there.
Certainly, many council members have given out letters with little issue. But if council members are worried about such issues as project design or residents’ input, they should adopt citywide requirements for all HHH applicants.
HHH projects are vetted extensively by the city’s Housing and Community Investment Department and two oversight committees before the full City Council votes on them. So council members have a final say on projects — but in public where they can be held accountable, not in private where they can act capriciously with impunity.
Developers and housing advocates have urged the city to scrap the council letter requirement. City officials should do so now, before a judge makes them.