Passed 08/28/2008
WHEREAS, The City of Los Angeles faces one of the most severe affordable housing shortages in the nation, and
WHEREAS, New affordable housing is not being built to meet the needs of the working people and poor of this city, and
WHEREAS, due to this housing crisis, wages are not keeping pace with the cost of housing forcing working people and low income tenants to pay a higher and higher percentage of their income to rent, and
WHEREAS, a significant increase in the conversions into condominiums and the demolition of rental housing, which is then replaced with high priced condominiums, is exacerbating the affordable housing crisis in Los Angeles, and
WHEREAS, over the last five years over 11,000 evictions have occurred due to condo conversions and housing demolitions, with over 7,000 of these evictions occurring since 2005, according to the Los Angeles Housing Department, forcing working people, families, seniors on fixed incomes, and low income tenants from their homes where the lack of other existing affordable housing means most will be displaced from their communities, the city and the state,
LET IT THEREFORE BE RESOLVED:
THAT the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley go on record as fully supporting the position of the Coalition for Economic Survival and other tenants’ rights organizations and advocates, as well as the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 36, and the Service Employees International Union Local 660, which are calling on the Los Angeles City Council to enact immediately a citywide moratorium on all condominium conversions and rental housing demolitions to enable the City to develop condo conversion and housing demolition ordinances to more effectively protect the city’s tenants and existing affordable housing stock, while not losing more housing and displacing more people.
THAT the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley support (1) the actions of individual City Councilmembers, such as Bill Rosendahl and Alex Padilla, who have introduced motions that, in effect, establish condo conversion and housing demolition moratoriums to protect renters in their Council Districts in the absence of the enactment of a citywide moratorium and (2) the July 20, 2006 Recommendation of the Rent Adjustment Commission of the City of Los Angeles for a citywide moratorium on condo conversions and apartment building demolitions.
AND, That the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley communicate with the Los Angeles City Council and all other relevant government agencies and community organizations, as well as the media, of its position.