The Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, Southern California’s leading advocate for affordable quality rental housing, announced today that it is supporting small business owner Göran Eriksson in his bid for a seat on the City Council.
“I’m honored to have earned the support of the association, which has fought for affordable housing for nearly 100 years,” Mr. Eriksson said. “They know we need Council members who will fight for more attainable housing throughout Culver City.”
Mr. Eriksson said he believes it is critical for the city to have housing stock at every price level so that seniors can afford to stay in the city they love and young residents can find places to live on an entry-level salary.
“Culver City is a highly desirable place to live and work,” he said. “But we need to make sure we have adequate workforce housing and affordable housing to serve our city.”
He said he would implement a multi-pronged approach that would encourage developers to build more affordable housing units in while fighting for more housing money from the state.
“One of the functions of the (now defunct) Redevelopment Agency was to provide for affordable housing,” Mr. Eriksson said. “When the state eliminated Redevelopment Agencies across California, that money disappeared.
“It is high time that Sacramento returns those much-needed funds to the local level. This would allow the city, in cooperation with the county, to provide housing that is affordable to people of all socio-economic levels.”
Mr. Eriksson said a primary concern is creation of affordable senior housing that would allow seniors to age in place instead of being priced out of the community where they have spent their lives.
Fred Sutton, government affairs manager for the apartment association, said his organization is confident “Göran Eriksson will be a strong advocate for affordable housing. He will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us to make sure Culver City does its fair share to address the housing shortage.”
The endorsement comes on the heels of last week’s endorsement of Mr. Eriksson by the Culver City Firefighters Assn., and it builds on a growing number of individuals and organizations that have thrown their support to Eriksson.
He has been endorsed by four of the five City Council members: Mayor Mehaul O’Leary, Vice Mayor Andy Weissman, Councilman Jeff Cooper and Councilman Jim Clarke.
Mr. Eriksson also has been endorsed by four of the five members of the School Board, President Steve Levin, and members Kathy Paspalis, Sue Robins and Anne Burke.
Four former mayors and seven former School Board members are supporting him.
Mr. Maleman may be contacted at gmaleman@aol.com
