Second in a series
Re “You Work for the School District? Here, Have a New Apartment?”
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A sketchy look at a Craigslist.com version of Culver Villas.
Three years ago, when City Hall, in its specialized wisdom, was deciding which Deserving Citizens should be accorded the privilege of inhabiting the pristine corridors of the still-not-open Culver Villas on Irving Place, a balmy decision was made that causes some people to call others nasty names.
With the encouragement of the Community Development Dept. staff, the late Redevelopment Agency in its specialized wisdom unanimously agreed –– with member Andy Weissman recusing himself – that three types of Very Deserving Citizens should be accorded first dibs on the 12 affordable housing units in the 28-apartment building.
In descending order, they were:
1. “Persons who have been displaced by the activities of the City or the Redevelopment Agency.”
City staffers who wrote this portion immediately hit a clunker.
No such persons exist, Mr. Weissman, an attorney, said this afternoon.
“We never had the power of eminent domain to take residential units off the market. So no group would fit into that category.”
2. “Employees of the City and the Culver City Unified School District.”
Why should these people – who already have plenty more going for them, financially, than thousands of ordinary citizens – be assigned a throne of privilege in the new building across from School District headquarters and around the corner from City Hall?
If finding affordable shelter for families and singles were not one of the most serious challenges in life, the excuse that City Hall gave for conferring specialness on the heads of astoundingly lucky City Hall and School District workers would trigger rip-roaring, belly aching laughter.
Here was the justification that the Community Development Dept. gave:
“The priority to be given to employees of the City and the School District will promote the public welfare by helping to assure that City and School District employees have adequate opportunities to live in the community they serve.”
“Serve” is a verb often employed when you can’t think of a more acceptable way an employee performs his duties.
Are these already fortunate people “serving” Our Town any more nobly than men and women who work for the Arco station at the intersection of Sepulveda and Washington?
Are the City Hall staffers telling us that we should sleep more peaceably tonight in our hovels because those Special Characters from City Hall and the School District have been awarded gilded quarters and will be so darned well rested when they wake up in the morning to generously “serve” us one more day?
3. Persons on the Redevelopment Agency’s Rental Assistance Program Waiting List.
At last Monday’s joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission, everyone at the squared table cried mazel tov – to themselves – for splendidly serving the housing desires of the needy.
Housing Administrator Tevis Barnes remarked that 1,000 persons are on what some members and staffers jauntily refer to as the RAP list.
When is it the turn of normal people to have a reasonably fair chance of landing living quarters at soothing sounding Culver Villas?
You will find them scrambling for space in neighborhoods far less desirable than Irving Place. At least they are in neighborhoods not rigged against them.
(To be continued)
