Third in a series

Re “Rigged?”

With a staggering 1,448 residents or would-be residents of Culver City applying for housing at the Culver Villas on Irving Place – scheduled for completion next month – how can City Hall automatically – arrogantly? – award 12 of the 28 scarce units to employees of the School District and the city?

Just knock almost half of the desperately sought apartments out of the bidding, as if they never had existed? 

On what ethical grounds?

What stamps the School District and City Hall workers as superior to the 1,448 luckless shle’meils who actually are eligible for a scant 16? And one of those 16, according to Craigslist, is tagged at a hefty $4,875 monthly rent? Another is priced at $3,900 a month.

While waiting for an answer, a week ago the unbashful City Council, in a televised special, hooked its thumbs into its shiny red suspenders and bragged to its Culver City constituents what a brilliantly impressive job it is doing of supplying smart shelter for the needy and for the fortunate.

Three years, Aug. 9, 2010, the since-outlawed Redevelopment Agency, on a unanimous 4-0 vote (by Mehaul O’Leary, Scott Malsin, Jeff Cooper and Chris Armenta, with Andy Weissman recusing himself), approved this class stratification – kid glove treatment for city and School District workers – with developers Sal Gonzales and George Mitsanas. Mr. Gonzales told the newspaper last week he did not have an opinion on the 12 set-asides.

Do city and School District employees get hungrier faster than ordinary people?

Do they need more sensitive coddling, more handsome sleeping quarters than plain people?

Here is how the Community Development Dept. staff, who designed the magical 39-word policy, rationalized elevating 12 sets of Very Special School District and City Hall employees above the unspecial, unwashed 39,000-plus residents of Culver City.

“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.”

[img]1845|right|Jeff Cooper||no_popup[/img]Mr. Cooper, now the mayor of Culver City, stands staunchly with his original vote on Culver Villas.

“By providing places for our School District and city employees to live close to where they work,” he said, “we do our part to eliminate the jobs/housing imbalance that creates longer commutes, more traffic and increased pollution.

“Giving priority to local workers does not impact the property owner. Those units will still rent at market rate. In fact, similar preferential housing programs have resulted in tenants who stay longer and who get more involved in their community.”

Next we turned to Mr. Ubiquitous, City Councilman Jim Clarke, to check the current temperature on the dais.

First, a disclaimer.

[img]1792|right|Jim Clarke||no_popup[/img]Since he was not an elected official when the policy was approved, “you understand I was not privy to all of the discussions that went into that decision.”

Remember, said Mr. Clarke, that income restrictions are in effect,  nine of the 12 reserved for moderate income households (with a $67,000 maximum) and three for low income $59,650 maximum).

Do those parameters ameliorate the situation?

“It does add something,” he said. “I think it is beneficial whenever we can have city employees and school employees in the community which they serve, to be able to afford to live in the community which they serve.

“There is a public benefit to that.”

Mr. Clarke explained that “public benefit” means those 12 employees “will be more attached to the community. They are vested in the well-being of the community. Hopefully,it is reflective of how they go about the performance of their duties because it has a direct influence on themselves and their neighbors.

“There is a public good to whenever possible to be able to do that. Given that we are on the Westside, where rents and housing prices are fairly expensive, this will benefit a portion of our workforce. There is an advantage for them to live in the community they serve.”