[img]1|left|Ari Noonan||no_popup[/img]Re “Gross Was Right,” He Says with Vigor”

The oceans did not empty yesterday because Alan Corlin, typically an adversary, agreed with his former City Council colleague Carol Gross that the community is to blame, not the politicians, for City Hall failing to build the amount of affordable housing that Sacramento ordered.

“The Council, at the time, was trying to make options available for low- and moderate-income housing,” Mr. Corlin said.

“But in every case that I remember, there was pushback from the community.”

Question: When is it the obligation of elected officials to follow the community’s wishes and when should they step away and do what they think is wisest?

“It is he responsibility of the Council to go along with the community’s desires when those desires ultimately will make the city a better place.”

What is your yardstick for making a determination?

“To figure out which way to go, it depends on what the individual issue is. Taking the low- and moderate-income housing case as an example, there are few places in Culver City where a large housing development is even possible. In my opinion, that limits where they can go.

“The problem in Culver City is, we are completely built out already. Any larger project is going to be snuggled right against a community. And the people in the community have a right, as stakeholders, to say what is happening.

“Many times, larger projects, which is what these low- and moderate-income cases tend to be, are not in the best interests of the community nearby or Culver City as a whole if it impacts services.

“The more people you have, the more pressure you have on the police, fire, roads, schools. The discussion of low- and moderate-income should also include, in my opinion, not just how many we need but can the schools handle the number of new kids?

“These were the kinds of discussions I remember having while on the Council. Other than a few people pushing for low- and moderate-income, I don’t remember anybody telling us that any of the projects were worthwhile.

“That being said, the city needs a diversity of people. Every effort should be made to not only comply with the law but have a broad spectrum of populace.”

Why?

“You need diversity because a healthy community, by its very nature, is diverse. It cuts down on pollution, traffic. The workers live where they work. The problem in Culver City is, and this is a real problem, the city is so small and yet so spread out that almost any project of reasonable size seems to be larger than it is. It can, indeed, affect the nearby community more than it would in other cities.”