Last month, I was sworn in to the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council as the Renter’s Representative Alternate board member.
How can I best serve my community?
In Los Angeles, for many years we’ve witnessed a decline of middle class to lower middle class. We have 58,936 in L.A. County and 36,300 in the city proper of unhoused tenants - this is our community. The homeless’ despair affects each one of us.
Living in Larchmont Village, in the early hours of the morning I hear unhoused tenants passing by my windows. Sometimes they’re almost silent, the vets tottering on crutches and elderly people combing the street for a place to rest and something to eat. Or, I’ll be jarred awake by desperate shouts or guys with boom boxes blaring. At dawn on Friday mornings, I give glass bottles to scavengers searching trash bins for recycling; they thank me as they push their shaky carts with rattling wheels. On a cold night in a West Hollywood church parking lot I opened the trunk of my car and gave a shivering man my favorite soft Mexican blanket.
Having done outreach for the Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women for a few years, I still ask myself, “Does it even scratch the surface of our crushing housing crisis by giving a homeless man a dollar or homeless women lunch and simple hygiene products or bottles to recycle? I think my late father, Albert would give a resounding “Yes” as the answer. In his day, he was a fundraiser for Covenant House, Hollywood, got it built, and provided food for the homeless by delivering day old donuts. His work left an imprint on me and in turn, I must run with the baton…
Back when I was studying writing at UCLA, I did outreach with the Good Shepherd Center, I brought a friend, Mary with myself and Sister Rosaline in a van weaving through alleys and main streets near Mac Arthur Park handing out brown bag lunches made by Catholic nuns and a thermal urn of hot coffee, cream, and sugar. Mary cried the entire time. I felt the knot in my gut, and pushed through asking the next homeless woman in front of me about her life, and listened to her story. I made some warm connections, and in turn I was asked for updates with my projects when we’d reconnect on the streets.
I got to know one lady, Barbara, who I served on numerous occasions over a period of 3 years, who once had a residence, a husband, and a daughter in San Marino. Through a series of events her life unfurled onto the streets of L.A. and traded her San Marino residence for a makeshift tent by a dumpster in an alleyway. How do you go from hosting tea in San Marino high society to living by a dumpster? Barbara asked three times if she could read the screenplay I was working on at UCLA about an Italian cousin who was in line for canonization. She’s an educated woman and had all the status most of us strive for and here she was unhoused, unbathed and shunned. And, she was so generous with me. Barbara got an apartment and medical treatment for her hip thanks to Sister Rosaline and the staff and donors at the Good Shepherd Center. A special thanks to the Ladies of Charity, Los Angeles Chapter.
My cousin, now Saint Nunzio was canonized at the Vatican in Italy last October as the patron saint of young injured workers, he was also homeless and shunned by his distant family in early nineteenth century Italy. Maybe Nunzio had a hand in Barbara’s recovery.
It’s our civic responsibility to protect our fellow citizens and not complain and sigh our regrets from the sidelines.
On my way to a Tenant’s Union meeting, I saw a hipster guy sitting in a window sill on Hollywood Boulevard with a goat, I sat down and heard his story. He’s a guy who lost his job and in turn lost his home. Today, I am working with my neighborhood council and the LA Tenant’s Union to solve our major L.A. catastrophe. The California Big One is our Affordable Housing Crisis, make no mistake.
Councilman Mike Bonin, is proposing an Empty Homes Penalty on property owners to impose a tax on vacant units and homes to inspire landlords to lower rents and keep their units prospering. What a concept as CF 19-0623 needs to be on our November 2020 ballot to provide our friends and neighbors with dignified shelter that’s more consistent to what can be realistically paid.
In Los Angeles, according to L.A.H.S.A. we need to earn $47.00 an hour to afford a median monthly rent. A majority of people must work two jobs to make ends meet.
The proposed motion states,
“721,000 renter households pay 50% or more of their monthly income on housing”. 8 out of 10 families do not have enough savings set aside in case of an emergency. Our pride forces us to suffer in silence. “Thousands are falling out of the housing market and landing in a growing number of encampments on our streets”.
We need to raise our quality of life and lower the impossible overhead that keeps us rent burdened, and if we miss a paycheck we’re out on the streets unqualified to apply for another rental, and not picture perfect to submit the accompanying headshot, illegal as it is, however in Hollywood it’s happening.
The Vacancy tax works in Washington, D.C., Paris, France and Berlin, Germany, and Vancouver, Canada where the tax was recently put into play: The number of vacant properties was lowered by 15% in one year and the city states over half of those previously empty homes have returned to the rental market.
Oakland, California has instituted the Vacant Property Tax, “Oakland’s City Council put Measure W on the ballot, saying it would raise $10 million annually, which can only be used for homeless services, affordable housing, programs to fight blight and illegal dumping, administer the tax and defend any possible lawsuits. Measure W passed with 70 percent of the vote.” - Kathleen Pender, SF Chronicle Jan. 26, 2019
This measure is not about creating an adversarial relationship between tenants and landlords, on the contrary, it’s about relief for both. I propose we create a win-win situation by allowing landlords to opt for low-income supporting housing and in turn they will not only get a rental subsidy, it may also cover additional costs of damage that the security deposit does not. This is progress towards a solid solution.
The vote is on the table at the GWNC for our October meeting to write a Community Impact Statement Letter to the Los Angeles City Council to support the Measure and get this on our November 2020 Ballot in accordance with Proposition 218.
In L.A. County we have 111, 810 empty units according to 2017 American Survey of the U.S. Census - that’s remarkable. And, wasteful. It’s time for us to level the playing field and proactively address our dire Homeless and Affordable Housing shortage crisis.
How can I best serve my community?
In Los Angeles, for many years we’ve witnessed a decline of middle class to lower middle class. We have 58,936 in L.A. County and 36,300 in the city proper of unhoused tenants - this is our community. The homeless’ despair affects each one of us.
Living in Larchmont Village, in the early hours of the morning I hear unhoused tenants passing by my windows. Sometimes they’re almost silent, the vets tottering on crutches and elderly people combing the street for a place to rest and something to eat. Or, I’ll be jarred awake by desperate shouts or guys with boom boxes blaring. At dawn on Friday mornings, I give glass bottles to scavengers searching trash bins for recycling; they thank me as they push their shaky carts with rattling wheels. On a cold night in a West Hollywood church parking lot I opened the trunk of my car and gave a shivering man my favorite soft Mexican blanket.
Having done outreach for the Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women for a few years, I still ask myself, “Does it even scratch the surface of our crushing housing crisis by giving a homeless man a dollar or homeless women lunch and simple hygiene products or bottles to recycle? I think my late father, Albert would give a resounding “Yes” as the answer. In his day, he was a fundraiser for Covenant House, Hollywood, got it built, and provided food for the homeless by delivering day old donuts. His work left an imprint on me and in turn, I must run with the baton…
Back when I was studying writing at UCLA, I did outreach with the Good Shepherd Center, I brought a friend, Mary with myself and Sister Rosaline in a van weaving through alleys and main streets near Mac Arthur Park handing out brown bag lunches made by Catholic nuns and a thermal urn of hot coffee, cream, and sugar. Mary cried the entire time. I felt the knot in my gut, and pushed through asking the next homeless woman in front of me about her life, and listened to her story. I made some warm connections, and in turn I was asked for updates with my projects when we’d reconnect on the streets.
I got to know one lady, Barbara, who I served on numerous occasions over a period of 3 years, who once had a residence, a husband, and a daughter in San Marino. Through a series of events her life unfurled onto the streets of L.A. and traded her San Marino residence for a makeshift tent by a dumpster in an alleyway. How do you go from hosting tea in San Marino high society to living by a dumpster? Barbara asked three times if she could read the screenplay I was working on at UCLA about an Italian cousin who was in line for canonization. She’s an educated woman and had all the status most of us strive for and here she was unhoused, unbathed and shunned. And, she was so generous with me. Barbara got an apartment and medical treatment for her hip thanks to Sister Rosaline and the staff and donors at the Good Shepherd Center. A special thanks to the Ladies of Charity, Los Angeles Chapter.
My cousin, now Saint Nunzio was canonized at the Vatican in Italy last October as the patron saint of young injured workers, he was also homeless and shunned by his distant family in early nineteenth century Italy. Maybe Nunzio had a hand in Barbara’s recovery.
It’s our civic responsibility to protect our fellow citizens and not complain and sigh our regrets from the sidelines.
On my way to a Tenant’s Union meeting, I saw a hipster guy sitting in a window sill on Hollywood Boulevard with a goat, I sat down and heard his story. He’s a guy who lost his job and in turn lost his home. Today, I am working with my neighborhood council and the LA Tenant’s Union to solve our major L.A. catastrophe. The California Big One is our Affordable Housing Crisis, make no mistake.
Councilman Mike Bonin, is proposing an Empty Homes Penalty on property owners to impose a tax on vacant units and homes to inspire landlords to lower rents and keep their units prospering. What a concept as CF 19-0623 needs to be on our November 2020 ballot to provide our friends and neighbors with dignified shelter that’s more consistent to what can be realistically paid.
In Los Angeles, according to L.A.H.S.A. we need to earn $47.00 an hour to afford a median monthly rent. A majority of people must work two jobs to make ends meet.
The proposed motion states,
“721,000 renter households pay 50% or more of their monthly income on housing”. 8 out of 10 families do not have enough savings set aside in case of an emergency. Our pride forces us to suffer in silence. “Thousands are falling out of the housing market and landing in a growing number of encampments on our streets”.
We need to raise our quality of life and lower the impossible overhead that keeps us rent burdened, and if we miss a paycheck we’re out on the streets unqualified to apply for another rental, and not picture perfect to submit the accompanying headshot, illegal as it is, however in Hollywood it’s happening.
The Vacancy tax works in Washington, D.C., Paris, France and Berlin, Germany, and Vancouver, Canada where the tax was recently put into play: The number of vacant properties was lowered by 15% in one year and the city states over half of those previously empty homes have returned to the rental market.
Oakland, California has instituted the Vacant Property Tax, “Oakland’s City Council put Measure W on the ballot, saying it would raise $10 million annually, which can only be used for homeless services, affordable housing, programs to fight blight and illegal dumping, administer the tax and defend any possible lawsuits. Measure W passed with 70 percent of the vote.” - Kathleen Pender, SF Chronicle Jan. 26, 2019
This measure is not about creating an adversarial relationship between tenants and landlords, on the contrary, it’s about relief for both. I propose we create a win-win situation by allowing landlords to opt for low-income supporting housing and in turn they will not only get a rental subsidy, it may also cover additional costs of damage that the security deposit does not. This is progress towards a solid solution.
The vote is on the table at the GWNC for our October meeting to write a Community Impact Statement Letter to the Los Angeles City Council to support the Measure and get this on our November 2020 Ballot in accordance with Proposition 218.
In L.A. County we have 111, 810 empty units according to 2017 American Survey of the U.S. Census - that’s remarkable. And, wasteful. It’s time for us to level the playing field and proactively address our dire Homeless and Affordable Housing shortage crisis.