At a news conference Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna cited [a forthcoming project in the Los Angeles Arts District] as an example of “the harm that comes with bribery.”
“Thanks to Mr. Huizar, the development would have minimal affordable housing units, despite the fact that this area is desperate for low-income housing,” Hanna said.
— The Los Angeles Times
Writing in The Los Angeles Times, Emily Alpert Reyes and David Zahniser dig into the fallout of a still unfolding corruption probe taking shape in Los Angeles that implicates sitting City Councilmember Jose Huizar, who was arrested earlier this week by federal authorities.
The probe has ensnared, according to The Los Angeles Times, a development that matches the characteristics of 520 Mateo, a 475-unit, 35-story mixed-use project developed by Carmel Partners and designed by Works Progress Architecture and Solomon Caldwell Buenz that is currently under construction. The project, as well as other high-profile developments implicated in the probe, was approved with Huizar's help while he sat on the city's Planning and Land Use Committee, allegedly in exchange for bribes, kick backs, and other financial favors from developers and other interests, according to federal officials.
Among the favorable terms granted with the project's approval, The Los Angeles Times reports, was a reduction in the overall number of required affordable housing units set to be included in the development. The development, which sits at the foot of L.A.'s Skid Row and is slated for a rapidly gentrifying section of the city, was ultimately approved with 24 fewer low-income units than originally required, saving the developers $14 million in the process.
3 Comments
over 4 decades of democratic control of los angeles and the state... but next time it will be different...
sigh.
robust policies make enough impact that corruption is a marginal impact on efficacy. anything that relies on impeccable behavior and willingness to share in the common good is a foolish policy with failure as the predictable result. it's easier to blame bad-guys than take responsibility for implementing effective policies. this is a habitual defect in both political parties.
the reality is affordable housing is an expensive public good which requires meaningful financial support from the government responsible. pushing it off entirely on developers will never succeed, and inevitably result in extraordinary efforts to circumvent the rules. but there is very little political support for something that costs money to fix, but widespread support for "addressing the issue" in noncommittal and ineffective ways. the ultimate effect is simply to degrade public trust in the political process, which is much in evidence lately.
a related point illustrates the extent of these kind of double-speak policies:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-25/opportunity-zones-don-t-work-can-they-be-fixed?sref=H6ddn91U
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