Affordable Housing and City Council – October 2023

Meet with City Council members on Affordable Housing

The CHOA team met with Mayor April Verlato in September.  We had a good gathering of 11 folks (see the top picture).  We heard Mayor Verlatos’s perspectives on housing in Arcadia, and we shared ours.  Mayor Verlato has worked on housing solutions for years in Arcadia, so frankly there were many like-minded stories shared.  CHOA is so grateful for Mayor Verlato’s leadership on housing, and we need to keep encouraging her.  This was our first step to share  with City Council members.

Affordable housing becomes reality when we speak in large numbers. Every voice matters and impacts our City Council members’ decisions. We need to show we are thoughtful, respectful, knowledgeable about why more housing is needed, and why affordable housing is good for Arcadia and for those needing such income-specific housing. By coming together, we show City Council that the faith community and the churches in Arcadia are here to stay, and are supporting housing for the long-term.  Collectively, we provide political cover for City Council to move forward.  Advocacy works! 

Want to join us in these gatherings with City Council members?  We need you.  First, find out in which Arcadia district you live in, see the link below.

https://cms9files.revize.com/arcadia/Council/Districts/2022%20Maps_Citywide%20and%20by%20District.pdf

Our next meetings will be with City Councilwoman Sharon Kwan (District 2) in October, and City Councilwoman Eileen Wang (District 3) in early November.  These meetings cannot be left to just the CHOA team.  We are setting up a warm inviting, safe, and constructive environment to express your perspective.  You get to be heard.  You get to hear the perspective of your City Council member, and others.  This is a key time; do take advantage of these opportunities.

We have five City Council members.  We need 3 votes to pass the inclusionary ordinance, and the rezoning, in two separate votes.  CHOA prefers 4 votes – yes, 5 is best, but we want to be realistic – to keep Arcadia unified; we have to step forward as a city…together…not just by a slim margin.  With this approach, the faith community is also bringing about peace in Arcadia, and building community.

To recap, CHOA and supporters are meeting with City Council members over the next 6 months to urge them to vote for the affordable housing items coming before City Council regarding the Housing Element. Below are the key points:

Housing Element:

• Our Housing Element includes building 3,200 residential units, in the next 8 years.
• 1,600 of the new units need to be Affordable Housing
  • (see our “CHOA Efforts” web page in the link below for details) 

http://choaarcadia.org/efforts/

Upcoming votes:

• Inclusionary Ordinance: 
  • The percentage of Affordable Housing in the new residential developments.  Keep in mind Pasadena’s inclusionary ordinance is currently at 20%.
• Rezoning: 
  • Allows more units to be built in the same space than before.  Basically 5 story new mixed use development is being planned, with bottom flow commercial (restaurants and stores), and residential units above.
  • The City has a plan to spread these around 6 strategic locations around Arcadia.  This will also revitalize these areas, like our Downtown area around the Metro Gold/A line station, First Avenue, Live Oak Avenue, and even Foothill Blvd.

If you like to review research on why more housing (and in particular more affordable housing) is needed, take a look at the below articles.

https://chpc.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2022-LA-County-Affordable-Housing-Outcomes-Dashboard.pdf

https://www.rand.org/well-being/community-health-and-environmental-policy/centers/housing-and-homelessness-los-angeles.html

After reviewing all the details and numbers on housing, you and your story is the heart of the matter.  Share your unique perspective, stories and viewpoints to our City Council members.  Here are a few thoughts on what you may want to include:

• What is your housing story?  How has housing shaped you?
• What does housing mean to you?  How important is having a stable home mean to you?
• Does your faith and your reading of Scripture impact you to want housing for those families that are just barely making rent, or their mortgage?  
• Do you think that God – who created the Earth and land – wants the faith community to speak for people from different economic levels to have a place to live in Arcadia?  
• Do you support folks living close to where they work?  This affordable housing helps with quality of life and reduces climate change, as we reduce long commutes.  
• Do you think Arcadia teachers, fire and police, and our city staff should be able to live in Arcadia?  
• Can your adult children live in Arcadia on their own?  

If you can join us to chat with your City Council member, please contact us at the link below, or just reply to this email, so we can notify you of the specific date, time and location of the meeting.  

http://choaarcadia.org/contact-us/

If you cannot make it this time, there will be other opportunities to share your story and perspective.  You can always email them, see their emails below.  Also, you can make a public comment, at the City Council meetings when these items are on the City Council meeting agenda, in 2024.  CHOA will let you know when these are on the agenda.