Meet with City Council members – September 2023

Hello friends of CHOA,

We have a few updates, but mainly this update is short and to the point. We are meeting with City Council members, one by one, in-person. CHOA urges you to join us. This is the time!!

Here are some flash updates:

CHOA (and you) will meet with each of the City Council members. This newsletter focuses on this effort/topic.
Saturday morning, November 4th: Keep this date circled, for our next Sharing Session. This will be about half way through our visits with each City Council member. More details to come.
Praying for Housing: 9 people (5 from Hope International Church, and 4 from CHOA) gathered to pray for housing last Saturday, for God to move through Arcadia, to care for people on the margins, to reduce homelessness in Arcadia in a loving way, and to build affordable housing in Arcadia to give families hope and housing peace. It was a key time. We thank Hope International Church for hosting this prayer time, for stretching themselves. We still need prayer…do continue to pray.

Meet with City Council members on Affordable Housing

CHOA invites you to join the in-person meetings with each City Council member. We actually really need you to join in, as the number of people speaking makes a difference. We are primarily urging City Council to support the affordable housing efforts in the Housing Element, to build 3,200 residential units, with 1,600 of them as Affordable Housing, in the next 8 years. The decisions in the next 12 months can allow a large number of affordable housing to be built in Arcadia, to last for the next 45 to 55 years…and most likely be extended beyond that. If you would like to review the details (and we know there is a lot of detail here) of the Housing Element, see our “CHOA Efforts” web page in the link below.

http://choaarcadia.org/efforts

As a faith community, we need to express to our City Council members our perspectives of two key decisions coming up for a vote before City Council in the next 12 months: the inclusionary ordinance and rezoning. Inclusionary ordinance is the mandated percentage of affordable housing for each new residential development. Rezoning allows more density; this means more units can be built in the same area so large mix-use development – commercial on the bottom, and residential units above – can occur in the 6 strategic areas around Arcadia.

If you can to join us to chat with your City Council member, please contact us at the link below, so we can notify you of the specific date, time and location of the meeting. Contact us by the 1st of the month when we meet with them, so we can notify you the date and location where we will gather.

http://choaarcadia.org/contact-us

It is best for you to be prepared, and know what your part will be in the meeting. We like to meet with you (probably on-line or over the phone), so you know the plan. Everyone that joins us should speak, and we will provide you 3 minutes to share your stories and perspective of why you sense Arcadia should have affordable housing.

Arcadia District Map: It is best for you to contact the City Council member in the district you live in, or where your church is located. If you need, review the Arcadia district map in the link below.

https://www.arcadiaca.gov/discover/city_council/district_based_voting_.php

We especially need people from District 3. If you know of friends in District 3 that would like to help at this critical time, urge them to contact CHOA.

The chart below lists the City Council members and the months we plan to meet with them. (These months may be adjusted). This is the time for us to speak together on why we think affordable housing should be built in Arcadia.

If you cannot join us in-person, you can email your City Council member. If you like to email the entire City Council at once, you can use this email address: CityCouncil@ArcadiaCA.gov

There will be other opportunities to speak, by making a public comment at the City Council meetings, in 2024. We will watch when the vote for these decisions are in the agenda of the City Council meetings, and let you know when these speaking opportunities come.