Group at the CHOA Sharing Gathering on a rainy day on November 15th, 2025, including Mayor Sharon Kwan, Mayor Pro Tem Eillen Wang, and former Mayor April Verlato.

Summary

CHOA has our 7th Sharing Gathering on a very rainy Saturday of November 15th.  We are grateful that the Church of the Good Shepherd (United Methodist Church) hosted our gathering; this was the first time for this church.  Further below are more details of our time together.
 
Here are the handouts and the slides we provided at this gathering:
  1. Handout: CHOA-SharingSession-Handout-2025Nov15
  2. CHOA Slides: CHOA Sharing Session – November 15th, 2025
  3. Abundant Housing LA Slides: CHOA-SB 79 AHLA Arcadia

Recap the Sharing Gathering on November 15th

CHOA held our 7th Sharing Gathering this last Saturday, despite the heavy rain.   We understand that many could not make it, and very much appreciate the 17 folks that did come, including Mayor Sharon Kwan, Mayor Pro Tem Eileen Wang, and former Mayor April Verlato.  See the picture at the very top of this newsletter of those that came.

We are grateful to the Church of the Good Shepherd to welcome us to use their Fellowship Hall, see the above picture.  It was a spacious and beautiful room, and with the rain, their roofed hallways was a welcoming and sheltering feature for us.

Mayor Kwan shared with us about the new Encampment Ordinance, voted by City Council in October.   This Ordinance reinstates the camping ban that it had back in 1997, now that the Supreme Court upheld the Grant Pass ruling.  Even with this ruling, Arcadia is still using a service first approach to the unhoused.  We will also see how this all works out in Arcadia, and CHOA is glad we are communicating.

CHOA presented many efforts that are serving the unhoused, especially the 3 case managers from LACADA, that work 7 days a week here in Arcadia.  Another key effort is Steven Boi’s breakfast for the unhoused in 2 Arcadia parks, for 13+ years now.

Jake Pierce (shown on the right) from Abundant Housing LA was another guest speaker, who present about the new State Bill, SB 79, that allows for more housing around transit areas. We all – including the CHOA team – need to keep learning on what is happening around housing on all levels, Federal, State, County and the city level.  They all provide opportunities and challenges.

The CHOA team reminded everyone about the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance that will bring hundreds of both market-rate and affordable housing units to Arcadia, in new mixed use developments.  The picture below is shows most obvious project for us all to see near REI, the Metro station, and the post office.  That’s the Alexan Azalea, bringing 319 units, of which 26 are very-low affodable housing units, including 500+ parking spaces.

Last but not least, Diego Rubalcava-Alvarez – our new CHOA team member – reviewed the potential site of affordable housing at the Lucile parcel, see the picture below.  We were urging LA County Supervisor Barger to grant these parcels back to the City of Arcadia, in which case the city can decide which affordable housing developer to use.  

Sadly, CHOA just learned  a few days after our gathering that LA County did sell the Lucile parcels.  We will determine what our next steps will be.