1) Write the city council using the template provided below and attached. Pick ONE talking point and either cut and paste it or use your own words. Also ask some of your friends to do likewise. It takes only a couple of minutes to send this kind of email and it's very important at this juncture to let our city council members know how you feel. Send your letter to mjomsky@cityofpasadena.net, Please cc me at interfaithquaker@aol.com so we can track how many letters have been sent. Thanks!
2) Meet with your Councilmember. Call me (626-375-1423) or email me about setting up an appointment. Please let me know who your Councilmember is and when you can meet.
3) Canvas the neighborhood, collecting signatures. Let me know when you're available.
4) Come to City Council meeting to speak when this comes up for a vote. Invite your friends and neighbors.
Sample email to the Pasadena City Council
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers,
I want to commend Vice Mayor John Kennedy for bringing to the attention of the City Council the South Heritage Square Property, which is a designated “affordable housing asset.” I also want to thank William Huang for his study showing that most needed and most easily fundable use of this property is for permanent supportive housing for homeless seniors
I support mixed use of this property, using the first floor for commercial development, and the top two floors for supportive housing for homeless seniors.
[Say something about yourself, for example: “I am a retired school teacher who lives in Councilmember Gordo’s district, or who attends church or works in Pasadena.”]
Choose one of the following talking points and either cut and paste it or express it in your own words. Send your email to mjomsky@cityofpasadena.net.
TALKING POINTS
1 Does this project
have the support of the community in Vice Mayor John Kennedy's District? During a community meeting in March,
80% of the community supported using this site for affordable housing and 80%
opposed using this site only for commercial development. See Kennedy’s
survey results: https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-25G2T2Y68/
Religious leaders and churches have signed over 400 letters in support of
homeless housing for seniors, and two prayers vigil on the property attracted
20 and 60 people, many from the nearby neighborhood. The Interdenominational
Ministerial Alliance, which comprises most of the African American churches in
this area, supports using Heritage Square South for homeless
housing. We have gone door to door surveying businesses and
neighbors and most were willing to sign petitions of support, which were sent
to the City Council.
2 Why use this
property for homeless seniors? Supportive housing for seniors is the best option for this
site because it is located on a busy commercial intersection, which is not
ideal for families. Furthermore, families need more parking than do seniors and
that would reduce the number of individuals who could be served, and also limit
mixed use commercial development (restaurants require lots of parking). This
site is better suited for seniors because it is close to already existing
senior housing, a CVS, grocery stores and restaurants, and medical facilities
(easily accessible by bus). Supportive housing for homeless seniors is fundable
because of Measure H and other sources. Finally, the need is urgent, with the
number of homeless seniors (those over 50 years of age) increasing 65% in three
years, from 153 in 2016 to 253 in 2018. (Of these, 174 are unsheltered.)
3 What was the city’s
intention for Heritage Square South? The North and South Heritage Square property was originally
purchased in different parcels over a period of time by the City with HUD,
inclusionary, Redevelopment, and other funding for affordable housing, starting
in 2004. For political reasons, it was bifurcated in 2011 with the
understanding that Heritage Square North would be used for affordable senior
housing, and the southern part primarily for commercial use. When the state
ended Redevelopment, however, the City changed its tune. The state wanted the
City to sell the property and give them the proceeds, but the City argued that
the property was an affordable housing asset and would be used for affordable
housing. The state allowed the City to keep the property for this purpose. The
City’s intention for this property has shifted over time, but it is currently
designated for affordable housing. If it is sold for commercial use, the City
must use the proceeds for affordable housing and will forfeit over a million
dollars in HUD funding.
4 How can we be sure
that those housed in Heritage Square South supportive housing will be from
Pasadena? The City can give preference to Pasadena residents and to homeless
seniors, of which there are 174 living on the streets of our city. It is likely
that the vast majority of those housed will be homeless Pasadena seniors, many
of whom will likely be from District 3. Almost all the current residents of
Heritage Square North are from Northwest Pasadena. 30% are African American,
25% are Hispanic, 22% are Caucasians, and 18% are Asian.
5 If the property is
mixed use, including supportive housing, will it generate local jobs? The City can require local
hires for the supportive housing portion of the project. For Heritage Square
North, 20% were local hires, and 60% of materials used were purchased
locally. Supportive housing would provide economic benefits to the local
community in ways that commercial development could not guarantee. Heritage
Square left $ 6 million in the City because of its policy to provide local contracts
and supplies. The beauty of Heritage Square North is not a stigma, but an asset
to the community.
6 If the property is
developed for commercial use, will it generate local jobs? Unlike city funded projects, such as
affordable housing, there is no requirement for commercial developers to hire
local contractors. Nor are commercial ventures required to hire local
employees. Therefore, commercial development would not necessarily
provide any jobs for local residents nor would there be any
requirement for material to be purchased locally.
7Does it make sense
to have mixed use on corner lots? The corner of Los Robles and Orange Grove has mixed use on a
corner lot and that’s true of most corner lots in Old Town. It actually makes
more economic sense to have mixed use than to have a one-story commercial
property, like the CVS on the corner of Orange Grove and Fair Oaks.
8 Is this area
saturated with affordable housing, and does that preclude developing it for
homeless seniors? It is not good policy to oversaturate an area with
affordable housing, but exceptions can be made when there are community
benefits. For example, when Mr. Gordo wanted to remove an unsightly liquor
story from his district, he was able to use inclusionary funds to purchase this
site and build affordable homes even though this area was saturated with
affordable housing. He crafted a special exception which the Council approved,
stating that off-site inclusionary projects can be built when a property is
declared blighted and a legal non-conforming use,
such as a liquor store. This exception allowed the Summit Grove property
to be built even though there was an oversaturation of affordable housing in
its vicinity. This law was recently changed once again (the “and” was changed
to “or”) so that the homeownership project on Lincoln and Orange Groove could
be built on a property with a gas station.
9 The need for
supportive housing for Pasadena’s homeless residents is growing rapidly. The number of unsheltered
homeless residents in our City increased 33% in the past year. The number of
homeless seniors has increased 65% in the past three years. Since there
is no supportive housing in the city pipeline, this number of homeless
residents will undoubtedly increase over the next few years. There is a need to
create multiple homeless housing projects, both short- and long-term.
Reducing our homeless population by providing housing will make our community
safer and better for business.
10 What are the
financial benefits of housing homeless seniors? Homeless seniors are likely to
cost society more money in health care than younger and healthier homeless
residents. Given the City’s budget crunch, it makes more economic sense to
house homeless seniors in facilities with services provided by the County’s
Measure H funding than to let them sicken and die on the streets, with various
agencies in the City footing enormous medical bills. A Rand showed that housing
homeless residents has saved the county $1.20 for every dollar spent on
housing and supportive services.[1] According
to an Economic Roundtable study, the cost of dealing with a homeless individual
in LA County is around $5038 per month, vs $605 per month when they are
provided with supportive housing. These costs increase with the age of homeless
individuals. Based on this study, we can estimate the cost to Pasadena of
having 69 homeless seniors living on the street to be around $4,171,464 per
year. Housing them in supportive housing would run around $500,940, a savings
of $3,670,524. This would be a huge financial benefit to our City. [2]
[1] “The financial impact of the
program [supportive housing] could be dramatic, according to the report, which
analyzed the experiences of 890 participants. The cost of services provided to
those in the program fell by 60 percent in the year after they found permanent
housing (from an average of $38,146 in the year before to $15,358 the next
year).That drop is partially offset by the cost of operating the program
(participants receive $825 per month housing vouchers and case management
services worth about $450 per month). But, even with those costs factored in,
the study found a 20 percent decrease in county expenses related to those
residents.”https://la.curbed.com/2017/12/5/16738952/la-homelessness-housing-for-health-studyhttps://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-12-la-homeless-housing-money.html. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/08/local/la-me-0608-homeless-savings-20120608
[2] These statistics are taken
from the Economic Roundtable website and date back to 2009. https://economicrt.org/publication/where-we-sleep/
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