The following is an update from United Neighbors:
Hi All,
We were just contacted by a very senior staffer in the LA Planning Department asking us to work with them on the Housing Element maps. They want to work as a team with each of our communities. This certainly makes us cautiously optimistic. They need to earn our trust. We gave them an earful of data they couldn’t dispute. The size of our coalition is something they can’t ignore. We will still proceed with our meetings with council members. We need to pressure all sides, the Planning Department, City Council, and the Mayor.
Although this effort has been LA specific, if we win, we need to fight together for all of our California neighbors. If we lose then even more reason to keep building our political clout statewide.
Many thanks to so many of you who have taken the time to work with us on the Housing Element maps and raise awareness. Once you have completed the maps we will compile all our information and make a presentation to your council member. We will make these presentations quick, powerful and something we will all participate in.
There is always room to build on our coalition, so if you have not looked at your maps or haven’t had time to contact us please reach out now. We still have some time available. But our window of opportunity is narrowing. The bigger our citywide representation the more impactful we can be. No community should lose their single family or older multi family neighborhoods needlessly. East LA, South LA, north Valley we need you.
Interesting fact: our council members who are supposed to represent our best interests and the interests of the City have not informed any of us about the huge rezoning we face in our neighborhoods with the Housing Element and Community Plan Updates. Councilmembers send out weekly newsletters and yet they never thought this was newsworthy?
We need to change that attitude. We will stay focused on the task at hand and keep you informed.
Thanks to all,
Maria, Cindy, Jeff, Marc, Sharon
