Tents on the street in downtown L.A. in 2006


With L.A. in a housing crisis, the ACLU/SC and other groups that represent low-income residents are fighting a downtown developer who wants to evade the city's affordable-housing rules.
"The law of the highest bidder will be a nightmare for this city, not just for its poorest residents but for the middle class struggling to hang on," said ACLU/SC staff attorney Peter Bibring. "A clean, safe apartment shouldn't just be a dream for Los Angeles residents, it should be a basic right."
G.H. Palmer Associates sued the city in February over its 15-year-old plan to increase affordable housing in the Central City West area of downtown. The ACLU/SC, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and Western Center on Law and Poverty seek to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of two groups that represent low-income residents and non-profit developers: the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing.
At issue are L.A.'s "inclusionary zoning" rules, adopted in 1991 and intended to help replace affordable apartments lost to redevelopment in the heart of the city. The law requires developers to devote 15% of their apartments to people who make less than $40,000 a year, or to help make such housing available elsewhere. Similar rules are in effect at 33 redevelopment areas scattered throughout the city.
Low- and middle-income Angelenos face an affordable-housing squeeze, according to the filing. The average two-bedroom L.A. apartment costs $1,426. The national norm for rent is 30 percent of a couple's income, and an L.A. family would need to earn $57,040 to afford the city average. A couple earning minimum wage would need to work more than 70 hours a week each.
Between 2001 and 2006, the City lost nearly 11,000 affordable-housing units due to condominium conversions of rent-stabilized units and other reasons, and has been unable to replace them at the same rate. The city replaced less than 10 percent of needed units during that period.
Since 1974, more than 120 cities and counties throughout California have adopted inclusionary zoning ordinances as an effective means of addressing the critical shortage of affordable housing.

Date

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 - 12:00am

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A bill to jump-start police oversight in California passed the state Senate 21-10. Less than 24 hours later, the L.A. City Council voted 12-1 to endorse SB 1019 before a vote by the Assembly that would make it law.

"Cities must be able to decide for themselves if they should allow open hearings," the ACLU/SC's Peter Bibring said before the council vote. "No one can credibly profess to support open and transparent policing without endorsing this bill."

SB 1019 will reverse a recent court decision that threatened 30 years of police reform. Los Angeles and several other California cities previously allowed access to disciplinary hearings for the media and members of the public.

The ACLU/SC believes effective civilian review of complaints and use-of-force incidents protects citizens from police misconduct and builds trust between police officers and the communities they serve. SB 1019 won the support of key police leaders across the state and California newspapers. The bill now goes to the Assembly for final approval.

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Wednesday, June 6, 2007 - 12:00am

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LOS ANGELES — The ACLU of Southern California has become the first ACLU affiliate in the nation to adopt a resolution condemning the Iraq war. The measure also condemns the Bush Administration's many instances of abuse of power during the so-called "war on terror."

The Board of Directors of the ACLU/SC took the action at its meeting last month and will present the resolution at the organization's National Biennial Conference in Seattle, June 13-16, where delegates from all 53 affiliates will gather to discuss issues and policy.

"The Bush Administration, both as part of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and in general, has committed serious violations of the Constitution and of civil rights and civil liberties that constitute a systematic abuse of power," the resolution states.

It then lists 16 separate examples of how the Bush administration has abused its power, including:

- Presenting false, incomplete and misleading information to justify the Iraq invasion

- Using the National Security Agency to spy on telephone conversations without warrants

- Intercepting mail and listening to privileged communications between attorneys and clients

- Detaining individuals for unreasonable periods of time without access to legal counsel

"This administration has violated some of the most sacred of our constitutionally guaranteed rights and protections," said Isabelle Gunning, ACLU/SC president. "Our board felt we were morally obligated to state our objections to the Bush Administration's illegal activities. And since these violations are inextricably connected to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we felt we had to speak out against these wars as well."

Date

Monday, June 4, 2007 - 12:00am

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