South Bay Realtor Questionaire
LIST OF QUESTIONS:
Private Property Rights
On the Los Angeles City Council, I am often one of two or three votes opposed to non-related “social responsibility/community benefit” constraints on development projects and I steadfastly oppose efforts to unionize a workforce through legislative action. I opposed the ordinance to require a 90-day workforce retention for new grocery store owners (an ordinance recently deemed invalid by the courts) and I opposed the effort to impose the City of Los Angeles living wage ordinance on private hotels in the LAX area. ( This issue is currently being appealed in the court system) While I support eminent domain for public works projects that have a demonstrable public benefit, I do not support eminent domain for the redevelopment of non-blighted areas.
Affordable Housing
I support developer incentives that encourage affordable housing. I do not support mandates in the form of inclusionary zoning, for example, that mandate affordable housing components in market rate residential developments, particularly if the governing ordinance allows a financial opt-out clause or ability to build the affordable component in a area some distance from the market rate project. I strongly support the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and both the City and County Section 8 housing programs --- all of which are market-driven.
Inclusionary Zoning
I am opposed to inclusionary zoning and have demonstrated that opposition on countless occasions on the City Council.
High Density / Mixed Use Housing
I support high density housing, particularly at transit stations and along transportation corridors. I also support density bonuses for developers willing to locate near transit stations and for those willing to include affordable units in their projects. I also support mixed use projects that combine commercial amenities with residential units in the same complex. Permitting such developments on commercially-zoned parcels increases the opportunity for housing stock that is so desperately needed in our region.
Housing Development
As noted, I support market-driven housing development, which cover the full spectrum of needs. I believe it is true that I have entitled more residential development in my District than most other member of the City Council. I have expedited the development of many more. I have strongly supported the development of housing along transit corridors. More than anything else, residential and commercial developers need predictability. The zone change and conditional use process for residential development is so time-consuming and onerous that more proposed developments die by virtue of the approval and permitting process than by the inability to obtain financing. That is why I have argued for and implemented Interim Control Ordinances and obtained funding for Community Plan updates in my Council District and Citywide. I will do the same on the Board of Supervisors.
Point-of-Sale Mandates
Point-of-Sale mandates that assure basic safety, reduce litigation liability, enhances the value of the property and are specific in nature seem reasonable to me. These issues and requirements should not extend the escrow period beyond a time that is reasonable to seller and buyer alike. Bringing a homeowner’s sidewalk up to code, for example, should be a cost issue between the buyer and the seller and could well be a factor in a buyer’s decision to proceed or not, but it should be a matter of prior disclosure by the seller. This issue should not normally be a requirement for close of escrow unless the parties can not come to a mutually agreed upon conclusion to repair the specific item of interest.
Rent Control
Rent control ordinances philosophically serve the greater good but if operationally rent control stagnate the free market, make it more difficult for the owner to make improvements, cause owners not to receive appropriate pass through cost, reduce an owners ability to retrieve a reasonable return on investment for major rehabilitation of the property, penalizes a owner for getting out of the rental market or create significant cost inequities between a tenured renter and a new renter in the same complex then there could be a disservice to both the rental industry and the renter community. Artificial price controls seldom work in any industry.
I personally have worked in the City of Los Angeles to acquire funding of $1Million to study the current rent control ordinance in an effort to level the playing field between owners and renters. The current City of Los Angeles Ordinance has not been reviewed, had a evaluation of its impact or updated since its implementation. It is my hope that the results of this study will be meaningful to all parties and will put in place guidelines for improvement and a course of action that will require routine periodic updates in the future.
