In his quest to balance the city's books, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is gearing up to sell city-owned properties in some of the Westside's most sought-after neighborhoods.
But Villaraigosa's budget-saving strategy is running up against one of his biggest campaign pledges: to expand affordable housing.
The plan to sell "surplus" properties, which could be used for low-income apartments, has also put Villaraigosa at odds with one of his closest City Council allies, Bill Rosendahl, and with Westside neighborhood leaders who seem baffled by his determination to give up sites that could house the poor and elderly.
"The only way we can build affordable housing is if the city owns the land," Rosendahl said. "You don't sell your assets, because you can never get them back."
Since the day he took office 2 1/2 years ago, Villaraigosa has made affordable housing one of his top priorities.
He has pumped $200 million into a city trust fund to build transitional housing for the indigent on skid row and apartment complexes for low-income renters elsewhere in the city.
He has used city pension money to expand first-time homeownership programs for teachers, police officers and other middle-income workers priced out of the Los Angeles market.
But Villaraigosa said closing the budget shortfall -- $155 million this year and as much as $500 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1 -- takes top priority.
"We're facing really tough decisions," he said. "We can't just wish the budget deficit away. We're going to have to figure this out together."
The mayor has called for the sale of four mothballed fire stations across the city, including No. 62 in Mar Vista and No. 5 in Westchester.
He has also proposed selling three former animal shelters, including one in West Los Angeles, on the advice of the city's chief administrative officer.
Those plans have come under fire from City Council members who view the sales, which they must approve, as shortsighted budget fixes. Councilwoman Janice Hahn, for example, objects to the loss of Fire Station 65 in Watts, one of the city's oldest firehouses, unless its historic features can be preserved.
But the Westside properties on the list have generated the loudest outcry because of a desire for affordable housing in an area where renters and potential homeowners are locked out by some of the highest housing prices in the city.
