SACRAMENTO — More than a year after state voters approved a $2.85-billion bond issue for affordable housing, a geographical tug of war has developed over the money, with Southern California's elected officials complaining that their area is getting short shrift.
They say the money from 2006's Proposition 1C should be apportioned based on population. If it were, Southern California would get 61% of the bond measure proceeds, instead of the 48% it received in the first round of funding.
Northern California officials, including Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland), who wrote the legislation that put the measure on the ballot, see things differently. With their support, the rules for divvying the money not only reflect a "reasonable geographic distribution of funds" but also require state housing agency officials to consider such factors as the readiness and proximity to commuter rail lines of the projects proposed by developers, cities and counties that are competing for the funds.
So when the first round of money -- about $286 million -- was awarded last year, Southern California ended up receiving less than half of it. Some of the region's proposed projects simply were not as good as those elsewhere, state housing agency officials said.
And things are not likely to change much in the next two rounds, expected in June. For "infill" housing improvements in older neighborhoods, state officials plan to give 45% each to Northern and Southern California after setting aside 10% for the Central Valley. Money from this $240-million pool is to go for street and property improvements.
Southern California is slated to get at least 45% of another pot of money, $95 million to be allocated for housing projects near mass-transit stations and rail lines.
None of this sits well with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has promised to increase the city's scant supply of affordable housing.
"Southern California is being deprived of its fair share of funding under Prop. 1C despite the fact that this region is home to a majority of the state's population," Villaraigosa said in a recent interview. "The city of Los Angeles expressed serious concern at the state's funding guidelines because they seem to favor Northern California projects."
Protests have poured in from Los Angeles city officials to the state Department of Housing and Community Development, which helped devise the funding formulas and is overseeing distribution of funds.
