Mayor Villaraigosa urges business leaders to support half-cent sales tax
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today urged business leaders to support a half-cent sales tax increase for mass transit and other transportation projects, saying it's an essential component to making Los Angeles a more affordable and livable city.
The mayor, speaking at the Los Angeles Business Council's summit on housing, also gave a brief preview of a housing plan he plans to unveil later this month, calling for more affordable housing near the city's job centers and public transportation corridors.
Villaraigosa emphasized that for any housing plan to succeed, the region must also alleviate traffic and provide more public transit.
"We can't shirk our responsibilities and leave residents with nowhere to turn but an unstable housing market and second-class transit system," the mayor told a packed ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Century City.
A new study by the Business Council on the city's need for more affordable housing for middle-class buyers reached the same conclusion. Less than 11% of homes in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area are considered affordable to families earning the median income of $57,700, the study found. Because of that, skilled employees are looking elsewhere for jobs, especially younger workers.
The business organization has already endorsed the proposed transportation sales tax increase, which will be on the Nov. 4 ballot. The measure could raise from $30 billion to $40 billion for new rail lines and to fix freeway bottlenecks.
"The vast majority of our members know how important this is," said Mary Leslie, president of the Business Council. "Employees know economic opportunities will be limited if we don't improve the transit system."
phil.willon@latimes.com
