As you know, our 7th Annual Mayoral Housing Summit held on Friday, September 5th in partnership with the Ziman Center for Real Estate and UCLA, welcomed another sold-out audience of local and national business and community leaders. Some of the city and state’s most influential policy makers, employers and housing leaders actively shared their concerns about the future of Los Angeles’ economy and discussed the policy solutions needed to address the housing and transportation crisis. Special thanks to our Summit sponsors, whose leadership and support have made the Mayoral Housing Summit the preeminent housing forum in Los Angeles.

Some of the Summit high points were addressed by major media outlets, including Bloomberg News, the LA Times and the Daily News. Here are a few excerpts:

“For years, high home prices have forced middle-income workers to live farther from their jobs. Those long commutes are now hitting them in their pocketbook, with some employees paying up to $500 a month for gas. People need relief in the form of quality housing closer to the workplace – and transit solutions to ease their commute.”
      - Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca

"Tax credits are one of the building blocks for affordable rental housing development. We want to make sure we use our financing power to not only make housing more affordable, but to address our energy needs, our transportation needs, and fight homelessness."
      - California State Controller John Chiang

“We can't shirk our responsibilities and leave residents with nowhere to turn but an unstable housing market and second-class transit system."
      - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

Three days prior to the Housing Summit, with the support of the Workforce Housing Scorecard Steering Committee and underwriter Washington Mutual, we released the results of the first-ever Workforce Housing Scorecard for Los Angeles. The Scorecard delineates the underlying factors contributing to the chronic and worsening housing affordability crisis in Los Angeles County. The report set the stage for the Summit by focusing policy makers on the need to integrate housing, jobs and transportation policies in order to improve the increasingly significant jobs/housing imbalance that threatens Los Angeles County’s long-term economic health.

The concerns expressed by major employers in the Scorecard signifies their serious interest in housing as an issue that affects their bottom line and the overall health of the region’s economy. These employers are now in dialogue with our elected officials and planners to develop new and innovative housing policy options that incorporate transportation and employment issues.

This Scorecard is the beginning of an extended dialogue. This research will help inform a larger debate around the City of Los Angeles and the other 87 cities in the county, which we hope will lead to greater regional cooperation. Key Scorecard statistics will provide you with background information as well as the most up-to-date data on these critical topics.

In response to the Mayor’s announcement to release a housing plan for the City of Los Angeles, and based on the recommendation of the LABC Housing and Legislative Committees, the LABC, in collaboration with the Urban Land Institute and the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, formally requested that the Mayor establish a working group of housing industry stakeholders to provide expertise on any new housing ordinance. We believe developers must be at the table in order to create a viable policy that the city can effectively implement; one that attracts employers, builders and other community stakeholders to create new affordable housing.

If you would like to become a member of our Housing Committee please contact Lisa Snyder, Vice President of Programs and Policy at 310-226-7464 or by email at lsnyder@labusinesscouncil.org.