September 20, 2018
By Jennifer Bihm
Contributing Writer
Politically, housing has been a hot-button issue in California for years now, with candidates vying for various seats promising to somehow ameliorate the situation. Proposition 10 is at the center of the heated debate around affordable housing in the state of California.
The two front runners in this year’s race for governor, Gavin Newsom and John Cox, have publicly commented on the housing crisis, and neither of them supports a full repeal of the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which is what Proposition 10 would do if passed.
Though Newsom said he is open to fewer restrictions on rent control, “[Prop 10] could have unintended consequences on housing production that could be problematic.”
Cox was more straightforward in his assessment simply stating, “I don’t believe rent control works.”
Opponents of Prop 10 say that it will do more harm than good and are encouraging voters to say no to the measure in November. Proposition 10, a strict repeal of the Costa- Hawkins Rental Housing Act would give local governments the power to impose rent control on single family home owners. This would hurt, not help the most vulnerable, say members of the No on 10 Coalition, like the NAACP and the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce. African American communities, where property ownership is a pathway to wealth building would be disproportionately and negatively impacted say opponents.
“We really took a close look at what [Prop 10] is meant to do,’ said Alice Huffman, president of the California Hawaii NAACP. If you look at the language, they say its rent control but local governments already have the power to impose rent control. The only thing local governments cannot do – the reason they want to repeal Costa Hawkins, is so that they can impose rent control on single family homes. So, people are thinking they are voting for rent control but they are not. They are actually voting to give governments in 400 cities and 56 counties (in California) carte blanche authority over single family homes.”
Specifically, the measure would repeal rent control exemptions on single family homes thereby allowing local governments to dictate what a home owner would be allowed to charge to rent out a room in their own home. Additionally, Prop 10 would allow proponents to take legal action against any city they feel is not imposing stringent enough rent control measures at tax payer expense. The impartial, non-partisan Legislative Analyst Office has predicted millions in losses to local general fund revenues, which means less funding for vital city services for those who need it most.
Huffman and other Prop 10 opposers, could sound the financial death knell for homeowners who need the freedom to charge adequate rental rates in order to survive. Moreover, landlords could face property damage costs with little or no recourse. Passage of Prop 10 would also likely mean a severe decline in the construction of more housing in the Golden State, which is sorely needed. Instead, she explained, governments should focus on more appropriate legislation, like giving incentives to builders of affordable housing, which is what the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act was originally intended to do.
Proponents of the measure are saying that housing in the state is a matter of social justice and public health.
"From a social justice point of view," said Michael Weinstein, of the AIDS Health Foundation, one of the leading proponent groups. "We are seeing mass displacement... and we feel like shelter is the most basic right and people are being deprived of that and we don’t believe that the marketplace can handle providing shelter to everyone who needs it. From a public health point of view, we see our clients being rendered homeless or being pushed further and further out from where our healthcare centers are."
Michael Weinstein was the primary backer of the controversial Measure S in Los Angeles, which was opposed by both organized labor and business and was overwhelmingly defeated by voters at the ballot box.
It seems that Michael Weinstein and the AIDS Health Foundation is attempting once again to thwart housing construction not only in Los Angeles but statewide this November.
Those against the measure say that it will actually do nothing to help renters.
“The biggest flaw of Prop 10 is that it doesn’t take into consideration income limitations,” explained Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce Vice-Chair and member of the No on 10 Coalition, Jamarah Hayner.
“I know people who are making $100,000 to $200,000 a year, people who are attorneys for instance, getting rent control in Santa Monica and don’t even need it. Prop 10 has no means testing and doesn’t actually help renters.”
Meanwhile, people who are not making that level of income are still being priced out. Prop 10 will not change that. Like Huffman, Hayner says that governments would do better to focus on increasing construction of new housing units and setting aside properties for low income housing.
“The only way out of the housing crisis here is to build more housing and to support initiatives that actually put funding toward building more affordable housing,” she said.
So far, opponents have out-raised the proponents three to one, with a little over $12 million compared to about over $30 million for opponents.
Besides Proposition 10, voters will decide the following three housing-related ballot propositions:
Proposition 1 would authorize $4 billion in bonds for affordable housing programs, loans, grants, as well as housing loans for veterans.
Proposition 2 would authorize the state to use revenue from a 1 percent tax on income above $1 million, which was enacted in 2004 to provide funds for mental health services, on homelessness prevention housing.
Proposition 5 would remove restrictions on allowing seniors (ages 55+) and persons with serve disabilities to transfer their tax assessments, with a possible adjustment, from their prior home to their new home.
Sponsors of Propositions 1, 2, 5, and 10 all argue that their ballot measures would help address the housing situation in California, such as rent prices, real estate values, and available housing.
Voters will decide on Nov. 6.
September 13, 2018
City News Service
Officials today celebrated the success a three-year effort to reduce crime in Compton.
The reduction in crime – including double-digit declines in gang- related shootings and killings – was the result of a three-year partnership between the city, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which patrols Compton, and federal agencies, officials said at a news conference at Compton City Hall.
The Violence Reduction Network was launched in 2015 in Compton and more than 10 other U.S. cities, according to the sheriff’s department.
The effort led to 4,092 arrests, several federal indictments and the seizure of 636 illegal guns, 80 pounds of explosives and more than 640 pounds of narcotics “including enough Fentanyl to kill nearly four million people,” according to a sheriff's department statement.
“This program provided the LASD Compton Station technical resources, training and the ability for the Department of Justice and local officials to work together seamlessly to address 12 key areas of focus, including gang violence and prevention, human trafficking, mental illness and homelessness, at- risk youth, and trust-building in the community,” according to the sheriff's department.
Sheriff Jim McDonnell said collaboration with agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration gave the Compton Station’s gang enforcement, narcotics and cyber- crime teams led to shared “intelligence-gathering, warrants service and major operations ... .”
“The message to the criminals is: We are coming for you. And when we do, many of you will be looking at hard time in a federal prison, far from home and far from your gang affiliations,” McDonnell said.
“We will work together in ways you won’t expect. We will dismantle criminal organizations, take massive amounts of weapons and drugs off the streets and put in place community outreach programs that give youth hope.”
U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said he expected safety and security to continue to improve in Compton thanks to the training provided over the past three years and the gathering and analysis of data “and the commitment of each and every participant to continue the partnership designed to keep this great community safe and thriving.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in addition to reducing homicides and other violent crimes the agencies are working to “decrease human sex trafficking and drug sales as a way to shrink funding sources used by gangs to buy weapons and drugs.”
September 06, 2018
LAWT News Service
102.3 Radio-Free KJLH is set to present the 2nd Annual Men’s Empowerment Summit on Saturday, September 08, 2018 on the campus of California State University Dominguez Hills. With the goal of inspiring and empowering men of color from the diverse communities of Southern California. KJLH Radio’s heritage of community service and California State Senator Steven Bradford joining forces will provide a platform where men can engage in honest discussions regarding issues concerning men.
The day will begin with the Morning Inspirational Keynote conversation featuring prominent American civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. Known for his strategic defense of African American men such as the Trayvon Martin case and the family of Michael Brown among others.. Immediately following the keynote, men will be able to attend a variety of seminars and panel discussions dealing with a myriad of subjects including topics of Criminal Justice Reform, Mental Health, Father’s Rights, Entrepreneurship to name a few. The Veterans are invited to access resources, the youth with mentoring sessions and much more.
In addition to the curriculum of panel discussions, there will be free health screenings, employers will be on site ready to hire, and a very special session known as Legends of the Game moderated by Legendary sports caster Jim Hill. This session presents a panel of some of LA’s top sports legends in a discussion of inspiration and encouragement that the attending men can walk away ready to do their best. There will be a motorcycle exhibition presented by some of the local motorcycle clubs and a live broadcast.
Please come join us for a day filled with information, inspiration, dialogue and fun.
For information on the KJLH Men’s Empowerment summit, please click through to www.kjlhradio.com or call the office of KJLH at 310-330-2200.
August 30, 2018
City News Service
Ten members and associates of an Inglewood-based street gang were arrested overnight and today on federal drug-trafficking and weapons charges alleging they used a fake convenience store as a front for manufacturing crack and distributed the drugs in Inglewood and South Los Angeles.
The indictment targets the leadership and key members of a Crips- affiliated street gang that allegedly manufactured and distributed crack cocaine from the Stop and Shop Market in an Inglewood strip mall on South Prairie Avenue, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
After cooking and packaging the crack at the store, the gang allegedly delivered drugs to customers at a variety of locations, including at a U.S. VETS office and the Social Security office in Inglewood, authorities said.
Paul Delacourt, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said during a news conference at Inglewood City Hall said drug sales took place “on a near daily basis” out of the Stop and Shop over at least two years.
“This is an investigation to take out the top tier of a specific local gang which had morphed into a criminal enterprise, so we think we’ve made a significant impact on that gang here in Inglewood and we’re suspecting the community will be safer as a result,” Delacourt said.
Delacourt said the convenience store was operating solely as a front for the drug operation. Law enforcement raided the shop Tuesday night, arresting five people named in the federal indictment. The remaining arrests were made during Wednesday morning raids.
The gang members and their associates “used violence and intimidation, including firearms, to maintain and expand their drug-dealing territory, to protect themselves, their drugs, and their drug proceeds from rival gangs and drug-dealing organizations, and to collect payment from drug customers,” according to the indictment.
The indictment, filed in Los Angeles federal court, charges 15 defendants, 10 of whom were arrested Tuesday and Wednesday. Of the remaining five defendants, one was already in state custody, and four remain at large.
The four outstanding suspects were identified as Andre Bailey, 43; Steven Edwards, 20; Delshawn Johnson, 41; and Carnisha Connors, 29.
The 16-count indictment charges all 15 defendants in a conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine. The indictment also charges various defendants with maintaining a drug-involved premises; possession with intent to distribute and distribution of crack cocaine; possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime; and felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
The lead defendants in the indictment are Glen Dwight “Big Luck” Love, 46, of Pasadena; Deshay Lewann “Shay Bone” King, 45, of South Los Angeles; and Wiley Venoy “Slim” Ivory II, 38, an Inglewood resident who was already in state custody on unrelated charges.
Prosecutors contend the trio ran the Stop and Shop that was nothing more than a drug processing and storage facility.
According to the indictment, several defendants “discussed attempting to make the shop look like an actual retail store and getting window signs to tell drug customers and co-conspirators when to avoid going into the shop.”
If convicted of all charges, each of the defendants would face decades in federal prison. The conspiracy count alone carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life without parole, prosecutors said.