Faced with community complaints, Mayor Karen Bass retools her affordable housing strategy

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s David Zahniser and Dakota Smith, bringing you the latest and the greatest from L.A. city politics and government.

When Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass launched her reelection bid this week, she made sure to highlight her success in speeding up the approval of new affordable housing.

Executive Directive 1, which she signed in December 2022, succeeded in slashing the time it takes to review 100% affordable projects, which in turn unleashed a flood of development proposals. The planning department says it has received applications to build almost 20,000 units of affordable housing — projects with restrictions on how much rent can be charged to lower-income tenants.

But ED1 also sparked a backlash from some community groups. Tenant advocates said too many ED1 projects are triggering the demolition of rent-controlled apartments, upending the lives of renters. Homeowner groups complained that ED1 projects have been proposed in historic preservation districts, raising the specter of six-story apartment buildings sprouting up next to stately Victorians and rows of Arts and Crafts bungalows.

On Monday, Bass moved to quell the furor by restricting the locations where the speedier ED1 process can be used.

Bass, in an eight-page memo, made clear that properties in historic districts will no longer be eligible for ED1’s fast-track process. Those districts can be found in Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, South L.A. and many other areas.

The mayor also removed hillside properties that are in “very high fire hazard severity zones,” which affects portions of Silver Lake, Lincoln Heights, the Hollywood Hills and elsewhere.

Bass, in her memo, offered concessions to tenant rights groups as well, excluding any property with 12 or more rent-controlled units. That change comes a few months after an ED1 developer proposed a 153-unit project in Eagle Rock that would demolish 17 rent-controlled apartments, some occupied by lower-income families.

The changes did not reassure René Moya, who belongs to the Northeast Local of the L.A. Tenants Union. He said the 12-unit cut-off “doesn’t make any sense, other than as a developer giveaway.” More than half the city’s rent-controlled units, he said, are in properties with 10 units or fewer.

“It keeps a bulls-eye on the backs of the majority of the city’s rent-controlled tenants, putting them at risk of permanent displacement from our city,” he said.

Cindy Chvatal, co-founder of the group United Neighbors, which has pushed back against proposals to rezone lower-density neighborhoods, was far more upbeat. She credited Bass for working with an array of community groups over several months to address concerns about ED1, including the encroachment into historic districts.

“She listened,” Chvatal said in an interview.

YIMBY activists — who are looking to eliminate restrictions on housing production, hence the moniker “Yes In My Backyard” — were largely disappointed. They argued that ED1 had been effective because of its simplicity.

Scott Epstein, director of policy and research for Abundant Housing LA, a pro-housing advocacy group, said the long list of changes to ED1 will make it much more complicated, leaving developers with less flexibility to make their projects financially viable.

Housing activist Joseph Cohen May, who lives in downtown L.A., also criticized the decision to carve out historic zones.

“The chipping away of the program shows that the Bass administration cares more about pleasing interest groups than maximizing the production of affordable housing and quickly ending the homelessness crisis,” he said.

Bass’ team pushed back on that claim, saying the mayor continues to expedite the approval of thousands of new affordable housing units.

“Mayor Bass believes that policies should be constantly evaluated and improved upon. That’s what this revision seeks to do,” said Bass spokesperson Clara Karger. “She also believes that we will be able to build more housing if everyone has buy-in.”

It’s still far from clear how much of an effect the latest changes will have. Of the more than 200 project applications filed so far, 10 were proposed in historic districts, according to the mayor’s team. Fewer than 10 were proposed on sites with 12 or more rent-controlled apartments, they said.

Bass has portrayed ED1 as one of the big success stories of her administration, highlighting it in speeches and at neighborhood events. Approval time for 100% affordable housing projects takes an average of 45 days, down from six months or more, according to information issued by the mayor’s office last year.

The changes Bass imposed this week aren’t likely to eliminate all of the community concerns around ED1. YIMBYs, for example, remain frustrated that Bass excluded single-family neighborhoods from the initiative early in her administration.

At the other end of the spectrum, homeowner groups still contend that many ED1 projects are dramatically out of scale with their surroundings.

Critics have also complained that dozens of ED1 projects have included zero parking spaces, creating new pressures on street parking. However, that issue is the product of state legislation, not the mayor’s fast-track initiative.

City leaders are also hearing complaints from yet another powerful constituency — construction trade unions, who fear that ED1 developers will turn to cheap and unqualified workers to complete their projects.

Pete Rodriguez, Western District vice president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, said any permanent ED1 ordinance should include provisions that create “more middle-class jobs,” such as requirements for a prevailing wage.

“L.A. cannot survive if the essential workforce that builds our housing cannot afford to live here,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

Councilmember Tim McOsker, one of organized labor’s more reliable allies at City Hall, introduced a motion last month to instruct city officials to explore ways of ensuring that workers on ED1 projects receive the prevailing wage and, in some cases, healthcare coverage.

Bass’ changes did not address those concerns. In her memo, the mayor said she would “support labor standards and protections” once ED1 becomes a permanent law. She did not offer specifics.

That prospect has worried some YIMBYs, who warn that higher labor costs could make it impossible for many ED1 projects to get built.

Members of Abundant Housing LA organized a rally last month to push for ED1 to become permanent. At that event, they faced their own pushback.

The rally, held outside City Hall, was disrupted by tenant activists who shouted them down and tore up some of their signs, organizers said.

State of play

— RUNNING IN 2026: Bass took the plunge this week, letting her supporters know she is running for a second four-year term in 2026 — and needs money for her campaign. In a fundraising email, Bass said “we cannot afford to stop our momentum.”

— MEGA-MEETING FROM HELL: As we’ve reported previously, some on the City Council have been calling for a reduction in the number of council meetings, suggesting they go from three per week to one.

This week, they got a taste of what that might look like.

Tuesday’s meeting, the last before summer break, was the only one this week. It had 161 agenda items, lasted six and a half hours and required pizza delivery to the back of the council chamber.

— EXPLOSIVE PAYOUT: Three years after L.A. police blew up a neighborhood in South Los Angeles, the City Council agreed to pay more than $21 million to resolve the legal claims of many residents who were displaced.

— REFORM WIZARD: The City Council approved the appointment of Robert Stern, who co-wrote the state’s Political Reform Act of 1974, to the five-member Ethics Commission. Stern, who also co-authored some of the city’s ethics laws, was nominated by Council President Paul Krekorian.

— BUILDING A BIGGER BOARD: Los Angeles County Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn unveiled a proposal to expand the Board of Supervisors to nine members, up from five. With 10 million residents countywide, that would still leave each supervisor with 1.1 million constituents. They hope to put the proposal before voters on the Nov. 5 ballot.

— BITING THE BULLET: The City Council voted to move forward with $54 million in pre-design work for an expansion of the Convention Center, in an effort to determine whether the overhaul can be completed in time for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.

— PLANNING AHEAD: Fast-food workers frequently have unpredictable schedules that make it difficult to plan child care, doctors’ appointments and other tasks. Now, City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez has a proposal to require more stability and consistency in their schedules, along with access to paid time off.

— BEAT THE HEAT: It’s going to be hot this weekend! Fortunately, there are some cooling centers in and around L.A.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program to combat homelessness went to the area around Beverly Boulevard and Alvarado Street, which is in the district represented by Soto-Martínez.
  
• On the docket for next week: Two figures convicted in the Jose Huizar corruption scandal — consultant Justin Kim and onetime lobbyist Morrie Goldman — will face sentencing by a federal judge.