Housing Advocates Plan August 2nd Pasadena City Hall Rally

Pasadena City Hall (Photo – Robert B. Moffatt)

The Pasadena Affordable Housing Coalition* will hold a community rally on Monday, August 2 at 3:00 pm at City Hall before the City Council meeting.

By News Desk

The Coalition insists that the City Council revise the Draft Housing Element recently released by City staff.  The Council is scheduled to review the Draft Housing Element at their August 2 meeting

The upcoming rally will feature an eight-foot scroll signed by Coalition members and supporters outlining 29 specific policies that need to be incorporated into the Housing Element draft by the City Council before it is submitted to the State Department of Housing and Community Development for review.

Ed Washatka, one of the Coalition’s leaders and a board member of Pasadenans Organizing for Progress, said:

Councilmembers, Planning Commissioners, Housing Task Force members and some City staff have conceded that the draft is vague and mainly a continuation of the status quo at a time when thousands of Pasadena renters face eviction, tens of thousands struggle with the rent, and young families are priced out of home ownership.

All Southern California cities are required to revise their Housing Elements this year as blueprints for citywide housing policies over the next eight years, including demonstrating to the State that they can produce the target number of new units required by the Regional Housing Assessment.  Pasadena’s target is 9,400 units, of which nearly 6,000 are required to be affordable for very low, low and moderate income households.

The scroll featured at the rally will list

specific policies the Coalition says are needed to ensure that all Pasadenans have safe, secure and affordable housing.  Religious, civic and neighborhood leaders will address the rally to outline the need for enforceable policies and funding to protect tenants, promote affordable housing, and reduce homelessness in Pasadena.

*The Coalition includes nine civic organizations, All Saints Church, Making Housing and Community Happen, NAACP Pasadena Branch, League of Women Voters-Pasadena Area, Pasadena For All, POP!, Democrats of Pasadena Foothills, Complete Streets Coalition, and Abundant Housing LA.