CCA welcomed the Chiefs of Staff from the offices of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and eleven Councilmembers, along with their fellow city staff to a special CCA reception on Thursday in recognition of their hard work on behalf of and commitment to Los Angeles.  The guests of honor included: Robin Kramer from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Office; Clare Bartels from Council President Pro Tempore  Greuel's Office;  Jose Cornejo from  Councilmember Cardenas' Office; Felipe Fuentes from Councilmember  Padilla's Office; Jose Gardea from Councilmember Reyes' Office; David Gershwin from Council President  Garcetti's Office; Kathy Godfrey from Council Assistant President Pro Tempore  Perry's Office; Michael Molina from Councilmember Hahn's Office; Bernard Parks, Jr. from Councilmember  Parks' Office; Tony Ricasa from Councilmember Huizar's Office; Denise Sample from Councilmember Weiss' Office; and Sharon Sandow from Councilmember Zine's Office.

Special guests Councilmember Jan Perry ; Cynthia Ruiz , Board of Public Works Commissioner; and Guy Mehula , Chief Facilities Executive for the LAUSD also attended.  CCA's President & CEO Carol Schatz introduced and thanked the chiefs of staff for "all of [their] very hard work on behalf of the City of Los Angeles."  

CCA's  Carol Schatz  also bade farewell to Leslie Pollner , Deputy Chief of Staff for Councilmember Wendy Greuel .  Leslie will be leaving Los Angeles and heading to Washington D.C. with her husband, L.A. Times reporter  Noam Levey .  CCA has been very appreciative of Pollner's work and wishes her the best in Washington.       

CCA would like to thank Leah Reyes of Parking Concepts, Inc. and Larry Ahlquist and the Board of Governors of the City Club on Bunker Hill for graciously hosting this event.     

On Tuesday, CCA staff and member, Tara Bannister of the California Apartment Association, testified at City Council's Housing, Community & Economic Development (HCED) Committee meeting where Councilmember Herb Wesson , who is concerned about the economic impact of a citywide Interim Control Ordinance, unveiled a new package of tenant-protection proposals as possible solutions. These proposals are designed to deal with the rise in evictions from rent-controlled apartments.  Among the provisions of the new rules are higher fees for condo conversions and increased relocation benefits to displaced tenants.  The legislative package is slated to go before the full Council on August 18. Even if the proposals are embraced by Council, most of the initiatives will take months to approve.

While CCA believes that these proposals are reasonable alternatives to a moratorium, CCA staff voiced concerns with the proposed actions, testifying that new regulations should not apply retroactively to projects already in the pipeline and any additional fee requirements must remain reasonable.  Excessive fees will only lessen the supply of housing. CCA requested to be included in future discussions to finalize the proposals.

In the last two weeks, Councilmembers Alex Padilla and Bill Rosendahl have called for a moratorium on condo conversions in their districts.  Since many of the conversions are in CD 11, CCA President and CEO, Carol Schatz , and Kate Bartolo from the KOR Group , met briefly with Councilmember Rosendahl to discuss his proposed ICO and will be meeting with him again in the upcoming weeks. CCA has testified on numerous occasions against a moratorium on condo conversions, which sends the wrong message to investors and does not address the real problem, a shortage of housing.

CCA's President & CEO Carol Schatz, along with CCA members, Alex Moradi   from ICO Development, LLC and Carrie Gatlin from Eimago, Inc ., Union Rescue Mission , traveled to Sacramento for a private meeting with State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez , in an effort to move three bills targeted toward alleviating the burden of homelessness and substance abuse in Downtown out of the Assembly Appropriations' suspense file and onto the Assembly Floor.  Emphasizing the importance this legislation will have on the Downtown community, which is ground zero for homelessness nationwide, Schatz explained that leadership at the State level is needed for Downtown to have the tools to address this crisis. 

Speaker Nunez recently announced that several of the bills will moved out of the suspense file, with revisions.  One will enhance sentences for those selling drugs near service centers by one year.  The other will grant L.A. County $150,000 as seed money for a pilot mental health court program.  CCA is pleased to see these move forward and thanks Senator Gil Cedillo , the bill's author, and Speaker Nunez for their continued leadership on this issue.