Attracting Business and Development in the Ninth District

By Jan C. Perry

I will support the type of development that will attract business to the 9th Council District and the City of Los Angeles.

I will support the type of development that will attract business to the 9th Council District and the City of Los Angeles. Eighty percent of the jobs created in the last eight years in the county of Los Angeles are minimum wage jobs. In addition to that the higher paying jobs are located in areas that are too far removed from transportation services. The City of Los Angeles is 464 square miles in size. Job opportunities need to be created in areas where there is also the space for the development of more affordable childcare, housing, transportation and quality of life services. I support adaptive reuse, tax incentives, and the consideration of all of the things that attract business to the city. I support job training that is specific to attracting specific business to an area. I will look for venture capital for the development of businesses that will support cleaner a environment.

There are a number of resources available to the City of Los Angeles that can play a key role in the development of both short and long term planning strategies for the city. Smart growth should include a strategy that provides an adequate number of kindergarten seats for the number of children that we develop housing for in the city. Currently there are areas of the city that have 6 children for every one of those seats. Transportation services, green belt and recreation areas, job training and opportunities should be considered as well. Resources like clean water and energy should be considered as critical to smart growth planning. I strongly support adaptive reuse, mixed use and the preservation of the historic core as critical to the success of smart growth planning. Demographic data, business trends, and the focus on areas of the greatest need in the City of Los Angeles should be considered first in long and short term planning.

The Affordable Housing crisis should be addressed in a number of ways. First as a city council member I will not support the reduction of funds for affordable housing in city budget negotiations.

I support the creation of a Housing Trust Fund. The city needs a housing commissioner who can work with both the mayor and the city council to address the affordable housing crisis. We need to develop a long and short term plan that includes adaptive reuse, mixed use, density bonus, historic preservation, demographic trends, transportation planning, school location and quality of life services like parks, recreation and green belt areas.

Numerous revenue sources must be developed and sought after for the purpose of building affordable housing and better community living. I would seek federal, state, and community redevelopment funds, work with banks and support a bond initiative to seed an emergency affordable housing fund. I would also work with the development and real estate stakeholders to encourage their participation in the development of a plan to address the housing crisis in the City of Los Angeles.

As Chief Deputy in Council District 9, I worked with the League of Cities, representatives from the state legislature and federal representatives on issues of importance to our city. I have worked to build coalitions to pursue innovative strategies for neighborhood organizing, job recruitment, economic development and land use planning.

Retail development generates sales tax dollars for the City of Los Angeles. Competition for tax dollars has contributed to the affordable housing crisis. In order to attract business to the City of Los Angeles I would work to provide tax incentives for the development of retail space and density bonus for mixed use development. I would work with developers to match dollars for quality of life improvements to the development impact area and for replacement housing.

As the Chief Deputy for Council District 9 I worked to improve the delivery of city services to the residents, to build coalitions to improve neighborhood organizing, job recruitment, economic development, historic preservation and land use planning.

I worked with a consortium of Asian and African American bankers to encourage investment and economic development in the inner city and to reduce cultural tensions in the wake of the 1992 civil unrest. I created a city-funded program to help merchants convert liquor stores into other businesses in South Los Angeles and initiated training for block club captains to confront crime, reduce blight and educate them about how to use the political process to improve the quality of life in the community.

I have worked to develop concepts for environmental and historic preservation programs and to generate tourism and recycle community based dollars to create sustainable development.

I worked as a Legislative Deputy gaining experience in the process and learning how to target resources, block grant funds, and other sources of revenue for use in the inner city.

My experience as a Planning and Land Use Deputy provided me with additional experience in assisting both developers and community advocates negotiate conditions for development, mitigation and environmental review of projects and assisted with the legislative procedures throughout the planning process.

I have worked for over ten years in the City of Los Angeles. I am familiar with the planning, land use and legislative process. I know the Ninth Council District and have worked extremely hard to develop strong working relationships with community and faith based activists. I have worked with developers to bring projects both large and small to completion.

I have been a public employee of the City of Los Angeles for ten years, and have worked to build good working relationships with city department staff and management. I believe that I can establish and strong and effective system for the delivery of city services to the constituents of the Ninth Council District.

I have an appreciation of the history of the Ninth Council District and would work hard to restore the historic core and to create a vibrant new business district that reflects the past and the future.

I understand the critical need for affordable housing in the City of Los Angeles. I also understand the need to bring jobs and to create a better quality of life environment for people living in the inner city.

I believe that I will be an effective advocate for the people living and working in the Ninth Council District and the City of Los Angeles. I will work hard to create a good environment for business development, the creation of affordable housing, and a network of community service providers that will be effective in responding to the needs of the community.