LA Needs GIl Cedillo

It is very simple. We can cite many sources of what Gil Cedillo did to stabilize Skid Row and the surrounding areas of Downtown Los Angeles. But , it is so simple that we don't really have to go into detail. Why does Los Angeles need Gil Cedillo? Gil Cedillo is like Bat Man. Seriously. He fights evil. How can one not support a man who introduced legislation in the state that would have ended the most evil practice ever created: Patient Dumping? Gil Cedillo stood along side the skid row community and said it would not be tolerated. The outcome was that the City of Los Angeles passed an ordinance making it a misdemeanor to just dump patients into the streets of skid row to die. Another miracle that Gil made happen was Senate Bill 2, called fair share zoning. What did fair share zoning do? Fair share zoning made

Fair Share Zoning SB -2 Homeless Housing Requirement
GOVERNOR SIGNS CEDILLO’S FAIR SHARE ZONING (SB 2) ADDRESSING ZONING FOR EMERGENCY SHELTERS
Monday, October 15, 2007 at 7:05 AM
(SACRAMENTO) – Senator Gilbert Cedillo’s Fair Share Zoning (SB 2) was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger late Saturday. Under SB 2 every city and county in California will be required to assess the number of homeless persons in their community and to identify zones where emergency shelters are allowed to locate without conditional use or discretionary permits.
The zoning information would be included in the housing element of the general plans submitted by municipalities to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The bill clarifies that transitional and supportive housing are a residential use of property and are subject only to those restrictions that apply to similar dwellings in the same zone. SB 2 also adds emergency shelters to the “Anti-NIMBY” law and clarifies that transitional and supportive housing are also covered by this law.

Why is this important? Well, Gil Cedillo understood that from a planning perspective  homeless people in skid row and Los Angeles did not just miraculosly appear, he understood that Los Angeles was taking and, continues to take the brunt of caring for the homeless and those who need permanent supportive housing situations from other areas in California and the Country.

 “People are better served in their home communities where they have support from family and friends,” Cedillo said. “It is time for every community in our state to plan for zoning emergency shelter services without unreasonable conditions and SB 2 ensures that will occur.” Lynn Jacobs, HCD Director, added, “The Schwarzenegger Administration and the Department of Housing and Community Development look forward to working in partnership with local governments to implement these new requirements.”

 Instead of pushing the homeless of skid row into the surrounding communities, esp the CD1 communities, he also sent money and supported the efforts of the creation of Permanent Supportive Housing through  state tax credits and making sure he put his influence towards those efforts. SO, while he promoted the idea other jurisdictions and municipalities take care of their fair share, he helped to bring those folks who were chronically homeless off of the streets into permanent supportive housing who were in his jurisdiction instead of making it someone else's problem.. Today , the LA Chamber of Commerce and the City and the County are promoting permanent supportive housing as a solution.. This effort has taken the pressure off of places such as Westlake Macarthur Park from becoming the release valve for the only place for the homeless to flee as Downtown Los Angeles becomes a tourist and entertainment destination. The fact is that one of the most heinous and evil policies ever created was called unofficially for years the policy of containment:

"Skid Row ‘Containment’

In what is perhaps the most ill-conceived unofficial land-use policy in Los Angeles, city operatives for decades have treated Skid Row as a “containment” zone for the homeless and the social services that support them. While the area has a long history of serving transient laborers, the city’s moves to concentrate shelters and other services for the poor in an urban hideaway has proven costly. As the homeless capital of the country, Skid Row is a black eye on Los Angeles, all the more visible today since it abuts a thriving residential and commercial community in Downtown. The concentration of shelters, food banks, clinics and supportive housing in one small area has also reduced pressure on other communities in the region to provide their own resources. And no matter how much lip service politicians in far-flung districts give to being open to taking on more of these facilities, they rarely come through, worried about constituent blowback. The situation continues to give Skid Row a concentration of the types of vices that go hand-in-hand with poverty, from drug use to petty crime."

Gil Cedillo began the move towards ending this EVIL policy and only in the past couple of years has the City and County begin to come to terms now with this and no longer call it an unspoken or paranoid delusional idea. The policy of containment is real,. Gil faced this head on. We have built thousands of Units of Permanent Supportive Housing in Skid Row and the Historic Core  and  in South Park and this because people like Gil Cedillo laid the ground work.  Gil proved not to be a hypocrite and took care of his fair share and more instead of making it someone elses problem. Los Angeles needs this man who looked evil in the face, fought it and won.  In the article in the LA Downtown news above: "And no matter how much lip service politicians in far-flung districts give to being open to taking on more of these facilities, they rarely come through, worried about constituent blowback."   Yes, they rarely come through, but they are coming through. Although , he may not be the real bat man, we feel that all of the lives saved and all of the people not dying on the streets of Los Angeles and in other communties  tonight due to his willingness to highlight patient dumping  and SB2, which was a miracle bill ,that we feel he can make sure that CD1 does not become the new skid row or dumping ground for LA's problems , but sane approaches to these problems can be made and resolved. He has proven this. Even his economic development policies such as Downtown Rebound brought investment to downtown Los Angeles  and as a result these loft , condo, and entertainment venue developers,  investing here they have contributed to the  building of  permanent supportive housing and supported the efforts of the service providers to the east , west, North, and South of their investments. It is a wonderful cycle. And Gil,,, our Bat Man ,, or maybe just a farsighted politician, knew the consequences. It is because of  these actions, not intent, but actions , that we say we need Gil in Los Angeles working on behalf of all of us. He is willing to take on evil.  We also say,as people who watched hundreds,  and through the years  as a result of no one willing to tackle this idea for fear of political "blowback", thousands of people die from this policy of containment, we feel  that Gil Cedillo is the person who can fight evil that would turn parts of CD1 into another area of containment.  We feel he can work with all groups, all council districts,  and all involved to work for amicable solutions. He has already proven that he did not want to make the skid row problems  turn into the problems  for other areas of LA by trying to stabilize skid row. He has proven he  is not just one to push his problems onto others but tackle them head on and implement solutions to solve them..