The Motion Would Put Further Safeguards In Place To Ensure Proper Relocation
By Dolores Quintana
The Los Angeles City Council will be considering the motion that has come out of the Housing and Homelessness Committee. The report is in regard to the status of the Ellis Act process and relocation of the tenants of the Barrington Plaza Apartments at 11740 Wilshire Boulevard in Council District 11.
The motion was initiated by CD 11 City Councilmember Traci Park and City Council President and CD 2 City Councilmember Paul Krekorian, and the report from the committee recommends four actions.
The first is that the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) should report to the City Council every thirty days regarding the status of the Ellis Act process and relocation of the tenants of the Barrington Plaza Apartments to safeguard an equitable distribution of relocation benefits and services, and the right to return process, if applicable, to ensure that all tenants are afforded the benefits and rights entitled under the Los Angeles Municipal Code.
The second is that the LAHD report to the Council on what actions could be taken by the City Council potentially take to intervene in this process to ensure that tenants are not permanently displaced with the assistance of the City Attorney or any other departments in the city government.
The third is to instruct the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), with the assistance of the LAHD, and any other relevant departments, as needed, to report to Council within 30 days on the feasibility of establishing a “bad actor” policy, whereby owners are unable to pull permits for new projects if there is a record of unresolved citations, orders to comply and/or violations at an existing property.
Finally, it would require the LAHD, with the assistance of the LADBS, and any other relevant departments, to report to Council within thirty days with a comprehensive list of any code violations at the Barrington Plaza Apartments over the last ten years. The report should include what happened after the previous code violations and the fires that took place at the Barrington Plaza Apartments.
