More space for South Gate; congestion for Lakewood
Lakewood resident and speaker of the California State Assembly, Anthony Rendon, celebrates a new park while his city faces mass congestion.
Lakewood resident and speaker of the California State Assembly celebrated more open space in South Gate while state policies force his city to possibly become more congested.
“We know that this is a part of Los Angeles County that really needs more green space,” said Anthony Rendon on his Instagram, where he posted a video celebrating an approved park for South Gate.
“I think what I’m looking forward to most is seeing the residents enjoy their space,” Rendon added.
Rendon has served as speaker of the state assembly since March 2016. During that time, the California assembly and senate passed bills responsible for the possibility of apartment complexes coming to the Lakewood Mall, churches and single family residential homes, said an official at a recent Housing Elements meeting.
“It really is coming from the state legislature,” said Aaron Barrall, one of the project leads for drafting Lakewood’s updated Housing Elements plan.
When asked at a May 26 Housing Elements meeting what gave the state the authority to mandate Lakewood to accommodate 4,510 new housing units, Barrall pointed to new bills passed by the state legislature. He noted that a lot of changes within the last four years, during the time of Rendon’s speakership, empowered the state’s Housing and Community Development department more power to penalize cities.
The state has the authority via the legislature to assess fines and penalties for cities not meeting the housing mandates, explained Emily Elliott, project manager from Michael Baker International, the contractor hired by Lakewood to create the update Housing Elements plan.
This has left Lakewood and its contractor scrambling to find ways to meet the housing mandates, which require Lakewood to accommodate the new housing units by allowing developers to build them should they choose to do so. However, since there is little open space left in Lakewood, city staff is considering plans that would allow for apartment complexes at residential homes, church parking lots and at the Lakewood Mall.
Lakewood residents and those of any other city suffering from these housing mandates should contact Rendon and make their voices heard.
The Lakewood Populist has already made a comment about residents’ anger towards the housing mandates on Rendon’s Instagram post. You can do the same, or you could make a comment on Rendon’s Facebook page or his Tweet where he also posted the video.
You could even comment on Rendon’s state website and, if you’re daring, you could comment on all of them.
“These are communities that are often left out of a lot of the processes of governance throughout the region,” said Rendon regarding South Gate. “So to have them involved was incredibly important to show that their voices, their opinions mattered.”