Affordable Housing

CITY HALL — The City Council on Tuesday put the brakes on a potential affordable-housing project after several members said the process had run afoul of established procedures. The Housing Authority on Tuesday was set to discuss the potential for building a new affordable-housing project on city-owned property near the corner of Sonora Avenue and 5th Street in northwest Glendale. But the City Council postponed any action after several council members questioned a presentation from an affordable-housing developer, which Councilman John Drayman said sounded "an awful lot like an attempt to circumvent a process.

The increasing number of students at Glendale Community College is obvious to me as a second-year student. As more students try to crowd in, continuing students have serious problems adding or registering in required classes for their majors ("GCC faces more cuts," June 23). Instead of decreasing the number of classes to save money, the college should admit fewer or, at least, select students. Although new students have the right to use their community college, it is not fair to deprive current students of the ability to continue their education in a timely manner.

In 1977, I returned home from the Air Force as a disabled veteran, beat down and almost helpless at the age of 21. I began an incredible journey through red tape, poverty and doors slammed in my face. I was never told "welcome home," and I feel unwelcome as of today. I begged for help as I struggled to support myself, my wife and two sons. I was told that the veterans disability compensation I received made me ineligible for assistance. I tried to hold down more than 50 jobs.

CITY HALL — A proposal this week to put military veterans at the front of long waiting list for affordable housing was met with staunch opposition from Mayor Ara Najarian, who said it could create a major backlash from the thousands of people already in line. The City Council in coming months will consider reopening the waiting list for federal rental vouchers to include military veterans, after directing housing officials to draft the proposal. The city's list of 6,479 households for the federally sponsored program, which uses vouchers to subsidize rent payments, was last opened in 2001, at which time veterans were given preference.

GLENDALE — After living on the streets of Ventura on and off for years, Lygia Rueda De Leon and her family didn't know where to turn. "We began to feel hopeless and began to give up," she said. But on Wednesday, De Leon joined with city leaders and Salvation Army officials for the opening of the nonprofit's Chester Village affordable housing development, where De Leon now lives with her husband, three children and grandchild. She said moving into a place they could call home was a dream come true.

CITY HALL City officials on Tuesday settled on a five-year plan for spending a projected $30.2 million in federal funding for local social service programs, homeless services and affordable housing offerings. The plan outlines allocations of the funds, the majority of which are aimed at helping the city's most vulnerable residents, including low-income families, youth, seniors and the homeless. The funds would support employment services at the city's Verdugo Jobs Center, case management and housing through the city's main homeless service provider, PATH Achieve Glendale, and more affordable housing for low-income residents, according to the plan.

CITY HALL — City officials on Tuesday settled on a five-year plan for spending a projected $30.2 million in federal funding for local social service programs, homeless services and affordable housing offerings. The plan outlines allocations of the funds, the majority of which are aimed at helping the city's most vulnerable residents, including low-income families, youth, seniors and the homeless. The funds would support employment services at the city's Verdugo Jobs Center, case management and housing through the city's main homeless service provider, PATH Achieve Glendale, and more affordable housing for low-income residents, according to the plan.

CITY HALL — The City Council today is expected to extend an agreement with the local Habitat for Humanity after the nonprofit raised just half of the $400,000 needed to begin a proposed affordable-home project. City officials last year inked an initial agreement with San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity to develop a five-unit project at 624-630 Geneva St., which would be the organization’s seventh development in Glendale. But as the organization continues to face below-average donations and complete another large Glendale project, the City Council will likely approve a six-month extension to the agreement before it expires this summer.

SOUTH GLENDALE — Officials on Tuesday heralded the addition of two affordable housing developments at the city’s southernmost edge on San Fernando Road that will eventually add 140 apartments to a mostly industrial area. “It’s part of an overall strategic plan for the city,” Councilman Frank Quintero said at the ceremony dedicating the 68-unit Glendale City Lights, at 3673 San Fernando Road. The $36.4-million project received $9.8 million in city assistance and is already occupied.

CITY HALL — The Glendale Housing Authority on Tuesday committed $6.3 million for a 36-unit affordable housing complex slated for Salem Street and Central Avenue, a project that has drawn opposition from nearby residents and merchants. In doing so, the authority, which includes all five members of the City Council, also voted to approve initial plans for the proposed rental project, tentatively called Central City Lights, with all units reserved for low-income people and four units set aside for artists.