Housing Department

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.

CITY HALL — Local social service nonprofits faced even greater demand this past year in light of the struggling economy, according to year-end reports from the city’s Community Development and Housing Department. All of the city’s Community Development Block Grant-funded social service programs came close to or exceeded their service goals, with several local nonprofits serving more clients that they had anticipated, according to the reports. With a tight city budget and massive statewide cuts, federal Community Development Block Grant funding is more important than ever, officials said.

CITY HALL — Residents could deal with fewer bureaucratic headaches in coming months under a reorganization of four of the city’s key departments that received City Council approval Tuesday. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the proposed reorganization, which would disband the Community Development and Housing Department and assign its functions and staff to three modified existing departments — Planning, Development Services, and Parks, Recreation and Community Services.

CITY HALL ? Residents might deal with fewer bureaucratic headaches in coming months under a reorganization of four of the city?s key departments that received City Council approval Tuesday. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the proposed reorganization, which would disband the Community Development and Housing Department and assign its functions and staff to three modified departments ? Planning; Development Services; and Parks, Recreation and Community Services.

Karen S. Kim SOUTHEAST GLENDALE -- Slowing down traffic and improving the visibility of businesses are the expected results of the Adams Square "streetscape" improvements project. And with the City Council's unanimous approval Tuesday, officials of the Community Development and Housing department are now authorized to award a $664,480 bid to Fredrick Towers Inc. for construction of the project. "One of biggest things identified by merchants was a need to slow down the traffic in Adams Square," said Jess Duran, assistant director of the Community Development and Housing department.

CITY HALL ? The City Council tonight will consider major organizational changes to four of the city?s key departments in a move city officials said would streamline and consolidate city services. After the recent retirement of Madalyn Blake, the former director of the Community Development and Housing Department, city officials decided to reevaluate City Hall?s structure, said City Manager Jim Starbird. While the plan ? which represents one of the biggest City Hall shifts in years ?

Officials seek input on plan funding City officials will host a community meeting on Feb. 28 to seek input from the public on Glendale?s proposed Community Development and Housing Action Plan for the coming fiscal year. The meeting will give interested parties the chance to learn firsthand about the city?s federal grant funding plan for community social service, housing and homeless programs. The plan will also help fund several capital improvement projects throughout the city.

SECTION 8 CRIMINAL RECORD CHECKING WHAT HAPPENED The council authorized the Glendale Police Department to perform criminal record checking for the purpose of screening prospective Section 8 participants and staff of the local housing authority. WHAT IT MEANS The Police Records Bureau will use the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System to check the backgrounds of Section 8 program applicants and certain existing participants suspected of engaging in criminal activity.

CENTRAL GLENDALE — A Superior Court judge Friday ordered a 47-year-old Glendale man to stay at least 100 yards away from two city Community Development and Housing Department employees after he made racial remarks to one and threatened another. Jorge Murillo, a Section 8 housing recipient, wept aloud Friday in court when he explained to Judge Laura Matz that he suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, which he said could have led to his erratic and threatening behavior. “I have bigger fish to fry than to be a threat to these individuals,” he said.

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.

CITY HALL — The Trader Joe's Company moved closer to breaking ground on a location in the Montrose Shopping Park this week after a Design Review Board gave its stamp of approval to the store's proposed design. Design Review Board No. 1 approved design plans based on the architectural style popular in the shopping park for the grocer's proposed 14,670-square-foot, single-story store at the corner of Honolulu and Orangedale avenues. "Boy, it's just going to re-energize that whole area," said Chairman Ivan Insua.

CITY HALL — Despite continued drops in attendance, the Alex Theatre ended the first half of the fiscal year on more solid financial footing due in part to cost-cutting measures and attracting film shoots. For the period of July through December, the theater this week reported a surplus of $204,022. Without the city’s so-called management fee, the venue would be $210,978 in the red, but that would still be slightly better than the same period last year, according to the report.

CENTRAL GLENDALE — Colder temperatures and a recent rainstorm have prompted an increased number of local homeless this week to seek refuge inside the county winter shelter near downtown, officials said. Nearly 100 people sought the comfort of a warm bed and shelter Monday night as rain poured into the evening and temperatures dropped into the 30s, organizers reported. That was nearly double the crowd of opening night. Since the Los Angeles County-funded winter homeless shelter opened Dec. 1 at the Glendale National Guard Armory on Colorado Street, its attendance has averaged about 50 people per night, said Sandra Yanez, a program manager with EIMAGO, a subsidiary of the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles that operates the shelter.

CITY HALL — Average advertised rental rates in Glendale rose as much as 8% during a three-month period in spring, even as other cities saw their rents decrease, according to a city report. From March to May, the average advertised rents for one- and two-bedroom units grew as much as 2.9% to an average $1,511 and $2,104 per month, respectively, according to the Quality of Life Indicators report released last month. The average rate for three-bedroom units in May was $2,277, representing an 8% increase.

CITY HALL — PATH Achieve Glendale, the city’s largest homeless services provider, was awarded more than $100,000 in federal stimulus money to house five local families made homeless by the recession, but so far the organization is having a hard time locating families who qualify. In September, the Glendale Housing Authority approved a $140,000 contract with PATH Achieve Glendale for a Rapid Re-Housing program, a federal stimulus-funded program meant to provide rental subsidies for five local families who have recently become homeless because of job loss or foreclosure.

CITY HALL — PATH Achieve Glendale, the city’s largest homeless services provider, was awarded more than $100,000 in federal stimulus money to house five local families made homeless by the recession, but so far the organization is having a hard time locating families who qualify. In September, the Glendale Housing Authority approved a $140,000 contract with PATH Achieve Glendale for a Rapid Re-Housing program, a federal stimulus-funded program meant to provide rental subsidies for five local families who have recently become homeless because of job loss or foreclosure.

CITY HALL ? The city?s main homeless services provider could secure a new permanent location if the city is approved for a $2-million federal loan, city officials said Tuesday. The City Council on Tuesday authorized officials to move ahead with a loan application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help PATH Achieve Glendale acquire and rehabilitate a permanent location close to twice the size of its current site. With its lease set to expire in June, PATH Achieve?

CITY HALL — Public safety and services for the unemployed, seniors and youth ranked among the highest priorities for residents in a recent city survey, officials reported Wednesday. The community needs assessment, conducted by the Community Development and Housing Department, was presented to the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee Wednesday as city officials cull the results to draft grant funding priorities for the next five years. The advisory committee voted 3 to 0, with two members absent, to recommend that the City Council approve the top 15 social service programs identified by residents as funding priorities in coming years.