Westlake Village looks again at affordable housing
By Debbie Sporich
Acorn Staff Writer

In the past, the city of Westlake Village has chosen to sell off its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to other cities for 50 or 60 cents on the dollar because it needed the money.

The CDBG program is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and provides annual grants on a formula basis to entitled cities and counties to develop viably by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment and by expanding economic opportunities (principally for low- and moderate-income people).

According to Westlake Village City Councilwoman Betty deSantis, CDBG funds must be used for either construction of or repair and maintenance of affordable housing. Westlake Village receives about $40,000 per year in CDBG funds.

The city of Westlake Village is relatively new, deSantis said, and in the past hasn’t had projects through which to use the funds.

"In the early ‘90s when we were hurting financially, we would sell these funds to another city that could use them, and in return we would get a portion of that money back," deSantis said.

According to city manager Ray Taylor, the money received from selling CDBG allocations could be placed into the city’s general fund.

Taylor said in last couple of years, Westlake Village has been much healthier financially and has opted to not sell its CDBG funds in hopes of finding a suitable affordable housing program.

There’s a time limit on how long these monies can be held, Taylor said, and within the next year or so, the city must make a decision or the monies will lapse.

According to deSantis, affordable housing is very much a part of the city’s housing element that includes issues such as accessibility to housing, preserving housing in neighborhoods, affordability, standards and plans for adequate sites for housing and having adequate housing for all economic segments of the community and a proper jobs-to-housing ratio.

The question is, deSantis said, is, "Do you have enough housing to take care of the needs of the people who work in the city?"

Joe Bowman, a former board member for Many Mansions, a nonprofit organization, said that his understanding is that the city can give 20 to 30 percent of the CDBG funds to various agencies like Westlake women’s groups and Meals on Wheels, and in return, these agencies provide assistance to the city to address affordable housing and how it ultimately fits into the General Plan.

Bowman said that Many Mansions focuses on the lower spectrum of housing — people who are making between 40 to 80 percent of the average income. "They are trying to house people in that range. That’s their target business," Bowman said.

He also said there are four major studies underway to determine why this area lacks affordable housing and Bowman believes the city is concerned with housing needs’ estimates prepared by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).

SCAG periodically prepares housing need estimates for all cities in Southern California and for the city of Westlake Village in 1999, SCAG estimated that 315 additional housing units would need to be constructed within the city by 2005 to accommodate anticipated population growth.

Bowman said that SCAG didn’t say that the city had to provide the housing. It said that the city must zone the land and "somebody" can build the housing.

And this is where Bowman believes Many Mansions can help.

According to Bowman, Many Mansions gave the city a proposal in August to provide assistance in meeting these state-mandated needs. Within this proposal, Many Mansions would identify parcels for affordable housing for seniors and families, and provide community education programs as part of a consulting contract with the city.

Many Mansions has provided a similar service to the city of Thousand Oaks and surrounding communities in Ventura County. It serves about 800 low-income Thousand Oaks residents, 300 of whom are children.

Of this number, 90 percent of the families bring in an annual income of $20,000 or less for a family of four and 95 percent of these people work in Thousand Oaks.

Westlake Village is in the midst of finishing up its housing element, deSantis said, which is scheduled to go before the city council at the Nov. 8 meeting. She said that once it’s complete, city officials would have time to focus on the CDBG funds.

"We want to define a process through which we can use those CDBG funds in our city," deSantis said.