Committee approves two appointments to United to House LA citizen oversight committee

The Housing and Homelessness Committee on July 30 approved two mayoral appointments to the United to House LA Citizen Oversight Committee.

The committee approved the appointment of Fernando de la Barca (listed in materials as Fernando Abarca) to the United to House LA Citizens Oversight Committee. De la Barca introduced himself as a community organizer with Right to the City and described 12 years of experience organizing on housing issues, community land trusts and cooperative housing models, and work on a revolving loan fund to remove land from speculative markets. Committee members praised his experience with community land trusts and capital strategies.

The committee also approved the appointment of Antonia Routt. Routt described roughly 20 years of experience working with seniors across Los Angeles city and county on health, wellness and housing stability, and earlier work in residential settings serving children and people with developmental and physical disabilities. Council members noted Routt—s background in connecting service systems and enforcement mechanisms and expressed support for her appointment.

Both nominees filed required ethics and financial disclosure forms in advance of the hearing, and both nominations were advanced to the full council after committee approval. Roll-call votes recorded for the two appointments showed two yes votes and one member absent in each case: Fernando Abarca approved (Council member Raman, yes; Council member Hidalgo, yes; Blumenfield absent); Antonia Routt approved (Council member Raman, yes; Council member Rodaldo, yes; Blumenfield absent).

The committee did not take additional substantive action on either appointment beyond voting to advance them to the full council.