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City Council approves consolidated HUD application, adds oversight and mayoral role amid concerns about slow spending
Summary
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to adopt a consolidated HUD application with two amendments and to create an oversight process after hearing that federal officials say the city is not spending funds quickly enough.
The Los Angeles City Council on Feb. 11 unanimously adopted a consolidated application for federal housing and community development funds, adding two amendments and instructing staff to forward the package to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The measure drew extended remarks from Councilmember Hernandez, who warned that HUD “has basically issued us a a letter stating we're not spending our money fast enough,” and proposed an oversight structure to speed expenditures and protect future funding. Councilmember Hernandez said the oversight body will include affected departments, the City Administrative Officer (CAO), the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA), the mayor's office and council offices to identify and remove obstacles delaying project spending.
Councilmember Hernandez framed the action as both approval of the application and a commitment to faster expenditure. “The oversight committee is gonna be not only the departments that are impacted, but the CAO, the CLA, and the mayor's office working in conjunction with my office and mister Pacheco's office in trying to make sure we're expediting these expenditures,” he said.
Members of the public who supported continuation of the neighborhood-targeted initiatives addressed the council before the vote. Maria Balades, speaking for Boyle Heights residents, thanked the council and said the TNI program had improved streets and public safety, adding, “we all wish from our neighborhood that this program continue.” Higashi, identified as a Harbor Gateway TNI advisory committee member, told the council the funding had enabled local capital improvements such as new palm trees and sidewalks and said, “these funds are very, very, very important to us in the community.”
Councilmember Pacheco separately noted a related funding commitment tied to a Department of Labor youth opportunity grant: the city pledged $1 million as local investment to qualify for a larger federal award, and he asked for unanimous support to keep that commitment.
After adopting two amendments — including a verbal amendment to instruction 11 to explicitly include the mayor's office in the oversight role — the council directed staff to transmit the amended application to HUD. The roll call was recorded as 12 ayes; no noes or abstentions were announced.
The council emphasized the need to move projects already identified as “ready to be spent,” including capital, economic development and housing projects, and warned that continued slow spending could jeopardize future allocations from HUD.
The action was procedural in part (forwarding the application to HUD) and directive in part (creating and charging an oversight process). The council did not specify implementation deadlines for individual projects beyond the verbal emphasis on expedited expenditure and HUD's ongoing audits.
