City Council approves HUD consolidated application with new oversight to speed spending on neighborhood projects

The Los Angeles City Council on Feb. 11 approved a consolidated application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, adopting two amendments and a verbal change to include the mayor's office in an oversight process designed to accelerate spending of U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds.

Councilmember Hernandez, chairing the discussion, said HUD has issued a notice that the city is not spending its HUD allocations quickly enough and that federal review occurs on roughly 90‑day cycles. "HUD has basically issued us a letter stating we're not spending our money fast enough," Hernandez said during the council discussion. The council voted 12‑0 to adopt the application as amended.

The oversight change, described by Hernandez as a verbal amendment to instruction No. 11 of the report, adds the mayor's office to a committee that will include the City Administrative Officer (CAO) and the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA). Hernandez said the committee will work with his office and Councilmember Pacheco's office to identify obstacles and speed expenditures. He told the council the oversight body will review spending and help move ready projects — including Prop K and other capital projects — toward implementation.

The action follows public comments from neighborhood residents and TNI (Targeted Neighborhood Investment) advisory members praising the program's local improvements. Maria Balades, speaking for Boyle Heights residents, thanked councilmembers and city staff "for the formation of the TNI program," saying, "it has been a beautiful and wonderful program that has improved our community." A Harbor Gateway TNI advisory committee member, Higashi, said, "these funds are very important to us in the community," and described recent street and landscaping improvements funded by TNI allocations.

Councilmember Pacheco also spoke during the item and tied the action to a separate workforce grant effort, saying the city had committed "to invest a million dollars in order to qualify for 48,000,000" from the U.S. Department of Labor for a youth opportunity grant. Pacheco said the city amended item language to preserve that commitment and to keep funding eligible for the larger federal award.

Hernandez told the council the consolidated application must be transmitted to HUD without further extension and urged prompt oversight: "the real work ... is gonna happen with this oversight over the next hundred and 20 days." After adopting two written amendments and the verbal amendment to instruction 11, the council directed staff to transmit the application to HUD; a roll call produced a recorded tally of 12 ayes.

The council did not adopt any change that would require additional public hearings; members emphasized that the oversight step is administrative and intended to remove bottlenecks so funds already allocated to capital, housing and human services projects can move to contract and construction.

The council's action also included instructions that departments, the CAO and the CLA work with the mayor's office and council offices to identify projects "ready to move" and to report on barriers to expenditure. Hernandez said the oversight group will monitor HUD's audit timeline and coordinate solutions to speed reimbursements and contract execution.

The council's approval sends the consolidated HUD application and the adopted amendments to HUD for federal review. Council members said they will track the oversight committee's progress in the coming months and expect periodic reports to the council.