Morning Brief: Rewards For Landlords, Women In Non-Traditional Jobs, And LA’s Jazz Epicenter

Good morning, L.A. It’s August 9.

When it comes to solving the city’s housing crisis, L.A. authorities are trying everything they can think of. Recently, that’s including everything from tiny home communities to one-on-one outreach to enforcement.

Now, a pilot program in the San Gabriel Valley will reward landlords who rent to unhoused individuals.

My colleague Chris Greenspon reports that ​​landlords can be reimbursed for application fees, leasing bonuses, deposits, and more. The program, supported by the SGV Council of Governments and Union Station Homeless Services, is intended to encourage landlords to accept tenants who pay rent using vouchers from the county and local housing authorities.

"Many times, people with vouchers are not selected for various reasons,” said Keisha Hosea, housing consultant with Union Station, who's overseeing the incentive program. “So, perhaps it is based on some discrimination from using the voucher, perhaps not.”

L.A. landlords have a long and shameful history of not renting to people who use housing vouchers. In 2019, nearly half of Angelenos who received a Section 8 voucher in L.A. ended up losing it because they couldn’t find anyone who would rent to them.

New legislation was passed at the beginning of 2020 that prohibited such discrimination, but many landlords ignored it and L.A. officials had no way to enforce the regulations. Many apartment listings still went so far as to state, illegally, “No Section 8.”

This is despite the fact that many individuals waited years for their vouchers, only to find them rendered useless by discrimination.

The new program in the SGV will run through May 2022.

Keep reading for more on what’s happening in L.A., and stay safe out there.

What Else You Need To Know Today

• How worried should vaccinated people be about delta, really?
• The campaign to recall L.A. District Attorney George Gascón is struggling to gain traction.
• L.A. City Councilman Kevin de León is pressing the city to speed up rent relief payments to Angelenos facing financial hardships because of the pandemic.
• Orange County reported more than 1,000 COVID cases on Friday of last week, the highest daily count since January 31.
• New efforts to recruit more women in plumbing, carpentry and utility jobs are gaining traction.

Before You Go ... Club Alabam, LA's Jazz Epicenter In The 1930s And 40s

Elnora Cole (far left at table) with friends at the Club Alabam, circa 1945. (Shades of L.A. Collection/Los Angeles Public Library Collection)

At Club Alabam, the daytime was just a warmup for the night. The legendary nightclub, located at 4215 Central Avenue, was a hub of hardworking hoofers and musicians rehearsing for the nightly floor show.

Late at night, musicians and singers such as Billie Holiday, T-Bone Walker, Josephine Baker, Anita O'Day and Dorothy Dandridge took the Alabam stage. They performed for integrated crowds who came to dance to the sophisticated rhythms of big bands, and after hours, the venue hosted jam sessions that lasted into the early morning. Here’s how it all began.