Mayor Garcetti joins Take Two to elaborate on State of the City, how successful have Seattle's temporary shelters been? Tax tips on tax day.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti talks about the future (his and the city's)
In the State of the City address that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti delivered on Monday he covered a lot of ground.
The mayor focused on his plans to address a homelessness crisis, but he also talked about local traffic (he called it a "thief") as well as his displeasure with the federal government (although he never mentioned President Trump by name).
Garcetti talked with A Martinez the day after his speech to dive into more of the details.
Interview highlights
On his plans to keep neighborhoods from resisting temporary shelters throughout L.A.
It is a carrot and a stick. They won't get the benefit, and that's part of the brilliance of this plan. It really will incentivize people.
But I've got to tell you, A, in my 16 years serving in city hall, now, I've never seen as little NIMBYism.
We have 44 neighborhoods councils across every neighborhood, practically, in L.A. who have homelessness liaisons who are working to get to "yes," and figuring out where – not if – would these homeless shelters be.
He plans to knock on doors to convince people
I want Angelenos to know I want this in my own neighborhood where I live. I want to see these throughout the city, and that we've got allies throughout Los Angeles – the faith community in churches and synagogues. ...
I'm pleasantly surprised to see NIMBYism kind of dying off in L.A. It's not to say it doesn't exist, but we can easily answer people's sometimes legitimate fears by saying, "Look at us in practice."
Garcetti touted the creation of 10,000 affordable housing units in L.A. What's he say about a 2017 study that found more than a half-million are needed in the county right now?
A year ago during my State of the City address, I called on city council to pass what we call a linkage fee, so that when somebody's building a mall or somebody's building housing that is luxury housing, they need to pay money in for us to be able to build much more housing, especially if it's affordable to everyday Angelenos.
They passed it, and I expect to see in the budget $100 million that will leverage about $400 to $500 million total of new housing.
He says the housing crisis in L.A. could get worse if other cities don't build, too.
L.A. is really the only big city in California meeting its goals for market-rate housing, and hopefully with this linkage fee we'll do it for affordable housing.
But we're not an island. We need Glendale and Santa Clarita and Fresno and Oakland – everybody to meet those goals, too, together. Because we're apart of, certainly in Southern California, a housing market, and it's not policy that's going to bring rents down as much as supply.
We need more supply.
On why the housing crisis hurts L.A.'s economy if it continues
I don't think companies will stay here, expand here, come here.
And I have the same worries for my daughter. I want her to be able to have a great state where there's decent education that is affordable in higher ed, and is a good place to live that they can afford. Or else we will see the Golden State be tarnished in the future.
The attitudes that will hurt the next generation
The buck does stop with me, and I do take responsibility even if I don't have the formal tools, always, to change things.
But sometimes what we need is not necessarily a new law, but changing our own attitudes.
Are we allowing more housing to be built? Are we protecting what we have, which keeps the value of our house very high and going up every year, but that comes at a cost to our children?
We've got plenty of land here in Los Angeles to build, and I think sometimes we can be our own worst enemies.
How can he run the city, while taking trips to swing states like Iowa?
A part of my job is being on the road. Sometimes that's political.
For six or seven years I've led local Democrats on our DNC, and I'm really concerned about the direction of our country.
It's not just Iowa, but maybe places that don't come to people's attentions that much that I squeeze some trips into every so often. ...
But my first job, and 95 percent of my work, is always L.A. I travel because maybe helping L.A. is changing this nation's leadership. ...
I do have my focus on that, whether it means supporting somebody great and building a lot of strength behind him or her, or even considering myself.
NOTE: Garcetti has largely deferred questions about his presidential aspirations. Iowa, ofc course, is traditional stumping grounds for anyone thinking about a White House run. One thing Garcetti did recently say in an interview with the Los Angeles Times he'd not make a run if another candidate emerged who aligned with his beliefs.
This interview has been edited for length clarity.
What LA can learn from a Seattle strategy to fight homelessness: tiny house villages
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has a new proposal to use more emergency temporary shelters to get homeless people off the streets. Orange County officials are thinking about this sort of "rapid-rehousing," too, and have considered managed tent encampments in some areas.
The city of Seattle has some experience with this. Since 2015, that city has been experimenting with temporary shelters that officials call "sanctioned encampments." Some are made up of tents while others offer people tiny houses to live in.
The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) in Seattle helps build and operate what they call "tiny house villages."
Sharon Lee, the executive director of the LIHI, explained that these villages are made of houses that are the size of a small bedroom, with windows, front doors, heating and electricity. Those living in the villages use communal kitchen and bathroom facilities and work together to run their communities.
People are doing chores. There's a lot of self-help and the villagers meet every week. Homeless people do not feel isolated; they feel that they are engaged. People are taking pride in their tiny house and their surroundings. It's just like a neighborhood.
Seattle originally used tent camps for the sanctioned homeless encampments, Lee said, but now they've graduated to tiny houses. The houses are sturdier and safer than a tent structure, which makes them a better home for residents, Lee said.
When you're in a cold wet tent, your belongings get wet, you're not safe, it's not sound insulated, you really don't have much privacy. Now everybody has a sturdy tiny house and it's great because you can lock the door, you can now go to work, you can go to school.
So, what about the NIMBYs? Lee said some residents were concerned about the tiny house villages when they were first proposed, but now that there are several across the city, people have become more comfortable.
Residents can visit the villages to see how they're run, and when they do, many are surprised how organized they are, she added.
The tiny house villages are only a temporary solution to housing homeless individuals, but Lee said they are a key first step to more permanent housing. The villages provide services including assistance with housing and job searches, helping people get past the barriers to exiting homelessness.
Tax tips for all you last-minute filers
If you haven't already filed your 2017 taxes, you aren't alone. More than 20 percent of Americans hadn't filed as of last Friday, according to the Internal Revenue Service. So if you're a last-minute filer, Tax Mama Eva Rosenberg has some advice.
What exactly is due today, April 17
There are so many things due. Today, we need to deal with the IRS taxes for last year if you haven’t paid them, the state taxes for last year if you still have a balance due. If you’re going to fund an IRA or Roth IRA, today is the deadline. And if you have to finish funding a health savings account, again today is the last day to do that. To top all of that off, we have the IRS first quarter estimate and state first quarter estimate for those people who have to make estimated tax payments.
How to prioritize what to pay
The things that absolutely expire and you can’t pay later and get any tax benefits from would be the IRA contributions or health savings account contributions, if you qualify. Today is the drop dead date. You can’t get a deduction later. After that, the next thing to pay is your estimated taxes for 2018. You would think it should be last year’s taxes, but if you're going to be owing a lot of money to the IRS or the state, they won’t give it to you unless you’re in compliance for this year. If you’re not going to owe a lot of money, then you're OK to pay last year’s taxes first.
What to do if you don't have the money to pay
File IRS form 1127. That’s an extension of time to pay without penalties, so you can get a little bit more time, up to six months, to pay without penalties. But whatever you do, if you owe money, put your tax return on extension. Don’t file it. That will give you six more months to file your return. Find ways to reduce your taxes and raise the money to pay those taxes and reduce some of the potential penalties. Just filing that free extension form, 4868, which you can do online, will save you 5% per month. That’s a fortune.
Is it ever wise to use a credit card to pay taxes
A lot of it depends on how good you are at managing your money. If you use a credit card with a zero percent rate, you can stretch that payment out for up to 18 months and not have the IRS attaching your bank account if you miss or are late with a payment. Credit cards can be really good, plus if you’re a part of a reward program, that will add bonus points to your reward program, so there can be real advantages to somebody who knows how to use a credit card. But if you pay by credit card on the IRS site, you have a fee of 2-3% that they call a convenience fee. The IRS and state don’t pay the merchant fees. We do.
For those who've already filed 2017, what they should do to prep for 2018
Review your withholding, because the IRS issued new withholding tables because of the new lower tax rates. Take a look at your withholding and see how much you’re going to end up getting withheld for the year including bonuses and overtime and adjust your withholding or start making adjusted payments to catch up.
New public land in Tujunga Canyon offers easy access to Angeles National Forest
Los Angeles County has secured 111 acres in the Tujunga Canyon that conservationists say will provide more recreational access for the public.
"This is where Big Tujunga Canyon road enters the Angeles National Forest," says Paul Edelman, Chief of Natural Resources at the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. "You would be amazed when you see this property, it's like another world!"
The land was purchased for $4.4 million, with over $3 million coming from the state assembly fund. The deal was announced last Friday.
Initially, real estate developers were interested in building housing on the land. However, that move was not cost-efficient. "Extending the utility and especially the sewer was going to be too expensive," Edelman says. "There was also opposition, so it's not the most friendly place to develop."
The park could be ready for the public to visit by this summer, once the clean-up is underway. "My optimistic goal for partial use is two-months," says Edelman. "The key is to get one trail open first so people will have access to Rim of the Valley trail."