COUNCIL APPROVES PROPOSAL TO ADD 22 HOUSING INSPECTORS.Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer In an effort to close a gap in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. housing inspection program, the City Council Tuesday voted to add 22 inspectors to respond to urgent complaints about slum slum Densely populated area of substandard housing, usually in a city, characterized by unsanitary conditions and social disorganization. Rapid industrialization in 19th-century Europe was accompanied by rapid population growth and the concentration of working-class people housing. The decision restores complaint-driven housing inspections, which slipped through the cracks when the city created a program to routinely inspect all apartments last summer. That resulted in a backlog of thousands of unanswered housing complaints. While previous meetings of the council Ad Hoc Committee ad hoc committee A committee formed with the purpose of addressing a specific issue or issues, which theoretically is disbanded once its raison d'etre is finished on Substandard substandard, adj below an acceptable level of performance. Housing focused on how the mistake occurred, the council Tuesday moved quickly to restore the inspector positions. ``Today's the day to say that collectively we share a common commitment,'' said Councilman Mike Feuer. ``No one in this city, least of all our kids, should live with no heat or hot water or rats or roaches or holes in the wall. Everyone deserves a decent place to live. And now, let's get on with it.'' Using $546,000 in block grant and reserve money for the rest of the fiscal year, the city will hire 22 inspectors, four supervisors and clerical staff to respond to complaints about dangerous or unhealthy housing conditions housing conditions npl → condiciones fpl de habitabilidad housing conditions npl → conditions fpl de logement . The program also requests that the mayor earmark earmark taking a piece out of the edge or center of the ear with a punch as an identification mark. The shape of the mark may be registerable under local legislation. $2.6 million in next year's budget to continue the program through the next fiscal year. ``We are going to pay for this,'' said Deputy Mayor Noelia Rodriguez. ``The mayor remains committed to providing this service to the city for the people who rely so desperately for the city to inspect these multifamily units.'' Tenants' rights advocates applauded the decision but said it doesn't go far enough. ``We believe that about 50 inspectors are really needed,'' said Larry Gross Larry Gross is an American screenwriter and producer. Among other projects, he rewrote Ralph Bakshi's Cool World for Frank Mancuso Jr. (without even telling Bakshi prior to the rewrite), though Mark Victor and Michael Grais (who rewrote Gross's draft) got writing credit in , executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival. ``With a reduced number, you could be putting the program's success at risk.'' |
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