MAYOR PLEDGES A FULLY FUNDED AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST.

Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer

In another small step toward developing more affordable housing for Angelenos, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pledged Thursday to fully fund the city's $100 million affordable housing trust fund for a second year.

The city fund, set up in 2003, has so far helped fund creation and rehabilitation of 4,892 low-income and moderate-income rental units throughout the city, officials said.

Half of the fund -- a mix of federal and local housing department dollars and redevelopment money -- will pay for new, permanent housing for the homeless. Officials said the other half will be used to help develop rental units for low-income residents.

Yet even with that infusion of cash, city leaders warned that Los Angeles is still short 50,000 homes affordable to low-income and middle-income residents, and they pushed voters to support the $1 billion housing bond on the Nov. 7 ballot.

``Can we continue with a straight face to call ourselves the city of dreams when we boast the third-lowest rate of homeownership in the nation, and according to one recent study, we have the nation's smallest middle class?'' Villaraigosa asked developers and housing advocates Thursday.

``We need to ask ourselves whether we can consider ourselves rich within the midst of such profound and persistent poverty, and whether we can truly be a great city if we keep neglecting the emergency of homelessness.''

However, housing advocates and campaign consultants for the housing bond -- Proposition H -- admitted they have a tough job convincing the required 66 percent of voters needed to pass the measure.

There are more than a dozen other initiatives and bond measures on the ballot -- including a $2.85 billion statewide housing bond -- and some voters might be wary of more dense development and public housing.

``To pass something by 66 percent, you can have almost no negative voices,'' said Henry Cisneros, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and a co-chair of the Prop. H campaign.

``It's going to take a positive drumbeat, a rolling thunder of announcements and endorsements over the next 50 days.''

Campaign officials said they intend to focus on the bond's bang-for-the-buck elements that encourage developers to match every dollar in bond money with $5 in private investments, state and federal funds.

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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