SHORT SHRIFT FOR VALLEY WHEN FEDS HAND OUT CASH LOCAL PROGRAMS LEFT WANTING.Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer The San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. fares poorly in most areas in getting a fair share of the approximately $300 million in federal entitlements and grant money coming to 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. , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a Daily News analysis of city records. Here are some of the key federal grants, and how city officials have spent them, in many cases with direction, or approval, from the City Council and Mayor James Hahn For the Iowa politician, see . James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California . COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT For fiscal 2003, the city's Community Development Department is budgeting about $108 million for block grants for a number of public services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of services. , youth programs, jobs and other programs. The department provided a detailed breakout of about $33.5 million of those funds, with the Valley getting about $4.5 million, or just under 13.4 percent. The Daily News was able to account for another $2.2 million in block grant money that went to the Valley, for a total of $7.1 million. HUD Hud (h  d), a pre-Qur'anic prophet of Islam. Hud unsuccessfully exhorted his South Arabian people, the Ad, to worship the One God. officials declined to be interviewed, but said a rough and ``unauthoritative'' analysis based on information provided by the city showed that the Valley's 2002 share of block grant funds would be about $12.6 million based on its population, poverty, housing stock, and other factors. The CDD CDD Contrat A Duree Determinee (French: Fixed Term Contract) CDD Community Development Department CDD Cooling Degree Days (weather derivatives / insurance index converting temperature into prices) also told the U.S. General Accounting Office in June that of the 79 percent of public service funds it tracked by area, 16 percent went to the Valley, compared with 33 percent to the central city, and 27 percent to areas southward south·ward adv. & adj. Toward, to, or in the south. n. A southward direction, point, or region. south . A detailed examination shows that the Valley got $3.4 million, or just over 20 percent, of money the CDD distributed in 2001 for core public services based on poverty rates. The Valley had about 20 percent of the city's poor in 1990, but 26 percent of low- and moderate-income households eligible for the funds. The Valley has 35.6 percent of the city's population. HOMELESS Los Angeles' Homeless Services Authority, a joint-powers authority between the county and city, in fiscal 2002 budgeted about $10.8 million for the city in three federal categories, of which $454,537, or 4.2 percent, went to the Valley, according to Natalie Profant Komuro, LAHSA's executive director of policy and legislative affairs. Smaller cities - including Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale - that go after federal dollars alone did far better than the Valley in another competition for large federal homeless dollars, getting up to 2 1/2 times more money per capita [Latin, By the heads or polls.] A term used in the Descent and Distribution of the estate of one who dies without a will. It means to share and share alike according to the number of individuals. , according to figures provided by Ruth Schwarz, Shelter Partnership Inc. executive director, a nonprofit that serves the entire county. Casey Horan, executive director of Women's Care Cottages, a North Hollywood nonprofit that focuses on helping homeless women and children, said the census figures used to allocate federal dollars don't take into account the dramatic rise in the number of homeless women and children in the Valley and elsewhere. ``They go to the feds every year, and we get virtually the same funds, despite the increasing needs,'' Horan said. ``The feds say, 'We recognize your (needs), but you're not raising money locally. Every other region has been raising funds locally for a decade or longer.''' TRAINING The city gets about $51.5 million in federal labor money for its major adult job training and youth opportunity programs, and distributes about $40 million of it regionally. The Valley gets just over $10.7 million of that. SIDEWALKS Federal funds Federal Funds Funds deposited to regional Federal Reserve Banks by commercial banks, including funds in excess of reserve requirements. Notes: These non-interest bearing deposits are lent out at the Fed funds rate to other banks unable to meet overnight reserve have been used in creative ways, including to help kick off the city's long-deferred sidewalk A Microsoft service that was launched in 1997 to provide online arts and entertainment guides on the Web for major cities worldwide. In 1999, Microsoft sold Sidewalk to Ticketmaster, which continued to provide guides, ticketing and other information to the MSN network. repair and replacement program. This year, about $3.6 million has been earmarked for the program to fix about 20 miles of the city's 10,000 miles of deteriorating sidewalks. The Valley's share is about $1.1 million, enough to pay for about 6.2 miles of new sidewalk. ``We acknowledge we're years behind,'' said public works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. spokeswoman Cora Jackson-Fossett. ``But we're pleased (to get started).'' NUISANCE ALLEYS The Valley gets about $50,000 of the $300,000 in federal funds to help clean up and close nuisance alleys, or about 16.6 percent. Of the 940 alleys eligible for the funding, 58 are in the Valley, city officials said. ``There's not that many nuisance alleys in the Valley, which is great,'' Jackson-Fossett said. GRAFFITI REMOVAL Federal grant funds pay $1.2 million for graffiti removal, and the Valley gets about $380,000 under Operation Clean Sweep clean sweep n to make a clean sweep (SPORT) → arrasar, barrer clean sweep n to make a clean sweep (Sport) → rafler tous les prix , or about 31.6 percent. The city uses 18 nonprofit organizations Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. to do the work, five of which are based in the Valley, city officials said. A $1 million federal block grant program targets blighted blight n. 1. a. Any of numerous plant diseases resulting in sudden conspicuous wilting and dying of affected parts, especially young, growing tissues. b. properties in the city. The Valley gets about $113,867, or just over 10 percent of the total. City officials say the Valley's not as blighted as other parts of the city. HOUSING The Valley, as the nation's largest suburb, historically has fared well in some programs that provide federal funds to help spur home ownership. The Department of Housing gets HUD funds for a variety of programs, while the Housing Authority of Los Angeles gets hundreds of millions more to help people pay their rent. In the proposed budget, the Valley would get about 33.6 percent, or about $17.2 million, of the $51.2 million the Department of Housing plans to spend geographically in 2003. But Valley renters do less well, getting just $43.2 million of the $240 million in rent assistance under the federal Section 8 subsidy law, or about 18 percent. Steve Renahan, director of the Section 8 program, said there are about 70,000 families trying to get into the program, where eligibility is based on an income that's half the county's median. Once in the program, rent vouchers can be used anywhere. Valley residents in 2002 benefited most from federal assistance with their down payments, meeting economic qualifications to receive about $5.4 million of the $11.5 million program, known as ``soft seconds.'' The program provides gap financing The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. Gap Financing is a term mostly associated with mortgage loans or property loans. for home purchases. Larger Valley housing projects also were recommended for about one-third of federal funds available in another program. But L.A. Family Housing Chief Executive Officer David Grunwald said housing projects for the Valley's poorest people have been passed over - citing the proposed 30-unit Saticoy Gardens in Van Nuys. ``We thought when we applied for the funding, it could go to deeply subsidized sub·si·dize tr.v. sub·si·dized, sub·si·diz·ing, sub·si·diz·es 1. To assist or support with a subsidy. 2. To secure the assistance of by granting a subsidy. projects, even though most weren't deeply subsidized,'' said Grunwald, whose nonprofit develops low-income housing and provides services to the homeless. ``They wanted more bang for their buck,'' he said. The department also has been the conduit for about $23.8 million in federal home repair funds, mostly for seniors and disabled people, between April 1999 and June 2002, of which about $5 million, or 21 percent, went to the Valley. The Housing Department has had some success competing for federal funds, in recent years winning two lead paint abatement A reduction, a decrease, or a diminution. The suspension or cessation, in whole or in part, of a continuing charge, such as rent. With respect to estates, an abatement is a proportional diminution or reduction of the monetary legacies, a disposition of property by will, when grants of about $3 million each. Officials said the problem is federal agencies don't necessarily give L.A. credit for its size, preferring instead to spread funds around the country. ``There's no consideration L.A. is a city of 3.6 million versus a city like Fresno,'' said Sally Richman, Housing Department manager of policy and planning. ``Urban areas get the short end of the stick. For structural reasons, that's how the money's spread out.'' |
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