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SR-11-13-1979-10CSanta Monica, California, November 5, 1979 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Housing Commission SUBJECT: Fair Housing Counseling and Information Service - Westside Fair Housing Council Introduction M NCIV % 3 9179' This report transmits the Housing Commission's recommendation regarding a proposal from the Westside Fair Housing Council, a non - profit organization, to reinstate a fair housing counseling service and public information program to the citizens of Santa Monica which has been suspended. Background Until July 1, 1979, the Westside Fair Housing Council (WFHC) provided fair housing information and counseling services to Santa Monica residents. They are primarily funded by the City of Los Angeles through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program; and as of July 1, WFHC was instructed not to provide assistance to anyone living outside the City of Los Angeles. A survey of community service agencies in Santa Monica revealed that WFHC has always handled fair housing complaints for Santa Monica, and no other agency in Santa Monica provides this service. Callers are still referred to WFHC, or advised to contact an attorney. None of the Santa Monica agencies are interested in adding this service to their existing program at this time. There are several HUD - approved precedents for the type of arrangement proposed by WFHC, where general area fair housing agencies provide services to local Mayor and City Council _2_ November 5, 1979 jurisdictions. Examples are: ation contracts with the City of Carson. o Long Beach Fair Housing Found o West San Gabriel Fair Housing Council contracts with the cities of West Covina and Pasadena. o San Fernando Valley Fair Housing Council contracts with the City of Burbank. Discussion The WFHC has an excellent track record and they are offering Santa Monica an opportunity to continue receiving the services of their well-established organization, professional and volunteer resources, and already - developed outreach program which includes bilingual materials. (Samples of brochures, newsletters, clippings and vacancy listings are available on request.) Fair housing counseling is an eligible CDBG activity and reprogrammed or contingency funds are available to cover the costs of adding a Santa Monica component to WFHC as proposed. Westside Fair Housing Council is located in West Los Angeles near Santa Monica and Westwood Boulevards. This is a new location, closer to Santa Monica than when they were serving this community. Their office is available to Santa Monica residents by bus on Santa Monica Boulevard. Most of the contacts are by telephone, and a call to their office from Santa Monica is local. The above information was submitted to the Housing Commission at their meeting of October 22, 1979• They unanimously endorsed this proposal for a six -month period, and recommend that during that time the possibility of the City establishing this service within Santa Monica be explored. The Commissioners also feel that a detailed work plan and monitoring mechanism should be developed. Mayor and City Council -3- November 5, 1979 Alternatives 1. Elect not to fund a fair housing counseling service and public information program at this time. 2. Direct staff to develop a proposal for establishing a fair housing service within the City as soon as possible. 3. Direct City Manager to execute a six -month contact with WFHC which will include a detailed work plan and monitoring mechanism, and then proceed to explore the possibility of establishing this service within the City. Recommendation The Housing Commission of the City of Santa Monica and City staff recommend that City Council approve Alternative No. 3, and authorize the City Manager to execute a six -month contract with WFHC and prepare an analysis of a fair housing service within the City. Prepared by: John Hemer Nancy McFarland JH: NM: mh Attachment (213) 475-9671 CITY OF SANTA MONICA FAIR HOUSING PROGRAM 1979 - 1980 August 9, 1979 RATIONALE ciety and our cities are such that The history of our so d unable to live in a many minorities feel unwelcome an city such as Santa Monica. Years of actual exclusion and steering have essentially circumvented fair housing laws and resulted in the existence of suburban cities with a miniscule minority population and/or a clustered concentration. Such is this situation, the case in Santa Monica. To offset rmation and assistance concerted effort to provide info to minorities is required. Fair Housing is a high priority of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides funding for fair housing under Housing and Community Development Block Grants. Section 570.900 (j) of the Federal Register and HUD's certificate of assurance are i2f uis under the Civil Rights Act. Westside Fair Housing Council has the resources, st the City of Santa Monica exper- ience and credibility to assi in complying with these provisions. The revised 1970 census population figures for Santa Monica indicate that the Black population accounts for 4.6% of the total population of 93,000. This is compared with a Hispanic subpopulation of 12.1 %, white 81.2% and other 2.1 %1 -2- HISTORY The Westside Fair Housing Council was created in 1968 by a coalition of .the Monica Fair Housing Council, lisades Human Relations Culver City Neighbors, Pacific Pa Council, Westchester Human Relations Council and Brent- wood Human Relations Council, all volunteer organizations who knew that "Good Neighbors Come in All Colors." In- corporated as a tax - exempt, non - profit organization with a Board of Directors, full and part -time staff, volunteer checkers and volunteer lawyers, it has served more than 2600 homeseekers. A total of $64,000 has been awarded to minority home - seekers who were denied housing on racial grounds. $28,000 has been awarded in the last three years alone. The first lawyer's seminar on housing discrimination held in Los Angeles was sponsored by the Westside Council. The Council has published 'Open Housing Under Law" and Ri hts', two pamphlets which are now being "Your Housing g ations used throughout Los Angeles. The Council investig were the basis for consent decrees filed by the U.S. Justice Department. Four which were filed in the last few years have resulted in three apartment management companies being required to list their vacancies with HISTORY the Westside Fair Housing Council and to comply with regulations of the, Department of Housing and Urban Development, latest victory was a Westside Fair Housing Council's precedent setting affirmation action award of $10,000. Possible only because of our de- Our program has been ined hundreds of dicated volunteers. We have tra people in fair housing laws, checking procedured and conciliation methods. Despite the fact that people's priorities have shifted since the height of the Civil Rights movement of the sixties, we have succeeded in building a dues - paying membership of over 420 concerned citizens, 180 of whom are Santa Monica residents. These include people from every walk of lifer our former homeseekers as well as noted figures from the entertainment industry and every level of government. We operated solely on membership donations and fund raising activities until July, 1976, when we began support form the City of Los Angeles through receiving ck Grant Program. The grant its Community Development Blo allowed us to provide a fair housing program solely within the boundaries of the City of Los Angeles. Many honors have been received throughout the council's history- WFHC was honored with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Fair Housing Award presented by the Southern Christian Leadership West in,1978 and also received an award from the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission in 1979• Former WFHC President, Ms. Audrey Harris, received the Community Relations Conference of Southern California Award as the Fair Housing Volunteer of the year, Executive Director Blanch Rosloff was presented with a ouncilwoman Pat Russell. certificate of Appreciation by C Board member and Conciliator Sylvia Geiselman received the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission award in July, 1979• We have approached the challenge of an expanding fair housing program by building on our tradition of innovative service. Some examples of our work activities include: Developing a new concept called the "Housing Huddle ", which is designed to give interested citizens an opportunity to meet together and discuss current housing problems. To date, we have held four such "Housing Huddles" Strengthening the conciliation procedure by developing a handout for owners managers, and holding a training session for new conciliators. Enlarging our volunteer recruitment and training efforts, and conducting five Checker Training Sessions. Typically our 70 -plus volunteers contribute annually over 1500 hours of their time to the program. -5- - Developing an intern component for utilizing the time and talent of college students. Six interns have been involved yearly. - Making arrangements to be a work -site for CETA Title I Trainees. - Organizing a meeting of our volunteer attorneys to discuss the ramifications of our increase of client service responsibilities. - Conducting nine Fair Housing Information Days yearly at locations throughout our service area. - Developing a mechanism for distributing fair housing literature to public libraries, real estate offices, and community organizations. More than 2,000 copies of "Your Housing Rights', 500 Fair Housing Flyers, 700 copies of the Westside Fair Housing Council's informational brochure, and 100 Fair Housing Posters have been distributed annually. In addition to directing these types of program activities, we also raise over $10,000 yearly through such activities as note card sales, theater parties, the Doris Jean Wilson Memorial Fund Appeal and a grant from the Sidney Stern Memorial Trust. These funds have been used primarily to support the WFHC programs, specifically to pay for items not covered by contracts. In addition, more than $5,000 worth of in -kind services have been generated annually to support the Council's activities. These include: account- ing services, legal advice, xeroxing and the donation, by a Santa Monica firm, of computer- mailing labels. This report has given some idea of the history and recent activities of the Westside Fair Housing Council, as well as its degree of community support. Our goal, when we s began, was to insure the legal right of all citizens to live in the housing of their choice, and we will continue to work toward this goal until equal housing opportunity is a reality. A PROPOSAL TO THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA: A FAIR HOUSING PROGRAM The Westside Fair Housing Council proposes to implement, in the City of Santa Monica, a comprehensive Fair Housing Work Program to investigate and resolve complaints of illegal housing discrimination, and a broad public infor- mation campaign about equal opportunity in housing. A meaningful program of education and action is now proposed to the city of Santa Monica by the Westside Fair Housing Council as follows: I. PUBLIC INFORMATION PROGRAM A program will be developed and implemented by WFHC to promote fair housing for all segments of the com- munity of Santa Monica. All information will be disseminated in bi- lingual form: Spanish- English. WFHC will: A. Publish and distribute pamphlets, brochures, flyers, posters, etc. B. Produce and distribute radio and television spots. -7- C. Prepare and publish newspaper advertisements, press releases, bill - boards, bus - boards, etc. D. Seek invitations for public appearances, radio and television interviews, speeches, participation in conferences, etc. E. Plan special events; Fair Housing, seminars, Fair Housing monthly activities, etc. II. COMMUNITY SERVICES PROGRAM A program will be developed and administered by Westside Fair Housing; Council to advance equal housing opportunities for all persons and to encourage compli- ance with all fair housing laws and regulations throughout the city of Santa Monica. Utilizing both professional and volunteer services the council will: A. Develop community profile information services to aid minority homeseekers. B. Receive, refer, process and record complaints of illegal housing discrimination. C. Cooperate with community and government agencies, business and industry in program development in- formation and service exchanges. D. Promote Affirmative Action among local real estate boards and brokers, property owners and managers, banking and lending institutions. (213) 475 -9671 Executive Director BLANCHE ROSLOFF Housing Counselor AARON C. TAYLOR Housing Outreach Specialist EARL ADAMS Secretary /Bookkeeper ADA STEWART Housing Aide CATHY MAYORKAS Board of Directors President FLOYD GRANT Vice Presidents NANCY CLARK ERNIE FELTON DOROTHY THOMAS Secretary DOROTHY PERRY Treasuers ANNE FROEHLICH FRED MAUTNER Members of the Board SARA BERMAN BLYDEN BOYLE SCOTT BOWERSOCK DENNIS DEVERMONT CAROLE FOX SYLVIA GEISELTMN DICK GIESBERG AUDREY HARRIS ANDY MEYER JACKIE WATSON ELEANOR REHM WHITE Newsletter Editor MARJORIE SCHWARTZ Honorary Member of the Board DR. CHARLES Z. WILSON FAIR HOUSING PROGRAM FOR THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA W.F.H.C. BUDGET - SIX MONTHS PERSONNEL: Housing Counselor /Investigator $7,500 Housing Counselor Aide (50o Time) 3,000 Clerk /Typist (50% Time) 3,000 Fringes (i.e. Taxes etc.) @ 12% 1,620 Total $15,120 Consumable Supplies 600 Postage 500 Mileage @ 17C per mile 200 Telephone and Installation 900 Insurance 100 Advertising 1,500 Printing 2,000 Space @ 5180 per month 1,080 Total $6,880 Grand Total $22,000 presented at this time was a recommendation Of the carding a proposal from westsia Fair Hmatiog Item 1C'�° o counseling and information of the agenda Commission regof a fair - housing d Blanche Rosoloff Housing roviSion ort was presented an Q the ',lest Los Angeles Area, Council f °the staff rep �ency. C°_ u�clmb a Council, now servicing her ag recommen anon, service. Fair Housing the offered Y the staff ;Vestside focus of rnat ce5Number 3 of faith Westside outlined the Alternative Contract Vo. 'al7(Ck plan and 9§9 moved to approve of a si:c month Will include a detailed WO rth possibility cuti cil which ro teed to e:c lore qa, or p Pro C °� with staff to P City, Second by � � chaYhis service within the ng Coldway• Yannatta nd jayy, atta Rhoden and Mayor affirmative: Counings, Reed, Council Vote_: Jennings+ Hambrick Councilmenber Scott pVen Absent: Negative: den Steenh Councilmember van CITY COUNCIL MEETING - NOUEbIBER 13, 1979