L.A. Transportation Head Resigns
In the first departure of a major City Hall executive since L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took office, Department of Transportation General Manager Wayne Tanda announced Wednesday he will resign his post, Copley News Service reported. Although Villaraigosa has been a vocal critic of the Department of Transportation, Tanda said his resignation was motivated by his desire to move back to San Jose, where his wife lives. Villaraigosa wished Tanda, who has been at the department three years, success as he spends more time with his family. As a councilman, Villaraigosa dogged the Department of Transportation over its handling of the purchase and installation of traffic signals.
Warner’s Flom May Go to Universal Music
Jason Flom, who was ousted as head of Warner Music Group Corp.’s Atlantic Records Group on Wednesday, may go to competitor Vivendi Universal SA’s Universal Music Group, the New York Daily News reported. Flom’s mentor, Doug Morris, heads Universal Music. Flom is said to be currently negotiating a multimillion-dollar contract with the label.
Police Commission Appointees Win Council Vote
The Los Angeles City Council approved Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s appointees to the Police Commission on Wednesday after an exchange that shed light on the new commissioners’ positions on the Police Department’s flexible work schedule and its relations with the gay and lesbian community. The four new members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s five-member commission John Mack, Andrea Ordin, Anthony Pacheco and Shelley Freeman take office amid community criticism over recent officer-involved shootings and calls for clearer guidelines for patrol officers. Several of the new commissioners have experience reviewing or analyzing some of the LAPD’s most notorious scandals, the Daily Breeze reported.
Mortgage Eats Bigger Slice of Pie
Many California households have stretched their finances to dangerous lengths by committing 50 percent or more of their monthly income to buy homes that would otherwise be unaffordable, according to a report released today by the Public Policy Institute of California. Titled “California’s Newest Homeowners, Affording the Unaffordable,” the report says 52 percent of buyers who purchased homes in the state in the past two years are spending more than 30 percent of their income, long considered the normal percentage to pay a mortgage. One-fifth of them are spending more than 50 percent. The potential for homebuyers finding themselves overextended comes at a time when home prices across the state are skyrocketing, driving the median-price home in the San Fernando Valley to a record $600,000, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported.
Rent Control Up for Study
As housing costs continue to soar, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday authorized a study of its rent-control program in a move that could allow landlords to pass along more of their costs to tenants. The city’s rent-control program was adopted in 1978 when apartment owners began to increase rents after the passage of Proposition 13. Under the program, which has withstood numerous court challenges, landlords are allowed to raise rents a nominal amount each year to reflect inflation and take the rents to market rates when an apartment is vacated. The measure covers 602,000 apartment units built before 1978, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported.
