Ask the Mayor

I love the accessibility of new LA Mayor Antonio Villariagosa. I've seen him on the news and in different parts of the city innumerable times in the past 6 months. In September, he stopped by our church in downtown by MacArthur park during the celebration of Latin American independence days.

Along those lines, he is appearing on the KCal 9 News tonight - and you and I can email a question that we'd like him to answer. "What to ask?" I thought, landing on the following question based on the "Buy Now" series (part I, part II, part III, part IV, part V) I've posted here in the past:

"First of all, I believe you are doing an excellent job as mayor. Thank you for your public service.

In your campaign, you talked about the low level of homeownership in Los Angeles & how you wanted to change that. How do you propose we deal with the housing shortage in Los Angeles, considering the need for affordable housing? How can the necessary development happen without creating displacement of low-income families?

As a resident of Boyle Heights, as an example, how will positive developments like the East LA extension, the USC/County hospital improvement and the Sears redevelopment project, improve the prospects for low-income familes? Currently Boyle Heights, as an example, has only 25% resident owners. How will these development projects increase the affordability of a neighborhood like Boyle Heights? Is a project model like Aliso Village the model for the future?

Thank you for your accessibility to the citizens of Los Angeles."