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The Weekly Newspaper of Inglewood
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 68, No. 3 - January 17, 2019
Yes, Cops Do Like to Eat Donuts
Inglewood PD officers Gonzalez and Padilla couldn’t help but dive in when a local resident dropped off some tasty donuts last week. Photo: Inglewood PD.
Local Advocacy Group Looks to
Combat the Rising Housing Costs
Organizer Jelani Hendrix speaks at Uplift Inglewood Coalition membership drive.
By Haleemon Anderson
Chuco’s Justice Center sits on an underused
industrial stretch that corners at Redondo Beach
and West boulevards. The nondescript bluegrey
building is neighbor to three churches,
a clothing manufacturer and a few empty
spaces. Across the street in either direction,
you cannot miss the gaping maw of steel and
concrete construction that is the Crenshaw/
LAX Line, the latest addition in the Metro
plan to connect Angelinos via rail.
The name of Chuco is splashed over the
entryway, in the billowy puffed-up letters of
graffiti art. The doors open onto a reception desk
and further in, small work spaces, classrooms
and a cavernous main room where a meeting of
the Uplift Inglewood Coalition will take place.
Everywhere you look, there are posters with
slogans and axioms of affirmation and social
justice. It is appropriate that in the meeting
room, the walls are emblazoned with colorful
quotations of female empowerment. Of the
20 or so attendees, all but three are women.
Organizer Jelani Hendrix facilitates the meeting.
He says he hand-picked the attendees and
is happy with the turnout, a diverse group that
includes educators, health care professionals,
par-legal and legal professionals, and community
organizers. Hendrix said he is not concerned
the group is small. “My goal was to get 10
or 15 people here. We can build from there,”
said Hendrix. The group discussed the current
housing situation and recruiting members.
Uplift Inglewood Coalition has been a vocal
and persistent presence at city council meetings,
lobbying for rent control and affordable
housing amid the city’s development boom.
The group mounted a signature campaign to
get rent control measures added to last year’s
November ballot.
Yvonne Figueroa, who works for UIC,
helped organize and implement the campaign.
“The goals of the organization are to come
up with an ordinance policy that reflects the
needs of the Inglewood community and also
is legally sound,” said Figueroa. She explained
the initiative failed to qualify for the November
ballot after the county disqualified close to
one-fourth of the signatures collected. “But it
was significant that we got 40,000 signatures,”
said Hendrix. “I believe it could have passed.
The housing crisis is really, really complicated.
Step one is, address the immediate need. This
is what we can do right now.” Hendrix added,
“People of color are being pushed out of the
communities they have built and cultivated.
We need to be looking for effective models to
mitigate and fight back against gentrification.”
One participant, a college student and organizer,
mentioned inclusionary zoning, wherein
a city or county will enact ordinances that
require a given share of new construction to
be affordable by people with low to moderate
incomes. Another mentioned the cities of
Compton and Carson, where incentives to
buy were offered for first-time home owners.
April Hooper and her husband attended the
meeting. She said they bought their home in
Inglewood eight years ago. “We got in at the
right time. Our home value has gone up and
we love that,” said Hooper. “But [the current
situation] is not fair for other people.” She added
that she recognizes the “irony” of a Caucasian
woman fighting against gentrification.
Hendrix said he accompanied a resident fighting
an eviction to court and was surprised to
find almost 40 people in the room. “They were
all there fighting evictions against landlords
with high powered attorneys,” said Hendrix.
“Most of those tenants had a public defender
or were there alone.”
“The solution,” said Figueroa, “is to put
rent control on the ballot.” She believes the
city council must play a stronger role. UIC is
considering restarting the signature campaign
for 2020, but acknowledges that the easiest
way is to enact an ordinance in the short term.
It was noted that the mayor has established a
survey, open for 30 days to gather information
on proposed rent hikes around the city. “We
applaud his efforts. But we need comprehensive
rent stabilization,” said Figueroa.
The meeting closed with Hendrix noting plans
to build the group numbers strategically. Hendrix
and the rest of Uplift Inglewood Coalition will
have to find another meeting space in the coming
months. Chuco’s will be razed, along with the
entire block, to make way for a parking lot. •