At the Tuesday, October 25th Board of Water and Power Commissioners’ meeting, Activists will give public
comment to stop DWP from acting as a barrier to the building of new affordable housing
Activists will demand that the DWP provide power to buildings that will service 100% affordable housing much
faster and for less money
LOS ANGELES (October 24, 2022) AHF and its housing advocacy division, Housing Is A Human Right (HHR) are sending a group of advocates and mobilizers to the LADWP Board of Water and Power Commissioners’ meeting tomorrow, Tuesday October 25th in Downtown Los Angeles to address the Board and demand major changes to the delivery of services by the beleaguered utility. The advocates, who will be wearing shirts that read, “We Own the DWP,” will be targeting the entrenched, inefficient bureaucracy at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP).
WHAT: Activists will give public comment to stop DWP from acting as a barrier to the building of new affordable housing.
WHEN: Tues. Oct 25 @ 10:00am
WHERE: LADWP Headquarters (John Ferraro Building)
111 N Hope Street, Room 1555-H
Los Angeles CA 90012
WHO: Activists will call on DWP to bring power to affordable housing (wait time is currently 2 -4 years) and lower power costs for buildings that provide 100% affordable housing.
WHY: There are over 41,000 people unhoused in the City of Los Angeles and an emergency need for affordable housing. DWP’s policies and lack of resources act as a barrier to developing new affordable housing. Activists are demanding DWP provide power to buildings that will service 100% affordable housing much faster and for less money.
Yesterday (10/23/22), AHF and Housing Is A Human Right ran a full page advocacy ad in the Los Angeles Times headlined “DWP Has to Go”. The ad criticized the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as an “unaccountable bureaucracy” getting in the way of organizations like AHF from providing affordable housing.
AHF launching its Healthy Housing Foundation (HHF) in 2017 to help alleviate the twin homelessness and housing affordability crises in Los Angeles. However, it quickly learned working within the city’s existing framework and bureaucracies—like the DWP—to produce low-income housing in Los Angeles costs too much, takes too long, and is maddeningly difficult. Yesterday’s “DWP Has to Go” ad noted:
“Racked by continuous scandal, the current DWP is a disservice to the people of Los Angeles.
We pay too much and get too little.
DWP is ruled by an unaccountable bureaucracy governed by an anonymous board of political appointees.
While homelessness rages, DWP does nothing to help but charges outrageous amounts to non-profits and cannot provide the power that is needed on a timely basis.
Come down from your ivory tower and genuinely help right now!”
The mobilizers will continue to advocate for overhaul and change at the DWP.
