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| Speeches |
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| Speeches |
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I
am honored to have this opportunity to join with all of you in expressing
admiration and gratitude to the directors of Community Housing Services who are
being recognized tonight. In
preparing tonight’s remarks, I had the opportunity to review the history of
CHS and to be reminded of its important purposes and programs. The question I want to raise in the next few minutes is
whether, more than 30 years after it was first organized, there is any less need
in the world today--in our community--for its kind of purposes and programs. Over
the weekend I read a review of a new biography of Michael Harrington who, you
will recall, was one of the important intellectual leaders of the 1960’s.
Many of us will remember that it was in the 1960’s when several
profound books came out that shaped the balance of the 20th century
in America, and still impact importantly today. The
Death and Life of American Cities by Jane
Jacobs, which became the great manifesto of the urban preservation movement Silent
Spring by Rachel Carson, which produced
the ecology movement. The
Feminine Mystique by Betty Freiden, which
did nothing less than readjust all previous relations between the sexes. The
Autobiography of Malcolm X by him and
Alex Haley, which transformed a good deal of subsequent thinking about African
Americans. Unsafe
at Any Speed by Ralph Nader, which
created the modern consumer movement. But
the work of social criticism that seemed to be the most promising of all was
Michael Harrington’s The Other America, an expose of American poverty,
which came out in 1962. Middle
class America, in its naivete, had come out of World War II in the smug and
happy belief that American justice had triumphed not only over Hitler and
Mussolini and Japanese imperialism abroad, but over poverty at home, except in a
few remote and insignificant places. But
that was not the case. A
full third of America’s population still labored under conditions of sheerest
misery, even in an era of economic progress.
Harrington’s book succeeded in pointing to that strangely invisible
reality. President Kennedy and his
top aides scratched their heads at the revelation, wondering exactly what could
and should be done. It
was that realization that gave rise to many programs designed to provide
services to low-income populations that would alleviate poverty and promote
self-sufficiency, like these that CHS is offering today. CHS
was formed in 1969 with a single mission: housing for low-income families
displaced by the construction of the 210 Freeway in Pasadena. At this point
however, while its name reflects those roots, a lot has changed over 30 years. CHS
is now a complex organization performing many functions and providing
comprehensive services from South Central Los Angeles to Lassen County in
Northern California. The mission is
clear and compelling: to alleviate poverty and promote self-sufficiency. Its
consolidated annual budget approaches $25 million; it has over 300 employees;
and it offers more than a score of programs in numerous locations around the
State. In
July of last year, CHS became the Community Action Agency for the Pasadena area,
as approved by the City Council, and it now takes on the role of community
organizer and public advocate for the underprivileged. The
idea of “community action” was conceived in the 1960’s, under the Kennedy
and Johnson administrations, in the wake of the publication of The Other
America. It was to be a
companion program with Head Start. Together,
Community Action and Head Start were intended to empower low-income communities
through the direct delivery of services and support for community organization. So
now we find ourselves in the year 2000, more than 30 years after the 1960’s,
in the midst of a period of unprecedented economic prosperity. The impact of technology on the economy and on our daily
lives is almost beyond comprehension. During
this 10 year period of prosperity, the stock market has tripled in value, making
a huge number of Americans financially secure and making a significant number of
persons, including teenagers and twenty-somethings, multi-millionaires. In Pasadena, we are enjoying the benefits of these positive trends. The City is experiencing both a significant amount of new business development based on technology and what can only be described as a cultural revitalization. There is strong investment taking place in the City of Pasadena including the Paseo Colorado, the commercial office development east of Lake on Colorado Boulevard, the South Lake Development which goes under the name “Stores on South Lake”, and more than 2,000 market-rate housing units in the pipeline or are presently under construction. In
the cultural area, I am particularly excited about the new direction taken by
the Norton Simon, which has invested millions of dollars in improving its
exhibition space and in developing a wonderful garden, and has increased the
days and hours available to members of the public.
I am cautiously optimistic that Art Center College of Design will
determine that Pasadena offers everything the Art Center needs to build its
future in the 21st century. This
fall, a program gets underway that will spotlight to the nation the cultural and
the scientific resources of the City, a program called “The Universe”, which
will portray perceptions of the cosmos over the centuries from a scientific and
a cultural viewpoint. Eight of
Pasadena’s significant cultural institutions will participate, including the
Norton Simon, Caltech, the Armory Center for the Arts, Pacific Asia Museum, Art
Center College of Design, Huntington Library, and Southwest Chamber Music. There
is no doubt that Pasadena is building a great future and doing so in a way that
strengthens and enhances the many characteristics that have made Pasadena such a
special place. Does
that mean that the kind of programs and projects offered by Community Housing
Services are no longer needed? Or
may no longer be needed after a few more months or years? Unfortunately,
the answer is decidedly “NO”. Recently,
in connection with the General Plan update, studies have been done of
Pasadena’s need for housing, primarily affordable housing, since as I
mentioned a large number of market rate units are presently underway. These studies bring out some interesting facts and figures.
I don’t want to bore you with statistics, but I do want to say that
more than 1 out of every 4 households in Pasadena is low-income, which means a
total income of less than $25,000 per year.
Another 16% of these households make less than $40,000 a year. Ironically,
some of the very positive factors that I have described about Pasadena’s
progress contribute to the shortage of housing that is affordable to people in
Pasadena. High land costs,
construction costs, and the cost of market financing contribute to the high
purchase price of new residential units. In
fact, coupled with the limited availability of vacant land, these constraints
make future development of affordable housing unlikely without City
intervention. The
fact of the matter is that the vast majority of Pasadena residents cannot afford
the median priced home that exists in our community today. Directly
related to these bleak income statistics is a need for new job opportunities and
new business development that will benefit Pasadena residents.
Notwithstanding a vigorous effort over 15 years, our efforts to reduce
unemployment in the Northwest have not met with success.
The rate today is three times the rate in the rest of Pasadena . Moreover,
our schools are falling short – far short --of the expectations in the
community, many based on the success of Pasadena schools more than thirty years
ago. In this regard, I am greatly
encouraged by the quality and by the thoughtfulness of the report that has just
been issued by the Task Force on PUSD Governance headed by Councilmember and
former Mayor Chris Holden. Let us
hope that this, together with a gradually expanding program for after-school
experiences for our young people, will contribute to ongoing improvement in the
performance of our public schools’ training of our young people. The
needs of our community could be expressed in other ways, but it is certainly
clear that life continues to be extremely complicated and the need for
commitment on the part of persons like those who have gathered tonight, not only
to take advantage of opportunities in Pasadena but to help respond to the needs
that exist. Some
people think that Southern California will become the key metropolitan area in
the United States in the next few decades.
We have a very creative technology industry growing here.
It is the center for much of the media and communications innovation in
the world. But Southern California
is also the new face of America. The
demographics and statistics of our State show that this is going to be a very
different state 20 years from now. I
believe that Pasadena can be a model for
the nation. The
character of our community and its economic future will be shaped by how well
Pasadena meets its challenge. This
is a community effort. We must all
come together as a community – local government, the schools, the business
community, the churches and the non-profit organizations – to maximize the
resources available for the benefit of all. One
of the mandates of CHS’s Community Action
Program is that community action agencies must be governed by a
three-part board of directors, consisting of representatives of the community,
of government and of the business, educational and faith parts of the community.
It is the intent of this requirement that the community agency benefit
from collaboration. This kind of
collaboration is precisely what is needed on a broad basis in Pasadena for us to
succeed in the future. With
all of our blessings and all of our successes, the challenge that stretches
before us is a struggle for the soul of Pasadena.
We are more than a group of community leaders, more than a collection of
programs, more than the sum of our prospects and our intentions.
We need to be trustees of a dream. It
was in the 1960’s when this nation lost two of its most powerful voices of
that dream, but they left us their vision, their values and their hopes in the
dream they awakened. We
remember them now to remind ourselves that our journey is not yet finished, that
we must not settle for things as they are. Martin
Luther King told us something we need to hear again.
He said, “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.
We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now, in the unfolding life
of history. There is such a thing as being too late.” And
Dr. King also said, “We must work unceasingly to lift this nation to a higher
destiny, to a new plateau of compassion.” There
was another voice in the 1960’s whose words have endured over the years.
Robert Kennedy said, “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts
to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a
tiny ripple of hope. In crossing each other from a million different centers of
energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the
mightiest walls of opposition and resistance.” Martin
Luther King and Robert Kennedy lived for an important dream. As we celebrate the dedication of those who we honor tonight, we are reminded that the important dreams that inspired them should inspire us all. Let us rededicate ourselves to building a community--a world class city--that meets the needs of all its citizens, and is truly a model for this great nation!
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