I arrived home the other day to find not one, but TWO(!) copies of the city's Community Development Department Housing Division Annual Report for Year 2008 to 2009.
Then, last night while feeding the youngster, I read the report cover to cover (good times had by all). My read through left me with both questions and a better sense of official city efforts to make Pomona an even more livable city.
My biggest question is this: Which budget line paid for the production of this 8 1/2 X 11, 10 page, high-gloss piece loaded with nonsense clip art? Presumably all Pomona households received a copy (or, in some cases, two copies), so this was a large scale mailing. Given the fiscal state of our fair city, I question whether the city might have saved a few pennies by creating a less glossy report with less filler material. It just seems wasteful.
Despite my concerns about costs, format, and the absence of an articulated purpose for the piece (I would have liked to know why I received the report, for instance, or why the report exists in the first place), I was nevertheless impressed by the number and scope of housing-related programs in the city.
If you haven't read the report, give it a quick glance. I'm guessing many of us have unknowingly benefited from these programs. Those of us in the Garfield Park area have certainly benefited from some of the public facility and infrastructure improvements like new playground equipment and alley improvements.
And, most importantly, take the time to complete the needs survey, located between pages 6 and 7 of the report. My two copies of the report each contain two copies of the survey -- I guess this means our household can vote early and often? Submit surveys by February 5 to inform decisions about where the city should focus their housing development efforts.
The survey instructions tell us to call the city if we don't know our district info. Sure, you could do that. Or you could turn to page 7 to see a map of the city with districts specified.
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2 comments:
You must have received my copy, as I received none.
How about the division write some kind of ordinance to help keep down the number of houses being bought to be used as rental properties, I see tons of houses se rente and they definitely outnumber the houses for sale. Then the houses for sale have a se rente sign up soon after the for sale sign. There is something odd about that. I wonder if any of the actual owners even live in Pomona.... there's my rant for the day
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