Long Beach’s Rex Richardson joins U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Advisory Board

By KRISTY HUTCHINGS | khutchings@scng.com |
PUBLISHED: June 7, 2023 at 4:53 p.m. | UPDATED: June 7, 2023 at 4:56 p.m.

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson has joined the advisory board for the U.S. Conference of Mayors — a nonpartisan organization of nationwide city leaders who advocate for federal support of local needs — his office announced on Monday, June 5.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors was originally established during the Great Depression by then-Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy, who convened 29 other mayors, according to the organization’s website. They successfully lobbied Congress to provide federal financial relief to the cities who bore the brunt of the economic crisis.

They later established an official annual conference, which continues to provide a platform for mayors to engage with both Congress and the President about pressing issues impacting their towns.

Richardson, meanwhile, was appointed to the USCM’s Advisory Board alongside eight other new members at the close of the organization’s 91st annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio the weekend of June 2.

“Mayors are on the front lines of the most pressing challenges facing our local communities today,” Richardson said in the news release. “I am honored to join the Advisory Board of this impactful organization, which represents the voice of more than 1,400 cities across America. By working together and learning from one another, we can overcome big challenges.”

His duties, the announcement said, will be to help steer the organization’s policy and advocacy efforts relating to affordable housing, climate change, and racial justice.

Other new members of the Advisory Board include:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass;
Dearborn, Mich. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud;
Waterloo, La. Mayor Quentin Hart;
Fort Worth, Texas Mayor Mattie Parker;
Arlington, Texas Mayor Jim Ross;
Lansing, Mich. Mayor Andy Schor;
Providence, R.I. Mayor Brett Smile; and
Allentown, Pa. Mayor Matt Tuerk.
Aside from the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s board appointment, Richardson has also recently taken up a leadership position on a newly-formed Los Angeles countywide housing agency.

The Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, dubbed LACAHSA for short, was established last year through Senate Bill 679, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September.

The new agency was created to protect and produce affordable housing in L.A. County — which will be required, by state law, to build at least 1.3 million housing across all of its jurisdictions within the next decade.

To help accomplish that Herculean task, the California Legislature imbued LACHASA with certain powers. The organization will be able to activate new financing tools that will incentivize developers to keep people in their homes — and is designed to “cut through red tape,” according to a recent press release.

RELATED LINKS
Long Beach’s Los Altos Neighborhood Library will close for 3 weeks
Long Beach moves to formally recognize Pride Month, Harvey Milk Day
Here’s how Long Beach’s new noise rules will shape future development
50,000 gallon sewage spill prompts temporary closure of all coastal swimming areas in Long Beach
Special Olympics Southern California returns to Long Beach for 1st time since 2020
“The first breakthrough tool is property tax abatement through the state welfare property tax exemption,” according the release said, “that allows housing developers to enter into joint development agreements with LACAHSA.”

LACAHSA’s inaugural board, which includes several regional leaders including county Board of Supervisors chair Janice Hahn and L.A. City Council president Paul Krekorian, hosted their first-ever meeting on Wednesday, May 17.

There, the board unanimously elected Richardson to serve as LACAHSA’s vice chair.

“(This) is a groundbreaking initiative that will transform how we address the housing crisis in our region,’’ Richardson said. “This agency will enable us to work together across all 88 cities in the county and leverage new financing tools and best practices to prevent homelessness, protect renters, and generate affordable housing for our most vulnerable residents.”