El Segundo votes 3–1 to join South Bay Regional Housing Trust

The El Segundo City Council voted to join the South Bay Regional Housing Trust, approving a resolution that would make the city a member of a proposed joint powers authority to support affordable housing in participating cities.

Presenters Ronson Xu and David Ledger, identified as representatives with the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, described the trust as a separate joint powers authority that would finance development and construction of affordable housing only for projects supported by the city in which they are proposed. They said formation requires participation by at least four cities and that Measure A funding could be used to offset most or all administrative costs, reducing or eliminating membership fees for cities.

The presenters outlined the trust’s proposed tools, including lending authority, soft development loans, construction and predevelopment loans, preservation acquisition stakes, master leasing and homebuyer assistance programs; they described these approaches as revenue-generating over time and designed to return public dollars to the trust to maximize reuse. After discussion, the council adopted the resolution. The vote was 3–1, with Mayor Pimentel voting nay.

The resolution’s adoption makes El Segundo eligible to participate in the trust’s future programs if the trust forms with the minimum number of participating cities and establishes its lending and program rules. The council did not specify the resolution’s effective date or intended next administrative steps in the recorded recap.

Council members did not provide direct quotes in the recap recording; details on implementation timeline, member-city commitments and specific funding contributions were not specified.