It pays to be a politician in City of Industry, where a fourth councilmember has been issued a city-owned house at below-market rent.
The city’s housing authority has allowed Councilman Michael Greubel to rent a 1,681-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bathroom house for $1,175 a month, the Pasadena Star-News reported, citing city records.
By comparison, the average renter in the San Gabriel Valley pays $1,857 for an apartment half that size, according to RentCafe.
Greubel was among nine applicants applying for six city-owned homes. The address he applied for, though redacted after a public records request, was considered a “priority,” according to handwritten notes passed among a two-member selection committee.
He didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Industry’s housing is managed by the Industry Housing and Property Management Authority, a five-member board whose majority is appointed by the City Council. The city manager serves as its executive director.
With a population of 200 residents, Industry has a total of 59 homes – of which 30 are owned by the city. The Perez family, owners of the city’s trash hauler, control at least 10 of the remaining homes.
Greubel was listed as living at one of the Perez-owned properties in voter registration records.
Though Industry charges rents that are significantly below market rates, its housing program doesn’t require tenants to be low income. Until recently, it didn’t require applications or background and credit checks.
Previous residents included City Hall employees who made more than $100,000 a year.
If Greubel was selected by the board as a tenant, he would become the fourth current councilmember to live in the city-owned subsidized housing.
The other three are Mayor Cory Moss and Councilmembers Mark Radecki and Catherine Marcucci, who live in city-owned homes in a gated hilltop neighborhood overlooking Industry Hills Golf Club.
The city spent nearly $500,000 renovating a 3,500-square-foot home shortly before Radecki’s family moved in. The mayor’s daughter, father and at least one other relative all live in separate homes owned by the city.
An investigation by the Southern California News Group in 2019 found Industry’s housing was historically used as a political tool by those in power to reward allies and punish dissenters.
Nearly a third of the city’s registered voters, most of whom lived in city-owned housing, left town following a particularly bitter election in 2015, records show. Former residents claimed they were forced out for overtly supporting the other side in the election.
That same year, an audit by the State Controller found the city’s housing authority “has no clear objective or strategic plan, fills vacancies without advertising or justification, and rents homes for below-market rates of $600 to $700 per month to current and former city councilmembers.”
As part of its reforms, the authority began raising rents in 2019, though a state law meant to curb sharp increases during the pandemic has limited the city’s ability to raise rates by more than 10 percent in a year.
Currently, most of the tenants pay either $710 or $832 per month for houses that range from 1,200 to 3,500 square feet. Only two tenants paid more than $1,000 per month prior to last October, records show. The authority will vote on additional rent increases on Feb. 8.
It could take as long as eight years for some units to reach the target amount.
— Dana Bartholomew
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