April 24, 2026
Today, the Ad Hoc Committee on Measure United to House Los Angeles heard testimony from five members of the “Mend It Don’t End It” coalition.
“The material covered today by the ‘Mend It, Don’t End It’ coalition can be helpfully divided into the good, the bad, and the weird,” said Joe Donlin, executive director of the United to House LA Coalition.
“The good? We agree that Measure ULA’s programs can be executed faster and more effectively—let’s continue to develop technical fixes that don’t require an expensive, time-consuming return to the ballot.
“The bad? The song remains the same—the real estate lobby has never forgiven the voters of L.A. for asking the tippy-top of their industry to pay its fair share to address our most serious social problem.
“And the weird were all the unquestioned assumptions packed into their presentation, such as ‘weakening ULA will spark a deal to stop the Jarvis initiative that its proponents and their backers have repeatedly said is off the table.’ Or ‘Measure ULA is somehow responsible for stalling thousands of ED1 projects.’ Or ‘let’s limit revenues to the point where we can never grow our programs while there are thousands of Angelenos experiencing homelessness and tens of thousands more living on its edge.’”
After the release of the BAE report, Ted Chandler, a senior advisor to the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, said “After a period when transactions slowed, sellers adjusted and, as reported widely, now they sell. It’s like they’re passing through the stages of grief from denial and anger through bargaining and depression to—finally—acceptance.”
Much of the panel’s arguments to weaken Measure ULA stem from responding too quickly to the emotions of investors. It’s time to stop trying to overturn, litigate, or weaken it and to just let it work. The scale of the housing crisis is too large to do otherwise.