City Council Discusses Affordable Housing

<figure id="attachment_41446" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41446" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Specialmeeting… loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-41446" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Specialmeeting-…; alt="" width="300" height="276" srcset="https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Special… 300w, https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Special… 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-41446" class="wp-caption-text">San Diego community members showed their support for affordable housing.</figcaption></figure>
The last seating rows of the City of San Diego Council Chambers on Monday, June 24, were colored with pink, green, blue, and yellow signs that read, “prioritize affordable housing” and “families first.”
During a special meeting, called by Council President Myrtle Cole, the city council met to take action on items that addressed the high cost of living in San Diego. Members of the community showed up to express their opinions on what many speakers referred to as a “housing crisis.”
Several concerns were raised in relation to housing affordability and affordable housing in the city for very low-income, low-income, middle-income, college students, veterans, elderly, and homeless individuals.
Three informational reports were presented before the council in relation to housing affordability initiatives, the production of more homes, and development opportunities.
According to a July 2016 report by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and Greater San Diego Association of REALTORS, more than half of San Diego renters spend 30 percent or more of their income on rent.
In addition to the high cost of renting, San Diego’s homeless population is identified at 9,116 homeless individuals according to the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless.
County Supervisor Ron Roberts who shared during the meeting that he grew up in public housing in San Diego said the housing issue is one of the most significant issues and the one that will have the greatest impact on future and existing residents.
“Production is simply not keeping up with demand there’s always good reasons why we shouldn’t build something but the fact of the matter is we are not coming even close to the demand and local regulations are a major reason,” Roberts said.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer spoke during the meeting about the importance of providing homes for San Diegans and his “Housing SD” plan was presented, which includes strategies and goals to increase housing production.
The Mayor’s plan also includes a middle income program to provide housing for middle income households like school teachers, nurses, and firefighters, among other.
The Civic San Diego report demonstrated that since 2012, 1,575 affordable housing units were completed and current properties under contract like Park and Market, which has 436 total residential units, could provide 85 affordable housing units.
Public speakers shared their frustrations with the council in relation to affordable housing not being affordable to everyone especially very-low income families and some expressed concerns about middle income individuals like firefighters, teachers, and nurses not being able to live in the city they serve.
“It is a real disconnect to come into council this afternoon and after hearing of the urgency and people dying on the streets and people being assaulted and the incidents of rape and sexual assault skyrocketing in the downtown areas where people are homeless, hearing what an urgent humanitarian crisis we have,” former assemblywoman Lori Salaña said. “To then hear only a small portion of the Civic San Diego and other projects are going to be dedicated to affordable housing is appalling and outrageous.”
The San Diego Housing Commission report highlights nine out of the 11 recommendations made in 2015 in which action has been taken on related to submitting proposed legislation and efforts made to increase federal and state resources for affordable housing.
“Everybody on this counsel, everybody in this audience today believes how important it is we work together making housing more affordable for all San Diegans,” Faulconer said during the meeting. “All of us working together Republicans, Democrats, business groups, environmental entities, community advocates, and homebuilders.”

Author

Andrea Lopez Villafana