Guest Comment | Be part of the solution to our affordable housing crisis and vote Yes on Prop. 5: Santa Cruz Sentinel

By Tim Willoughby and Linda Kerner

California has been struggling with an affordable housing crisis for years. While the state has passed many laws to lower barriers to creating more housing, for people who need an affordable place to live, little progress appears to have been made. The California Constitution has been a major barrier to financing affordable housing projects with its two-thirds threshold for approving housing bonds. In Santa Cruz County, the 2018 Measure H affordable housing bond would have provided about 1,000 housing units for local residents, and while it came close, it failed to pass at the two-thirds vote threshold .

Affordable Housing NOW believes that Proposition 5 can be a game changer to help address our unprecedented affordable housing crisis. Like Proposition 39 passed decades ago by voters to lower the threshold for school bonds, Proposition 5 would amend the California Constitution to lower the required threshold to 55% for housing bonds to finance the construction of affordable housing, programs of down payment assistance and public infrastructure projects to support new ones. housing, such as roads, traffic and water.

Proposition 5 moves decisions about public policy and housing-related spending priorities away from state government and into the hands of local voters and gives local communities more power to choose how to address the housing needs of low-income families low and middle, seniors and veterans. and first-time home buyers. The ballot measure gives communities the power to design housing programs tailored to local needs and is not based on state programs designed by the legislature for the entire state. Local control works best for effective local solutions!

Santa Cruz has the distinction of being one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Middle-class families and public servants like teachers, nurses and firefighters who work in Santa Cruz County are forced to find affordable housing elsewhere, instead of in the community where they work.

The Prop. 5 provides a real solution to the housing needs of our essential workers and will help ensure that people who dedicate their lives to public service can also be part of the communities they serve.

As an organization that has been actively involved in housing advocacy, Affordable Housing NOW believes that Prop. 5 is a crucial step in making housing more affordable for our working families and community members who struggle to make ends meet and are at risk of becoming more affordable. roofless

The measure is a powerful tool to help local governments take steps to address the housing crisis without relying on state bonds or federal dollars.

On the November 5th ballot, voters can be part of the solution to making Santa Cruz more affordable for our local workforce and providing families living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to pay rent with a safe, stable and affordable place to live.

Vote Yes on Proposition 5 because everyone deserves a place to call home.

Tim Willoughby and Linda Kerner are members of Affordable Housing NOW for Santa Cruz County.