MENDOCINO CRISIS IN HOUSING
OCTOBER 24, 2003 Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Mendocino County 's Housing Crisis

by Chris Brown

Becoming a homeowner is an important part of the American dream. Sadly, for most working families in Mendocino County, that dream is no longer achievable.

A recent report, "Mendocino County at the Crossroads: The Crisis of Affordable Housing," developed by New Economy, Working Solutions and Service Employees International Union Local 707 sheds light on the issues facing working families in Mendocino County. The results, while not unexpected, do show the problem is significantly worse than most of us believed.

The report (available online at ww.seiulocal707.org) shows that just over 85 percent of Mendocino County cannot afford the average house for sale on the local market. Moreover, 36 percent of renters pay more than 30 percent of their gross monthly income in rent.

The report documents the root causes of this crisis: The skyrocketing costs of housing, the limited supply of affordable housing and the dramatic growth of low-wage employment, particularly in the service sector.

Under these conditions, few local working families can afford to consider home ownership. Their American dream has turned into a nightmare as rents increase rapidly, vacancy rates drop and commutes get longer.

The affordable housing crisis hurts our children. The vast majority of children (maybe as high as 80 percent) growing up in Mendocino County today are growing up in rental housing.

The affordable housing crisis hurts our economy. Money spent on a big mortgage is money that is basically lost to the local economy (unless the deed is held by a local bank -- a rarity today). High mortgages mean that people have less money to spend on products and services purchased locally -- like cars, movies, restaurants, books and even preventive medical care.

The affordable housing crisis limits our work force. Who would want to work where they cannot afford a home?

Have we not built enough housing?

No. We have just built the wrong type of housing. The Ukiah Valley produced plenty of moderate-income and high-income housing. In fact more moderate- and higher-income housing was built in the last 10 years then was needed based on population projections.

But less than a fifth of the projected need for affordable housing was met. This failure to produce low-income units has resulted in out-of-control rents and very few, if any, starter homes on the market.

This failure to create affordable housing units is not entirely the fault of local governments, although -- as the study shows -- they do share some of the blame. The failure to create more affordable housing is a classic failure of the free market. There is much more profit, and less risk, for builders to create a few luxury houses, with high profit margins, than in building a large number of affordable units with limited profit margins.

In those instances when the free market fails, government has a duty and an obligation to its citizens to step in and solve the problem. As representatives of working families we call upon elected officials, business and labor leaders in Mendocino County to work together and develop practical, workable solutions to our affordable housing crisis.

The report outlines concrete policies to try and address the crisis:

* Rezone land in the Ukiah Valley to meet the need for medium-to-high density housing.

* Increase redevelopment agency set-asides to 30 percent in both Ukiah and the county.

* Require developers of large subdivisions to either build new affordable housing (inclusionary zoning) or to pay into a fund to create affordable housing.

* Create a Ukiah Valley workforce housing coalition.

Many other parts of California have faced a crisis in housing affordability. Some regions faced the problem head on and adopted innovative solutions. Others ignored the problem and hoped it would go away. It didn't. With hard work and careful planning, we can all help save part of the American dream for the working people of Mendocino County.

Chris Brown is a Mendocino County resident and a member of Service Employees International (SEIU) Local 707. Paul Andersen, a Ukiah resident and field representative for SEIU Local 707, and Marty Bennett, a Santa Rosa resident and the chairman of New Economy, Working Solutions, contributed to this opinion piece.




The Ukiah Daily Journal
Monday, October 13, 2003

Outside Report Details Ukiah's Affordable Housing Crisis

By PEIJEAN TSAI

As Mendocino County revises its general plan and the city of Ukiah begins seeking input for its housing strategy update, an outside report by a public policy graduate student could influence how both entities examine affordable housing.

In "Mendocino County at the Crossroads: The Crisis of Affordable Housing," Marcee Harris, a second-year Master's candidate in the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC-Berkeley, pools research from several sources -- U.S. census, city and county documents, and interviews with government officials, businesses and residents -- to narrow in on Mendocino's housing shortage.

Jointly designed by Ukiah City Council's Paul Andersen of Service Employees International Union Local 707 and New Economy, Working Solutions, the report fleshes out the problem. Harris looks at the discrepancy of growing low-wage service jobs and soaring rents, land scarcity, legislation that fails to fix the problem and the ripple effects of affordable housing shortage.

"I wanted to write it because I feel that the lack of affordable housing is a large problem for all of California and that the shortage disproportionately affects low-income and working families. We absolutely cannot have healthy communities if all members of the community do not have easy access to safe and affordable housing," Harris said by e-mail.

Harris said she hopes the report will achieve two things: to educate those who live and work in the region, and to act as a "jumping-off point" for local government, businesses and individuals to collectively create solutions.

The report was funded through the UC-Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and Service Employees International Union Local 707.

One point the report pushes is multi-family housing development. Harris calls for maximizing current available resources by rezoning parcels for increased density.

"The reality is that there isn't enough housing across the board, but the problem is most acute in multi-family and lower income dwellings," said Andersen.

Harris' report also suggests increasing funding sources with the city's Redevelopment Agency and transferring excess tenant-based Section 8 vouchers to project-based ones. She mentions the possibility of community members forming a Workforce Housing Coalition to work together toward change.

Another thing the report points out is the gap between wages and rents.

"The report surprised me with how bad the crisis is for people just living above minimum wage," Andersen said, saying that jobs currently being created are not high-wage jobs.

"Until we find a way to create high-wage jobs, by default we have to create low-wage jobs, and the city has a responsibility to provide for that population," he said.

"People look at affordable housing as a burden," said Marty Bennett, the board chairman of NEWS and a contributor to the report. "Affordable housing should be seen as an asset for the economy in terms of increased productivity and social and economic well-being of residents."

Bennett added that creating a greater supply of affordable housing is only half the solution.

"The other side ... is increasing wages and developing better jobs with career ladders. We believe you have to work on both," he said.

There is need to dedicate sources for new funding of affordable housing projects, Bennett added. New funding could come from a jobs-housing linkage fee, which Harris proposes in her report's conclusions. Such a fee would serve as a reliable source of revenue for affordable housing, and would balance housing demand with job creation, the report states.

Chris Brown, former SEIU Local 707 board member, a contributor to the report, said he wanted to see the county and the city of Ukiah working together.

"There's a lot of in-fighting and bickering that goes on between the two entities," he said, mentioning the Brush Street Triangle as an example where conflict has marred development.

When housing is unaffordable in Ukiah, the result is living further away where homes are cheaper and the commute is longer.

"My commute is almost 60 miles round-trip because I couldn't afford a house anywhere near Ukiah," Brown said. "We're going to force people on the freeway and make them drive."

Finding solutions involves looking at nearby counties who have had similar problems, Harris suggests in her report.

"The crises that Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties all faced in the recent past in terms of low-wage job increases and affordable housing decreases are the same trend that Mendocino currently faces," she said.

Harris also looks at what the county has done to address the need and how it has fallen short of its plans.

Harris' essay shows how, according to a 1991 Mendocino Council of Governments report, housing allocation goals during the period 1992-1997 for very-low and low-income housing was 1,398 units. Actual production was 263 units, Harris reports.

"I'm happy to increase multi-family housing in Ukiah, but the county has to step up to the plate too because they have more available land," Andersen said.

The county is currently updating its general plan, estimated for completion in 2006, followed by rezoning of parcels, said Pamela Townsend, a senior planner with Mendocino County planning and building services.

The city's Housing Element Update Committee and its Planning and Community Development department will conduct its first public workshop to update its housing element Tuesday.

The report will be delivered by Tuesday to both the county Board of Supervisors and the Ukiah City Council, Andersen said.

Harris' report can be viewed at http://www.seiuLocal707.org