The growing evolution of community involvement

So where do we go from here? That is the question for the ages, and you can ask any number of people and get a wide range of responses. More housing, rent control, more transit options, more taxes, less taxes, etc.

I did find interesting, however, the recent donations by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for affordable housing efforts. It is certainly laudable and shows a certain awareness by Facebook, the company also founded by Mark Zuckerberg, that it has certainly had an impact on the housing market around here.

In early November, the initiative announced additional support for a coalition of community groups including Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto, which has clearly fought for rent control in a variety of ways along with providing services to help renters with other methods.

Any nonprofit working on housing low-income people will take any money it can get, but there is a certain amount of irony that a philanthropic organization founded by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan would be giving money that would eventually find its way to an organization looking to get cities to enact rent control since one could argue fairly effectively that one of the primary reasons rents are high is because of the presence of companies like Facebook. As companies bring in higher paid workers, rents rise and others who don’t make similar wages suffer. It could be argued that Facebook funding rent control efforts is simply shifting the cost of its very impact to another segment of the population, at least residential property owners could see it that way.

But this initiative is interesting for another reason. One of the observations made early in this recent tech surge was that companies and their workers didn’t necessarily connect with the larger community. There is still an aspect of company town to the current climate but it seems to be evolving into something else. Workers for Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter and other tech companies have their children in schools and are involved in their community in other ways. Some are running for public office. While some of their notions don’t necessarily jibe with the sensibilities of the residents who have lived here longer than eight years, that’s just the way it is. This area is known for occasional surges of newcomers who eventually acclimate and immerse in the community, and create again anew.

Such change is not always smooth. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was recently in the news because the site of a future East Palo Alto school funded by it is near the removal of RVs in which some residents found refuge. While there were good intentions behind the investment in the school, try telling that to the displaced residents. It’s a matter of learning, and that curve is steep — particularly with a company of its size and presence and the impact it has on its immediate environment. Also, look to San Bruno where YouTube is getting involved and issuing grants for community improvements such as pedestrian crossings. Some may say that this is window dressing for these companies that otherwise don’t care, but community involvement is an incremental thing. More established companies such as Genentech, Oracle and Franklin Templeton Investments, among others, have long seen the value of participating and assisting the local community.

It was just a few years ago that emerging tech companies were more interested in global philanthropy rather than issues right next to them, and sometimes directly caused by them. As these companies mature and its workers put down roots, it is good to see an interest in the community and all the other people who have been here all along and simply trying to make their way too.

Jon Mays is the editor in chief of the Daily Journal. He can be reached at jon@smdailyjournal.com. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonmays.