An extraordinary affordable housing month

We are rediscovering what it means to be a community — how much we value public spaces and public services, how much we rely on one another, how much we owe to one another. We thrive together, or not at all.

We are exposing to new audiences how central housing is to our communities. As millions of us shelter in place, the reality is inescapable: Having a stable home is central to health, education and life expectancy. It’s the core, the center of our lives that allows us to flourish and grow.

If you asked me in February, I would’ve said that it was impossible for things to change so quickly. And even for a few days in March, there was some hope that this emergency would pass quickly, and that “normal” was just around the corner. Now there is a lot of evidence that “normal” is months (if not years) away.

Now it’s May — Affordable Housing Month — and our leadership has extended the shelter-in-place order until at least June. Millions of people are out of work and are worried about falling behind on their rent or losing their homes. This uncertainty about everything, from when we’ll be able to hug our friends to if we can retain our homes, is unprecedented for many. But for some renters and homeowners, things were already precarious before COVID-19 came along. We don’t need to return to normal; we need to come together so that we can be more resilient than we were before. While we at the Housing Leadership Council are focused on getting and keeping people housed, we also need to create new ways for community members to participate in our democracy.

Cities are heavily shaped by those who have the time and the inclination to participate. In most communities, the most vocal residents are retired, white and own homes. Any new building has to be reviewed by the city council, and developers are required to solicit opinions from the neighbors. Although they spend a lot of time doing outreach, there are many people who aren’t able to voice their opinions. This is mostly because they can’t attend a community meeting at 7:30 p.m. on a weeknight, for a variety of reasons. It’s very inconvenient for a family with young children, or a person who works late, to devote several hours to a meeting during the week. Traditionally, when a city council convenes, there are two ways to participate: email or in-person public comment.

Because all our public meetings are now virtual, San Mateo and Redwood City have already expanded their public meetings to include call-in participants. We are asking all cities to allow people to participate in public meetings with just a smartphone. People should be able to send a text to their city clerk, or film a short video explaining their point of view. Public comment should not be limited to people who can physically attend a long, late-night meeting on a weekday.

So, let’s use this emergency to expand who can participate in the conversations about building more homes. No one can deny that it’s healthier to build homes for people than to have them on the street. It’s healthier for people to have their own spaces than to be overcrowded.

There is an ongoing campaign to push for all public meetings to be accessible to folks who cannot attend in person. If you’d like to join us, please email me at: leora@hlcsmc.org. Let’s use this time to make sure that everyone is sheltered, and in the meantime, strengthen our democracy.

Leora Tanjuatco Ross is the associate director of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County.