Editor,
I see the San Carlos City Council extended an emergency ordinance to come up with policies implementing Senate Bill 9, a state law mandating some modest changes to address the housing crisis (“San Carlos extends SB 9 urgency ordinance” in the Dec. 2 edition).
This strikes me as classic foot-dragging. It’s another step in the council’s long tradition of trying to whistle past the fact San Carlos has rarely, if ever, met even the previous, less-onerous housing obligations defined by the state.
I know this because I was part of that collective delusion when I was on the council. Until I learned just how bad the situation was and just how lousy a job we’d been doing. All the while reaping the financial benefits of more and more commercial development, retail development, hotel development, you name it, any kind of development. Other than our fair share of the housing for the people who staff all those places.
What our fellow Californians are trying to do, through the Legislature, is get us to maintain some degree of balance between economic growth — which fills our coffers and increases home values — and the desire of people to be able to live not too far from where they work. Which, by the way, will also significantly reduce highway congestion, and help slow down cooking the planet to death.
But I guess none of that is important enough to address quickly.
Mark Olbert
San Carlos
The letter writer is the former mayor of San Carlos.
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(6) comments
Thank you for recognizing what renter advocates have been saying for years. The cities will tout "affordable" housing that is being built that is only available to people making 120 percent of the Area Median Income which, for a single person, is well over $100k a year. The proof is in the pudding. No non-homeowning seniors, workers, wanted here.
Bravo Mark ‼️
Even Mark is right, once in a while. He hits the nail on the head but I do not agree with the provisions of SB9 et al. If he could come up with a feasible alternative to that draconian measure it would be most welcome.
Good Monday, Dirk
Looks like the Ghost of Housing Future has visited San Carlos.
I agree with Mark... what's truly needed is a balance and I appreciate him taking that position.
Unfortunately, Mr. Olbert, politicians weren’t listening when they put special interests above their constituents in voting for SB9. San Carlos’ City Council is doing what many other cities have done - drag their feet. I don’t see a problem with that and I’d recommend other cities do the same thing. As for residential housing vs. commercial and retail development, have you seen the amount of development costs and fees added to homes? Those costs prevent building “affordable” homes. If you can reduce fees quickly, maybe home building will become more important.
Mark is correct - the San Carlos City Council talks a lot about affordable housing but has done very little over the years. The current bunch continue the NIMBY tradition.
The hot air they’ve generated has been a significant factor in local climate change, in fact.
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