Dear Neighbors,
While many housing challenges are similar no matter where you live in the state or even the country, those challenges are often the results of local policy. For example, even though redlining was a practice across the nation, it was not a national practice, it was a local practice, one that has enduring damaging and divisive results.
Your local city council, and the Board of Supervisors, have tremendous control over what kind of housing we build, where we build housing, how fast or slow we build housing, and the resulting costs of that housing. Housing is one of the issues over which our local elected officials — and their appointed members of planning commissions and design review boards — have the most control.
Generation Housing is an independent nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates, but we do want to help make sure that you as voters are informed as to your local candidates positions on housing issues. With that in mind, we distributed a Housing Questionnaire to all of the city council candidates, provided equal time to complete those, including a small extension, and sent reminders about their due dates. The responses are posted below.There were some candidates who did not provide responses, and for them, we would direct you to their responses to the Press Democrat’s questionnaire responses, found here, which included some housing discussion.
As we head into these last days of election season, we encourage all voters to make your voice heard across the ballot, and are also grateful for all the candidates who have heard and answered the call for public service. Together, we can create a community where everyone has a place to call home and can contribute to an equitable, healthy, and resilient Sonoma County.
In partnership,
Jen Klose, Executive Director