The San Benito County Board of Supervisors must find a housing
analyst to examine the county’s affordable housing needs and
coordinate efforts with the City of Hollister and other agencies
and entities to meet those needs.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors must find a housing analyst to examine the county’s affordable housing needs and coordinate efforts with the City of Hollister and other agencies and entities to meet those needs.
We need an expert. The supervisors can determine whether this means hiring a consultant or creating a full-time position for an affordable housing analyst.
Both have their benefits and drawbacks, but it is clear we need effective leadership in this area.
An expert will be able to clearly define existing laws, trends and ideas in the affordable housing marketplace while at the same time making sure that the government, nonprofit and industry stakeholders all have roles to play in developing coordinated policies.
Affordable housing is key to the future of our community. In order to make affordable housing a reality, the efforts of the entire community must be channeled through one agency with a full-time leader.
We need to have homes in San Benito County that our teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters and young professionals can afford. Past efforts by both the city and the county have produced few results.
We need a community-wide push to make affordable housing a priority.
That effort must incorporate the voices and opinions of the diverse stakeholders in this issue, but we will need someone with expertise and political skill to lead the effort.
We understand the reluctance to add to the local government bureaucracy. But whether the county decides to hire a consultant or establish a permanent position, swift and decisive action is in order. Productivity must be guaranteed.
It is clear that what the county has done in the past isn’t working. The last sizable development in San Benito County was Riverview Estates, which was completed in 2002.
Granted, Hollister’s sewer moratorium hasn’t helped, but the fact remains that development of affordable housing isn’t happening.
It’s time to call in an affordable housing guru to coordinate development. This is especially vital to our community now, as the moratorium is set to be lifted upon the completion of the wastewater treatment facility in 2008.
Solving the affordable housing crisis here will require a community-wide effort.
This will take input from developers, city and county staff, affordable housing advocates as well as the community at large.
Hollister School District is ready to get on board with the effort.
“We feel this is a major issue facing the community,” Superintendent Ron Crates told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. “We’re concerned about getting staff members in our county and the city who can afford to live here.”
As Crates surely knows, working people need affordable housing if they are to settle here and help make San Benito County a better place.
