Op-Ed: Take action for affordable housing in the Bay Area

If Bay Area voters deliver a clear message to elected leaders about the need for affordable housing, change is possible in 2017. In fact, change is already brewing.

“Last year, Bay Area voters told pollsters for the first time that housing was their top concern. Then voters around the state showed they were prepared to take action to address it, passing 12 of 13 affordable-housing funding measures to create affordable housing and support our communities.

But the Bay Area can’t go it alone. Even with increased local funding, we face a significant funding shortage for affordable housing. New data out this month from the California Housing Partnership show that Bay Area counties have lost almost 70 percent of direct funding for housing over the past 10 years. In 2011, after the state dissolved redevelopment agencies, California suffered a loss of $1.5 billion annually.

Bay Area residents can build off our momentum from the November election by calling on state leaders to re-invest in our communities and identify funding for new, badly needed affordable housing.”

Read the full op-ed via the San Francisco Chronicle