Election 2022
Housing Justice is on the Ballot this Election Season
As the November 8th election approaches, Housing and Homelessness remain a top concern in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Area Regions. By now, voters have received ballots and we encourage early voting. Make your voice heard – support the creation of more affordable homes!
MidPen Housing is proud to partner with Housing Advocates and Local Leaders to reinvest in our communities. Here are our positions on revenue generation measures and important local housing policies.
To get more info about your ballot, visit BallotReady.
Support
City of Oakland Measure U – $850M Affordable Housing and Infrastructure Bond
Measure U will invest in Oakland by creating affordable housing for Oaklanders, including people experiencing homelessness; and other critical City infrastructure. Of the total, $350M will be available for affordable housing production and preservation. MidPen supports this measure as an opportunity to promote housing and homelessness solutions while strengthening community infrastructure and public safety.
City of Oakland Measure Q – Article 34 Authorization
This would allow Oakland to develop, construct or acquire an additional 13,000 low-rent residential units to meet the City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), without seeking separate voter approval. Article 34 of the State Constitution requires voters to approve the construction of any new units of publicly financed or owned affordable housing through a referendum, and is a major constraint to production throughout the State.
City of Berkeley Measure L – $650M Affordable, Safe and Sustainable Berkeley Bond Act
Measure L will invest in Berkeley communities by creating a new revenue stream for affordable housing and critical City infrastructure. Of the total $650M that the measure would provide, $200M will go to create or preserve affordable housing.
City of Santa Cruz Measure N – Santa Cruz Empty Homes Tax
Measure N is a community driven ballot initiative to increase affordable housing options in the city of Santa Cruz. It will create a long-term funding stream to create affordable housing through a tax on homes that are empty and unused for more than 8 months of a year. MidPen supports this measure for its ability to benefit Santa Cruz with both the affordable housing revenue generated by the measure and the appropriate tax incentives encouraging more housing availability for local residents.
Oppose
Proposition 27 – The California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Act
MidPen works towards solutions that will ensure a future where everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home, but Prop. 27, the so-called California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Act, isn’t the answer. Prop. 27 is full of loopholes and deductions that will only benefit the online sports betting operators, failing to deliver on its promises on homelessness and mental health solutions. These profits will be taken out-of-state and away from Native American tribes. We stand in solidarity with California tribal communities and all those in need of affordable housing and homeless solutions.
City of Menlo Park Measure V – Menlo Park Neighborhood Protection and General Plan Consistency Initiative
In most Bay Area cities, an all-affordable teacher housing project is met with excitement. However, Measure V obstructs the Ravenswood School District's plan to produce affordable homes for teachers and working families. It also will send any proposals to up-zone land in single-family-zoned parcels to the ballot, a move that would further divide an already deeply segregated City. MidPen joins the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County (HLC) in opposing the creation of new barriers for affordable housing.
City of Santa Cruz Measure O – Amendment to General Plan and Downtown Plan, Our Downtown, Our Future
If approved, Measure O immediately halts 125 affordable homes Downtown, as well as a new modern library and childcare center, already planned and approved with extensive public input. Measure O would also delay, prevent or negatively impact hundreds of future affordable homes also planned for Downtown, with no realistic alternatives. MidPen joins Housing Santa Cruz County (HSCC) in opposing sweeping new land use constraints that will have consequences for the next generation.