Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Ojai Still Lacks Affordable Housing

Problem seen as contributing factor in labor shortage

By Linda Harmon
Affordable housing is not just an isolated problem for some. It is a major issue that directly affects everyone’s quality of life, according to speakers at a local forum Saturday. Carol Smith, City Council member and president of Ojai Valley Democrats, opened the forum Saturday pointing out that service providers are already leaving our area and that the exodus will soon create a labor shortage if housing needs are not met.
Smith continued with another statistic.“Most people think of Ojai as a wealthy community,” said Smith, “while in actuality we have many seniors on fixed incomes and 37 percent of our city is at the poverty level.”Smith doesn’t need the city’s overdue housing element to see the writing on the wall.
“The city doesn’t build housing,” said Smith, “but we need to improve on the opportunity to build affordable housing here.” Smith said a senior couple with a annual fixed income of $35,00 or $40,000 a year looking for a $770 to $800 one bedroom apartment, or a young couple with children looking for a $1,000 to $2,000 a month two bedroom, would be hard-pressed to find it in Ojai where rooms go for $500 in a tight rental market. She went on to dash hopes of those still holding on to the elusive American dream, single family home ownership. “Affordable housing in the future is most probably going to be rentals,” said Smith. “Most people buying homes now are people who have sold a more expensive home in another area. Young families buying their first homes here most likely have wealthy families. I’m lucky, my house is paid for,” said Smith. “I moved here in 1979 making $29,000 a year and bought my first house for $36,000.”
Smith then told of her own son’s family, including her two grandchildren, who recently moved to Colorado.
“He’s an emergency room nurse and couldn’t afford to live here,” said Smith. “I am absolutely against anymore exclusionary housing that would allow expensive condos to be built with only one affordable unit,”said Smith. “The Mallory Way builder probably won’t be allowed to do anything with them, unless he does something with affordable housing. They are a large part of our affordable housing stock.”
Wendy McCobb appeared as a spokesman for mobile home park issues. McCobb focused on upcoming propositions dealing with eminent domain. She vehemently opposes Proposition 98 because it contains a provision that will phase out rent control for mobile home owners across the state.
“When a person sells their coach rent control on the space will disappear,” said McCobb. “Why would anyone want to buy it if they can’t afford the rent? There goes our equity.”
McComb says a lot of her park’s residents are seniors who count on the earned equity to pay for care when needed. She feels rent control is effective and helps preserve the mobile parks, the last affordable housing in many areas.
“There are already cost of living increases built into rent control,” said McComb. “Park owners are still making a profit.”
McComb favors Proposition 99 saying it does not affect rent control and still protects people’s homes from eminent domain. In the audience, Bob Warnagieris, an executive on the board of AARP, agreed saying that Proposition 98’s advertising is very misleading and it is opposed by AARP.
Jill Martinez, who is running for the 24th congressional district and currently working for People’s Self Help Housing, next explained how her nonprofit corporation provides affordable housing in three Central Coast counties.
According to Martinez, one of their Santa Barbra developments was re-named “Miracle on Ladera Street” after the transformation of a derelict building into a shining symbol of what affordable housing can mean to residents.
“When people live in poor conditions it affects everybody,” said Martinez who described the poor health and social conditions that tenants suffer in slum-like conditions. “There is nothing wrong with people making money but not at the expense of these people.”
Martinez, working in affordable housing for 18 years, said her organization has built units starting at $400 and rehabilitated old buildings to create housing. Martinez’ cited their newest project, El Patio on Palm and Thompson in Ventura, as a chance to see their work firsthand. Their goal is to give people a leg up and give seniors stabile housing. That message hit home with the crowd and people quickly asked how to bring such a nonprofit project to Ojai.
Karen Kaminsky, Help of Ojai advocate for senior and disabled housing, next shared two stories of seniors on the Whispering Oaks waiting list, the 101-unit subsidized housing complex on Ojai Avenue.
“It takes three to five years to get an apartment,” said Kaminsky. “My 81-year-old client had been living with her son until he was forced to move in with a friend. She’s now in Casitas Springs in a goat shed waiting to get in. Another older man is up by Summit, taking care of property and animals in return for board. Now his landlords are losing their property and he can’t find a room in town for less than $500.”
“It shouldn’t be this way,” said Kaminsky . “These are the people who should be least affected. They’ve done their jobs and been good citizens. We’re not providing on any level, what these people need.”
Sue Broidy, commissioner for the Area Housing Authority of Ventura County, ended the discussion with a call to action.
“I’ve been the squeaky wheel calling for our commission to be more than a pass-through for federal money,” said Broidy. “We need to be an advocate for new affordable housing. I’m for smart, sustainable growth and I think the only organization we should invite should be a nonprofit group.”

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are 13 mobile home parks in the Ojai Valley, always availabilities in them.

Anonymous said...

That's why ojai is now home to the elitist and all there undocumented workers.

Anonymous said...

A well-done timely and truthful look at this issue. It continues to be a polarizing thing evidenced by the two prior posts. It helps to have a mayor who shares a personal
perspective on home ownership.
Where do all the service people
live after working for home owners
who were forntunate enough to see their property value rise? Problem
now seems to be fewer have the
required cash to meet the sales price. PL

Anonymous said...

Ojai is special and unique. The problems we face are not.

California has 500,000 people come in every year, but only builds housing for 250,000. The outcome should surprise no one. And the solution involves lots of (someone else's) money.

Anonymous said...

To revisted this pesky issue, go to OVNEWS Blog and enter "Ojai May Reject State Housing Plan"which is less tiring than searching wet and old newspapers for this recurring theme. And to maybe conclude that things are not so balanced here anymore...

Anonymous said...

California has 500,000 people come in every year, but only builds housing for 250,000.

So, if 4 million came here every year, would we be required to provide housing for them. How about 5 million? 10 million?

Anonymous said...

Who are the service providers who are leaving the area? Name more than 2. It's one thing to claim that the sky is falling, and another thing entirely to actually be able to point a dozen chunks of it lying on the ground.

How do we know that we're not just being played and manipulated by the Building Industry Association of America? They'd look at Manhattan or L.A. and say that there wasn't enough housing.

What is affordable housing? $150,000? $100,000? $50,000? The prices that most activists (and I) are dreaming of are just never going to come around again. What kind of affordable housing do you build for a guy who's making $10 an hour working at the inn?

Last, but not least, is it Wendy McCobb, or is it Wendy McComb? A little proofreading would help us all. (Especially Wendy.)

Anonymous said...

it is Wendy McCobb. Just like the article states.

Anonymous said...

it is Wendy McCobb. Just like the article states.

The article also refers to her as "McComb". Read this entire paragraph:

Wendy McCobb appeared as a spokesman for mobile home park issues. McCobb focused on upcoming propositions dealing with eminent domain. She vehemently opposes Proposition 98 because it contains a provision that will phase out rent control for mobile home owners across the state.
“When a person sells their coach rent control on the space will disappear,” said McCobb. “Why would anyone want to buy it if they can’t afford the rent? There goes our equity.”
McComb says a lot of her park’s residents are seniors who count on the earned equity to pay for care when needed. She feels rent control is effective and helps preserve the mobile parks, the last affordable housing in many areas.
“There are already cost of living increases built into rent control,” said McComb. “Park owners are still making a profit.”

Anonymous said...

Ojai needs affordable housing, not new housing. Our city council had a chance to take a proactive approach to affordable housing, without building new housing, with the initiatives that proposed rent control, mortgage assistance, etc. back in 2006. The city chose to sue the messenger and squash the initiatives.

Let's watch out for a buildout/development strategy disguised as concern for our residents who need affordable housing. Building more is not the solution.

Anonymous said...

Our city council had a chance to take a proactive approach to affordable housing, without building new housing, with the initiatives that proposed rent control, mortgage assistance, etc. back in 2006.

What about the landlord's right to get a fair market rent for property they own? Who, other than the taxpayer, will provide the "mortgage assistance"? What about people who want to live in Ojai, are willing to pay fair market rent or buy, but will be shut out by these initiatives? Is there any way to fulfill these initiatives other than with (someone else's) money?

These are serious questions, submitted with respect.

Anonymous said...

Serious questions, but the answers with all due respect are not very difficult.

Rent control guarantees landlords maintain their IRR. It drives the speculators from the market. In Ojai, we have a number of landlords who are here for the long term, maintain their properties, and hold their rents to their own longstanding IRR. Rent control will help them continue what they already do, and encourage new landlords to follow their lead.

We also have a large number of often out-of-town pure speculator-owners, who raise rent at every opportunity, often do not maintain their properties, and sell in favor of condo conversions and any other opportunity they get to realize a quick profit. Speculators drive over-development, create unsustainable insecurity among our working class renters who don't know even from month to month if they will have a home a few months down the road, and drive the unaffordability quagmire that threatens our quality of life and future. In Ojai, with our environment, demographics and economic base, there is no good policy reason to encourage speculation, increasing rents and new development. We're built out. Go up to the bench on Shelf Road and take a look.

Rent control is the number one best policy we could enact yesterday to preserve and protect the Ojai we have. It should be a no-brainer.

Well-designed mortgage assistance is typically guaranteed by the taxpayer, but need not require a dime of taxpayer money to go out. Well-designed mortgage assistance will actually bring a financial return for the taxpayer.

You ask, what about people who want to live in Ojai and are willing to pay "fair market rent" or buy?

Ojai is finite. The Ojai envisioned by our current planners, ready to accommodate all the refugees from the places they ruined, will not be the Ojai we live in.

If we sensibly limit new development to maintain what we have, you will find that many of the newcomers ready to pay "market" will not find us so attractive - because what they want is to tear down the "tiny" 3,500 square foot home they bought and build a 14,000 square foot new home. Our current planners accommodate that. But it need not be that way.

As far as new people being able to come here, we are getting older in Ojai. Normal attrition will ensure that there remains plenty of openings in our existing housing stock for new folks to come in.

Re fulfilling these kinds of initiatives "other than with someone else's money," I don't follow. Taxpayer money belongs to the taxpayers, acting as a community. If the city allowed the community the opportunity to make the decision - rather than filing lawsuits, squashing initiatives, etc. - we would learn what the taxpayers would like to do with their own money. From the turnout at public meetings on these subjects and the weight of commentary, I am pretty sure where I think the community would vote if given the chance.

Respectfully.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for taking the time to submit a reasoned response to my questions, in a respectful manner. Some thoughts, also respectfully submitted:
Rent control guarantees landlords maintain their IRR. It drives the speculators from the market.
Rents are determined by market forces, not IRR. Landlords who have been here 30 years charge comparable rents to those who have been here 3 years, otherwise everyone would only rent from the first one. And what is a fair IRR? 5%? 50%?

Landlords are, by definition, speculators, but I know what you mean. So you will most likely agree recent (5 years or less) speculators have been taken to the woodshed by current market forces, and cannot sell for what they paid at this time. In example, there are 4 times as many Ojai Valley homes for sale is in 2005 according to the MLS list. IRRs are all over the place from landlord to landlord, and are negative for those landlords who bought properties after 2002. (Their alternative is to default on the loan, or sell at a loss.)

Well-designed mortgage assistance is typically guaranteed by the taxpayer, but need not require a dime of taxpayer money to go out.
By that I assume you mean a below-market mortgage rate (the return is foregone for the taxpayer, in effect other people's money). Or, a negligible down-payment, thereby transferring risk to the taxpayer (a value can be placed on this, too, and we are seeing foreclosure market forces exact the risk downside now.)

Ojai is finite.
Agreed, and rent-control and mortgage assistance will benefit some at the expense of others (with other people's money).

Taxpayer money belongs to the taxpayers
Agreed, never moreso than before it is taxed. And, like Ojai, tax dollars are finite. Using them for rent-control or mortgage assistance ensures that some other good idea will not get funded.