Affordable Housing Month 2021 Announcements 

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📣 100% FEMA Reimbursement is Now Retroactive

Announcement to City and County members,

It was confirmed today that the White House and FEMA intend to implement President Biden’s executive order by directing FEMA to not only fully cover the costs of moving individuals experiencing homelessness into hotels and motels, but also to apply 100% FEMA reimbursement retroactively!

This means that state and local governments will receive 100% (instead of 75%) reimbursement for all approved non-congregate sheltering costs that they have incurred since the start of the pandemic. For projects that have already been approved, FEMA will amend the existing awards to adjust the federal funding amounts. For more details, see FEMA’s statement released today clarifying President Biden’s directive.

📰 Why We Support Sequoia Station 

We at the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County work to create and preserve quality, affordable homes. This is our mission and it’s why we support the creation of affordable housing, at an outdated strip mall, through the Sequoia Station proposal before the Redwood City Council. Here are some of the reasons why:

• There will be 225 dedicated affordable homes that will serve low income families. This is the most important point. This will be one of the largest affordable housing proposals in San Mateo County. They will also include family-sized homes, which increase the number of people effectively housed. In other words, more roofs over people’s heads. 
• This is not an easy feat! To build affordable homes we need access to sites that are affordable, political will , and money. All of which is present in this proposal. You need to get a million things right and just a few things can go wrong. 
• HLC worked diligently and persistently for many years to pass jobs/housing linkage fees in communities throughout San Mateo County. Redwood City has adopted the best policy because it creates opportunities for deeply affordable homes by promoting commercial developers to partner with affordable housing developers. Without this policy, affordable homes would not be part of the plan to update an outdated strip mall.
• Sequoia station, and all of the commercial developments that include actual affordable housing developments, allow the city to build new affordable homes without taking substantial resources from the county and other sources. This is land we would not have access to without this development and killing the development will kill the affordable homes. We need to support the development of affordable homes in high opportunity areas. 
• We hear the point about the jobs-housing fit. We agree, San Mateo County has a massive jobs to housing ratio that has contributed to the affordability crisis affecting our communities. The solution is addressing the jobs-housing fit at a city scale, regional scale, not a project by project scale. Using this as a battering ram against the affordable housing developments with the deepest levels of affordability is disingenuous and doesn’t get at the structural root of the affordability problem. We want to solve this too. We need to look at how cities are zoned, what guidelines and rules are set forth ahead of time for developers to use, and where we allow for more housing. For example, 83% of residential zoning in San Mateo County is single family residential zoning. While not the only way, there will be a process, through what are called “Housing Elements” where we can address these significant underlying issues. 
• Transit justice is social justice. We need to start talking about transportation. Low income people need access to transit. Sequoia Station is one of the most used transit destinations and is planned for significant increases with electrification of the train and new bus routes. We need to support our multi-billion dollar transit investments (including electrification) with equitable land-use improvements. Preserving an outdated strip mall next to this regional transportation hub has impacts far beyond Redwood City. It impacts our entire regional transportation network.

We support the construction of new affordable homes and believe that new affordable homes are essential not just for the health and well being of the residents of the homes but for equitable, thriving communities. Families don't have the luxury of waiting for the perfect development. If we want to serve our low income, our marginalized communities and create affordable housing, Sequoia Station is the opportunity before us. We won’t get there right away, but we have to start now.

We hope you will join us to support this vision with Sequoia Station. If you want help sending an email of support, please email: amelendrez@hlcsmc.org for more information!

Time to Plan for Housing

As we wait for the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) review and certify the results, our cities are now entering into the critical housing elements process; where our leaders must assess and plan for our future housing needs. While this task at hand may appear daunting and elicit worry over the changes that it may bring from our fellow community members, we cannot allow ourselves to lose focus and let those fears prevent us from trying. 

Our county has been successful because of its diversity and from the contributions our essential workers, teachers, labor, and healthcare and safety personnel. The housing elements process allows for us to put systems in place that explicitly work to expand and diversify the housing options available in all 21 of our cities. If we come up short in locating new sites for housing or to preserve homes that people from all walks of life can afford, we are undermining that success and recreating divisions that weaken our collective strength.

Now is the time for all of us to come together, to embrace our differences and aspire for a more equitable San Mateo County; where anyone who lives or works here has access to a safe and stable place to call home. We can make this happen. 

💼 Menlo Together is Hiring

Black History Month

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