At Monday night’s Healdsburg City Council meeting, during a tense discussion on whether to place a housing bond on the November ballot, the vice mayor committed the sin of candor.
Councilmember David Hagele often talks about what he learned from you while he was knocking on doors during the 2016 city council election campaign, and one thing he learned is that some of you don’t want Healdsburg to change.
“Some people told me they moved to Healdsburg because they don’t want to live near affordable housing,” Hagele told the council, as they wrangled over what to do to house the people who make the local economy function.
Don’t shoot the messenger. It’s clear that Hagele does not feel that way himself. In fact, he’s been a vocal advocate for housing that is attainable for young families.
But, he spoke a measure of truth. For the past two years, ever since the housing market began to soar in to the stratosphere, we began to see friends, family and neighbors be evicted in the relentless gentrification of older neighborhoods, a result of our slow growth policies.
At first, watching people get priced out of town and forced to leave caused a lot of heartburn. It still does, but a sort of Economic Darwinism has begun to rear its head as well.
One fellow is showing up at public meetings lately to tell his elected officials that Healdsburg had less than 10,000 people when he moved here, that he expected that it would not grow and that approving more housing is irritating and inconveniencing him.
Others are starting to say the same; suggesting that maybe Healdsburg isn’t for everyone and that certain people might be happier if they lived among their own kind — ya know, working people.
The poorest among us, ironically, are getting help. We need more housing geared for the lowest income families among us, but city leaders are focused on that, while the forklift drivers, carpenter’s helpers, grocery clerks, medical assistants and hotel maids are left behind.
Is this how we want to live, with mostly rich folks being tended to by mostly poor folks and the middle class commuting from somewhere else?
I’ve listened to a generation of city leaders brag that Healdsburg is a “full service community.” We have a lot that other towns our size (and larger) don’t. We have a hospital, car dealers, hardware and lumber stores, a community health center, even a newspaper.
The city infrastructure itself offers a lot, from senior activities, to municipal utilities, to free bus service, to decent parks.
What we won’t have soon is a middle class, unless we do something. I don’t what that “something” is. Unbridled growth won’t help; limiting second home ownership might help; building more granny units would definitely help; but what we need more than anything is the will to help others and be inclusive.
Do we have it?
Update on Citrine Apartments: The 37-unit apartment complex on Grove Street still has apartments open for families who make 120 percent of the area median income (working class folks).
The developers have had a parting of the ways with Burbank Housing, the organization that was helping process applications for the apartments and they are now handling applications in-house. If you’re interested, call 707-800-3864.
Last year, I complained about the “pavement preservation” project that applied chip-and-seal to city streets. I was mad that the contractor spilled asphalt into the storm drain on North Street and the city denied it ever happened.
I guess the creek survived, so I have to point out that the project was a success. Except for a few manmade potholes where the overlay is at a higher level than the old manholes, the downtown streets are smoother, quieter and more efficient.
Another infrastructure project that made me happy was the recent work on city sidewalks. The downtown, especially, was a disgrace, with dozens of trip hazards on every block, as street trees pushed up the sidewalks and decorative brick inlay sank over time. The sidewalks were anything but smooth.
A recent contract to work on the problem involved cutting and grinding down the protruding lips of sidewalk sections, creating a sort of terrazzo effect in places, that look funny now, but will look fine after a winter’s wear.
And, the sidewalks are safer places to walk. Thanks, city hall.
Ray Holley is tripping, but not over the sidewalk. He can be reached at [email protected].
