Proposition Is Latest Volley In Debate Over Housing Costs

Proposition 1C would grant nearly $3 billion in funding for low-income housing and emergency shelters, but opponents say it would not lower home prices in California.

The proposition is one of five infrastructure bond measures on the Nov. 7 ballot. Under the proposition, the state would issue $2.85 billion in bonds from the General Fund to shelters for battered women and to housing for low-income citizens.

The initiative is one of four bond measures that call for a total of $37.3 billion. The fifth bond measure, Proposition 1A, would not have direct costs on the state.

Proposition 1C would divide the new bonds into development projects in urban areas and near public transportation, homeownership programs, multifamily housing and other housing projects.

The measure would provide money to buy land and fund pre-development costs including permits, said Janice Jensen, executive director of Habitat for Humanity East Bay, which has endorsed the proposition.

Berkeley housing officials said similar propositions in the past, including Proposition 46—which passed in 2002 and provided $2.1 billion for state housing programs—have been important sources of funding for the city.

“If (Proposition 1C) doesn’t pass, there’s a gap in funds,” said Jane Micallef, the city’s homeless policy coordinator.

The $2.85 billion in bonds for Proposition 1C would be paid back at an average cost of $204 million per year—including interest over time—over the 30-year life of the bonds, for a total of more than $6 billion.

Bill Leonard, a member of the California Board of Equalization, said the initiative’s funds would be a drop in the bucket.

The real solution would be to change the rules and regulations limiting housing production, he said.

“(The proposition) won’t do anything to lower the price of houses in California,” he said. “(Proposition) 46 helped a few thousand families. The rest of us haven’t noticed a change in housing markets.”

The Berkeley City Council has endorsed the proposition and Councilmember Kriss Worthington said it would be an investment in affordable housing, which is important as many Berkeley residents must share rooms.

In Alameda County, 10 percent of residents cannot afford to buy a median-priced home, said Marco Montenegro, program director of East Bay Housing Organizations.

The average cost of a home in the Bay Area is just more than $600,000. The California Republican Party opposes the proposition because it would not achieve the desired result, said Patrick Dorinson, communications director of the state Republican Party.

“While Republicans understand the need for affordable housing in (California), the delegates at the convention in August decided that there must be a better way to do it,” he said.

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