Healdsburg middle class, working class income residents, like me, Oppose Measure O because it may have the opposite effect of its stated objective. We need more of the How and less of the Why.
How does this ballot measure assure all this building will achieve its stated purpose?
I am FOR Housing. I am FOR growing Middle Class housing units in Healdsburg. It is far more complicated and will require so much more than opening up a “Market” and believing that building more and more housing density in Healdsburg means lower prices for teachers, like me.
The No on O group will be under a Large Tent. Why? Because there are numerous reasons and values to not “Trust” or support the vague, unanimously supported by our five city council members, ballot measure.
I actually worked very hard to elect Chris Herrod, I walked for him. I currently support Ariel Kelley for city council. Both are PRO O. I disagree with them on this measure.
My concerns are rooted in my understanding(s) as a former council member and Healdsburg mayor, 2014-2018. Look at the map of the geographical areas Measure O opens up for MF building! Too broad of a stroke!
And MF, defined by our current city manager and the state of CA, means a unit with a shared wall. Period. Not income-based. The Mill District’s 2- 6 million dollar units are MF. Look at those as an anomaly, I see them as a reality. Their HOAs are for ultra-luxury affordability!
No extreme thinking here. All the land , South of the Memorial Bridge, adjacent to our Russian River Watershed, the very source of our water security, is included in this “incentive to build dense, MF units.” Why not create a vision for south of the bridge before you open up such a huge expanse of land to the market?
The Measure O supporters are primarily politicians and people who will financially benefit from The Deal.
What IS the Deal? We do not know. But Measure O, if approved by Healdsburg voters, will never achieve more than 20% below market rate housing, rental or for sale, and those luxury condos will have HOA’s and could potentially be vacant, second ( third) homes for new folks rather than the market audience, the Missing Middle, we are told by the city we are helping. Why not get these guardrails in place so investors and developers have a sense of their responsibility to our town’s stated goal: Middle income housing?
I was shocked to see some of the opposition’s names against O; people who certainly did not vote for me, a Progressive, public school teacher, with No Business ties, and a passion for Water Security for our Earth, our town. I am a Climate Activist and I am well aware, after serving on the Healdsburg City Council, how critical it is To Get This Right. Our town’s land use should be housing with a transit-oriented focus.
We have that opportunity with our publicly-well-funded by our tax dollars SMART station.
Start there!
Housing in Healdsburg has been blocked by more than the 2020 GMO ballot initiative, and Building more, without guardrails, is not the solution! What about enforcing illegal vacation rentals in our neighborhoods? Why not look at a Healdsburg Housing Trust? A Housing Bond? Why not protect our current housing stock? Why not explore more tools to secure workforce housing as well as build more?
Measure O opponents come from a broad spectrum of our community. I do not support their choices for city council, their choices on the CC’s Climate Mobilization Strategy’s fate, their stance on vaccination, the way some have behaved towards elected officials l, including me!, but we DO agree on getting Growth Right for Our Town.
Please know it is a well-funded effort to Support O.
Check out their signage; it is coming. Who paid and is paying for their really overblown campaign For Measure O?
Read the ballot language carefully and consider the “unintended consequences” of this flawed, overblown, way-too- far-reaching ballot measure.
Fear does not motivate me. Being a steward of our small town, its real wealth, the People, and our previous watershed, our Russian River inspires me to oppose this “solution” to the very challenging issue of more needed Healdsburg housing— for working families, our vital employees, and to protect our healthy, inclusive, environmentally-sound future.
Staying civil and inclusive, Vote No on O.
We CAN do better. We will do better.
Brigette Mansell