The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 19.ABOUT THE SURVEY
Affordable Housing Action Alliance is a Madison/Dane County grassroots group of housing
advocates, service providers, community members and tenants who have been working for
more affordable housing and increased assistance for people experiencing homelessness in our community.
Please answer the following questions and email your responses to mfeil@xxxxxx
by March 13. AHAA will be posting the answers on the AHAA Facebook page and AHAA
member Brenda Konkel will be posting them in her blog Forward Lookout. AHAA may be
making endorsements if time permits. The questionnaire is also attached if you prefer to use a Word document.
AISHA MOE
A. Describe what you see are the main housing problems in Madison.
The main housing problem in Madison is really the same as the main housing problem throughout the state and the country: Housing is a human right, but it exists in a system where it is treated as a market commodity. This has led to a decades-long situation where everywhere in the US there are some people who have no housing, while most of the “lucky” housed can’t imagine a time when thirty percent of income going to housing was a standard. I hope to be elected with other progressive candidates who will work with me to move the city toward government solutions that directly provide safe and truly affordable housing to all.
B. Give your opinion of the site for the new men’s shelter, which is proposed for the East Towne Mall area.
It’s good that the city is moving quickly to meet emergency needs. It is disquieting, though, to spend millions on “permanent” shelters when what we need to do is to provide housing to all. That is my ultimate policy goal. And if I ever get the sense that emergency shelter is in fact becoming the de facto city housing policy, I will not hesitate to condemn it.
C. Due to COVID, some residents without housing set up camp at McPike Park in Madison and had been staying there since last summer. The City of Madison is no longer allowing camping in that park and made the people staying there leave. Do you support this decision by the City of Madison? Please explain your position
So-called vagrancy or “no camping” ordinances should not be enforced absent the existence of immediately-available safe, long-term housing. I was particularly disturbed that the McPike Park action by the city was announced during a life-threatening cold spell, seemingly either threatening people to leave what is in fact their homes during an emergency, or making re-entry impossible for those who were forced to find alternative rough housing during the cold.
D. Please provide your opinion of AHAA’s housing agenda outlined in the attached flier. Below, write next to the corresponding number for each proposal whether you support it and give your reasons.
1. Support. I support publicly-funded legal counsel for tenants. Long term, we must make such aid less necessary and challenge Wisconsin’s landlord-friendly legal system, both by extending local ordinances to protect tenants’ rights as much as possible under state law, and to advocate to our representatives for changes on the state level. Yes, I realize that the state legislature is dominated by one reactionary party, a disproportionate number of whom are actual landlords themselves. We should do it anyway. One day things will change.
2. Support for these programs as far as they go. Ultimately, however, we need to provision housing as a right, through direct government action and development, and to do this we must expand beyond islands of “affordability” dominated by the needs of a for-profit housing market.
3. Support with reservations. “Carrot” incentives to landlords are fine as they go, but “stick” incentives that directly affect a landlord’s bottom line should also be considered. For example, if we already commit to getting tenants’ reports on landlord behavior, we should also list those with bad grades. We should consider a public and publicly-funded directory of landlords and housing complexes with legal actions, official complaints, and anonymous tenant comments easily accessible to potential renters. It might be that this type of thing may be seen as potentially conflicting with Walker-era laws passed by landlord-legislators. If so, I think the city should test
the limits of these laws.
4 Support with caution. Let’s encourage and expand alternatives to private rent-seeking landlords. Note, though, that our healthcare system is dominated by legally-compliant non-profits, but its overall for-profit structure denies care to millions. Our ultimate goal should be that everyone has housing that doesn’t eat up one’s whole budget (if the thirty-percent-of-income standard existed before, it can exist again). I foresee a mix of public, cooperative, non-profit, and even non-dominating for-profit housing infrastructure being able to provide this. But the goal is affordable housing, full stop.
5 Support as a minimum. Residents without homes must be reduced to zero, and I see at least a need for one new position. The expansion of attention to HUD Category 3 is good.
6 Support. The public banking provision in particular should be implemented as soon as possible; this can be an answer to many “But how can you pay for it?” questions that go beyond the particular projects mentioned. I hope to work with others on the Council to expand the vision of imaginable housing solutions even further.
7 Support for areas where developers have already been awarded a tax incentive. We must make sure developers keep their end of the bargain. However, I do not in general favor tax breaks to developers or landlords as incentives. I instead favor direct provision of housing through government action, and this is the direction to which we should move.
KEITH FURMAN
A. Describe what you see are the main housing problems in Madison.
The problem of housing in Madison is simple: there is not enough. Madison has always been an attractive city to live in and our strong economy has increased our attractiveness. This has led to a supply and demand issue which has helped make Madison a less and less affordable place to live. Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple solution to this problem, but I do believe increasing density and housing options are key. I’m supportive of the City’s investments in our affordable housing fund, land banking, co-ops and changing our zoning to encourage the goals of our comprehensive plan. We need to continue to be creative to make sure Madison isn’t just a place where wealthy people can live.
B. Give your opinion of the site for the new men’s shelter, which is proposed for the East Towne Mall area.
This has been a challenging issue that I’ve wrestled with and considered from as many angles as I can. Ultimately, I think that the proposed site is our best current option due to the location’s availability and size. I’m excited about plans to co-locate multiple service offerings at that location. I do wish the proposed shelter was closer to downtown, but land availability has made that difficult. It’s incredibly important we ensure that bus transportation is easily accessible to the proposed site and provide appropriate levels of support services at the new shelter.
C. Due to COVID, some residents without housing set up camp at McPike Park in
Madison and had been staying there since last summer. The City of Madison is no
longer allowing camping in that park and made the people staying there leave. Do you support this decision by the City of Madison? Please explain your position
I don’t support kicking people out of parks at this time. We should be working vigilantly to provide options for every individual in this city. But I understand that, especially during the pandemic, not everyone is going to feel safe and comfortable with those options. We have to offer help and respect people’s autonomy in a very difficult situation.
D. Please provide your opinion of AHAA’s housing agenda outlined in the attached flier. Below, write next to the corresponding number for each proposal whether you support it and give your reasons.
One challenging thing about election season is that I receive dozens of requests from groups asking me to voice commitments that I can’t realistically (and sometimes legally) keep. But I can honestly say that this one is the most well-defined and sensible set of policy proposals that I’ve seen this season, so I am really grateful to the AHAA for the thought and effort that has gone into it. I support every one of these ideas and I can commit to fighting for some combination of them in the upcoming budget cycle. That said, this is going to be another challenging budget year and I cannot in good conscience say that I can guarantee all 7. I think it is disingenuous for candidates to make specific budget commitments before the budget details are clearer, as the details of the budget may present opportunities to implement some of these policies in collaboration with other efforts and clarify what funding we might reallocate. I will have this list in front of me when working through that process and would appreciate AHAA’s partnership in helping bring these ideas to fruition at that point.
