After brainstorming the various housing issues in the areas of tenant/landlord, homelessness, discrimination and affordable housing/development the three groups brainstormed possible solutions to the issues identified. This was a brainstorming session and the issues are organized by the most votes they got by category and the items within the most votes in each category are listed first. This is my no means an exact science and the next step is to have the group look at the solutions, see if there are things missing after looking at what issues the other groups identified. And then looking at which issues are viable for our community. So, without further adieu, here they are!
MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING
– Permanent Supportive Housing
– Mixed use projects cooperatively managed developed with social programs
– Moratorium on rent increases
– More subsidized/transitional/affordable housing – funding, political will, economic incentives
– Lower rents/higher rent subsidies
– More subsidized/transitional/affordable housing – more government housing
– Explore modular housing (ways to build cheaper)
– More subsidized/transitional/affordable housing – tax breaks
– Create more affordable housing
HOUSING FIRST/RAPID REHOUSING
– More Housing First Programs
– Implement “Housing First” – for families and people with children
– Funding for housing first and harm reduction models for folks not ready for treatment
– Building capacity in rapid rehousing
SHELTER MANAGEMENT ISSUES
– Complaint system for shelter residents – independent 3rd party grievance procedure or “shelter laws”
– More holistic shelter intake and assessment; connection & access & referrals to benefits & treatment
– Confront boards/non-profits about grievances
GET POLITICAL/ORGANIZING
– Get more low-income people on city committees
– Community organization and leadership – train people most affected
– “lobby day” regarding affordable housing/homelessness
– Have a public hearing (about homelessness/affordable housing)
– “Gang up” on politicians – do a report card on housing, shame them
– New elected officials
– Letter writing campaign to politicians and getting people more involved/rallies
– Put pressure on politicians (eg. MUM rally)
– Get those who are affected more involved
– Get people involved – get them to do something
– Leadership development/organizing
SAFETY/POLICE ISSUES
– Change debate from safety to creating opportunity
– Improving police policies with respect to t/ll disputes & d.v.
FUNDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING
– Collaborative Lobbying for stimulus $ for affordable housing, Fed etc
– Incentive for developers/way for developers to borrow cheaper
– Take advantage of stimulus money in relation to foreclosures
FAIR HOUSING
– Challenge discrimination based on conviction record
– Private right of action in county fair housing ordinance
– More resources to fair housing
COURT RECORDS
– More public oversight of CCAP – complaints, problems, improvements
– County opt out of CCAP – right to know who is looking you up on CCAP
SERVICES
– Funding city housing staff – Spanish speaking, hotline?, outreach, education, eliminating barriers
– More social programs
– More case managers
– More complete outreach on the street – workers
CO-OPS/CO-HOUSING
– Zoning code rewrite for co-ops/co-housing, redefine family, political will
– Establishment of equity co-ops and expansion of types of co-ops
– Co-op housing/co housing
TENANT/LANDLORD & LEASE ISSUES
– % limits on other fees in leases + rental terms. More standard lease form – charges/fees are clear, not hidden
– Enforce LL/Tenant laws – landlords and set up enforcement mechanism
– Landlord licensing
– Cap or eliminate credits for lease compliance – abused
– Fund efforts to educate and enforce tenants’ rights
TREATMENT
– Fund more treatment slots – at all levels of treatment intensity
– Adequate universal health insurance for mental health and everything
– Longer duration of treatment
– Treatment of dual diagnosis at same time
NEIGHBORHOOD/PLANNING ISSUES
– Creating a minimum/base of commitment to including of supportive housing within neighborhoods – re-framing it
– Affordable Housing in high income neighborhoods
– Rewriting zoning code
JOBS
– Day labor site and access to services at that site (accessible and not for profit) cooperative non-profit?
– Employment
HOMEOWNERSHIP
– Re-introduce something like small cap TIF
PUBLIC EDUCATION
– Education on what spending on homeless
– Awareness/education
– Journalism school/unpaid internships/PSA campaigns/education
MISC
– Raise beer tax
– Client choice
– Look at other models (countries, cities, etc)
– Keep shelter funding – don’t take it for other programs
– Mandatory appeal process for denial of housing
– Increase penalties
– Right of first refusal
– Tapping into UW
Stay tuned for when we have the next meeting sometime in August.
