Housing Advocacy Statements

“I live in a one bedroom apartment that can’t hold a family of five. Our rent has gone up, and it is far from school. I am always late. Housing can bring more families, make a diverse and connected community, provide privacy, and can be comfortable, letting you sleep well. It is crowded everywhere, with big families trying to live in small spaces. It’s a broader problem, because it can also cause the population to decrease, with less students, teachers and families. Make housing affordable for families with low income!”

“I don’t think decision makers understand how not having a stable home can mess with a young person’s mental health and well-being.”

“I struggle with housing as I am in a family of four in a one bedroom apartment. My parents do what they can to stay in Sonoma without going bankrupt—that is what we don’t want. They have to take care of two kids and pay bills and rent. It’s very expensive in Sonoma and in the future it might result in leaving Sonoma. The thing about housing is that it gives you a place to stay at night. Having it is the way we live and needs to lower in price, and lower income housing needs to be built.”

“[We need] more lower-income houses, less larger houses being occupied by individuals instead of families, less vacation homes where locals don’t live. People growing up here can’t afford to stay. Protect people from getting moved out and being unable to be somewhere after it’s renovated.”

“Living in a household of 6 in a small trailer home, an obstacle that my family and I feel is the limited space we deal with, the high prices, and poor house condition. Something I value about housing is privacy that each of my family members don’t have. We all live in a crowded environment where we need to pile up in a few rooms. The high cost of rent and bills causes struggle to afford basic daily-life necessities. My daily-life obstacles are a broader problem, because if I don’t have privacy, that limits my ability to study and have a place to do my school work without interruptions. Many of my school peers can relate to my struggle. The high cost will cause people to move out of Sonoma to a more affordable place. This will cause the school population and community population to decrease in a town that should be our home. There needs to be a vital change to occur in our community. Instead of having people escape and seek out different places to call a home, you need to help families and people stay and receive the resources they need for living an enjoyable lifestyle.”

“Considering how many low-paying jobs support Sonoma being a tourist destination, the lack of housing that people in those jobs can afford is going to slowly cripple this community.”

“My math teacher, a person who most people at the high school know, is struggling to afford to live in Sonoma. One time in class me and my friends were discussing why we don’t really like Sonoma. We looked up the average mortgage for a house in Sonoma County and looked up the average paycheck for a teacher in Sonoma County: the average mortgage was about $2,700 while the paycheck came to around $2,500. We brought this up to the teacher, and she says the only reason she can afford her home is because her dad was in the military. Stability is important with housing. We can’t have our teachers moving every couple years because they can’t afford housing. This affects teachers and civilians. It can make civilians want to leave Sonoma County. We need the municipal and County government to build and make plans for more affordable housing in the Springs, unincorporated and city areas.”

“My aunt lives in a comfortable two bedroom condo downtown. This is well located and good for one person, but very costly. My cousin has access to walking to school, nice restaurants and near the central location of our community’s events. In comparison, I live in a low income trailer park in a three bedroom home. I have a much tougher time getting around to work and places I’m expected to be as a student.”

“Mi amiga es Monica, ella tiene 3 hijos, su esposo tuvo un accidente y esta en casa. Ella es la unica en casa que trabaja y no puede más con la renta y los gastos. Ellos se cambiaran de Estado para poder ayudarse. Como padre de familia tener la segurid de que mis hijos tengan donde dormir y vivir tranquilamente es importante.Es un problema porque costo de la renta es mas alto y el saldo laboral es reducido habra mucha gente (familias) sin hogar. Necisitamos Disminuir el costo de las rentas al igual que los requisitos. Tener una vivienda mas arreglada”

“Mi vecina busco casa para 5 o 6 personas y encontro una casa con 4 cuartas en $3,500, y una que vio antes de 2 cuertos costaba lo mismo, existe un estandar en tarifa de rentas o porque es esta diferencia tan ilogica. El benefecio de vivienda estabilidad economica, emocional, de salud integracion grupal, familiar y social. Es un problema más amblio por que no tiene una estabilidad las rentas y se abusa de la economia de las personas que lo habitan. Mi llamada de Acción es estandarizar renta, conocer relgas, implementar consejos.”

“La vivienda es un obstáculo hoy en día porque se enfrenta personas a el mas alto costo e injusticias en los incrementos y desalojos. Tener vivienda asequible es tener estabilidad familiar y seguridad financiera. Necisitamos sequir ayudando haciendo llegar la informactión sobre el problema de vivienda y dar el seguimiento para el beneficio en general.”

“Mi casa no cuenta con un buan sistema de calefaccion, en esta momento literalmenete es un refrigorador, las puartas y ventanas estan descuadrados por lo tento hay fuga de calor, los cristales de las ventanas sus vidrios son delgados, el incremento en consumo de luz es muy grande. El beneficio de vivienda asequible tranquilidad de no tener gue trabjarar por tiempos mucho mayoros para podor cubrio las necesidados. La solucion es conociminento de los derechos y obligaciones.”

“My name is Nidia Figueroa, and I am here representing and advocating for La Luz Center’s community members who are often low-income and Latino. La Luz Center is a non-profit organization established more than 37 years ago that provides services to the underprivileged population in Sonoma Valley and is a member of the Sonoma Valley Collaborative. Our clients and community members are being driven out of their homes and communities as a result of increasing rent prices and the continuous threat of eviction. When there are no affordable and safe homes for our low-income and Latino community to live in they will continue to be driven out of this county. This is why we are asking for improvements in the draft for stronger protections for existing lower-cost rentals, deed-restricted or not, and more of a focus on homes for people with low or very low incomes.”

“Sonoma Valley Hospital is part of the Sonoma Valley Health Care District which serves 45,000 residents in its district. With 345 employees we are one of the largest employers based in City of Sonoma and in Sonoma Valley. We are in support of the development of housing, specifically affordable housing throughout Sonoma Valley (City of Sonoma included). The hospital sees housing insecurity in both our patients and our staff. It contributes to health issues within our community, rent vs prescriptions. It is even an impediment to the recruitment of new graduates and early career physicians. Currently 70% of staff does not live in the health care district, this number is unfortunately growing. Our workforce represents the “missing middle” without which our community will struggle to remain balanced as a “live-here and work-here” community. It makes recruitment and retention of hospital employees challenging. We support creative collaborations that yield fair and inclusive results for all in need of housing for buyers, renters, multigeneration families, individuals, and those currently without shelter. We are part of the Sonoma Valley Collaborative and support their core recommendations as articulated in their statements. I am Celia Kruse de la Rosa, a Director from Sonoma Valley Hospital. ”

“My name is Lauren Feldman and I am a small business owner in the City of Sonoma. I own a restaurant called Valley on the Sonoma plaza. I love our community, care passionately about the environment, and am incredibly frustrated by the housing crisis in our small town. As a business owner and life-long local, I have to believe that there is a place where all three of these values can intersect. In trying to staff my restaurant, I became increasingly frustrated by the number of single-family homes and “vacation condos” that sit empty the majority of the year. These are homes that could be rented by my staff members or lived in full-time by fully engaged members of our community, and potential guests in my restaurant. I believe that, while we do need more affordable housing within the city limits, there are a number of large properties where additional dwelling units could easily be built while still preserving the existing neighborhoods that we know and love, but also increasing some new density building up JUST ONE LEVEL, close to downtown where potential staff wouldn’t have as much need for transportation – better for the environment as well. We need to ease approvals and reduce costs for people willing to build additional units on their own land and we need to reduce the number of whole-house vacation rentals and second/empty homes. We need to create access and opportunities for diversity of our population by creating housing in places where housing/buildings already exist and are underused. ”

“I’m lucky. I’m a nonprofit executive, and I’m the highest-paid employee at my organization. My husband makes a similar wage. But, we are renters. We can’t afford to buy a house in Sonoma. Neither of us has family wealth, we continue to pay off student debt, and we have childcare costs. If our rent goes up, I’m not sure where we’ll go, or whether we’ll be able to stay in Sonoma Valley. If my family can’t afford a house, then many other families in Sonoma must be worse off. All of us are stuck in uncertainty, unsure whether we’ll be able to stay here, unsure of whether we can raise our family here, and unsure of whether we can continue to serve this community. But the thing is, we are your teachers, your healthcare workers, your firefighters, your police officers, and even your community leaders. If we can’t afford to stay here, that means a big loss for Sonoma. To create stability for families like mine, we need to establish stronger protections for tenants, including rent control. And we need to lower the purchase price of housing, so that families like mine can enter the market and put down real roots here. Let’s increase our local housing stock by reducing second homeownership and curbing vacation rentals, so that more of our existing housing becomes available to the local families who contribute to Sonoma’s economy, culture, and well-being. ”

“At the hospital, it’s becoming more and more evident that the lack of affordability is affecting us. Ten years ago, 40% of our employees lived in Sonoma Valley, now it’s about 30%. That has significant impacts to staff availability, commuting costs, and community engagement.”

“I am the pastor at the First Congregational Church in Sonoma. In 2017, a number of my parishioners lost their homes. Long-time Sonoma Valley residents had to ask neighbors or friends for places they could live for an indeterminant amount of time until their houses could be rebuilt. One of those families eventually was able to buy a house. The house they bought has no internal heating. It had plumbing that didn’t work. It had repairs that needed to be made for over 30 years. This was the only house they could afford. They’d lived in Sonoma for 45 years. After the Tubbs Fire, housing became more difficult to find for everyone. Our Preschool Director approached me yesterday with tears in her eyes, to tell me that she needed to close a classroom. Not because she didn’t have students to enroll, but because she couldn’t attract a teacher to live in Sonoma at work for what the school could afford to pay her. There are children in our Valley who need school support. We can’t afford teachers for the children in need.”

“As a lifelong resident of Sonoma Valley (having lived in Boyes Hot Springs, Glen Ellen, the City of Sonoma, and Kenwood) the time for serious investment in affordability, retention of local community, and bold leadership for a housing blueprint that promotes equity for the workers and families that are the backbone of the community and local economy is long overdue. Please consider the hard work and countless hours invested in the broadly supported recommendations such as those brought to you by the Sonoma Valley Collaborative. Inaction has only led to stagnation and further delayed the community investment owed to both City and Unincorporated residents. We need only look towards the type of work and collaboration accomplished during the fires and other natural disasters of the last 5 years to know that we can come together now WITHOUT crisis at our doorstep...and the economic and less visible crisis has been around for quite some time.”

“I would like to advocate for the “missing middle.” My husband and I have lived in the Bay Area for 13 years and the city of Sonoma for 3. We are both professors at the University of San Francisco teaching ethics, ecology, and religion. Together we make around $110k/year. We love Sonoma because of the people and community, and have been on the market as first-time homebuyers. We recently got pre-approved, and our number could only afford us a mobile home here. A recent study came out from Northeastern University demonstrating that local crime rates rose as Airbnb vacation rentals rose. This was due to a decrease in social cohesion and behavioral accountability in neighborhoods. In short: the more vacation rentals and vacant homes in an area, the more detrimental it is to building robust and cohesive communities in the long term. I echo others in support of taxing vacant and second homes (and allocating those funds to a trust) to incentivize community-building. ”