A4
THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, NOvEmbER 5, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
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GUEST COLUMN
Make affordable housing a priority
F
or years, folks in Clatsop County
have talked about how to get more
affordable housing. This term usu-
ally means private housing available to
anybody on the open market and costs no
more than 30% of monthly gross income.
In 2015, Astoria issued a report spe-
cifically about affordable housing. The
report has a good description of demo-
graphics and the need. It
suggested code changes
for accessory dwell-
ings. But Astoria’s code
as later amended for that
kind of housing is too
restrictive and hasn’t
been very effective. The
DON
report, however, has a
HASKELL
new and helpful inven-
tory of the city’s vacant,
buildable land.
Early this year, Clatsop County and
all five city governments issued a com-
bined housing strategies report. The study
and 40-page report cost $100,000. The
report’s primary focus is zoning and land
use for housing in general.
For its cost, the report has a lot of
bureaucratic bone and nowhere near
enough meat. Little is new about afford-
able housing. It has good suggestions,
however, for accessory dwellings.
The study revealed none of our cities
applied to participate in a 2016 legislative
effort involving urban growth boundar-
ies that was “a pilot program to help cit-
ies build affordable housing.” The report
mentions public-private partnerships as
funding for affordable housing and spe-
cifically suggests the public vote to issue
more bonds. But higher taxes and more
bureaucracy aren’t the answer.
After many thousands of tax dollars
spent on government studies and reports
over the years, and lots of talk about it,
affordable housing is as elusive as ever.
Perhaps it’s time to try to figure out why
that’s so.
It seems to me there’re at least six
considerations that can influence a com-
munity’s success or failure in resolving
the affordable housing dilemma.
First, attitudes toward local govern-
ment. Negative attitudes of voters can
lead to failure of elected officials to act.
Poor attitudes can result from public
employees who’re arrogant. Or believed
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
Affordable housing is a challenge in Clatsop County.
to be unfair. Or change prior commit-
ments. Or ignore voters’ ballot decisions.
Even lots of potholes, street litter,
or lousy park maintenance make a dif-
ference. Folks usually keep negative
thoughts to themselves. It’s easy to be
against something when feeling negative.
And elected officials sense that.
Second, double taxation. User fees
are government charges on the theory all
taxpayers shouldn’t pay for one person’s
specific government service, such as a
building permit. Yet the taxpayer already
has paid general taxes for public needs,
such as a need for building permits.
Nobody voted to pay more in this way.
But user fees are held constitutional by
the courts. Almost everybody grumbles
about user fees. And they contribute more
to poor attitudes toward government than
public employees realize.
Third, government requirements. All
costs of housing development, permits,
construction, maintenance and repair
are passed on to and paid by tenants in
the form of rent, and paid by buyers in
the price they pay. Most career public
employees, and even some elected offi-
cials, don’t appear to understand the
more costly in time, money, mandates
and complexity government intrusiveness
is, the more expensive affordable hous-
ing becomes.
Fourth, public transportation. There’s
no way housing can be affordable unless
there’s close-by public transportation for
folks who can’t afford to buy and keep a
car or truck. This is a forgotten part of the
affordable housing dilemma.
Fifth, willingness to change. The “I
want affordable housing, but not in my
neighborhood” mentality is deadly. It will
hinder any action when there’s agreement
more affordable housing is needed.
Sixth, willingness to be bold. Folks
elected for local office usually aren’t
career politicians. Most of them don’t
mistake the loudest voices for commu-
nity consensus. But they often follow
staff recommendations that are too timid.
Elected officials need to be bolder when
convinced most of their constituents
really want affordable housing.
Here are a few suggestions:
● Eliminate all county and city user
fees for all housing development and
building permits. To charge thousands
of dollars for housing development and
building permits is counterproductive
to the need to make all housing more
affordable. Change bureaucracy’s cul-
ture to service to the public rather than to
make more money for government.
● Give top priority to affordable hous-
ing building permits. Issue them much
faster, within a week or less. Fast-track
resolution of disputes.
● Allow outright one or more acces-
sory dwellings in all residential areas.
Conform to Oregon law about that kind
of housing. Enact appearance guide-
lines. Eliminate unnecessary restrictions.
Homeowners should be able to quickly
build accessory housing with no hassle
from government.
● Allow outright duplexes and four-
plexes in all residential areas. Spreading
the high cost of land among more than
one housing unit lowers costs.
● Strengthen public transporta-
tion within cities. As one example, cit-
ies could partner with the Sunset Empire
Transportation District for more buses
to be used specifically in areas zoned to
encourage affordable housing.
● Revise building code mandates to
lower the cost of accessory dwellings.
Make it easy for folks to safely build and
rent them.
● When something doesn’t work,
elected officials should try something
else — just like they do in their private
lives. And they need to be bold enough
to eliminate a low priority matter when
a more important one needs attention.
There are good reasons public employ-
ees should be timid about change. But
elected officials sometimes need to be
bold.
● More education about workforce
benefits to business and the local econ-
omy might help the “not in my neighbor-
hood” mentality. So would more educa-
tion about the need. Educate homeowners
what an accessory dwelling is, can look
like, and the financial benefits of a rental.
And assure homeowners that neighbor-
hoods won’t change in character if an
accessory dwelling is built next door.
Whether folks think any of these
suggestions are doable or crazy isn’t
the point. What’s really needed is an
unswerving determination to make
affordable housing a top priority. It seems
to me most folks don’t want to see the
dilemma of affordable housing end up as
just another expensive government report
sitting on a shelf.
don Haskell is a retired attorney and
former Clatsop County commissioner
who lives in Astoria.
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GUEST COLUMN
A vote is a voice
T
he ability to vote is the single
greatest representation of democ-
racy in existence today.
The power to choose and the capacity to
participate in a process that so often seems
out of reach for America’s masses are why
I will always vote. A vote is a voice, and
with a voice, one has the
power to enact change.
Every voice matters. No
two voices are alike.
The importance of the
right to vote simply can-
not be understated, yet it is
often cast aside, one single
TRISTAN
ballot seemingly rendered
TRUDELL
useless by millions of oth-
ers just like it. But in truth,
there are no others just like it.
My vote will not, cannot, be whittled
down to a statistic. It is an encapsulation
of everything I am as a person: the beliefs
I hold, the laws I analyze, and, most cru-
cially, the decisions I make. Every time I
vote, I share a unique perspective, and I
am joined by millions more at the state and
federal levels, all of whom voice their own
perspectives when they cast their ballots.
To vote is to take yourself and your
convictions firmly into account. But that
does not mean your vote cannot be influ-
enced by the lives of others. The con-
cept of voting carries with it an inher-
ent responsibility, almost a duty, to be
informed, but you must also consider the
impact your vote could have on the people
around you.
Whether those people are friends, rel-
atives, or strangers, their circumstances
should have a say in your vote, and vice
versa.
When I vote, I will take a good long
look at those around me, a collection
of people from all walks of life who, in
many cases, are more personally affected
by issues such as poverty and immigra-
tion reform than I am. My vote is not only
a reflection of myself. It is an echo of the
disenfranchised people I see around me
every day.
I have always been inspired to vote,
perhaps in part because I am not able to
do so just yet. But when that time comes,
I will not take voting for granted. I will
mark my ballot, empowered and embold-
ened, because I know for a certainty that
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
A voter drops off a ballot in Astoria in 2018.
my vote is helping bring about the change
I, and others around me, want to see.
Democracy, true democracy, encom-
passes all of us, and therefore it must work
for all of us. That is why I will always
vote.
Tristan Trudell is a senior at Ilwaco
High School. He won first place in an essay
contest for high school students on voting
sponsored by Indivisible North Coast Ore-
gon and the American Association of uni-
versity Women, Astoria branch.