Page 13 - Sonoma County Gazette - August 2017

NEIGHBOR cont’d from page 12
When Input Hurts a Community
Saying you want to know that a new a ordable housing project will bring in enough tax revenue for added re and safety is ne, but saying you don’t want a certain type of person in your neighborhood because they don’t make you feel comfortable is plain and simple discrimination, (whether the complaints are based on race, sex, religion or income level). The most common complaints about homeless shelters and a ordable housing is that they bring drugs and crime, and lower property values or draw more homeless people to the area. Yet, none of these complaints are proven in the research.
In 2015 only 42% of Sonoma County homeless had substance abuse problems and it often started after they became homeless.(Reference # 2) Crime statistics do not show higher levels of criminal activity by homeless people but that they will more likely become a victim of crime. (Reference #3) Statistics also show that a ordable housing does not lower real estate values and will sometimes improve them. (Reference #4)
And the fallacy that housing homeless people will make more homeless people want to come to Sonoma County doesn’t hold water either: “Of the 3,107-homeless people identi ed in the county’s 2015 census, 86 percent were residents of Sonoma County before they became homeless.”(Reference #5)
So, someone saying they don’t want shelters or a ordable housing because
of “those people” is actually saying that hard working middle, lower, and no income people can work in Sonoma County but they don’t deserve to live here. Even California is working to control damaging NIMBYism in the state.
For example: A June 1, 2017, statement about a new state bill said, “SB 167 strengthens the Housing Accountability Act to help limit the denial of good housing projects that otherwise meet all local laws,” —Senator Nancy Skinner. sd09.senate. ca.gov/news/20170601-laying-foundation-senator-skinner%E2%80%99s-housing- bills-clear-state-senate
If Sonoma County wants to grow economically, then its
city and county leaders need to find balanced solutions to its collective social problems by not bowing down to irrational fears and discrimination. Most of all, they need to show by example how to collaborate and live the inclusive lifestyle that has been so valued by those who come to live in Sonoma County.
Angela Conte is a Sustainable Community Designer and Affordable Housing Advocate born
and raised in Sonoma County. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Sonoma State University and is currently on the Sonoma County Community Development Commission’s Toolbox Implementation Committee to End Homelessness and a Volunteer with the Sonoma County Continuum of Care. Website www.angelaconte.com. And for more information on community development solutions in Sonoma County go to https://www.facebook.com/Neighbor- to-Neighbor-Sonoma-County-136741853087118/
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