Page 9 - Sonoma County Gazette June 2017

HOUSING cont’d from page 8
PG&E
Contractors are
Inspecting
Gas Meters in
North Coast
As part of PG&E’s ongoing e orts to provide safe and reliable gas service to customers, contractors will perform routine gas meter inspections in Sonoma and Mendocino counties throughout May and June. Contract workers will inspect approximately 100,000 residential and commercial gas meters.
It’s clearly made a di erence. Lawmakers in Sacramento are talking about a ordable housing more seriously than ever; this session, lawmakers have introduced more than 130 bills related to a ordable housing. Those state bills include new funding opportunities, which could help restore the funding cuts seen in Sonoma County, including Senate Bill 2 (Atkins) and Assembly Bill 71 (Chiu) to create new, local a ordable homes.
And voters are encouraging local elected o cials to get involved too. Across Northern California, voters are mobilizing behind a ordable housing solutions during May’s Affordable Housing Month.
A ordable Housing Month included a series of A ordable Housing Weeks around the region over the course of the month to lift up awareness about a ordable housing challenges and solutions, and mobilize the community to learn, engage, and take action. Sonoma County’s A ordable Housing Week ran May 14 – 20 and organizations including Burbank Housing, MidPen Housing, and Community Housing Sonoma County are encouraging community members to join the conversation.
“A ordable housing is not a business, it’s a movement,” said Bruce Shimizu, MidPen Housing Senior Project Manager. “We have to engage and energize the entire community.”
“A ordable housing strengthens our communities as a whole and transforms lives one at a time,” said Hannah Faire Scott, Burbank Housing Director of Community Engagement, pointing to the success of new projects such as Catalina Townhomes, a neighborhood of 60 households that spent more than 2 years helping to build their own homes.
“It’s important that we explore local and state solutions to address our community’s needs,” said Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane. “It’s going to take action from all of us in order to drive change for our seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and hardworking families and neighbors,” said Zane.
This article was written by guest contributors Paula Cook, Hannah Faire Scott, Bruce Shimizu, and John Lowry, who serve as co-chairs of NPH’s
Sonoma County Working Group.
Please refer to the complete Housing Report included with this story on our website at
www.SonomaCountyGazette.com
The contractors will carry a
Affordable Housing Strengthens our Community as a Whole
In 2007, Linda was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and told by her doctor was unlikely to make it through the night. Thanks to swift action from the Stanford Medical Center, Linda was able to prove the diagnosis wrong and amaze Stanford’s Director of Neurology when she emerged from successful surgery. Linda was prescribed recovery time and warned that it may take some time.
Unfortunately, Linda’s employer at the time required her to come back to work full-time, right away. With a recovery that took more than a full year, Linda lost her job and subsequently her home
“I had been healthy all my life; this
was difficult,” said Linda. “It was the
first time in my life that I did not work professionally. I had to learn what a food bank is, had to learn what standing in the line meant.” Working with Catholic Charities, Linda was able to get on a waiting list at Burbank Housing and later get an affordable apartment at Amorasa Village in Santa Rosa.
Securing affordable housing transformed Linda’s life and helped her get back on her feet.
mobile phone or tablet in order to take pictures. They will be wearing a PG&E hard hat and PG&E safety vest but their shirt will have the contractor logo. They will not be in PG&E vehicles but will have a PG&E placard in the windshield. Workers will carry photo identi cation and fact sheets, which they will present upon request.
The PG&E contractors will not enter your home during these inspections. If you ask for an ID or badge and you still feel uncomfortable, call PG&E’s customer service line at 1-800-743- 5000 to verify PG&E’s presence in the community.
This work will not a ect gas service. In the event a meter cannot be accessed, PG&E will schedule a visit and inspect the meter on a future date.
These inspections will conclude in June, barring unforeseen delays like inclement weather.
For more information, visit www.pge. com/ and pge.com/news
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