General Questions
1. Do you believe there is an affordable housing crisis in our community? If not, what is your position regarding the need for affordable housing in Madison?
There is a great need for affordable housing in Madison. Because of this need, I have enthusiastically supported the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance and increased funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. I have also supported university efforts to build more dorm space, because I believe that owner occupants will begin to buy and renovate traditional student housing options - typically poorly maintained, dilapidated, and overpriced older housing - once the pressure from student demand for these options is relieved. People willing to put 'sweat equity' into these houses will then be able to purchase and improve them.
2. How much, and what type of affordable housing is in your district? Do you think there should be more or less than the available supply in your district?
This actually depends on the type of housing and what is considered 'affordable.' There is a large amount of student (or basic) rental properties that tend to be somewhat cheap and affordable (though, many students may say that even these properties are expensive, particularly when compounded with rising tuition and other living costs). Buying a home in the district, on the other hand, is very difficult. Houses costing less than $200,000 are very small and very few. We certainly need more owner-occupied affordable housing, and we could use more affordable rentals, too.
3. List any housing issues you have worked actively on in the last year, either as an elected official or as a member of the community.
I worked to pass the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance and to better fund the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. I am also working with the UW and city on their Workforce Housing initiative. This is just getting started, but aims to make housing in the area near Meriter and St Mary’s more affordable to hospital and UW employees. It is unclear how this will work, but a secondary goal is to rehab some housing that has been allowed to deteriorate as student rentals.
4. What is your definition of affordable housing? Where do you see the highest need, or what could be your priorities in targeting various income levels?
Because the rental market is becoming softer, we are generally doing better with affordable rentals. Obviously, there are low-income individuals and families that still need clean, safe, affordable places to live. But owner-occupied affordable housing is much more difficult to find. Units under 150,000 dollars seem nonexistent, and a two- or three-bedroom house for 200,000 dollars is nearly impossible to find within five miles of the Capitol (a distance where it is easy to use alternative transportation - walking, biking or mass transit).
5. Aside from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Inclusionary Zoning, what are your additional new ideas for addressing the affordable housing crisis?
As I hinted at in my previous answer, we need to look at all of the large expenditures for the average family. Transportation, for example, is often the highest, or nearly the highest, family expenditure. This is because transportation often involves owning and operating a car due to a lack of better transportation options. And owning a car prevents people from having money to pay for better housing. So we could certainly consider building more car-free or car-lite affordable housing options, along with improving our transportation system to reduce the need for a car.
To increase access to affordable housing for those with jobs and some financial resources, I would be interested in looking into small-cap TIF to allow people to buy houses that are deteriorated and be able to fix them up.
6. What initiatives in other policy areas could support more affordable housing (for example, transportation, economic development, childcare...)?
In addition to what I've said above, we could also work to increase the number of landlords accepting Section 8 vouchers to help lower income families. In the last budget, I also voted to increase the amount of money going to childcare vouchers. We need to protect community services that help low income families work, live, and afford basic services.
7. What is the position of your campaign on contributions from landlords, realtors and developers? Have you pledged not to accept some or all of these contributions?
Because the neighborhood that I represent is facing development pressure, I have actually taken such a pledge. (Not that I think realtors, developers, and large landlords are going to give me money anyway - particularly considering that my opponent is actually a realtor with First Weber.)
Affordable Housing Trust Fund
8. How much money should be put in the trust fund each year and where should these funds come from?
The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is vastly under funded. We should be devoting $300-500,000 per year to building it. Sales of city property, excess from the Contingency Reserves, payments for IZ buy outs, and the TIF equity kicker should go to the trust fund, but we must also devote general revenues to the fund as well. We cannot rely only on the sources that may or may not come through each year.
9. What percentage of the fund should be used to create affordable housing each year? Why?
Although it is difficult, we need to spend a small percentage now, allowing the fund to be built up and produce longer-lasting funds in the future. That is the hard part about endowment: not spending it and allowing it to grow.
Inclusionary Zoning
10. What is your perception of the Inclusionary Zoning ordinance? What changes, if any, would you make to the ordinance?
The problems we are encountering in getting people into IZ units have to do with developers and realtors not marketing them to their target market. There are several incentives for developers to make IZ fail. If they can claim that no one is buying the IZ units, they hope to be able to get the ordinance overturned. They can also hold the units off the market long enough to allow them to lapse back to market rate.
We also need to find a way to assure that rental units are covered by IZ as well.
Fair Housing and Tenants’ Rights
11. What resources are you willing to dedicate to increasing and improving enforcement of Chapter 32 (the landlordtenant ordinance)?
The city needs to invest more in both Building Inspection and Fair Housing testing.
12. Are there any housing ordinances currently in existence that you would amend or change? Which ones – how and why?
I can’t think of any right now. However, I rely on some of my colleagues with more knowledge of this area to help me learn more.
13. How can the City improve enforcement of accessibility requirements under the Federal Fair Housing Act in new housing?
Increased funding of Building Inspection could help with this.
Homelessness
14. What is the role of the City in the homeless shelter system?
The city should provide funding and serve as a bully pulpit to bring the issue to the fore. City funding is essential to the shelter system.
15. What is the responsibility of the City to provide support services such as case management?
The city should look at what exists in the professional and non-profit world. Then we should decide if that is meeting what we want for the city, fund good programs and fill in the gaps if the programs don't cover what needs to be done.
16. What can the City do to prevent homelessness?
We can provide counseling and treatment to help those who are homeless due to mental illness and/or substance abuse, fund shelters and provide skills and job training for those who need it.
17. What do you think are primary obstacles to getting out of shelter for those people who do have an income, and how can we eliminate those obstacles?
The primary obstacles are finding the funding for a security deposit, getting and keeping a job without a fixed address and contact info, finding housing without a fixed current address and obtaining childcare. Some cities have provided cell phones and email accounts to these individuals so that they can more easily communicate with employers, rental agents, social services, etc., and this is one option we could explore.
Allied Drive
18. During “revitalization” efforts, what can the city do to prevent displacement of good tenants who currently live in the Allied Drive neighborhood?
With many empty units currently in Allied Drive, there should be no problem finding sufficient space for tenants that have caused no problems. As buildings are being rehabbed, cleaned, fixed up, or what-have-you, tenants should be allowed to move into buildings that have not yet been targeted. Then, as rehabbed buildings become available, they can move into them.
19. Do you believe that the way to “fix” the Allied Drive neighborhood is to have 50% homeownership? (If yes, please explain. If no, what should it be?)
I really do not know the proper proportion of home ownership, or how to assure that plans for Allied Drive neither drive out the current residents that have been working to improve the neighborhood, nor descends back into a troubled existence.
