Preference for Union City residents and the Decoto neighborhood

*An earlier version of this article was published on Medium.com on Saturday July 25, 2020*

by David Whatley-Zepeda

The Union City Council is scheduled to vote on an 80-unit affordable housing project proposed to be built in the Decoto neighborhood at our next City Council meeting, scheduled for Tuesday July 28, 2020 at 7pm which will be held online due to the coronavirus. The applicant for the project is affordable housing developer MidPen Housing based in Foster City in San Mateo County.

In May 2018 the City selected MidPen as the awardee of its Request For Proposal (RFP) to develop 1.65 acres of City-owned land on Mission Blvd in between D and E streets in the Decoto neighborhood, to include both residential units and office space for the the nonprofit organization Centro de Servicios and the City's Youth & Family Services division.

In August 2018 the City and MidPen signed an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA) to establish procedures and standards — including addressing the terms and conditions regarding occupancy restrictions — for the negotiation of a Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA).

The Developer is seeking to utilize government assistance to build the project including City, County, State, and Federal funding sources. One such funding source is the Alameda County A1 Bonds, passed by voters in 2016. According to A1 bond documents “[the bonds] will help to meet the needs of lower income seniors, people with disabilities, homeless, veterans, re-entry, youth aging out of foster care, and low-income working families, while also helping to stabilize existing neighborhoods”.

City Councilmembers Duncan, Gacoscos, Dutra-Vernaci, Singh, and Patiño must ensure that the proposed MidPen project in Decoto guarantees a place for the disadvantaged groups mentioned in the A1 bond documents in particular veterans, foster-youth, re-entry residents, and individuals with disabilities: they can do so by requiring that a certain number of the units are set-aside for these disadvantaged groups in the Regulatory Agreement. For example, Councilmembers Duncan, Gacoscos, Dutra-Vernaci, Singh, and Patiño can require that 10 units are set-aside for veterans; 10 units are set-aside for foster youth; 10 units are set-aside for re-entry residents; and 10 units are set-aside for individuals with disabilities.

According to Union City Economic & Community Development Director Carmela Campbell in an email dated July 16, 2020, "[Staff] is proposing a homeless preference for the 20 % AMI units" .

According to MidPen during its Community Feedback presentation at the May 2019 City Council meeting, "[the Current Proposal for the 20% AMI units is 16 units...rent ranges for these 16 units will between $436 and $604 dollars per month]".

Now that sounds like a great monthly rent however for individuals with disabilities, many would not qualify for the units because they do not make enough monthly income.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the United States government has something that is called the "30 percent rule"...it used to be a 25 percent rule but was increased to 30 percent. In a nutshell, the rule states that a person should not spend more than 30 percent of his or her income on rent. As the United States Census puts it, "30 percent or more of income spent on housing [is] housing-cost burden[ed]".

By doing simple math calculations we learn that $436 dollars---which is the lowest monthly rent being proposed by MidPen for the 20-percent AMI units--- is 30 percent of a monthly income of $1,453.33. --We also learn that $604 is 30 percent of a monthly income of $2,013.33

This means that the minimum monthly income that one must make for the 20-percent AMI units in order to be within the US Government's "30 percent rule", as stated by the United States Census Bureau, is $1,453.33 - $2,013.33.

Again, according to Union City official Carmela Campbell, "[Staff] is proposing a homeless preference for the 20 % AMI units". --But the fact of the matter is both Staff, Alameda County, and the Developer know that a significant portion of homeless people are not making a monthly income of between $1,43.33 and $2,013.33, in particular homeless people that might be have a disability, which we know from the data, are many.

These apartment units are costing taxpayers over $600,000.00 each to construct---and are being financed by taxpayers on City-owned land---yet staff, the Developer, and the County know that this Project shuts out the most vulnerable and marginalized of our population---because, although, as the Developer states, "anyone can apply"...they know full well that homeless folks, folks with disabilities, and other individuals from other marginalized groups will never have a shot at these publicly-financed units because they simply do not have the income to qualify.

According to a news report by Bay Area News Group last year, ‘It’s definitely not getting better:’ Homelessness up 43 percent in Alameda County, "The number of homeless residents in Alameda County has grown by 43 percent over the past two years, according to new data released Thursday — a dramatic increase that ratchets up the pressure on local officials to address the crisis."

MidPen, the City, and Alameda County can fix this problem by increasing the number of 80% AMI units, thereby adding more total monthly income to the Project. This would allow the most disadvantaged of our homeless population---many of whom veterans, foster youth, and re-entry residents---not only the opportunity to apply, but actually have a shot of getting off the streets.

MidPen has stated that it cannot lease to some homeless people because they "receive services" from Alameda County for example, medical services. Whether or not an individual who is receiving out-patient medical services from Alameda County or any other medical provider---whether he or she is capable of living in multi-family housing is the decision of that person's medical doctor--it is not the decision of MidPen or the City of Union City. These taxpayer funded apartment units are being paid for by all residents, and all residents----regardless of protected class--should have full and equal opportunity at living in them.

David Whatley-Zepeda is a resident of Union City and attended New Haven Unified schools including Decoto Elementary, Hillview Crest, and Barnard White; he is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he earned a Bachelors degree in Political Science and Tecnológico de Monterrey School of Government & Public Policy in Mexico City where he obtained his Masters degree in International Studies. His maternal grandmother is an immigrant from Mexico and settled in the Decoto neighborhood in the early 1960’s during the time period of the bilateral US-Mexico Bracero labor program; with heritage from England that immigrated to the United States prior to the Civil War, his paternal grandfather settled in Fairway Park, also during the 1960’s, and started a family painting business. Over the decades, David’s family on both sides has maintained membership with Our Lady of the Rosary Church, located in Decoto.