Overview:
The Fresno Housing Authority hosted its inaugural State Of Affordable Housing event at the Painted Table Event Center on Friday morning — inviting the community to listen to city, county and state leaders discuss and forecast affordable housing in Fresno.
The event championed the work of affordable housing developers, while also reminding them that more work must be done to meet Fresno’s needs.
As the City of Fresno faces housing challenges on multiple fronts, Mayor Jerry Dyer said he believes housing is a “fundamental right.”
The mayor’s remarks came late last week during the Fresno Housing Authority‘s inaugural State Of Affordable Housing fundraiser at the Painted Table Event Center.
Among the sold-out event’s featured guest speakers were Dyer, Fresno Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Magsig and Gustavo Velasquez, the director of the California Department of Housing And Community Development.
The event saw about 400 people in attendance — a mix of media, affordable housing developers, elected officials and community leaders.
Dyer noted the affordable housing crisis happening in the city – and across the country. While acknowledging the challenges in developing affordable housing and in the housing market, he also spoke in support of the work done by many in the audience.
“It seems like at times, everything is stacked against us,” Dyer said. “And when you combine that with trying to do economic development and revitalize your downtown area through housing, it makes that task even harder.
“But I want to say it’s worth it,” Dyer added. “It’s worth every bit of energy that we spend on housing because housing security is a fundamental right. It is (an) absolute human right. We do not want people living on our streets, and we certainly don’t want families of five living in a one-bedroom home, which happens far too often in our city.”
The Fresno housing market was recently ranked the ninth-most-competitive rental market in the entire country by Forbes.
In 2019, fair market rent in Fresno was around $769 per month, HUD data shows. Now that same rental home goes for about $1,157, a 50% increase that pencils out to nearly $400 more monthly.
Dyer later said local governments, including the City of Fresno, play a key role in local jurisdictions meeting their affordable housing needs.
“One thing I know for certain,” Dyer later added. “If local government is going to be involved in housing and affordable housing, we have to share the risk in order to offset costs to developers.
“Local government must drive housing,” Dyer added. “If not, our unsheltered population in our community will increase dramatically.”
During a contentious budget drafting process that saw difficult decisions made on what to keep and cut to stay out of a deficit, the City of Fresno managed to find funding to keep supporting its Eviction Protection Program. Other city programs, however, like the Voucher Incentive Program and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program have either been shelved or are expected to sunset without a plan for renewal.
The programs were initially funded using American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Cal HCD also found Fresno’s proposed Housing Element noncompliant earlier in the year.
The Fresno Housing Authority is unique among housing authorities in that it has the resources to be a developer, too. That privilege, the Authority says, is what has helped build and manage many of the affordable housing units in Fresno today.
Fresno Housing Authority CEO Tyrone Roderick Williams championed the work of the organization by giving an anecdote of a woman named Tiffany – who he said was able to secure a degree and job in engineering, as well as safe and secure housing thanks to them.
Williams also hosted a panel with three powerful leaders helping drive affordable housing across the state — Cal HCD Director Velasquez, Alanna McCargo, President and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and Tiena Johnson Hall, the executive director of the California Housing Finance Agency.
When asked by Williams what the next steps for Fresno will look like once they’ve built enough affordable housing, Hall said housing options for middle-income families.
Black and Latino Fresnans face significant barriers to buying their first home, according to this year’s annual report by the California Association of Realtors. The introduction of median-priced homes could alleviate the pressure felt by the majority of Fresno’s prospective homebuyers.
Velasquez said that Proposition 1 funding will be crucial, as well as the city and county being able to work in tandem with resource allocation.
Proposition 1 is a state measure that passed in the March 5 election authorizing more than $6 billion in bonds toward the creation of more mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities, as well as some affordable housing.
“What I’m going to ask here is, I know you already work together,” Velsaquez said. “But the partnership between the county and the city of Fresno and the Housing Authority is going to be key for this program to provide a lot more housing for people, especially unsheltered people who live on the streets.”
