Accompanying support crucial for Marin City

In approving controversial plans for the renovation of Marin City's Golden Gate Village public housing apartments, county supervisors also promised to give its residents greater say in managing the 296unit complex.

The county board made its first move toward living up to that promise. It earmarked $2 million for an “empowerment” fund for Golden Gate Village's 650 residents.

Tapping into Marin's share of the American Rescue

Plan Act, the fund joins two other county appropriations for Marin City, including $5 million toward the renovation and $4 million to open a county services hub in the community.

In November, the county Housing Authority board — a seven-member board on which the five supervisors serve — approved plans for the $170 million renovation of the 63-year-old complex.

While the board turned down a plan advanced by a tenants council, the plan it approved included a pledge to provide Golden Gate Village residents with more power in guiding the management of the complex and a commitment to invest in economic opportunity for tenants.

The complex was built for affordable housing for working-class households, most of whom were Black families who emigrated to the West Coast to work in wartime boatyards. Over its history, its population has been mostly low-income Black residents. Today, 63% are African American and 20% are Latino.

For many Golden Gate Village households, multiple generations have called the complex home.

Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters, whose district includes Marin City, summed the intent of the “empowerment” fund: “The revitalization of GGV is more than the renovation of the buildings and grounds, it is also addressing past harms and inequities through the empowerment of residents with support from this fund.”

The Marin Community Foundation will administer the program. It is also seeking private contributions to the community initiative.

The county's approval of the renovation plan and its creation of an “empowerment” fund addresses years of the county's failure to keep up with maintenance needs of the complex and historical shortcomings in addressing racial and economic inequities facing our county.

At the very least, this is a start — one that could help forge pathways for its residents. If approached with true active collaboration with tenants, it could be enriching and healing.

Given the county's contribution, the public deserves to know how the funds are being spent. It should be accountable in reporting the progress.

Potential goals for the fund include educational opportunities, job training, home ownership and wealth creation, according to county staff.

Given the size of Golden Gate Village — 650 residents — the county's funding may not go very far. But it is a start and the fund's beginning could attract other grants and contributions.

Seeing county supervisors live up to their promise is encouraging. But being able to live up to the fund's promise is going to take more than cash.

The fund's progress in making a difference for Golden Gate Village households deserves to be watched and reported.