Let people vote on tax to promote affordable housing
There are two kinds of elections in Santa Fe. One is where those of us who care traipse to a polling station to fill in some bubbles. The other happens every other Wednesday at a City Council meeting, where five votes can make almost anything happen. Sometimes the issues overlap, but not often.
The times they do overlap is when councilors decide whether to put something on the ballot for a public vote.
The time for that council vote is now, hopefully in time for November’s election.
Local politicians treat affordable housing like mom, apple pie and green chile. Everyone running is for it. But when the reality of a project or a pro-housing ordinance affecting their district is in front of them, they often cower. One would think, then, that voting to put something to a public vote would give enough cover for political courage. Sadly, it appears not.
Some years ago, the city hired an affordable housing pro from Boulder, Colo., to run the city’s affordable housing office. She was smart, accomplished and eager to get things done. At the time, a small group of developers was suing the city over its affordable housing policies. The developers believed it was a “takings” issue — meaning they felt the government was preventing them from reaping the full value of their property without just compensation, something prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
The developers, whose lawsuit collapsed, said they weren’t against affordable housing but wanted the entire community, not just them, to have a stake in the solution. They beseeched the new affordable housing director to champion their plea to the council. They simply wanted a fair hearing. They wanted it put to a vote.
She refused because she knew better. She had successfully lobbied city council
ors in progressive Boulder to put a measure on the ballot funding affordable housing, only to see the public quash the idea. She had discovered the inherent hypocrisy baked into progressive NIMBYism, where one can strongly be for an idea if it doesn’t affect the individual, his or her neighborhood, or the personal bottom line. The anonymity of the voting booth gave them cover.
Many of us thought the affordable housing director was misreading the local electorate. Simply noting Santa Fe and Boulder as progressive cities in the West is a superficial reading. They are not the same. Boulder does not have our roots. It is not imbued with centuries of shared sacrifice permeating the land through the culture of the acequia.
It was not shocking when Santa Fe Public Schools recently won its first mail-in bond election. There was concern, especially after Albuquerque schools also tried such an election for the first time a couple of months earlier. The Albuquerque proposal was soundly defeated, but Santa Fe came through almost 2-to-1 for the bond.
One of the strongest recommendations to come out of Mayor Alan Webber’s recent task force on affordable housing was a guarantee of permanent and significant funding sources for the city’s carefully monitored Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Money from the fund can and does come from many sources, but unlike Albuquerque’s fund, which is primarily raised from property taxes, none of Santa Fe’s fund comes from voters who have taxed themselves. A small property tax raising an annual pittance could do wonders.
If we had taken on the issue more than a decade ago and challenged ourselves to a vote on our values, we might not be in the dire straits we now find ourselves. It’s never too late to do the right thing. Let’s put it to a vote.
Kim Shanahan is a longtime Santa Fe builder and former executive officer of the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association.