During the candidate forum on Oct. 16 for City Commission seat 2, the moderator asked what should be done to address the affordable housing shortage for families with extremely low incomes.
Dot Inman-Johnson emphasized that the problem is with the rental housing supply. However, City Commissioner Curtis Richardson’s remarks revealed that he either does not understand, or chooses not to acknowledge, this crisis that affects over 15,000 Tallahassee families who earn incomes of 50% or less of the area median income of $86,000.
These families pay more than half their income for rent and utilities. Many are on the verge of homelessness or are prevented from moving out of homeless services because they cannot find rental housing they can afford. Many must choose between paying rent, paying for utilities, or paying for childcare, medical needs, or food for their families.
I have engaged with Richardson for three years as a member of a coalition of local religious organizations, attempting to secure support for a city initiative to provide the financial incentives required to motivate affordable rental housing developers to set aside more units in their mixed-income projects for families with very-low and extremely low incomes.
Richardson has vacillated between affable lip service and sometimes argumentative deflection. But he has not stepped up against the wall of disinterest and obfuscation presented by Mayor John Dailey, City Manager Reese Goad, and the city administration.
Inman-Johnson correctly identified the need for additional incentives for affordable rental housing developers, but Richardson responded, “The city is not in the affordable housing business.” He then described the city’s partnership with the Tallahassee Lenders Consortium, ignoring the fact that TLC’s projects have been exclusively owner-occupied houses. He then rolled out the city administration’s favorite deflection, noting that “’We have got more housing, affordable housing, in the pipeline and completed today than we did the past 10 or 20 years combined.”
He failed to acknowledge that most of that housing is for people with higher incomes of 80% to 120% of the area median income.
Our city needs commissioners who are committed to addressing the inequitable burdens faced by the working families in our community who cannot afford the requisites of daily life. We need commissioners who think for themselves and do not toe the mayor’s and city manager’s party line.
I am supporting Dot Inman-Johnson for City Commission seat 2. I believe she will bring the caring, progressive, and independent thinking we need to make Tallahassee a community where all of us can thrive.
Robert Deyle is professor emeritus of urban and regional planning at Florida State University. He has served on the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Board and the City of Tallahassee Affordable Housing Advisory Committee.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Opinion: Richardson ignores Tallahassee’s rental housing crisis