Saturday, May 18, 2013

Susan Adams is Bypassing Constituents

 
 
 
Recall aside, there are real issues in Marinwood and Lucas Valley with planned housing and Supervisor Susan Adams.
The Housing Element being decided by our supervisors envisions about 550 apartments for our community — over 70 percent of the affordable housing assigned to all unincorporated areas.
This inequitable and unsustainable plan does not spread the cost for supporting housing countywide — it is all on us.
Why this implicates Supervisor Adams?
• She fails to make her constituents aware, hear our input and ultimately represent us. Despite multiple requests for an open forum, she attends only small gatherings, avoiding official comment and public scrutiny of this plan.
• She fails to provide meaningful answers, let alone solutions. She cites workers who can't afford homes here, without explaining how it diversifies and holds accountable Marin to impose this much housing upon one community.
• She overlooks facts. Most of our current workforce makes too much family income to qualify for affordable housing.
• Despite what she says, we cannot hand-pick future residents — that would be discriminatory, and against HUD's incentives for recruiting low-income families from other counties.
• Her concern about density hurting our schools comes too late in the process. And schools are but one part of our infrastructure. In advocating for planned housing, she has missed its most obvious negative impacts on our community.
• Her reasoning that we either support this plan or oppose affordable housing is counterproductive. Her constituents support integrative development; we need not be against affordable housing to be against a bad plan.
• She ignores legitimate concerns and insults those seeking to sustainably diversify Marin.
These tactics contradict Marin's vision of a joint collaboration between planners and residents. The end never justifies the means.
Despite how passionate one may be to fairly house Bay Area residents, this result should not come at the expense of a democratic process and without a workable plan.

Vladimir Bogak, Marinwood

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