Action Alert: Urgent action needed to support housing now

On March 6th and 10th, 2025 MEHC sent out an Action Alert to encourage attendance and advocacy for two important meetings. You can read the Action Alert below:

Help us support housing! There are two important housing meetings on Tuesday. Please help us email in your support, and try to attend at least one meeting. Tuesday, 10:00 am – Board of Supervisors, Public Hearing on emergency shelter housing ordinances. Meeting begins at 9:00 am, but this item is expected to happen at 10:00 – 10:30 am. Agenda. Held at Civic Center, Room 330.  Tuesday, 2:00 pm – College of Marin board meeting, Study Session on Oak Hill financing plans. Agenda. Indian Valley Campus, Building 9 Conference Room, 1800 Ignacio Blvd., Novato.

Background – Emergency Shelter Ordinances  Emergency shelter housing for residents in Marin County is vital. 150 – 200 people living on ranches in West Marin are at imminent risk of displacement from Marin. Quick action is needed. The Board of Supervisors will be voting on the Shelter Crisis Declaration and Alternate Building Codes ordinances. These ordinances are required if we are to have a chance at saving our neighbors from displacement. These ordinances would also be a useful, proactive measure in case a natural disaster, such as wildfire, were to impact Marin County Residents. We encourage your support.

Background – Oak Hill project  Oak Hill consists of two developments – an affordable housing project with 115 units of housing and a teacher/workforce housing project with 135 units. High interest rates have opened a funding gap for the teacher/workforce development. The Marin County Joint Powers Authority (JPA) is presenting a financing option to the College Of Marin. Under this financing option, the college, along with local school districts and Marin County, would guarantee filling specific housing units. In exchange, the housing project will receive a much lower interest rate. This allows the project to move forward with units significantly under market rate pricing. There are mitigations within the structure so that if an agency has trouble leasing their units, they have many options before they would be required to pay the guarantee fee. We urge your support.

9:00 am – Tuesday, March 11: Marin Board of Supervisors Meeting   Agenda, Webinar (ID: 947 4251 8384. Password: 352533), Civic Center Room 330 The Board of Supervisors will be discussing and considering an Emergency Shelter Housing Ordinance. Add to MEHC’s support by writing a letter, or speaking at the meeting using our talking points below:The Shelter Crisis Declaration and Alternate Building Codes ordinances are critical to addressing the displacement and homelessness crisis. We strongly urge the Supervisors to adopt these policies. There are an estimated 150 – 200 people living on ranches in West Marin who are at imminent risk of displacement from West Marin. This includes people living in horrible, substandard conditions in Martinelli Ranch as well as those living on the Point Reyes National Seashore ranches that will be closed in the next year. These families are a critical part of West Marin’s community, workforce, and school and many have nowhere to live in West Marin if they lose their homes. The County and the community need emergency housing solutions for these families in the next few months. West Marin was already in a severe housing crisis prior to these ranch family evictions. According to the West Marin Housing Report, there is a need for at least 1,000 units of housing affordable to households earning less than $65,000 a year. Declaring a Shelter Crisis allows Marin County to cut through red tape and act quickly in creating emergency housing. The Alternate Building Codes provide a pathway for property owners who want to help their neighbors by offering temporary housing. These policies are critical to develop temporary housing options to keep people housed and in their communities while long-term solutions are developed.

2:00 pm – Tuesday, March 11: College of Marin board meeting   Agenda, Zoom (ID: 884 8635 9137). Indian Valley Campus, Building 9 Conference Room, 1800 Ignacio Blvd., Novato. This meeting starts with a study session on the Oak Hill project. College of Marin board members will consider the Affordable Workforce Housing Guarantee presentation. The Oak Hill project will provide affordable housing for educators and county staff. MEHC supports this project. Please send in public comment through this form, here are some suggested talking points that you can personalize: The lack of affordable housing is hurting Marin schools. School districts and other local governments are struggling to hire and retain educators and staff due to our extremely high housing costs.  The workforce housing project will provide 135 housing units for educators and county staff. Given the huge demand for housing, the convenient location, and projected rents 30% below market, this project is not likely to face significant vacancies. The program includes significant risk mitigation for participating agencies, including the ability to sublet these units to another agency or even rent them to the general public if necessary.  There are enormous benefits to this project. The Joint Powers Authority (JPA) has put in place a structure that provides significant risk mitigation for the schools. We believe these benefits far outweigh the theoretical risks.  Delaying this project to seek alternative forms of financing will be costly and puts this project at risk. There is no other significant project in the pipeline targeted to our teachers and local government workforces. Let’s not miss this opportunity.