Mr. Allen’s recent Op-Ed “Who Does the City Council Work For?” raises important points but oversimplifies the nature of both the problem and the solution.
I write in response as one member of the City Council and my views are purely my own. One of the things I have learned in the last year is that being on a deliberative body of people who have different ideas requires me to listen more and talk less. In addition, even though I want certain policies and ideas to come to fruition, I know that to make change we have to build coalitions. No one can solve these complex issues alone or in a vacuum.
Broadly, Mr. Allen has asked me to answer who I work for? Let me be abundantly clear, I work for the citizens of Reno -- all of them. I work for the ones who disagree with me. I work for people without regard to their economic situation, their religion, their sexuality, their gender identity, their immigration status, their party affiliation, race or ethnic identity. I work for residents, the unsheltered, and for developers. The subtext of Mr. Allen’s article is overly divisive and I don’t subscribe to that. Demonizing builders and developers will not improve our housing stock or stop people from wanting to move here. People who live and work here need places to live, eat, shop and recreate.
I observe also, that the Council can’t tell builders what to build (with very limited exceptions that are beyond my response) and what to charge. At best, in our current legal environment, we can encourage certain types of development – but we can’t make someone build if they don’t want to. Jacob’s Entertainment is investing 100’s of millions of dollars in Reno and I believe affordable housing is on the horizon from this group.
The Mayor’s 1000 homes in 120 days is not a “bust” for the folks who will be living in the 2500+ units that will be built! It is frustrating for folks to claim we “need to do something” but when we “do something” we aren’t doing what they think is the best solution.
Whether you believe it or not, national housing experts universally say that one of the solutions for our housing crisis is more housing starts. We should build more housing of every type. I hope (and I am working to make sure) that we attract builders who want to create affordable, low-income, mixed income projects. And, in fairness to the great work that has been done, we have much to be proud of including but not limited to Hope Springs Tiny Village, The Village on Sage Street, Willie J. Wynn Senior Affordable Housing Project, two Green Street projects in South and NW Reno, the Eddy House, NYEP, and Opportunity Village. There are more projects to be proud of and some that are not hyper-visible / tangible (i.e., rapid re-housing money, standing up a Tenants’ Advisory Board, funding legal clinics for tenants). We are working even if you don’t see it on a daily basis.
Safe Campground? I am all for it. But there are some who are opposed. We are working with regional stakeholders to see if this is a viable option. It probably won’t happen this winter. Nothing can be fast enough for unsheltered folks. Governments move tediously slow and I am frustrated by the pace; however, to find long term solutions we must build coalitions and involve all stakeholders.
Wages are admittedly stagnant nationally but there are limited things cities can do to address this critical issue. Our community was decimated during the last recession. Joblessness and foreclosures reached all-time highs.
Mr. Allen suggests that the City has sought to attract companies to Reno without adequately dealing with the indirect costs (housing, services, stagnant wages). This is really [a] State of Nevada issue. Reno has not “brought in big companies” as Mr. Allen’s piece suggests. The City indirectly supports companies who bring higher wages to Reno thru EDAWN but we have a very limited role in this type of economic development strategy. I understand from publicly available documents that the targeted average wage of new companies relocating to the area is approximately $26 an hour.