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Affordable Housing? Obviously No Problem!
Published Saturday, November 9, 1996

I don’t know why I own a TV.  I can go to the Rood Center any Tuesday and watch a segment of “The Dumb and the Restless,” and that should tide me over for the week.  I refer, of course, to the meetings of the county Board of Supervisors.  Somehow, fate has given Nevada County residents one of the most amusing and entertaining boards ever.
 
In recent months, we’ve had these treats: 1) a budget that hurt libraries, cops, and just about everything else; 2) holding back on the hiring of a deputy; 3) the self-congratulatory salary increase; 4) a Brown Act violation regarding the “wild and scenic” decision; 5) and (the jewel in the crown) turning down an affordable housing grant. Further, the Board has offered no censure of Mike Ferguson for his deficiencies in the Sam Strange case or his failure to prosecute Deputy Shawn Joyce.
 
Now of course The Union wouldn’t condone my calling the Supervisors names.  It’s not dignified or fair.  It’s unsound editorial policy.  However, their behavior is certainly nameable: stupid, inastute, stupid, narrow, stupid, self-serving, stupid, and arrogant. Oh, and did I mention stupid?  Please note I don’t say “evil.”  I’m convinced the Supervisors sincerely believe in their actions.  Like children with loaded guns, they mean no evil, yet can be quite dangerous.
 
On October 22nd, the Board did a rerun of “The Three Stooges” by rejecting a plan to seek a $600,000 grant for an affordable housing development.  Fran “Moe” Grattan, Christine “Larry” Foster, and Karen “Curley” Knecht voted it down.  Why? Because we don’t have a problem with affordable housing.  Just ask Christine.  The Union reports she said there are some 350 homes selling for under $140,000 in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) book.  Besides, we might be creating “an artificial economy.”  Grattan, The Union says, expressed concern that the county could be committing scarce mortgage credit certificates to this particular project  Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck.  Maybe the Supes just didn’t want to rob poorer people of their dignity by giving them an easier opportunity to buy a home.
 
So they turned down a grant.  A grant!  A grant that would help low-income people and not affect real estate sales (it’s only a 22-unit project, for heaven’s sake).  Oh, I sleep better nights knowing our county is administered by rocket scientists.
 
What Christine didn’t make clear in the newspaper is that a $140,000 home is not affordable.  With a 20% down ($28,000!) FHA financing today would result in monthly PITI payments of $960.19, and (if the buyer has NO other debt) requires an annual income of $34,908.00.  Too bad for the poor.  Let them eat biscotti.
 
I don’t believe she explained that the average price of an active listing is $239,376.  The average price of a closed listing is $174,271.  She may have not mentioned that the current real estate market is terrible for sellers and agents.  There are 1526 active listings, but last month there were only 79 closings.
 
What people need are houses listed at $99,000 or less. The Grass Valley area currently has about 31 such houses. But what makes housing “affordable” isn’t just price -- it’s financing. And easy financing is what the Old Girls’ Network turned down.
 
To be fair, low income people can find a house and financing if they work at it.  There are listings under $99,000 in each of the Board of Realtors areas.  Further, there are some great mortgage loan brokers who will help buyers find flexible financing (like the Community Home Buyer or Weighted Average Coupon Loan programs).  I’m told that lenders are more aggressive than ever, and want to come up with programs that can put buyers in homes.  However, that doesn’t mean you turn down grants to help low-income people buy homes.
 
What a great day it will be when we require intelligence testing for County Supervisors!  What a refreshing day it will be when Christine goes back to writing listings that say “Owner desperate!  Great views!  Won’t last long at this price!”  What a nice change when Frannie goes back to making trophies and Karen goes back to whatever she did before playing at county government.  Can anyone out there remember why we voted for this crew?  No, I can’t either.
 
Barry Schoenborn is a technical writer, and a ten-year resident of Nevada County. You can write to him at barry@wvswrite.com. The opinions of columnists are not necessarily those of The Union.
 

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