Lloyd Jones: Workforce Housing Requires Political Will

Age and time may be limiting my memory for the details, but it was about 18 years ago that our Representative Sam Farr arranged that the local workforce (firemen, policemen, etc.) could obtain a residential lot on the newly decommissioned Fort Ord for free, a gift to the community from the federal government.  That would leave them with only the cost of building a house.  He worked hard to capture the imagination of the peninsula, to no avail.  Instead, this peninsula allowed Seaside to build a ticky tacky tract called Seaside Highlands.

Many of the racial and societal issues in this nation stem from law enforcement living far from the area they work. (Ferguson, Missouri, is a good example of police not living in the community).  Unless they are very lucky, sheriff deputies here live in Greenfield or Prunedale, or some other berg far from Carmel or Pebble Beach where they often work.
Please think of Sam’s good work when you complain about the lack of workforce housing.  If we think in terms of the County as a singular community, then we can begin to think as county supervisors are sometimes required to think.  The advantages of our workforce living near is a benefit to all of us, and I think we could solve it tomorrow with sufficient will … and still have some vacation rentals.
Lloyd Jones
Garrapata
VOMB

About VOMB

Voices of Monterey Bay is a nonprofit online news source serving California's Central Coast.