Local elections affect your daily life. Make sure you are heard — Close to Home

Are you concerned about the presidential election? The balance of Congress? Perhaps the fate of the country? I know I feel particularly helpless right now living in a non-swing state.

I commend everyone who does what they can to participate in the democratic process, whether you donate, write postcards, make phone calls, drive across county lines to engage in exciting and critical congressional races, or even go to a neighboring swing state to roll up your sleeves poaching in the presidential contest. And for those of you who haven’t gotten engaged because you’re paralyzed by the enormity of it, or you’re too busy parenting, trying to make ends meet, or maybe just exhausted by the hassle, I understand also.

The Generation Housing team is stressed about the elections. And it seems like everyone we know is. But no matter what happens on Tuesday, I ask you to remember and take comfort in this: local leaders and political decisions have a tremendous impact on our lives and the prosperity and resilience of our communities.

Here your voice is valued and powerful. The elected officials you vote for – or don’t – listen to you. They really do. They see your name on petitions. They read your emails. They will listen especially attentively when you take the time to appear in person at council and board meetings to speak about issues that are important to you.

So when you cast your vote, make sure you vote at the very bottom, checking the boxes for state proposals, local measures, and local leadership races.

The local elected officials you vote for will make critical decisions about education at K-12 schools, Santa Rosa Junior College and Napa Valley College. The officials you choose govern your hometown and decide how to prioritize parks, roads, housing, small businesses and economic development in our cities and towns. You see the results of their decisions every day. And they are the ones who will make crucial decisions in the event of a disaster, whether it be an extreme weather event, an earthquake or an economic crisis.

And it’s the things at the end of the vote, when you start to get nervous, that determine the size of your property tax bill, where and how many workforce housing can be built, how we invest in infrastructure and fire prevention. , what types of programs are available to help solve homelessness and alleviate its effects, and more. These are the things that impact our daily lives here in the North Bay.

Now if you’re concerned about housing – the lack of it, the outrageous cost of it, the quality of it, whether it’s housing for you, your children or grandchildren, their teachers, your dog walker or dental hygienist, or simply the housing crisis in the general – Generation H has plenty of opportunities to flex your political muscles.

As for national and local measures, Generation Housing has endorsed it Proposal 5 (increases local power to fund critical affordable housing and local infrastructure), Healdsburg’s Measure O (prioritizes multifamily and workforce housing – not hotels – where Healdsburg needs it most), Petaluma’s Measure Y (prioritizes protecting open space and building, not rural areas) and that of Sonoma County Measure I (just like investing in housing production, investing in our youngest is key to the future of our community).

During the meeting of November 12the Santa Rosa City Council will vote on strong incentives to accelerate the development of the affordable workforce housing we need most.

On Tuesday, November 12, and throughout the year, your elected leaders want to hear from you. They need to hear your experience with the housing crisis and why it is important to you that they take action that is as bold as the housing crisis is bad. To stay engaged on all housing issues going forward, sign up for the Gen H Housing Pulse and Action Alerts at generationhousing.org.

Jen Klose is executive director of Generation Housing.

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