Housing for All Initiative Campaign Delivers 2,811 Signatures to Eureka City Clerk Today, Says Proponents
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Press release from the Housing for All Initiative. This is not a fact checked article.:
Mike Munson, one of the two proponents of the City of Eureka Housing for All and Downtown Vitality Initiative, today turned in initiative petitions containing 2,811 signatures to the City of Eureka Clerk’s office. Ten percent, or 1,600, of the city’s registered voters’ validated signatures are needed for an initiative to qualify for the ballot.
“We are confident we have obtained the required number of signatures,” said Munson. “Once the City Clerk and County Registrar count and validate the signatures, voters will have an opportunity to pass our Initiative and enable Eureka to provide housing while preserving the economic vitality of our Historic Downtown.”
Added Munson, “We are very encouraged by the broad support we found in every neighborhood in the city.”
Once the registrar validates the needed number of signatures, the City Council can select from several options, including (1) choose to adopt the Initiative directly and forego the cost of putting it on the ballot in a city election; (2) decide to place the Initiative on the next ballot (March 2024); or ask for more information in a report from planning staff, which must be completed within 30 days, before deciding to either adopt the Initiative directly or to place the Initiative on the ballot.
Eureka business owners Munson and Michelle Costantine co-signed the petition which, if ratified by a majority of the voters, will amend the City of Eureka’s General Plan by:
- Designating the site of the publicly owned former Jacobs Middle School (which is now vacant) for housing for all income levels,
- Improving the city’s plans to provide housing downtown by requiring the preservation of existing parking,
- Providing adequate parking for new downtown housing.
“We believe the City of Eureka needs to provide more housing to address the unprecedented housing crisis,” said Munson. “The city has a badly flawed plan. It will eliminate hundreds of downtown parking spaces to make way for very low-income housing. The loss of parking will devastate downtown business and do nothing to relieve the housing crisis experienced by working- and middle-income families.”
If passed by the voters, the Housing for All Initiative will give Eureka the ability to provide hundreds of units of housing at both the Jacobs site and downtown. It will also help downtown grow into an attractive place to live, work, and play by preserving the parking needed for tourists, visitors, and workers while providing the parking many families need to thrive.
More information, including a copy of the City of Eureka Housing for All and Downtown Vitality Initiative, can be found at eurekahousingforall2024.org.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
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“1. Designating the site of the publicly owned former Jacobs Middle School (which is now vacant) for housing for all income levels,”
“…housing for all income levels,…”???
WTF…???
This initiative is a total scam!
It does seem the intention is to allow construction of market rate housing at the old middle school with some token low income units thrown in.
The other apparent intention is to guarantee nothing gets built on the downtown parking lots. Those concerned about the loss of parking and addition of low income residents to downtown will like that part. While those who favor low income housing despite the impacts won’t like it.
Think the initiative doesn’t block downtown housing? Maybe the proponents can explain how hundreds of new units will be built, all existing parking will be preserved, and parking will be created for the hundreds of new units.
Might be worthwhile for the City Council to direct planning staff to prepare a report that says what the initiative will really do.
The school site isn’t owned by the city but by the school system. The school system appears intent on selling to the highest bidder, the CHP. The rest of it is just Arkley’s private vendetta against centrally located low-income housing and the EaRTH transit center.
Arkley already move out of the city. So more lost tax base. Put the housing by winco at Perisons or Jacobs. Jacobs is a dumb place for CHP anyway. These idiot who want to ban cars in the city counsel and city officials are the cause of this.
how is it a scam? The scam is this utopian idea of an urban center without cars. Move to Portland.
The scam is that it’s pretending to provide housing, but it’s actually about Arkley keeping his free (to him) parking and keeping “low income” (read: working) people out of Old Town.
My only question is who will be paying for all this? Public or private money? I agree it sounds good but I question whether taxpayers are paying or will this all be done with private (for profit) money.
? do you not understand the whole idea of the petition? Maybe you should not be vetoing.
Define “all this”. If the initiative makes it onto the ballot taxpayers will pay for it; if it passes, taxpayers will continue to pay to maintain Arkely’s free parking. If the lots are converted into desperately needed housing, then the developers will pay for it. HTH.
A half-baked idea in the wrong time and place…
I am confident that the measure, if approved, will fail.
Nevertheless, discuss it with friends and family; make sure they understand what it’s actually about. I suspect most of those 2,800 people signed the petition because the name sounded good.
Easy for them to say from their plush houses… These folks will burn in hell for their hatred of the unhoused
How many unhoused live in your yard?
Being homeless or a non-citizen of this country in California seems to be the best income/job for the least amount of work/physical labor or contribution. They get free food,phones,housing and don’t pay taxes. I remember when hard work and paying taxes and contributing to your community was a way to get ahead and live well. Now the harder you work, the more you pay for those who make the choice to do nothing and survive solely off the system. I don’t care what color you are, what country you’re from and what religion you believe in. Also I could care less what you identify as, and if you’re not sure who gives a shit. If you come to, or were born in this country, pull your weight. I have respect for anyone seeking a better life and being willing to work for it. Those who aren’t should not be supported by those who do. Here’s a simple thing very few people do, treat others as you’d like to be treated. Try it. Do what it takes to provide your family and your self a happy life.
Ah yes, the plush life of sleeping in the bushes and eating whatever someone will share with you.
Luckily, that desirable lifestyle is available to you right now! Grasp that brass ring!
And also, remember:
Social Security is inadequate to sustain most people’s lifestyles, and, Medicare, isn’t free…
If you live and work, you better save and invest, and I don’t mean save up $10,000 and then go on SS at 62!
Have a plan, and stick to it! Bad plans won’t work out, and the government will likely die of mismanagement and excess expenditure plus idiotic initial ideation, long before anyone is helped by all the money being inflationarily printed up…
Save yourself, and working, investing and saving are still the American way… Either that or get a government job that pays a pension..
These “Construction Projects”, nobody wants.
I agree that Social Security was never meant to be your sole income, it was supposed to help.
Most people want these construction projects; you don’t. Not sure why; they provide construction jobs and places to live for our working folks.
danco likes them for sure. tax breaks, easy permitting and after 9 years of operation he owns them and can do what ever he wants with it. for example, evict the low income. you might want to read the fine print.
Just FYI, “low income” means under $64,000 per year, and half the people in the county qualify as low income. Please, do tell your cashier, your barista, your kid’s teacher, that they don’t contribute enough and therefor don’t deserve a place to live.
IGNORANT
THE HOUSING SHORTAGE IS ENGINEERED. ITS A DISGRACE. I AM A CITIZEN OVER EDUCATED. SOME BENEFIT THE REST SUFFER CRIME AGAINST INTERNATIONAL LAW
I’m sure there are agendas everywhere, but mine is safety,health of community. Just my 2 cents though, I’m no big wig, just a regular Joe.
I’ve worked in Old Town for 7 years. The last 2, I’ve been encourage by small, positive changes.
There are 10x less needles, which we were picking up every week. We make 1/2 the amt of calls to LE for fighting, property damage, threats, ppl crapping, vomiting in parking lot, than we did, even a year ago.
This past summer with concerts,farmers market, other events, its more positive for everyone. I think that minimal housing/ mixed use, is positive but if overdone, kills other business growth/ community event, opportunities/tourist appeal.
Why not put much needed housing , where housing and infrastructure already is? Let one tiny part of town be a community space for all, maybe even attract visitors?
Sounds reasonable.
This sure ain’t all about housing for the less fortunate, but it is deceptively worded to appear that way to the unwary.
I abhor deception.
The requirement to maintain the parking that exists on the downtown parcels, AND provide additional parking necessary for any development on said parcels, WITHIN the footprint of the parcel, makes development essentially impossible there, which is the true goal of this bogus initiative.
It’s an absolutely impossible standard.
And rezoning The Jacobs Middle School property will only line the pockets of some fat cats and it will likely become yet another unaffordable, elite gated community.
I hope these few manipulative, self serving, deceptive cronies do not succeed with their elitist, obstructionist, plans.
The Jacobs property doesn’t belong to the city, it belongs to the school district, who is in discussions with the CHP to sell it to them for a new HQ. So the initiative would have zero effect on that; more deception.
“enable Eureka to provide housing while preserving the economic vitality of our Historic Downtown.”
The tourists that can’t find a parking place will love being panhandled compliments of the City of Eureka.
They are lying to you, in confusing language…
10% of the citizens won’t pass any measure, even an honest one.
Development should happen in appropriate locations.
Downtown, close to stores, services, and public transportation, is an appropriate place.
Downtown Eureka is not a good place to live…
Trucks drive through there all night, and there is a large population of homeless, crazy drug-addicts…
If you want to live there, you will not find much of a range of housing available, but there a few nice parts of Eureka, if you can afford it…
Like I said, there is no shortage of homes, but there is a shortage of sellers and a shortage of people qualified to purchase…
Investing in an area and making it more liveable seems better than abandoning it. Lets fix the problems rather than running away from them and/or just bitching about them on the internet.
only people with disposable money spend money in old town, except for bagels and coffee. I shop at winco, costco, and grocery outlet. I can’t afford to shop at ENF or the coop and i consider myself upper-middle class if that is still a thing.
That’s what politicians do…I remember about 20 years back there was no appropriate housing in Eureka, for homeless veterans.
“Designating the site of the publicly owned former Jacobs Middle School (which is now vacant) for housing for all income levels”.
Much better to distribute low cost housing geographically than to create large low end housing projects (which have been crime ridden fiasco all over the USA for many decades).
Eureka needs housing for all income levels to increase availability of housing that we all need.
“Improving the city’s plans to provide housing downtown by requiring the preservation of existing parking,
Providing adequate parking for new downtown housing.”
Seems obvious. These projects are for the whole city, not just the few who snag it. Don’t screw up downtown that generates so much taxes to pay for these projects.
The Jacobs property belongs to the school district, not the city, and wouldn’t be affected by the initiative. Arkely and Co. know this.
“Low income” means under $64,000 per year, so half the people in the county qualify; anyone running a cash register, an espresso machine, a mop, or a deep fryer.
Parking lots don’t generate taxes (unlike buildings) and instead cost the city money to maintain.
Good news…
https://lostcoastoutpost.com/polls/2023/aug/29/poll-so-lets-say-eurekas-pro-parking-housing-all-i/
i just want to express my appreciation for non biased reporting on this site. certain other sites make it difficult to view the big picture through their narrow minded reporting.
despite all the idiots who provide no valid argument other than, always needing to oppose someone or something. good lord people. EMPATHY would do us all good in this life. Karma works in mysterious ways.