Costa Mesa council to weigh resolution to advance plan for $20-million affordable-housing bond
A $20-million bond to help bankroll affordable-housing projects in Costa Mesa could move one step closer to November’s ballot, depending on what City Council members do during their meeting next week.
The council is expected to decide Tuesday whether to adopt a resolution “determining it is in the public interest and necessity to acquire, construct or complete certain municipal improvements for affordable-housing purposes,” city documents state.
The resolution needs four votes from the five-member council to pass.
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If the resolution moves forward, the Planning Commission also would need to review the idea and the council would have to pass an ordinance calling for the bond election, city documents say.
The council voted 3-0 on April 5, with members Katrina Foley and Sandy Genis absent, to move ahead with placing an affordable-housing bond on the Nov. 8 ballot.
“If the community wants affordable housing, we can all pay for it,” Mayor Steve Mensinger said at the time.
Affordable-housing advocates have regularly turned out to public meetings in recent months and urged city officials to consider ways to encourage or require development of more low-income units in Costa Mesa.
At their last meeting, council members declined to move ahead with a so-called inclusionary housing ordinance that could have required developers of certain projects to incorporate affordable units or pay fees to the city.
During the April 19 council meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer called that idea “socialized housing” and likened it to “theft.” He added that those who are struggling to find homes they can afford in or around the city should look elsewhere.
“I’m going to be very clear, and this is a wakeup call to people: If you cannot afford to live here and your kids can’t have decent housing, you should look at where you can afford,” he said.
Foley, who had requested that city staff bring the idea of an inclusionary housing ordinance forward, said it’s “ridiculous” to tell families they should move because “we’re just too expensive for them now and they don’t have any more rights to live here.”
Tuesday’s council meeting will start at 5:45 p.m. at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.
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Luke Money, lucas.money@latimes.com
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
