SHA Logo
Weekly Update
May 20, 2014

 

In this Issue:

SHA_News

SHA News
Nominations
One Week Until SHA's 2014 Awards Dinner
Tickets Selling Fast - Reserve Your Seat Today!
 

  

  

 

   

   

Join us as we honor community leaders in the fight for affordable housing and healthy communities within the Greater Sacramento region. At the 2014 Awards Dinner, you will enjoy networking, cocktails, a fabulous dinner, inspirational remarks and a fun drawing and silent auction. Register now! 

 

When you attend SHA's 2014 Awards Dinner, you will see an amazing selection of prizes in our silent auction and drawing. Check out the special packages that we have recently received:

 

Maya Kini Jewelry
Healthy Habits Studio One Month Membership

Two tickets to the Shakespeare Festival

 

Register now to reserve your seat and participate in these prize-filled activities at our special event. Reservations are filling fast!

 

BCLI_Application
Online Application Open for SHA's Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute

    

 

Apply Now

 

Applications Due August 22, 2014

 

The Sacramento Housing Alliance is proud to sponsor the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI), a program that elevates the equity agenda and helps increase the diversity of boards and commissions in the Sacramento region. This leadership training program identifies, trains, places, and supports low-income people and people of color for priority boards and commissions seats. Priority seats are on public or municipal boards and commissions, influencing equity in terms of transportation, land use, housing, jobs, and the environment.

 

If the description below sounds like you or someone you know, apply to the BCLI program!

  • Passionate about ensuring that the Sacramento region achieves equity for low-income people and people of color
  • Interested in one or more of the issue areas of transportation, land use, health, housing, or the environment
  • Currently involved with a community organization
  • Knowledgeable about public policy processes 
This competitive 7-month, 80-hour training program will provide instruction on current public policy topics and the technical skills needed to serve on a board, such as parliamentary procedure and Brown Act compliance. 2014 will be the fourth year of the BCLI program in Sacramento. 
 

For more information, contact Veronica Beaty at (916) 455-4900, ext. 306 or veronica@sachousingalliance.org.

  
Register_HAW
Join the Sacramento Hunger Coalition for Hunger Awareness Week
Hunger Action Day at the Capitol Today  
 

    

Register Now

 

  

Register Online

 

Hunger Action Day at the Capitol

 

State Capitol
9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

 

Members of the California Hunger Action Coalition will be coming from throughout the state to educate lawmakers on the fight to end hunger. Let's represent our region!

 
Film Screening of American Winter

Panel Discussion on the Crisis of Poverty in Our Community and Solutions

 

Join us for a special viewing of American Winter, a documentary feature film that follows the personal stories of families struggling in the aftermath of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Stay after the film for a discussion panel with co-director Harry Gantz and moderated by Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor. Prior to the film there will be a resource fair at 6 p.m.

 

The panel will include:

Help spread the word! Distribute the Hunger Awareness Week flyer to your networks.

 

Do your part to reduce hunger in Sacramento! Make a donation, volunteer, write letters in support of anti-hunger legislation, and more! Visit twitter.com/SacHungerCo for more information. 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Questions? Contact Dawn Dunlap, Chair of the Public Education Committee of the Sacramento Hunger Coalition, at ddunlap@sacfoodcoop.com

 

*Map the Meal Gap, Feeding America - 2012: Feeding America is the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization. Map the Meal Gap 2012 provides estimates of food insecurity at the county, state and congressional district level.

 

SCSP_Press_Release
Press Release: Sacramento Coalition for Shared Prosperity Responds to Mayor Johnson's Press Conference - Community Benefits for Affordable Homes, Transportation & Neighborhood Impact Mitigations Missing from Arena Plans  

 

 

 

On Monday, May 19, the Sacramento Coalition for Shared Prosperity attended Mayor Kevin Johnson's press conference announcing the Sacramento First Community Advisory Council. Mayor Johnson promised some benefits for some local workers and businesses, and youth. However, notably absent were commitments to affordable homes for displaced low-income individuals, transportation solutions for low-wage workers at the Arena and ancillary developments, construction impact mitigations for remaining small businesses, and any safety and community benefits for the residents of the city at-large in exchange for the $278 million public subsidy that makes the Arena & ancillary projects feasible.  

 

Read the full press release here.

 

SCSP_Campaign
Support the Coalition for Shared Prosperity's Crowdfunding Campaign

 

 

Contribute to the Sacramento Coalition for Shared Prosperity's Crowdfunding Campaign

 

The Sacramento Coalition for Shared Prosperity has been working for over a year on a comprehensive Community Benefits Agreement for the Sacramento Entertainment and Sports Complex. After exhausting all other options, we need to hire a legal professional's services to help us achieve our goals. 

 

A Community Benefits Agreement can ensure that the $258 million public subsidy serves the best interests of the community by linking the Arena's development with benefits, such as:

  • Fair hiring practices
  • Affordable Homes
  • Green Building Technologies
  • Diverse Transportation Options
  • Safety and Security
  • Transparency
  • Accountability

You can help us realize a vision for Sacramento that creates opportunities for everyone, invigorates K Street without displacing small businesses and residents, and grows without losing a sense of community. 

 
What We Need & What You Get
  • Your donation will help us cover the fees for an experienced lawyer who specializes in environmental and development related cases.
  • For your generous contribution, you will receive perks that reflect our Coalition's unique knowledge and dedication to the community. Whether you are receiving a hand-written thank you card, picking the brains of our community partners, or celebrating at our fundraising mixer, you will know that your contribution is deeply appreciated!
  • Even if we do not reach our goal of $20,000, your donations will help us spread the word about our proposed Community Benefits Agreement.
Click here to read more and contribute.

 

Arena_Plan
Sacramento City Council Approves Arena Plan 7-2   

 

 

 

Sacramento Coalition for Shared Prosperity (SCSP) partner Russell Rawlings (pictured above) passionately advocated for an Arena Community Benefits Agreement at last evening's Sacramento City Council meeting, where Council Members voted on the project's development plan. This included $278 million in public financing of the Arena project, in addition to a $12 million interest-free loan. The City Council approved the plan 7-2 without the SCSP's set of comprehensive community benefits. 

 

The Sacramento Coalition for Shared Prosperity will continue working to ensure, just as other cities have done, that our community receives a return equal to the investment our City has made to keep the Kings basketball team here. Support us by helping to build our legal fund and endorsing our proposed community benefits.

 

CBS_Interview
SHA's Tamie Dramer Discusses the Need for an Arena Community Benefits Agreement on CBS 13

 

Watch Tamie Dramer's interview here.

 

Fanfare and fallout over the Sacramento Kings proposed arena before a vote to approve financing for the project.

 

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced an oversight committee to make sure the city receives the community benefits team owners are promising on Monday.

 

But at the same time, a watchdog group is warning the project could be much more pricey than it seems.

 

Sirens stopped Johnson during a speech intended to fire up arena supporters. The mayor, backed by selected community members to watch over the community benefits the publicly funded Kings arena will bring to Sacramento.

 

Labor, faith-based and elected leaders were picked to watch what the team is promising to deliver to the city. The deal is similar to one agreed to in Los Angeles for the building of the Staples Center.

The team's agreement include a low-income hiring plan, a union construction contract, making 60 percent of construction workers local, and a $5.5 million contribution to art in public places at the arena.

 

Not selected for the committee was the leader of the Sacramento Coalition for Shared Prosperity, who has lobbied for the Kings owners to contribute money for affordable housing, sustainable wages, and private security for neighbors bordering the arena.

 

Click here to read the full article and watch the video interview.

KCRA_Interview
In KCRA Interview, SHA Executive Director Darryl Rutherford Decries Lack of Affordable Homes in Arena Plan

 

 

 

Please note: While Kings' officials announced that they will contribute $864,000 to the city's trust fund for affordable homes, this amount is one that every developer is obligated to pay when building a new project, and is not a contribution that they are making that is over and above what they are required to pay by law. There has been no guarantee by the Kings or the City of Sacramento that that there will be enough affordable homes in the Downtown area to house the influx of low-wage, temporary, seasonal workers of the Arena, considering that rents have begun to rise and the displacement of lower-income residents is occurring.  

__________________________________________________________________________________ 

 

Commercial real estate developers, restaurant owners and retailers are all hoping that with a vote by the Sacramento City Council Tuesday night, a new arena will mean big business for them.

Developers are getting ready to drop millions of dollars to change nearly everything immediately around the site of a new arena, the Downtown Plaza shopping center. 

 

Across the street from the shopping center on its west side and its east side -- Third and Seventh streets - developers are hoping to turn empty store fronts and empty buildings into stores, restaurants or apartments. 

 

Ali Youssefi, a developer who wants to bring apartments and stores to K Street between Seventh and Eighth Streets, said the key to keeping downtown bustling will be to build housing. 

"I think if we can see higher-density housing in this part of downtown, that's going to really be the impetus for growth that everyone's hoping for," Youssefi said. 

 

But revitalization plans are already starting to displace some people, and a community group said city leaders should make an extra effort to include affordable housing. 

 

"A lot of lower-income residents are going to be displaced," said Darryl Rutherford, the executive director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance. "And throughout the city and county of Sacramento, we don't have enough affordable housing." 

 

About 60 low-income residents will soon have to leave the Hotel Marshall on Seventh Street, where a new boutique hotel is planned adjacent to the arena, Rutherford said.

 

localnews

Local News
USA_Today_Homebuyers
USA Today: More Homes are Beyond Reach of Middle Class - Number of Affordable Homes in Sacramento Decline by 20% between 2013 and 2014
A house for sale in Matthews, N.C., near Charlotte. Photo: Chuck Burton, AP

Rising home prices and stagnant incomes are pushing homeownership beyond the reach of middle-class Americans in more cities, a new study finds.

 

In 20 of the 100 largest metro areas, a majority of homes on the market are not affordable for middle-income buyers, according to a study released Tuesday by real estate research firm Trulia.

 

A home is considered affordable, by Trulia's definition, if total monthly costs after a 20% down payment - including mortgage, insurance and property taxes - are less than 31% of a region's median household income.

 


CalVCP
California Victim Compensation Program Advocate Training Held on July 17   

 

 

statenews

State News
Cap_And_Trade
Housing California: Support Cap-and-Trade Funding for Affordable Homes

 

With no general fund dollars for affordable homes included in the governor's May Revision, Housing California continues to forge ahead with another priority--securing funding from California's Cap-and-Trade program. Funding from Cap-and-Trade will help the state meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals by reducing the number of cars on the road through affordable-home development near public transit. 

 

Take Action! There is a short window (approximately 5 weeks) to  pursue funds from Cap-and-Trade this year. Send a support letter to your legislators today.

 

  

Learn more about Cap-and-Trade and how you can get involved in this important effort. 

  

Contacts: Julie Snyder, Policy Director, jsnyder@housingca.org916.287.9887 and John Bauters, Homeless Policy Director,jbauters@housingca.org / 916.287.9886.

 

National_News

National News
CityLab
CityLab: The Next Century of Sustainable Communities Will be Organized Around Transportation

 

Flickr User Montgomery County Planning Commission

The Great Recession has fundamentally changed the trajectory of both real estate and transportation in the United States. For the past century, our nation's economy revolved around the production of vehicles, highways, sprawl, and more vehicles. Transportation policy emphasized a supply-side approach of building highways to increase the speed and mobility of our nation's vehicular-based mobility system. However, in the 21st century, transportation's focus will shift to a sustainable transport paradigm of managing existing infrastructure (as opposed to building new roads) and improving accessibility. This will be enhanced through transit-oriented development and "networked livable communities." 
 
 
JOIN THE SACRAMENTO HOUSING ALLIANCE
 
 
Our mission is to work for safe, decent, accessible, affordable housing and healthy communities for homeless and low-income people through advocacy, education, leadership development and civic engagement.

Jessica Merrill

Communications Director

Sacramento Housing Alliance
1800 21st Street, Suite 100, Sacramento, CA 95811
(916) 455-4900 x302
jessica@sachousingalliance.org 
www.sachousingalliance.org

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