My side of the line
Making affordable housing work

By Rebecca JamesCourie
Editor-in-Chief

The affordable housing issue on Baseline Road has died a slow and miserable death.  There will be no taps performed, there will be no eulogy, there will be no flowers.  Although, it would seem, that there are some city council members who still insist upon digging up the grave, prying the lid off the coffin and looking at the decimated bones of the project—they feel—died prematurely and under suspicious circumstances.

Rather than realizing the project was doomed from the beginning, some are pointing the finger at the county which, because of environmental and health concerns, pulled their funding.  Must we continue on this path?

Let’s take the blinders off and direct staff to look for other viable locations.  The old COURIER site certainly has our vote.  Although we were loath to give it up, we consider the location to be ideal for affordable housing.  Youngsters could walk to school, parents could walk to markets and the need for transportation would be minimal.  Not to mention they would be right by the Metrolink to take them to other locations. 

As far as the Baseline Road site is concerned, write the check!  Please write the check, give it to the redevelopment agency and get on with it!  Let the police department have their much-needed and larger facility. We have truly given this project too much of our time.  It has become a political volleyball that has been tossed around for so long that it has become ridiculous.  The idea of affordable housing is certainly relevant.  Let’s make it workable.