There was an unmistakable sign on Thursday of just how severe the affordable housing crisis is in Oakland.
Hundreds of senior citizens stood in line, many of them overnight, for a shot at a waiting list for subsidized housing.
The average rent in Oakland now is $2,400 a month and to meet its own goals, the city should have 870 new units of affordable housing every year. Last year, they permitted 40.
This is one of those programs that annoy me to no end. I understand the benefit of providing the needy housing but the implementation is ripe for abuse. Have been going through a number of nannies recently - one common pattern among them is they are pretty well off (multiple houses in china, well off kids), but they all seem to be on section 8 and welfare. And they seem to be proud of the fact that they have friends / neighbors who are taking advantage of subsidized housing as kind of a summer home since they don’t even live in the country full time. There seems to be some of kind of lack of self awareness or empathy gap among them that they are taking away benefits from someone who really needs it since the funding is finite. That this is not a right they have obtained by being able to come to the US / game the system. I wonder how many in that line really needed a place, and how many saw this as a giveaway that they wanted to grab for themselves.
This is my point about it. A few people win the lottery, and the rest are screwed. The solution is more construction and lots of it. Affordable unit requirements lead to less construction which makes the issue worse over time. Look at how they only permitted 40 units vs goal of 870.
Again, just like with rent control (where one might find well off folks actually owning property but holding onto low rental units) a way of means testing ought to be put in place so that truly needy folks get the help they need. To me, if I were really poor I would care less if the government really looked into my finances (come on, I’m really poor!!!). There has to be a way to weed out the fraud that is coming from both sides of the spectrum…
Hundreds only? Thought there would be more
The others are snobby, prefer the Fab 7x7…
I share your concern and your disappointment.
I have a friend, she got sick, almost lost an eye, back pain due to an accident, her husband is long gone, one kid, barely making it while working. She had a rich girlfriend, they used to work together and spoke about several issues, one is that she is very wealthy, driving a brand new Mercedes Benz every year. Flying back and forth to one Asian country, forget if China or Japan or Philippines. She owns 10s of houses over there, and about 5 over here, all under sibling’s names.
Well, my fried went to apply for some benefits, and for $3.00 she earned too much for the benefits she applied for. What she almost died for is to see her friend there, in line, waiting for benefits, free housing.
You will see this, no matter the race or nationality, on every welfare, WIC, free food center. Most will say they don’t have anywhere to live? Or, they are single with kids, the husband left, etc.
They lost their own dignity by peddling for something they can afford to buy but as you mentioned, they think this is cool, taking from others in need.
I am all pro immigration, but I abhor, I hate to see these people taking advantage of a magnanimous country. For that, I am all pro banning, terminating, finishing off the refugee program that rewards people for too long, making them masters in the art of deceiving the government. If you are welcome to this country, congratulations! But after one year, I think it’s enough for you to learn how to survive. There you have Salinas, Santa Cruz and the central valley ready to take you in to work on the fields.
This would apply to all welfare and section 8 people too. I know some 60+ people working their behinds off to make a living whereas others are just sucking the milk of the public benefits.
I think we all agree there needs to be better accountability for all these services…
My wife works at a county agency. A lady came, wanted some help. Her husband, a high techie guy, was let go, he was in talks with another company to hire him. Clients, as they are called, need to prove their income. So, she did. Husband made $10K a month. She got disqualified. Made a horrible screaming and yelling. Then she asked how she could get the benefits. They told her, just to get her out of there, to go to Medical, with that card she would be approved. They knew she couldn’t.
She came back 2 weeks later with the Medical card. They couldn’t then deny the benefits.
Actually, my wife received death threats by one client because she thought my wife had called Medical to let them know of her income. It’s an unrelated incident, but it proves you there’s nobody wanting accountability in these cases. They can get fired for snitching on anyone. 
That’s why I cringe anytime someone mentions raising taxes to expand the programs. Get rid of the fraud and waste of the existing programs. Use that money to help more people.