What is a “modest investment” and who will make it for affordable housing in Poulsbo, and when will that happen? (“For a modest investment, solutions are available,” page A8, Dec. 2 North Kitsap Herald.)
We admire Mayor Becky Erickson’s straight-forward attitude in executing her duties as the city’s mayor/CEO and her “fiscal conservatism.” However, expecting builders, developers, investors and bankers to produce apartment homes that rent for less than market rates, thereby reducing their business sustaining profits, seems a bit presumptuous if not naïve.
Successful public/private partnerships do exist throughout the nation, but the emphasis is on “partnership” — a joint undertaking where the public and private sectors both join in an enterprise for the common good of a given community. In other words, some financial investment/sacrifice is injected by both sides in a proposed project to make it work.
We suggest that Poulsbo government, led by Her Honor, must be prepared to invest some funding for affordable housing development.
When one observes the fine home in which our city government and its staff now reside, it certainly seems plausible that with a modicum of searching in the nooks and crannies of the city budget, some funding might be directed to the obvious housing needs of its citizens.
We subscribe to the American tradition that “there is always a way” to any given task. With the right motivation and determination of government, coupled with the ingenuity and dedication of the private sector, a workable solution of our current housing crises can be found.
We respectfully suggest the mayor schedule an Affordable Housing Workshop, to take place in early January in the Council Chambers. Invitees should be local lenders, building and development companies, county and state legislators, and the press.
Attendees should be asked to bring their best ideas on how government and the housing industry can combine their respective knowledge, energy and financial resources to help solve our mutual problem.
Bill Effinger Poulsbo
