comms_185.txt

Comms #: 185
Name: Derethia DuVal
Text:From  Derethia DuVal  derethia outlook com 
Sent  Tuesday  July 11  2023 5 51 PM

To  All Council

Subject  Affordable Housing Preference Policy

WARNING  This is not a City of Berkeley email  Do not click links or attachments unless you trust the
sender and know the content is safe 

  Dear Berkeley City Council Members and the Honorable Mayor Arreguin

  am writing this comment as a long time South Berkeley homeowner  Since my family has lived
in Berkeley we have seen the our neighborhood change from a lovable working class neighborhood
to an area so upscale as the homes are over a million dollars  that the neighborhood has no more
children  Because working people with children can t afford it  We are pained to be in the middle of
the mass displacement of the working class  low income  moderate income and Black and other
people of color being ejected from their home and out of Berkeley because of NO affordable options 
Between 2005 and 2019 Black Berkeley residents decreased by 21  a higher rate than other ethnic
and low income groups  Given the over 75 year history of the Black community living in Berkeley it
hurts my heart to loose long many time neighbors and friends  With over 55  of rented households
are rent burdened by 2019 statistics and 74  ot Black Berkery residents are renters  What has
happen to our town 

The Affordable Housing Preference Policy is a viable strategy to interrupt the unprecedented mass
displacement of Black  Brown  working class  low wage and very low income citizens  The policy will
center and prioritize the needs of Berkeley s most vulnerable and displaced community members 
The Berkeley   moved into over 35 years ago was a City that practiced and professed to believe
housing was a human right and its citizens deserved a City that respected their humanity not being
treated as a commodity   

With Respect
Dr  Derethia DuVal

Sent from my iPad
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution to create an Affordable Housing Preference Policy applicable to new residential housing units created via the Below Market-Rate (BMR) and the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) programs consistent with Fair Housing law and government funder approvals, and direct the City Manager to adopt guidelines to administer the Housing Preference Policy.