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Council adopted the Strategic Housing Blueprint last year, calling for 13,500 new units annually over 10 years. This gets us to break-even in terms of need. Would you support amending the City’s proposed Strategic Housing Plan to increase the number to at least 15,000 housing units per year for 10 years, keeping the breakout across income levels and including permanent supportive housing for those chronically experiencing homelessness? (Y/N; Explain)

Natasha Harper-Madison

City Council, District 1

Yes. Passing the Affordable Housing bond would be a good start. We need to work with the affordable housing community to find the best ways to get the most deeply affordable units with the $250 million allotted in the bond. Lots of ways to use that money to collaborate with nonprofits and the private sector with low income housing tax credits support or other mechanisms — work with housing community to identify the best ones. Expanded and recalibrated affordable housing bonus programs (i.e. density bonuses) must be revised in such a way so as to better take advantage of all of the demand for housing at all MFI levels. What’s more, Council must revisit S.M.A.R.T. as it is not functioning as well as it once did.