March 1, 2005. Herald-Tribune.
SARASOTA COUNTY — A coalition of churches and faith-based organizations used the power of the pulpit Monday night to proclaim that it intends to become a rallying force behind the affordable housing cause.
Sarasota County planners invite the public to join them from 7 to 9 p.m. today for “Housing For All,” an informal discussion about how the affordable housing issue can be addressed in the county’s comprehensive plan. The forum will be at the Fruitville Library, 100 Coburn Road, Sarasota.
About 400 people from Sarasota United for Responsibility and Equity’s 21 member congregations and agencies — including dozens of visitors from unaffiliated churches — turned out to hear SURE present a detailed agenda it wants the Sarasota City Commission and Sarasota County Commission to pursue.
“This is holy work we do this night,” the Rev. John McWhinnie of First United Methodist Church told the crowd gathered in his church’s sanctuary. “It is the work of people who care.”
“The time has come for action,” the Rev. Gregory Harris of Truvine Missionary Baptist Church said. “We ask all of you to stay the course. Even after tonight, there will be a lot of work to do.”
McWhinnie, Harris and other clergy signed a resolution that SURE will present to the city and county. It emphasizes that churchgoers of varied denominations countywide want all people of all incomes to have safe, affordable shelter.
As of January, the median sales price for a home in the Sarasota-Manatee market was $287,100 — a 32 percent increase from a year earlier.
Working families face a disturbing shortage of homes they can afford to buy or rent. SURE believes that local government and civic leaders are failing to do all they can to reverse that trend.
SURE made certain that the seven candidates in the city of Sarasota’s March 8 election sat on the front pew. Its leaders pointedly asked each of them if he or she supported every item in SURE’s action plan.
All of the candidates acknowledged the affordable housing problem and pledged to address it. Yet they differed in their responses about SURE’s detailed platform.
Mayor Richard Martin and City Commissioner Lou Ann Palmer defended their records, which include creating a new affordable housing trust fund.
Challengers Jon Susce, Suzanne Atwell, Ken Shelin and Diana Hamilton expressed overwhelming support for the agenda that SURE outlined.
Candidate John Fulton, a home builder, disagreed with SURE’s criticisms that the city and business sector are improperly making a proposed convention center a greater priority than affordable housing.
John McGruder, a parishioner at St. Martha’s Catholic Church, led the SURE committee that is pushing a multi-step approach to affordable housing.
He cited a recent newspaper account about a development company that abandoned plans to build a rent-controlled apartment complex because the city and county said no local dollars were available to help it qualify for financing.
“That’s certainly not the answer given to developers looking to build a convention center,” McGruder said.
“We need serious money,” McGruder said. “Not nickels or dimes or pocket change. We need millions of dollars.”
The money can go toward down payment assistance, home repairs, the acquisition of land and other underfunded programs, SURE leaders noted.
SURE is adamant that at least half of the taxes collected from a special downtown redevelopment district should be directed toward affordable housing.
McGruder quoted a 1986 City Commission resolution that stated that one purpose of the downtown tax district was to increase the stock of affordable housing.
“Eighteen years have passed” since the district was formed “and not one dollar has been spent on affordable housing,” McGruder said. “Not one dollar.”
The city has used those funds to build parks and infrastructure and to subsidize new development by Whole Foods, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and others.
McGruder challenged the Herald-Tribune to direct tax district money that is partially financing its new headquarters into the city’s affordable housing trust fund instead.
He also called for prominent real estate agents to surrender some profit and get more involved in the affordable housing issue. He asked foundations and philanthropists who donate to the arts to consider affordable housing a more immediate concern.
SURE will also ask the county and city to consider:
Imposing resale restrictions in deeds or other contracts to ensure that the new owners of homes acquired through affordable housing programs don’t quickly sell them for a big profit.
Joining with local nonprofit organizations to create an official affordable housing advocacy group, which will keep public attention focused on the issue and continuously look for new solutions and resources.
Bringing Manatee County and the cities of Bradenton, Venice and North Port into the discussion and start crafting a regional approach to the shortage of homes in many working families’ price range.
