Proposition one: California votes on $4bn measure to address America's worst housing crisis

For Danielle Vasquez, the worst thing about not having her own home was constantly fearing for her children.

After being evicted from their one-bedroom flat when she became pregnant a second time, the young woman and her partner fell into a shifting, disorientating world of temporary hotel rooms and long, empty days in the park. She would wait there until her partner, Dan, returned from his job at a warehouse with enough money for that night’s rent.

“There was a lack of structure – there was stress and anger,” she says. “My kids knew I was not happy. I would feed them chips and junk food to stop them crying ... One night we had to sleep in a car.”

Vasquez, her partner and their four children now live in a new apartment complex – bright, shiny and sparklingly clean – built by Abode Communities, a group working with low income people in California since the 1960s, and Mercy Housing California. Life in the complex, which officially opened in September, could not be more different; Vasquez and her family feel safe, her children can attend school, and her partner can go to work.

The problem is, there are not enough places like the Camino del Mar residential community in Los Angeles’ Wilmington neighbourhood. California is facing probably the worst crisis in the nation in terms of homelessness and the lack of affordable homes. Abode received 3,000 applications for this 176-apartment facility.

In November’s midterm elections, in addition to choosing candidates for local and federal office, people will be asked to vote on a series of ballot propositions on various issues. In California, there are 11 propositions, including proposals to limit the cost of kidney dialysis treatment and to end daylight saving time. Proposition One – supported by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan – would direct the government to borrow $4bn in bonds to subsidise affordable housing for low income residents as well as veterans, farmworkers and those living in mobile homes.

California’s homeless problem, frequently documented by the media with images of tent cities and people begging, has become decidedly worse since the financial crisis of 2008. In places such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, the issue has become a political football.

Yet it is not just California, or even western states such as Washington – where high wages paid by tech companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple have added pressure to an already stressed housing market – that have a problem with a shortage of affordable homes. Rather, it is national. And while images such as tent encampments dramatically capture part of the problem, people such as Ms Vasquez and the millions like her, who had no home but were not sleeping in a tent, frequently get overlooked.

Robin Hughes, president and CEO of Abode Communities, says across America, more than 11 million households are spending more than half their disposal income on rent and utilities, and are thus “housing insecure”. Three million of them are in California, America’s wealthiest state, but one also home to some of its poorest citizens.

“The problem of people needing affordable housing has been an issue for a number of years,” says Hughes, whose organisation supports Proposition One. “Since 2008 and that great recession, it has significantly increased.”

She says the factors are manifold, and include a failure to build sufficient homes – other than at the luxury end of the market – wages remaining stagnant, and rising rents.

The tech industry’s high wages have allowed some to pay more for housing, she says, which has raised the cost of buying a home for everyone. As a result, people who do not have highly-paid jobs – teachers and civil servants – are struggling to get on the housing ladder.

She says Proposition One would help veterans, low-income families and others access something utterly essential – somewhere to live. She adds, studies show the stability created by someone having their own home also results in significant health improvements, and better access to the job market. “Housing is the platform that really does impact all aspects of life.”

Another ballot initiative, Proposition Ten, would repeal a 1995 law that prevents city governments enacting rent control – a move activists believe would help those deemed “housing insecure”.

There are a number of groups opposed to the measure. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, an anti-taxation lobbying group, argues the high cost of building in the state means Proposition One is not a workable solution.

Jeff Stone, a Republican senator in the California assembly, believes Proposition One would saddle the state with debt for years. He says, with interest, the total cost of borrowing $4bn in bonds would be a little under $6bn. He says California would be paying back $170m annually for 35 years.

“The state of California is heavily in debt, almost a trillion dollars in debt, between bonds and pensions and other liabilities,” he told the Desert Sun newspaper.

“We are also experiencing tremendous economic prosperity because we tax citizens more than other states tax their citizens. We also have the dubious distinction of having the highest homeless population in the country, and many are veterans. The bond sounds good – the name of the bond sounds good – but we will be paying interest on that $4bn bond for a generation.”

Stone, who represents Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, says the state already has funds that could provide people with small grants to help them buy homes. He says a matching-finance plan is a more viable solution.

“This $4bn bond will not solve the housing crisis, it will not,” he says. “We have to be a more business-friendly state.”

Vasquez says she supports any measure that helps people in the situation she was in, a dark period that included having her children taken away by the authorities, and her turning to drugs.

Having suffered embarrassment and shame while pushing around a cart containing her family’s belongings, Vasquez says her eldest daughter now has a full attendance record at school, and she herself is considering completing the high school diploma she never finished. She is also interested in attending college.

Her children – three girls and a boy – sleep easily at night. They are able to eat more healthily.

“Being homeless was rock bottom,” she says. “But I would also say it made us fight to be strong.”