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Theresa Bass
From:Cesar C <cesarc@kennedycommission.org>
Sent:Tuesday, March 7, 2023 4:58 PM
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] Anaheim Strategic Planning Priorities
Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
recognize the sender and are expecting the message.
The Kennedy Commission (the Commission) is a broad coalition of residents and community
organizations that advocates for the production of homes affordable for families earning less than
$30,000 annually in Orange County. Formed in 2001, the Commission has been successful in
partnering and working with jurisdictions in Orange County to create effective policies that have
led to the production of new homes affordable to low income working families.
We submit public comments to request that the City of Anaheim prioritize increasing affordable
housing in Anaheim as part of their Strategic Planning Priorities.
The city needs to prioritize the use of publicly owned land, develop land use incentives and
dedicate housing funds to create much needed affordable housing for lower income families.
Many working families continue to be housing insecure and are struggling to remain housed with
the high housing cost of market rate housing and the lack of affordable housing opportunities for
lower income families in Anaheim.
Low income families in Anaheim are experiencing housing challenges because of the high housing
cost and the lack of production of affordable homes. In Orange County working families need to
earn over $44 an hour to afford a typical two bedroom apartment at an average rent of $2500/mo
(Units in the newer luxury apartment developments are in the higher range of $3,000-$4,000/mo.)
With Anaheim’s local economy heavily dependent on service sector, minimum wage and lower
income wage jobs, it is imperative that the city prioritize developing affordable housing that its
workforce can affordable and live in a dignified way.
As highlighted in the City of Anaheim’s latest Housing Element Annual Progress Reports (2014-
21) that have been submitted to the California Housing and Community Development, the city
continues to be at a deficit of affordable housing production. The reports points out that the city has
approved and permitted over 8,719 housing units during the current Housing Element period and
only 369 units (remaining RHNA for lower income is over 1,695) have been in the affordability
level of low and very low households. The vast majority of the housing units, 8,350 have been
approve at moderate and above moderate-income levels (RHNA in above moderate has
been exceeded by over 300%).
Without a strategic plan or priorities to address the critical need for affordable housing,
development the city will continue to be unbalanced and not meet the housing needs for lower
income working families that support the local economy.
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It is imperative that the City of Anaheim prioritize affordable housing by:
1. Creating and adopting an inclusionary housing ordinance to incentivize affordable housing for
lower income working families along with market rate development.
2. Prioritizing and dedicating city and agency owned land for the production of lower income
affordable housing.
3. Prioritizing the investment of housing funds and general funds to produce lower income
affordable housing units for working families.
Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to further conversations regarding the ways to
prioritize and increase affordable housing opportunities for the lower income families in Anaheim.
Cesar Covarrubias
Executive Director
The Kennedy Commission
Cesarc@kennedycommission.org
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Cesar Covarrubias
Executive Director
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