The East Palo Alto City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to reallocate $2 million – originally intended to help locals purchase their mobile homes – toward its affordable housing fund.
The fund can only be used toward the creation of affordable housing or the preservation of it, through actions like rental assistance or inclusionary housing construction.
In 2007, the owners of Palo Alto Mobile Estates applied to convert the mobile home park at 1885 East Bayshore Road to an ownership model, where residents could purchase their lots. But at the time, its residents, many of whom were low-income East Palo Altans renting for approximately $400 a month, couldn’t afford to transition.
Renters could not be evicted, according to state law, but residents not considered “low-income,” would gradually see rises in their rents to meet market-rate housing costs, according to this publication’s previous reporting.
In an attempt to protect its residents from rising rates, the city placed a moratorium on the application process, in order to find ways to assist the mobile home residents – a move that sparked litigation from the park owner.
“I think it benefits everybody to have a clearer understanding of what’s at stake,” said Councilman Ruben Abrica – who still serves on the dais today – in a 2007 Weekly article.
The application to convert the mobile home park did not pan out until 2021, when the state issued a final report, allowing the owners to move forward with the change, Tim Davis, director of housing services for San Mateo nonprofit HEART, said at Tuesday’s council meeting.
The City Council considered multiple ways to help its residents continue renting affordably, including purchasing the entire property, but settled on allocating $2 million to provide zero interest loans to help low-income residents in 2021 to help the purchase their lots.
The city partnered with affordable housing nonprofit EPACANDO to help distribute the millions of dollars, which they anticipated other organizations would match, to assist more residents. But after years of outreach, no residents had accepted the loan offers, according to Davis, even after the city expanded loan maximums and eligibility.
As of today, the entire loan fund remains unused, he said.
“Its not that the city did not try, it’s just that owner didn’t want to do it,” Abrica said about buying the property, at Tuesday’s meeting. “That might have been a better situation for everyone but it is what it is.”
Every city council member was in favor of reallocating the money to its affordable housing fund, but recently elected council members Mark Dinan and Webster Lincoln expressed interest in using the money for more specific housing initiatives, like home repair and foreclosure protection.
Some community members agreed with Lincoln and Dinan’s comments and urged the council to allocate the funds for more homeowner assistance.
“I would, number one, like to see it put into home repair funds,” said community member Adrienne Bryant. “And number two, assistance for first-time homebuyers.”
According to city staff, the money must be used specifically for affordable housing preservation. Additional efforts relating to housing can be funded by Measure JJ funds or other funding sources.
