MOC Gets Out the Vote for Affordable Housing

Between March and August of 2024, MOC engaged in hosting a series of Affordable Housing Civic Academies to educate our leaders and other Marin residents interested in the issue about how we could support a long-term funding solution for affordable housing across the Bay Area, via a regional bond measure created by the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority. Regional Measure 4, which was originally planned for the November 2024 ballot, was a $20 billion bond measure for the 9-county Bay Area that would have provided up to $700 million to fund affordable housing and homelessness solutions in Marin.

One heartbreaking story from one of our civic academies was shared by a single Latina mom, who works in the service industry in West Marin. After a long search for an apartment for herself and her family, she found a basement apartment. Unfortunately, during the rainy season, her apartment flooded and raw sewage infiltrated her space. She had nowhere to go, and on top of this, her landlord raised her rent. She was desperate and found some help from West Marin Community Services. She bravely shared her housing story at our civic academy in Pt. Reyes. We’re better than this in Marin!

Unfortunately, due to a lawsuit, Regional Measure 4 was removed from the ballot. Despite this setback, MOC has pivoted to focusing our efforts on getting Proposition 5 passed. Prop 5 would set the threshold at 55% for local bond measures to fund housing and public infrastructure and passing it is a critical first step toward getting an affordable bond measure passed in the future.

Through our Get Out the Vote Campaign, MOC leaders have engaged with many constituents in Marin both in person and by phone. These deep canvassing conversations afforded people the opportunity to share their concerns about the lack of affordable housing in Marin. Many constituents said that they were glad to get the information on Prop 5 since they either hadn’t been paying attention or were not informed.

MOC has organized 23 neighborhood walks to canvass in support of Prop 5. 1,348 total contacts have been logged so far.