Letter: Housing As a Human Right

By Vanguard AdministratorApril 14, 202310 comments

By Jason Taormino

I believe that housing is a human right.

Human rights belong to every person regardless of their wealth or lack thereof.

In Davis we have people sleeping with no shelter and in tents on the side of roads.  We have Davis school kids living in cars and a sharing homes with relatives and friends because they can not afford a place to live.  We refuse to build enough housing to provide for a basic human right of others.

We live in one of the richest towns in the richest state in the richest country in the history of civilization and we have people living on our streets.  I want our community to stand for something the elevates the human existence above catch phrases like peripheral growth, housing density, infill, and inclusionary housing.  Our failure to provide for others is a poverty.

Helping others will not reduce our abundance.  Helping others will instill us with a sense of pride.

“The most pressing question of our time – what are we doing for others?”  MLK

“‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”  Jesus Christ

“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”  Mahatma Gandhi

Jason Taormino is Davis Resident with Aileron Project

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Breaking News City of Davis Land Use/Open Space Opinion

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10 comments

  1. Housing As a Human Right

    So who pays for the housing of people who refuse to work and contribute towards the costs?

    In Davis we have people sleeping with no shelter and in tents on the side of roads. 

    Maybe a solution might be through some altruism, possibly local contractors building and donating housing to all these people?

    1. “So who pays for the housing of people who refuse to work and contribute towards the costs?”

      What percentage of the chronic homeless population falls into the category of being healthy and of sound mind and simply refuse to work?

      “Maybe a solution might be through some altruism, possibly local contractors building and donating housing to all these people?”

      That seems like the status quo. It doesn’t seem to be working.

        1. So no response here David?

          I’m curious, I put this forward:

          “Maybe a solution might be through some altruism, possibly local contractors building and donating housing to all these people?”

          And you replied:

          That seems like the status quo. It doesn’t seem to be working.

          Can you please explain how that is the status quo?

           

           

        2. From what I’ve seen most of the chronic homeless are drug addicts.  They aren’t going to work, all they care about is their next fix.  Sure there are some cases that you cited, but that’s not the rule from what I’ve observed..

           

          1. Key stat: most studies have found about 75 percent of chronically homeless people (which by the way is less than ten percent of the actual point in time number of homeless) are either suffering from serious mental illness or have long-term substance use disorder – there is also a lot of data out there linking long-term substance use disorder to untreated or self-treated mental illness such as depression. There is also a lot of data out there that permanent supportive housing is the only path that can lead to successful treatment of both.

        3. I just know what I see, not what some liberal think tank study claims it to be.

          David, you still haven’t answered my question above:

          That seems like the status quo. It doesn’t seem to be working.

          Can you please explain how that is the status quo?

    2. First, most of the homeless are not refusing to work. They are unable to work for a variety of reasons including either mental illness or due to abuse by a domestic partner that has left them caring for their children.

      Second, a frequently cited paper by Hal Varian (1986) (who went on to be Chief Information Officer for Google) showed that individuals in society are not satisfied by the public good provisions of private voluntary charitable giving and that only mandatory taxation can achieve those levels of satisfaction. If you have a problem with this finding, then you also have problems with the economic studies that show the efficiency of marketplace mechanisms.

      Third, we have charitable funding of housing here in Davis, including Paul’s Place, Homestead and Pine Tree Gardens. They serve only a tiny share of the housing need.

  2. Maybe a solution might be through some altruism, possibly local contractors building and donating housing to all these people?

    It’s good to see that you haven’t lost your sense of humor, Keith.

  3. Just happened-across this article, in regard to “housing as a human right”.

    Since this problem exists in “anything goes” Nevada, what does that tell you regarding a fundamental breakdown in the system – which has nothing to do with more construction?

    According to a 2022 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, renters have to earn $23.70 to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Nevada.

    With a minimum wage of $10.50, people have to work 62 hours a week to afford a studio apartment.

    A 2022 report from UNLV determined that seven out of 10 of the top occupations in the Las Vegas metropolitan area and six out of 10 in Reno don’t pay enough for workers in those jobs to afford studio apartments.

    Lawmakers approved legislation in 2019 to incrementally raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2024, a figure that was deemed palatable at the time.

    Meanwhile, Clark and Washoe County officials estimate rent increases have jumped between 20% and 30% since the start of the pandemic.

    Edward Goetz, an urban regional planning professor at the University of Minnesota who presented the legislation alongside Spearman, said there isn’t evidence that shows rent caps in other states led to a decline in housing construction.

    “There have been studies in New Jersey, Massachusetts and California that do not show really any evidence that the construction of new housing falters in the presence of rent stabilization programs,” he said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/address-rent-now-or-homelessness-later-lawmakers-told/ar-AA19PlL8?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=41ed9f8d67714959820d1b340eacbe68&ei=28

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