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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Agenda No. 07-16 August 23,2007 Page 11 of 19 apartment is too small for herself and her children, and she does not make enough in her job in production in a cosmetics factory to pay the $850 monthly rent. She has had her job for three and a half years, and makes $1,100 per month for 160 hours of work. After paying rent and utility bills, all that remains for food and other needs is about $100 each month. It would be better to live closer to BART, and she asked the Planning Commission to help her family and other working families like hers by recommending that the City Council provide more affordable housing. Esperanza Alcantar, 1458 Ardmore Drive, another COR leader, served on the CAC as well. She said she is grateful to the City and her colleagues on the CAC for that opportunity. She has spoken about the need for affordable housing all along, she said, but there was too much to cover and the topic did not get any attention to speak of until the last CAC meeting. The need for affordable housing also came across in all of the community forums, but that message has not been translated into the TOD Strategy. The working families in San Leandro, such as Ms. Mazariegos', clerks, receptionists, teachers, nurses' aides, and retail sales people and others commute to work in San Leandro because they cannot afford to buy or even rent closer to their jobs. Of the 38,000 jobs in San Leandro, more than 30% of the workers come from elsewhere, which contributes to both congestion and pollution. The CAC discussed the number one goal of the TOD Strategy, to increase transit ridership, and low-income families are the ones who tend to use public transportation the most, rather than those with higher incomes. She concluded by saying that the TOD Strategy contains some great ideas, but it is not strong enough as far as the housing component is concerned. She reiterated recommendations of other speakers for Special Policy overlay designation for low-income housing sites in the east BART parking lot, the Westlake properties, the north Alvarado sites, and the Washington Plaza/San Leandro Plaza area. Lindsay Imai, Transportation and Housing Program Associate for Urban Habitat, said her organization has worked with the East Bay Community Foundation, and hopes that all of the Commissioners received and read their report. She reiterated concerns that members of COR have presented, and specifically repeated Deacon Davis' remarks about the opportunity that the Planning Commission has here. She said that she supports many aspects of the TOD Strategy, but that it falls short as far as workforce housing and renter displacement are concerned. She also expressed disappointment in the public participation process lately, citing the Planning Commissioners' refusal to meet with members of the public, including Urban Habitat, upon the recommendation of the City Attorney. "Given the enormity of this plan, I have to say that I'm very disappointed. . . it seems as if you have both a moral as well as a legal obligation to meet with the public." She also noted concern that there has been no discussion amongst the Planning Commission before the public. But, she added, she wanted to talk about the opportunity because "it's not too late to engage with us." The downtown area is where we can expect to see almost half of all new housing built in San Leandro over the next 30 years. As other speakers have indicated, a lot of people need housing that is not market-rate. At this time, the consultants are predicting mainly for-sale construction, she said, and San Leandro's inclusionary housing ordinance that means 15% will be "affordable." Moderate-income units, which will account for half of that 15%, would require $92,000 in income for a family of four. She said that about 70% of households across the entire