Pomona Affordable Housing Projects

By Veronica Cabrera

According to the city legal documents, Pomona owns 24% of all land, not including public areas such as parks or streets.

According to the Pomona Housing Department, there is a list of 1600 applicants in an up to 7-year waiting list. The Section 8 department is not even receiving any more applications.

A few months ago, I inquired about Pomona's new affordable housing projects. I was told that the government does not build housing. I asked: What does the government do instead? Three housing directors explained that the government offers public land to developers. The developers can get money from Federal programs to build the housing project, Once the homes are ready, the developers are required to rent 15% of those homes rented to section 8. Section 8 pays the total actual rent. The tenant gets to pay a portion of it. After 50 years, the developers can keep the projects.

My question is: if any of you would own a piece of land, have a bank account with plenty of money, but did not own a home. Would you tell your neighbor: “Do you want my land and money to build a house? Rent it to me at the total actual rental price. After 50, can you keep it? I don't think so.

Why do we do that with public property when many people don’t have a place to live?