Newly seated council splits on affordable housing request

The newly seated Cameron City Council saw its first fissure after splitting 3-2 on whether to support a “workforce housing” project behind Walmart on 69 Highway.

The project, presented by Economic Development of Cameron Vice Chairman Dan Earley and Developer Pete Ramsel, hopes to create an affordable living area for lower to middle income residents and funded by the sale of tax credits to individuals and investors. 

“Tax credits are what makes this affordable. Instead of putting a lot of debt on this property, you sell tax credits to raise the equity from private investors, and put that money into the project,” said Ramsel, who presented a similar plan in 2019 that did not receive council support. “… This is the second time we proposed on this site. Dan and I really got excited about this site a couple of years ago. In prior applications, we had some neighborhood opposition. That has really been the opposition because people didn’t want affordable housing next to their subdivisions or their homes. This site seems to solve all of those issues.”

The site was one of the proposed locations for the Cameron Community Park, before its relocation to its current location at Old Somerville. Unlike HUD housing, Ramsel said the apartments provide affordable housing for Cameron’s workforce. Along with mandatory background checks, potential residents must also have a reliable source of income. 

“Our goal is to serve those who live and work in your community. I call them the working poor, and not disrespectfully. I feel for them. They’re not taking a government handout. They’re not on welfare. There is a need for that for certain people, but these are people willing to work. They’re willing to work in your community. They’re just not making enough money that allows them to buy a home,” Ramsel said. 

Councilwoman Gina Reed, who made affordable housing one of her platforms during her run for city council last Spring, Councilwoman Julie Ausmus and Councilman Alexander Williams voted to support the project.

“There are no places to rent. They have to wait until somebody moves out to find a place. We’re also looking at rents getting higher and higher and higher. Rents in Cameron have been high for a long time,” Reed said. “… I was on the US Census site and it said in 2020 the median rent in Cameron is $936 a month. There is a percentage of rent where if you paying more than a third of your income in rent, then you start suffering. If you have one thing go wrong, one car repair, it can put you out of your home.”

Recently elected Councilman John Breckenridge voted against supporting the project, but recently appointed Mayor Becky Curtis did not have an audible response. In a follow-up interview, Curtis remained ambiguous regarding her support of the project. 

“Yes, there are some high rents here, but to if we’re going to bring business here, if we’re going to do a workforce (housing project) I think it needs to be a workforce … The income limits limit the real workforce,” Curtis said. “I did my research and [Ramsel] is right. It’s the working poor, and people will come here to live there. 

“I just want to make sure they have cars, they have jobs. I want to make sure they’re not being subsidized from government. I want to make sure business have a healthy environment for businesses to come in. I want to make sure businesses know they want to work.”

CLICK THIS LINK TO PARTICIPATE IN A POLL WHETHER THE CAMERON CITY COUNCIL SHOULD SUPPORT A "WORKFORCE HOUSING" PROJECT FOR CAMERON'S WORKING POOR. http://mycameronnews.com/should-cameron-city-council-support-workforce-housing-project-citys-working-poor