Last year, Governor Brown signed Senator Nancy Skinner’s bill (SB1227) which created a Density Bonus that applies to student housing. This means that affordable student housing will be easier to build.

Currently the city of Oakland is hearing ideas for the Kaiser auditorium, none of the plans presented have a housing element at all. Given that Laney and Peralta at Large have a growing population of unsheltered and housing insecure students and faculty, I believe it is our responsibility to think about ways we can alleviate the shortage.

I want to work with Facilities, the District, Administration, and the City of Oakland on a proposal to build affordable student and faculty dorms near campus, on our own land and other publicly owned property like the Kaiser Center.

Laney is uniquely positioned to take this on with the support and direct action of the student body, District, Administration, and City. Our Carpentry department already builds tiny houses for the City of Oakland, our E/ET and HVAC programs are great. There’s no reason not to use our own skills and our own land for our own community.

Additionally, I want to work toward a partnership between local Trade Unions and our CTE students who could get apprenticeship experience and work/study credit for building student housing and maintaining campus.

Investing in the longevity of our school benefits everyone.

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