San Jose, CA—Santa Clara County voters took an historic step November 8, 2016 by addressing the most pressing challenge facing residents—the lack of affordable housing.
The results counted so far show the Measure A campaign for affordable housing winning with over 67% of the votes cast. “We are thrilled with the results so far, “said Supervisor Cindy Chavez, who is a driving force behind the effort. “The trend all night showed Measure A gaining a small percentage increase every time the votes were tabulated. We are cautiously optimistic that this trend will continue as the late votes and late absentee ballots continue to be counted.”
Measure A would provide $950 million in bond funds for affordable housing targeted towards various populations impacted by this crisis including the homeless, low income families, the disabled, veterans and first-time home buyers.
“This campaign has been a true partnership of our non-profit organizations, non-profit housing organizations, labor, business, homeless advocates, elected officials in every city of the County and hundreds of volunteers,” said Supervisor Dave Cortese who also led the effort. “A unique partnership of organizations came together to place this measure on the ballot and hopefully pass Measure A. We look forward to continuing this partnership with all these organizations once the final results are tallied.”
Supervisor Chavez also said, “These results show the power and commitment of this County that we can come together and solve the most pressing issue we face as a community—the lack of affordable housing. I’m so proud to be part of this historic campaign. We believe these results will hold up, but we need to count every vote to be sure.”
Santa Clara County has thousands of ballots left to count, which may take several weeks to be completely finished.
Measure A had a broad and diverse coalition of campaign supporters including Supervisor Dave Cortese and John Sobrato, Sr., who led the campaign finance committee. Supporters included the VMC Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Destination: Home, the Housing Trust Silicon Valley, the Health Trust, EAH Housing, the Sobrato Organization, SV@Home, Eden Housing, Bridge Housing, Charities Housing, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, George Marcus and Affiliated Companies, the Related Companies of California, Non-Profit Housing Association, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and MidPen Housing.
Other notable endorsements and supporters came from the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County, Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley, Veterans Voice, Downtown Streets Team, SPUR, the Bay Area Council, the Registered Nurses Professional Association, the South Bay Labor Council, the Building Trades Council, Working Partnerships USA, the Center for Employment Training, and the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. Over 150 local elected leaders and newspapers across Santa Clara County also supported Measure A.
