The questions were prepared by the the League of Women Voters of Berkeley-Albany-Emeryville and asked of all candidates for this office.

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Answer from Dona Spring:

Yes, yes, yes one of my highest priorities is to create additional housing for low and very low-income residents. When the City Council of Berkeley adopted the general plan-housing element, it also referred a proposal that I sponsored to the Planning Commission to better use our height to produce affordable housing. The problem with current state density bonus requirements is that it only requires that 20 percent of the units be affordable to individuals or family at 80 percent of the average median income (AMI) which in the Bay Area is quite high. 80 percent of AMI is where market rate was just a few years ago. The following proposal creates incentives in the City of Berkeley's land use policies for the development of low income housing at 60 percent of average median income or below.

Zoning District Current Maximum Height Proposed Base Height Proposed Bonuses Proposed Maximum Heights with Bonuses C1 Mixed Use: 4-stories/50 ft. MU: 3 stories/40 ft. AH 1 4 stories/50 ft. C2 Core 7 stories/87 ft. 5 stories/65 feet AH 1Arts bonus 1AH 2Arts bonus 2 6-stories/76 ft.6-stories/76 ft.7-stories/87 ft.7 stories/87 ft. C2 North 2 5 stories/55 ft. 3 stories/ 40 ft. AH1AH 2 4-stories/50 ft.5-stories/55 ft. C2 Oxford Edge 5 stories/60 ft. 3 stories/ 40 ft. AH 1AH 2Arts bonus 1Arts bonus 2 4-stories/50 ft.5-stories/60 ft.4-stories/50 ft.5-stories/60 ft. C2 South 5 stories/60 ft. 3 stories/ 40 ft. AH1AH2Arts bonus 1Arts bonus 2 4-stories/50 ft.5-stories/60 ft.4-stories/50 ft.5 stories/60 ft. C2 West 4 stories/50 ft. 3 stories/ 40 ft. AH1 4-stories/50 ft. C-W Mixed Use: 4-stories/50 ft.4th floor must be residential MU: 3 stories/40 ft. AH1 MU: 4 stories/50ft.4th floor must be residential C-SA Durant to Parker MU: 5-stories/60 ft.Residential only: 5-stories/60 ft.3rd, 4th, 5th floors must be residential MU: 3 stories/ 40 ftRO: 3 stories/40 ft. AH1AH2 4-stories/50 ft.5-stories/60 ft.3rd, 4th,5th floors must be residential C-SA Parker to Warded. MU: 4-stories/50 ft.RO: 4 stories/50 ft. MU: 3 stories/40 ftRO: 3 stories/40 ft. AH 1 4 stories/50 ft.

Definition of Bonuses:

AH1: If 20% or more of the units are affordable to households at 60% of AMI or below, OR if 10% or more of the units are affordable to households at 50% of AMI , the project is eligible for a one-floor bonus.

AH2: If 25% or more of the units are affordable to households at an average of 60% of AMI and if 10% or more of the units are affordable to households at 40% of AMI or below, the project is eligible for a two-floor bonus.

Maximum Height with bonuses will not exceed maximum height for district (i.e. if a project meets the requirement for both AH2 and arts, the total additional floors still cannot exceed two) this continues existing policy.

Southside Plan: the Southside Plan draft calls for affordable housing bonuses for the C-T, and proposed R-MU and R-S zoning districts. It would make sense if the same bonus formulas were used in these Southside districts.

Density bonus: creation of affordable housing bonuses effectively takes care of density bonus requirements. Extra floors (rather than waiving fees or increasing lot coverage or reducing setbacks and open space) would bed the form the density bonus would take in the above districts.

The Council majority that is 5 to 4 has passed the annual budgets with almost $1 million from Berkeleys general fund for affordable housing. I have been one of those key votes to prioritize affordable housing in the City of Berkeley budget and staff plan. Berkeley now had hundreds of more affordable units because of my advocacy. I am also one of the Council members who strongly advocated for Measure M on the November 2002 ballot. This measure would increase the transfer tax at the point-of-sale of residential real estate by .5 percent which will raise $2 million a year for affordable and save housing. Half of the money raised will go toward creating new affordable housing including programs helping tenants buy their buildings. The remaining half of the money will be split between a program to assist property owners in retrofitting multiunit buildings and programs for preventing people from becoming homeless and creating more transitional housing for homeless people.

My record on the Council is one that supports affordable housing and also I am trusted by Berkeley neighborhoods because I make an attempt to accommodate to concerns about the zoning and design of housing projects.

Answer from L A Wood:

I favor additional housing for low and very low income residents. I would continue to support annual funding for low income housing and construction. Affordability can be linked directly to housing construction. The city must encourage the construction of more rental housing, especially those projects that include below-market-rate units.

Current state density bonuses require that 20 percent of the units be affordable to individuals or families at 80 percent of the average median income (AMI). I would lobby for development of low income housing at 60 percent, or lower, of the AMI.

I also support Measure M which designates monies for affordable housing. This important tax measure will generate about $2 million annually which can be used by tenants to purchase their units. It will also provide for some additional affordable housing and support for landlords to make repairs to their housing units.

More must be done to promote loans at the federal and local levels for tenants to purchase their own housing units and to finance limited equity co-op housing. Both the first-time and the low-income homeowner assistance programs need to be championed as well.

I don't support Measure P, the Height Initiative. If passed, it will have a negative impact on both future housing construction and the creation of more affordable housing units, particularly for our growing number of renters, students, and senior citizens.

Finally, the City's zoning process and elected officials must be held accountable in making developers deliver on their agreements concerning affordable units in exchange for height increases.

The order of the candidates is random and changes daily.