Candidates stress housing action: protect existing affordable units, build strategically and pursue regional partnerships

Candidates at the Lafayette Youth Advisory Board forum discussed the city’s high cost of living and strategies to keep households across income levels in Lafayette.

Saul Tapia Vega noted Lafayette’s efforts on affordable housing but said it is not enough: “Everyone I went to high school with is now gone. They no longer live here…and houses are over $700,000. Rent is over $2,000 a month,” he said, describing those figures as the current local reality.

Speakers identified several policy levers: build more housing, preserve existing affordable units, adopt zoning reforms to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and missing-middle housing, and use regional partnerships. Rob Glenn and Josh Barrell cited the Willoughby Corner development—the forum record shows it will ultimately include about 400 units—as an example of locally planned affordable supply.

Anne Marie Jensen described county-level action she worked on: she said she chaired an effort that produced a county affordable-housing tax passed in 2023 and asserted it is raising about $15,000,000 a year; she also criticized decision-making and transparency at the advisory-committee level for that funding.

Candidates differed on whether building more market-rate housing alone will solve affordability and emphasized a comprehensive approach. Several recommended protecting existing affordable units from redevelopment, exploring regional partnerships, increasing ADUs that are affordable in practice (not just in name), and studying available city-owned parcels before new rezoning.

No formal city actions were taken at the forum; candidates described priorities for city staff and regional collaboration.