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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHANEBERG Housing & Human Svcs 1 Mark Haneberg, J.D. ' 657 Prim Street Ashland, OR 97520 (541) 488-4719 Barbara Christensen 17 March 2017 City Recorder City Hall, 20 East Main St. Ashland, OR 97520 (541) 488-5307 RE: Application for Housing and Human Services Commission America has seen tremendous advancement in science and technology over the past few decades, and I believe the door is wide open for yet greater changes. It is possible to peak through that door and see what lies ahead. The realm of science and technology relates to our housing issues in exciting ways, and if we would just put these issues at the center of housing policy, we could make smart decisions for the future. This is true despite the news that our nation will be defunding many science programs. The future of i self-driving cars, 3D-printed houses, robots in the workplace, renewable energy, and other dramatic changes is inevitable. A San Francisco company 3D-printed a 400-square-foot house at a cost of $10,000. Robotics is increasingly being used in manufacturing, and it's clear that bringing back manufacturing to America's cities will not solve our labor force problems. Robots are even supposed to take over fast-food customer service. Many more of our traditional low-paying jobs will disappear. Self-driving cars will be safer and more efficient than human-driven cars, and cars will become more energy-efficient as new electric-car technologies improve. Perhaps we'll be hailing a self-driving car to come and pick us up for errands and work instead of keeping two cars in the garage. If we're not instead taking some form of new and improved form of mass transit, which, for a small city like Ashland, might be a really great bus system that everyone wants to use instead of just the people who for one reason or another cannot 3 drive. All of these things will affect the future of our city. And we should learn to live in the future, not hang onto the past. Perhaps we need to be more like King Louie in Disney's Jungle Book, and embrace the new "red flower." For him, it was fire. In technology, we have new fire. The cities that have it will get ahead. Developed during a technological era that now seems ancient, our statewide planning goals are a solution for the gas-guzzling sprawl of the 1970s. Ashland, like every other American city, was built primarily for the automobile. Our ancient housing laws do not anticipate electric, self-driving cars. They do not anticipate other new forms of transit and transportation. They do not anticipate 3D printing. They do not anticipate affordable solar power that can charge electric cars, or electric bicycles, and even homes on-site-without a power grid. They do not anticipate the new revolution of robot manufacturing and artificial intelligence. Statewide Planning Goal 10 envisioned a state where people at nearly all income levels had housing they could afford. Affordable housing is defined by HUD as costing no more than 30 percent of income. According to recent studies, 47 percent of people living in Ashland spend more than they can yr 1 T reasonably afford for housing. Ashland is already crippled by its housing shortage. Young people have to leave in order to find good jobs or an affordable place to live. One of our largest employers, PLEXIS Healthcare Systems, had to leave because of the lack of affordable housing for its employees. When people are burdened by housing expense, they do not have resources for other necessary things-like health care. I cannot think ' of a worse public policy than making housing too expensive. Ashland decided during the Regional Problem Solving process to solve its housing crisis with infill and higher densities on very expensive land. That approach may have seemed good at the time, but it has failed simply because the land was too expensive. I am interested in implementing Goal 10 and in solving our housing crisis. We need to have the kind of housing mix that enables forward-looking businesses like PLEXIS to be here. We need to keep our city vibrant with young people and families. That means having the full array of housing options for different income levels. ,F It's time to begin planning for the future. If people could live in $30,000 robot-manufactured solar- powered homes, could Ashland and its surroundings be a sustainable home for us and for future generations? If large segments of human employment are going to be displaced by technology in the foreseeable future, shouldn't we start thinking about how to prepare for a post-employment world? We need to think outside of the box. Will more people specialize in heirloom crop production? Will more people create organic farms? Will some people maintain our forests with thinning and controlled burns`? Will people rotate in and out of the jobs that remain, so that the best aspects of work and leisure are shared? When people must be out of work, will they engage in non-profit activities? Will they pursue 's education? i Or will we exist in shanty towns and slums, like the camps along Bear Creek and the dreadful parts of Y Medford, whiling away our time drugged in virtual reality wonderlands? :p Many people may think it's too hard to make such dramatic changes. But it is not too hard. We should do pilot projects. We should engage the non-profit sector, and we should physically anticipate and explore our future possibilities. Perhaps ScienceWorks would like to have the first 313-printed house in Ashland at its facility. We should see how well the new technology works. We have ideas, with all the information we have today, about what is likely to occur in our near future. Uncertainty may seem to be a disturbing constant, but it is also a container of infinite possibilities. We can shape our future by exploring all kinds of options. Being mindful about the future can enable us to avoid dreadful mistakes. We know that we have ti opposites in our history. We have enslaved; we have set free. We have killed; we have healed. We envision a more perfect union that values life, liberty, and community involvement as the pursuit of j happiness. Some people are gifted to do clever things with math and with algorithms-the new fire. All of us can use new inventions and technologies to build or to destroy. I suggest we prepare now for tomorrow, explore freedom, reject policies that burden people with housing they cannot reasonably afford, and act for the benefit of our community and in favor of our descendants. :I 4 It may be that Ashland's purchase of the 846-acre Impatrice Ranch was accidental genius. Originally purchased for spraying effluent, the property is a south-facing slope with solar potential and a 425-acre- foot water right. Whereas property in Ashland costs about 5450,000 per acre, Ashland paid less than $1,100 per acre for the ranch. It has potential for trails and for conservation. It has potential for a new type of housingaffordable, solar-powered housing. e It may be that our statewide planning goals were accidental genius. Originally formulated to stop urban sprawl on high-value farmland in the Willamette Valley, the goals trapped housing within difficult-to- expand boundaries. The goals limited the availability of land in our cities and inflated its cost while deflating the cost of land outside cities. The Impatrice Ranch property is not high-value farmland. It's not good ranch land. It is cheap and not valuable for any real economic use that must exclude humans. It may be ideal for solar farming-as long as people are allowed to live on the farm. Ashland could purchase other property for affordable housing-if the state made it legal to do so. Poor- quality land zoned for exclusive farm use is available. High-density affordable housing with a great bus system would be a tremendous benefit to our city, enabling new, forward-looking firms to come to Ashland, because there would be someplace for their employees to live. People who already own homes in Ashland may feel insecure about any proposal for affordable housing-because an adequate supply of affordable housing may stall the current inflation of their investment. In reality, a city that is vibrant and thriving could only benefit their investment. So let's get ready by visualizing and embracing the future, by understanding its likely impacts, and by preparing our community to be resilient and to have options built to accommodate the best of what our future can hold. A high-functioning community has a true marketplace of ideas and skills. It used to be that crime and illegal drugs were the only market open 24/7. Today, infonnation, educational and learning opportunities, and entertainment are available 24/7. Affordable housing, education, and a marketplace of ideas make for a safe, intelligent, educated, problem-solving community. These things preserve all the values and amenities we enjoy today-the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, ScienceWorks, SOU, our nearby natural resources. Affordable housing will renew Ashland, as these shared values will attract people, educational institutions, and businesses that want to be in a thriving city. We should pursue technological placement, not displacement meaningful work, not methamphetamme. Our area should be preserved, conserved, and stewarded because it is beautiful and valuable in a natural state. But some areas are ideal for development that can attract software startups and technology entrepreneurs. We should not rest until we have robots walking down the street in our 4th of July parades. There is a sweet spot with technology. It may be that, with health care, for example, doctors with intelligent computers will be better doctors. Integration is the key. No one wants to just consult a computer instead of a doctor-and yet, a doctor may be able to help you more if he has access to a computer program that will help with diagnosis and treatment. So with housing. It would not be helpful to subordinate human needs to technological growth. But technology can serve our needs and make our lives more productive. It can allow humans to thrive in a new kind of city. Let's preserve our natural and cultural resources and our history, and let's, in addition, create a future space, and see if people, with the help of artificial intelligence and automated manufacturing, can be better people. Let's chew on that for a while. These are a few reasons why 1 would like to serve on the Housing and Human Services Commission. Thank Mark Haneberg CITY OF -ASHLAND APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT TO CITY COMMISSION/COMMITTEE Please type or print answers to the following questions and submit to the City Recorder at City Hall, 20 E Main Street, or email christeb<! asl,land.or.us. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the City Recorder at 488-5307. Attach additional sheets if necessary. ' Name Ma r k 1-4m e,4 e r Requesting to serve on: I ~oJSlna ~~c~i~lU17 IwItO _ (Commission/Committee) Address St Occupation ~e 1 wed Phone: Home -7 Work Email 17?d hU17a - / ul/. ~nI7J Fax 1. Education Background What schools have you attended? rs,I ~~~~~OCt What degrees do you hold? U r7~ /.1 M c_ What additional training or education have you had that would apply to this position? 2. Related Experience What prior work experience have you had that would help you if you were appointed to this position? s cc e oe' ~e l ✓,15 /till? /46 ,1 el C) ~'Jl Do you feel it would be advantageous for you to have further training in this field, such as attending conferences or seminars? Why? SSi - u a ru~ ~ j4fot"Mo~lo,? IA OL)0116~)e Odlq(~ ar7d t~6~ (2 r,~~,~u►~. MAR 17 201 r J t S 3. Interests Why are you applying for this position? Reese I l2u In K C2 le- 410r-7 - le~~~t ©~ir~~eresf ~~r m~ ur~t~er -~1i.S ~r«'S~-iorJ 4. Availabilitv Are you available to attend special meetings, in addition to the regularly scheduled meetings? Do you prefer day or evening meetings? L2 L7 J, 5. Additional Information How long have you lived in this community? % -7 /cc, Please use the space below to summarize any additional qualifications you have for this position -/7- L?/7 Date Signature ~r,