Marin IJ Readers Forum February 22, 2022 – Marin Independent Journal
Marin’s sustainable agriculture is worth the support of Measure A
Wendell Berry, the well-known environmental activist, said “eating is an agricultural act”. If you eat food, wear woolen clothes, or plant vegetables at home, you are already benefiting from sustainable agriculture here in Marin County.
I would like to commend Marin Supervisors for safeguarding the future of Marin County farmland by allocating 20% of Measure A funds to land stewardship, conservation easements, community gardens and access to land for beginning farmers and ranchers (“Marin supervisors clarify revised Measure A plan for ballot,” Feb. 17).
In addition to increasing the climate resilience and economic viability of Marin’s agricultural sector, sustainable agricultural production—including organic and climate-smart farming practices—provides public benefits for our health, environment, and economy. For example:
• Sustainable agricultural practices help increase nutritional security and reduce chronic disease.
• Food traveling short distances from farm to fork reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
• Foods, nursery stock and wool fibers grown on land managed to emphasize healthy soil can retain more water, require fewer chemical additives, sequester carbon and provide protection against pests. catastrophic forest fires.
• Every dollar spent on local goods can add up to $2.16 in local economic stimulus.
We continue to depend on small local farmers and ranchers who use responsible practices to feed us. Many foods produced on Measure A Protected Farmland are sold at Marin’s farmers’ markets and stalls, served in schools and restaurants, purchased through CalFresh by hungry families, or donated to organizations. food salvage companies like ExtraFood.org and Marin Community Refrigerators.
Measure A protects the land for the people who currently grow and produce our food, while helping to ensure that the next generation of farmers and ranchers, including first-timers and farmers of color, will have access to the land and technical resources to continue producing local foods that feed us and heal the planet.
—Andy Naja-Riese, San Rafael
Construction of San Rafael blocks downtown streets
I fear that private entities will be allowed to block streets in the city of San Rafael for weeks. We are dealing with lane closures, detours and traffic jams.
The construction of the new AC Marriott hotel in the city center, as well as the construction of the swimming pool adjacent to the Marin Academy, are at the origin of the problems. I realize this may sometimes be necessary for temporary security concerns, but long closures aren’t fair to those of us who pay taxes for upkeep, upkeep, and the expected convenience of using our streets.
—Linda Denhart, San Rafael
As prices soar, rent control must be enacted
The cost of accommodation in Marin is absurd. The median home price is nearly $1.5 million, well beyond the reach of most working families. The only way for tens of thousands of old, young and working people to get here is to rent.
Unfortunately, Marin’s rents are among the most expensive in the country. The median rent is over $2,000 a month, more than 30% above the state median and nearly double the national median, according to the US Census.
Salaries do not follow. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2021 “Out of Reach” study, a renter in Marin needs to earn $68.33 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment or $56.21 a time to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment without being overcharged with rent. spending more than 30% of their income on rent. Marin’s average tenant pay is $23.23 per hour.
As rents continue to rise, workers will increasingly face the prospect of being forced out of their homes and our communities. The obvious solution to this problem is rent control.
Rent control would place a cap — based on inflation — on the amount landlords can raise rent per year and establish “just cause” eviction protections to prevent arbitrary evictions. It would provide real housing stability and security to the third of Marin residents who rent their homes.
Currently, there is no rent control in Marin. There is a remarkably weak state law that effectively limits rent increases to 10% per year without providing proactive enforcement. Many of our Bay Area neighbors (San Francisco, Berkeley, Richmond and Mountain View, to name a few) have taken steps to stabilize rents and protect renters in an out-of-control housing market. It is time we did the same.
—Curt Ries, San Anselmo
