PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Affordable Housing –
A Concern For All
Throughout this past year as ORRA’s
president, I’ve consistently made
addressing Orlando’s affordable
housing crisis a priority. Actions
that I’ve taken on this issue include:
• Aggressively advocating for our legislators
to fully fund the Sadowski Affordable
Housing Trust Fund;
• Discussing the topic at length with dozens
of print, radio, and TV reporters;
• Writing an op-ed piece that was published
in the Orlando Sentinel;
• Speaking before countless civic organizations
and community groups;
• Supporting ORRA's vice president of
government affairs and foundation
relations as Accessibility & Opportunity
Subcommittee chair of Orange County’s
“Housing For All Task Force;” and
• Testifying before a local city commission
in favor of a specific affordable housing
project.
What I’ve realized from all this activity
is that affordable housing is an incredibly
complex social and economic issue. It’s
very different from (and yet related to) the
homebuyer affordability statistic that ORRA
calculates for its monthly residential housing
re-sale market report. I've also learned
that people have a lot of objections to
affordable housing, even if in their hearts
they support the notion that everyone
deserves a place to live.
I have encountered vehement opposition
to affordable housing both in concept
and directly aimed at specific initiatives.
Many of these objections come from
individuals within the general population
who believe housing is solely a personal
responsibility and/or affordable housing
initiatives will devalue local home prices.
Other objections come from REALTORS®
who question whether ORRA’s involvement
in affordable housing is appropriate given
that the line from affordable housing to
homeownership is curvy and dotted; or
who believe ORRA’s role is to ensure rising
home values for existing homeowners
rather than to support structural, spatial,
system, and policy initiatives that translate
into opportunities for housing for all.
I wish that I had the space to respond to
all objections and to explain exactly what
affordable housing is; why affordable housing
is a shared public concern; how providing
homes for residents at all levels of the
income spectrum is deeply connected to
our personal and community prosperity;
and what needs to be done to fix Orlando’s
housing problem. I don’t. But what I
can tell you is that Orlando’s employment
base is full of service workers and others
who struggle to find and pay for housing
that does not eat up a disproportionate
percentage of their income. Orlando’s daily
influx of new residents increases housing
demand and prices.
Affordable housing is a problem for
ALL of us. We all lose if we do not act to
manage Orlando’s growth in a way that
considers its impact on low- and moderate
income families. We all lose when our
educators, childcare workers, and first
responders are forced to live so far away
from their workplace that it compromises
their ability to deliver on the job for which
they have been hired. We all lose when
companies considering a relocation to
Orlando reject our City Beautiful because
their workers cannot afford housing.
Affordable housing is currently receiving
a lot of attention. Building a wide base
of public support is vital to sustaining
housing’s presence on the local, state, and
national policy agenda, and building public
(and REALTOR®) support for addressing
housing challenges is critical. Due to the
graciousness and foresight of our incoming
president, Reese Stewart, I am grateful for
the opportunity to continue to carry the
affordable housing torch on ORRA’s behalf
into 2020. As a REALTOR®, you are in the
position to connect others to this shared
public concern. Practiced well, our industry
can change lives for the better. I hope you
will join me in advocating for affordable
housing
Thank you for allowing me the honor of
serving as your president.
Jeffrey M. Fagan
4 Orlando REALTOR® Fall 2019