Are you feeling anxious about the presidential election? The balance in Congress? Perhaps the very fate of the country? I know I feel especially helpless living in a non-swing state right now.

I commend anyone who does what they can to get involved in the democratic process, whether you donate, write postcards, make phone calls, drive across county lines to canvass close and critical congressional races, or even to a neighboring state to roll up your sleeves in the presidential race. And for those of you who haven’t gotten engaged because you’re paralyzed by the enormity, or too busy being parents, making ends meet, or maybe just plain tired of the nastiness—I get that, too.

The generation housing team is stressed about the election. And it seems like everyone we know is. But whatever happens on Tuesday, I ask you to remember and take comfort in this: local leaders and political decisions have a huge impact on our lives and the prosperity and resilience of our communities.

Here, your voice is appreciated and powerful. The elected representatives you vote for — or not — listen to you. They really do. They see your names on petitions. They read your emails. They listen especially carefully when you take the time to appear in person at council and board meetings to speak on issues that are important to you.

So, when you mark your ballot, make sure you vote all the way down, checking the boxes on state bills, local measures and local leadership races.

The local elected officials you vote for will make critical decisions about education at elementary schools, Santa Rosa Junior College and Napa Valley College. The officials you elect govern your hometown and decide how parks, roads, housing, small businesses and economic development should be prioritized in our cities. You see the results of their decisions every day. And they are the ones who will make crucial decisions in the event of a disaster, whether it is an extreme weather event, an earthquake or an economic crisis.

And it’s the stuff at the end of the vote, when you get mad to end it, that determines the size of your property tax, where and how much workforce housing can be built, how we invest in infrastructure and fire prevention. , what types of programs are available to help address homelessness and mitigate its effects, and more. These are the things that affect our daily lives here in North Bay.

Now, if you’re concerned about housing — the lack of it, the outrageous cost of it, the quality of it, whether it’s housing for you, your children or grandchildren, their teachers, your dog or dental hygienist, or just the housing crisis in general — Gen H has plenty of opportunities for you to flex your political muscles.

Generation Housing has supported state and local measures Proposal 5 (increasing local power to fund critical affordable housing and local infrastructure), Healdsburgs Measure O (prioritizing multi-family and workforce housing – not hotels – where Healdsburg needs it most), Petalumas Measure Y (prioritizing protecting open space and building up, not out) and Sonoma County’s Measure I (just like investing in housing production, investing in our youngest is key to the future of our society).

At its meeting on 12 Novemberthe Santa Rosa City Council will vote on powerful incentives to accelerate the development of the affordable housing and workforce housing we need most.

On Tuesday, November 12 and all year long, your elected leaders want to hear from you. They need to hear your experience of the housing crisis and why it’s important to you that they take action as bold as the housing crisis is bad. To stay engaged on all matters housing in the future, you can sign up for Gen H Housing Pulse and Action Alerts at generationhousing.org.

Jen Klose is the CEO of Generation Housing.

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