Sara S
02-28-2016, 02:18 PM
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Golis: The economic divide comes to Sonoma County
Here in the kingdom of Hollywood, Silicon Valley and world-class wines, we like to believe that everyone can prosper.
But now comes a Sacramento think tank with a different conclusion. Even in California, says the California Budget and Policy Center, the rich are getting richer, and the poor well, you know the rest.
The study found that over the past 25 years, the average annual income of the top 1 percent of Sonoma County households increased by 40 percent, while the average annual income of the other 99 percent declined by 10 percent.
For local leaders, this could be a wake-up call, a signal to redouble efforts to create housing for working people, revive neglected neighborhoods and promote jobs that pay a livable wage.
But then, it isnt the first wake-up call. In 2014, a blue-ribbon report Portrait of Sonoma County chronicled disparities in economic and social conditions from one neighborhood to another. The median household income in one Bennett Valley neighborhood, for example, was almost twice as high as the median income of a neighborhood five miles away in Roseland.
...
In Sonoma County, advocacy groups talk about raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, but that still translates into far less money $31,200 a year than people need to keep pace with the cost of housing here.
In broad terms, we understand that we need to build more housing, we need to spur economic opportunity by raising school performance, we need to make sure kids grow-up in healthy neighborhoods, and we need to promote jobs that pay higher wages. In the short term, self-interest will oblige employers to find ways to help their employees deal with the high cost and the scarcity of housing.
See full article here (https://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinion/5294808-181/golis-the-economic-divide-comes?artslide=0)
Golis: The economic divide comes to Sonoma County
Here in the kingdom of Hollywood, Silicon Valley and world-class wines, we like to believe that everyone can prosper.
But now comes a Sacramento think tank with a different conclusion. Even in California, says the California Budget and Policy Center, the rich are getting richer, and the poor well, you know the rest.
The study found that over the past 25 years, the average annual income of the top 1 percent of Sonoma County households increased by 40 percent, while the average annual income of the other 99 percent declined by 10 percent.
For local leaders, this could be a wake-up call, a signal to redouble efforts to create housing for working people, revive neglected neighborhoods and promote jobs that pay a livable wage.
But then, it isnt the first wake-up call. In 2014, a blue-ribbon report Portrait of Sonoma County chronicled disparities in economic and social conditions from one neighborhood to another. The median household income in one Bennett Valley neighborhood, for example, was almost twice as high as the median income of a neighborhood five miles away in Roseland.
...
In Sonoma County, advocacy groups talk about raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, but that still translates into far less money $31,200 a year than people need to keep pace with the cost of housing here.
In broad terms, we understand that we need to build more housing, we need to spur economic opportunity by raising school performance, we need to make sure kids grow-up in healthy neighborhoods, and we need to promote jobs that pay higher wages. In the short term, self-interest will oblige employers to find ways to help their employees deal with the high cost and the scarcity of housing.
See full article here (https://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinion/5294808-181/golis-the-economic-divide-comes?artslide=0)