How Nashville is missing an opportunity to grow its affordable housing supply | Opinion

Nashville needs affordable housing for those earning $800 to $6,000 per month. That is a well-known fact.

Therefore, you would hope that the city would do everything in its power to capture every unit of affordable housing it can. Yet we are not seeing this.

The city currently has 225 units of new, affordable workforce housing in hand with the Riverchase redevelopment proposal, yet they are choosing not to accept this affordable housing when we unquestionably need it.

The past chair of the Metro Councils Affordable Housing Committee actually opposed Metro Council accepting these much-needed housing units and some in the council seem to be following his lead. Other council members are working to accept this new needed affordable housing, but their voice is not breaking through.

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Make an exception to 'councilmanic courtesy'

Metro Council has a well-honored tradition that I typically value, but in this case, it allows Metro Council to reject this workforce housing.

The time-tested tradition is this: council members do not meddle in each other’s district. As a rule, it is a wise one, but like all traditions, there are times to have an exception.

At this time, Nashville needs every affordable housing unit we can get. Traditions should not block us from serving our workforce. Should not an exception be called?

As a provider of affordable housing, I believe so.

In the past, when the council needed to temporarily flex on this and other traditions that they could not work out internally, the mayor would often step in to guide an exception.

The practice of honoring district lines as a rule needs to remain, but on accepting affordable housing, an exception should be called for by our city’s leadership as our workforce and those physically unable to work desperately need this housing.

Let your council members know how you feel

In addition to the council’s inaction in this situation, an organization that represents various communities of faith is also working against the city accepting this housing. Why would some churches, temples and other houses of worship be officially against receiving new affordable housing?

These faiths teach us to love our neighbors as ourselves. How does turning down the opportunity for some of our workforce to live in Nashville, show responsibility for and love for our neighbors? What is the basis for these people of faith to decline to love our neighbor through accepting this needed affordable housing?

Who wants to endure a 45-minute or longer commute twice daily for $20 an hour? I would not wish this on myself, so why do I wish it on my neighbor?

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Please email or call your council members and other elected officials and share you feel in this case the Council should accept responsibility for our affordable housing solutions, make an exception to this tradition and vote to approve the construction of these 225 units.

Urge them to act on this rare opportunity to approve to receive these new 225 affordable units and not reject them. These are housing units that could be occupied by your friends, family, fellow workers, employees or your fellow congregants.

We need to show our workforce that we value them as neighbors and accept the responsibility to enable them to live in Nashville in these units.

Nashville needs to accept these 225 units and any other affordable units the city is offered. The city is currently actively working to create new tools needed to create more affordable housing in the future. Now to move forward to create as much workforce and affordable housing as possible, we need to begin with these 225 units and then build more with the new tools the city is developing.

Eddie Latimer is CEO of Affordable Housing Resources in Nashville.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville is missing a chance to grow its affordable housing supply