Note:  What is shown below is a copy of the original letter, made for this website.  It is included here only so that the contents of the original letter can be searchable.  (The PDF received from the City is in the form of an image, and so is not a searchable document.)

What is below is not the letter sent by the letter-writer. It will contain typographical errors and other departures from the original.  The PDF displayed above is accurate.  The text below is not accurate.  It is printed here for indexing purposes, so that each word can be indexed and included in the search.

I and my household (3 adults) are in full support of the Gateway Plan and increasing housing through density, infill, and lifting height restrictions as outlined very reasonably in the proposed plan. I am aware that a very organized minority of long-term residents have
consistently blocked plans for smart growth and couldn’t disagree with them more
vehemently. The very lack of racial diversity of the anti-housing group speaks to their being
mired in the past. As a Black member of this community who has relationships with the full racial diversity of our city, I know that the overwhelming majority of us support the Gateway Plan and other efforts to increase housing accessibility. We desperately want to make this place our home. And we each know far too many people of color who leave because they can’t find housing. We’re just not as organized or vocal as those who don’t seem to want to make space for us using such language as “protecting/maintaining the ‘culture’ of the city” or its “safety”. These and other phrases are all synonyms for maintaining the status quo of a devastating housing shortage.
We need more housing as soon as possible for low- and moderate-income residents, students, working class people; and so our children can afford to live here in the future. I’m aware this
is more than a local issue, but I’m also aware that we can make a change here if we have the
political will.
Please support this well thought out, equitable, plan with no modifications that significantly
reduce planned housing units.
Thank you,
Ron White
Arcata, CA 95521