Cape mayor takes part in national housing strategies symposium
Last weekend Mayor Marni Sawicki Retzer represented Cape Coral at a two-day symposium in Baltimore, Md., hosted by Johns Hopkins University.
Retzer participated in a panel discussion on affordable housing strategies and solutions during the inaugural 21st Century Neighborhoods Symposium. City leaders and experts from across the country discussed neighborhood revitalization, code compliance and recovery from the recession for a residential tax base, such as Cape Coral.
She was one of nine mayors invited to the session, joining a wide variety of professors, administrators and business leaders attending. Related travel expenses for speakers were fully paid by Johns Hopkins University.
“I spoke about how we weathered the recession through diversifying city income such as the Fire Service Assessment so we won’t have to rely so heavily on the millage rate and not be so vulnerable in the next downturn,” said Retzer. “I spoke of the importance of multi-family housing and integrated housing for all ages and incomes. I looked at a $30,000 income and how much they could afford for rent. At 30 percent of income they can afford $928 a month. Right now, (Cape) rent is averaging $1,400 and skyrocketing.”
Retzer said the city’s rental inventory is coming up well short and 85 percent of the market is single-family homes. The city needs to add 1,500 units over the next five years just to meet the needs of the current population.
Only eight apartment complexes exist in the Cape with 20 or more units and estimates indicate there are 3,696 multi-family apartments in the city. Most of those are in older developments with 15 or fewer units each.
“We have to find ways to provide housing for our police officers, our teachers and nurses,” Retzer said. “We have a long way to go, but there are a lot of creative things that can be done.”
The symposium was a product of Bloomberg Philantropics targeting cities of at least 100,000 population. City and educational leaders from the What Works Cities network shared experiences in using data and evidence to address public safety, education, housing and economic development issues in their communities.
In addition to the housing strategies that Retzer addressed, other discussion topics included responding to a crisis, the impact of incarceration on families, public safety strategies and solutions, and education strategies and solutions.