Leftist Dark Money Funded Gen H Advocates for 'Affordable Housing' While Gentrifying Neighborhoods, Forcing Out Locals & Driving Up Costs for Homeowners - Elected Officials in Bed with 'Nonprofits'
Sonoma County 'nonprofit' Generation Housing receiving federal monies from secret donors to drive local policy change
In Sonoma County, California, the team for local ‘nonprofit’ Generation Housing (Gen H) can be frequently seen at local government agency meetings advocating for ‘affordable housing’.
The Policy Advisory Board includes the current roster:
Policy Advisory Committee
Dev Goetschius, Housing Land Trust
Kaitlyn Garfield, Housing Land Trust
Walter Kieser, Economic Planning Systems
John Lowry, ret. Burbank Housing
Jake Mackenzie, former Rohnert Park Mayor
Ali Gaylord, MidPen – North Bay
Aaron Jobson, Quattrocchi Kwok Architects
Nevada Merrrimen, MidPen – North Bay
Dan McCullough, Carpenters Local 751
Keith Christopherson, Christopherson Properties
Efren Carrillo, Gallaher Community Housing – Residential Development
Roger Nelson, Midstate Construction
Robin Stefani, RED Housing Fund
Additionally, the Board of Directors includes:
Jorge Inocencio, Keysight Technologies
Harman Dhillon, Teri Meher Inc; JDDH Corporation
Lauren Taylor, Burbank Housing
Elice Hempel, Petaluma People Services Center
Michael Allen, CA Assemblyman, nine term President of the AFL-CIO North Bay Labor Council
Efren Carrillo, Gallaher Community Housing
Joti Chandi, Chandi Hospitality Group
Ali Gaylord, City of Oakland, MidPen Housing Corporation
Beatriz Guerrero Auna, City of Richmond, City of Santa Rosa
Peter Rumble, Santa Rosa Metro Chamber
Rex Stults, Napa Valley Vintners
Octavio Diaz, Mitote Food Park
Amongst the bulk of individuals serving on the Board and Policy Committee, the majority have a vested financial interest in securing new build contracts to develop ‘affordable housing’ units. Many of these folks live outside of the cities in which the builds will be taking place, or outside of our county entirely. They have strategically placed their spouse, family members and friends on various local agency committees, commissions and boards to echo support for their proposed projects.
Gen H is a 'project' of the Tides Center, a 'legal' money laundering group for the Democratic Party. Tides Center’s primary function besides aiding left-leaning groups is “fiscal sponsorship.” This means using its nonprofit status as a legal umbrella for left-wing groups that have not or cannot apply for tax-exempt status with the IRS. The Tides Center does not directly fund these infant groups; instead, it operates as a feeder, accepting outside donations and redirecting them towards its numerous “projects” with the goal of developing them into standalone organizations.
Casa Roseland / Tierra de Rosas is a great example of nepotism in public contracts! The selected developer is MidPen Housing. Ms. Ali Gaylord serves on the Gen H Board. She was employed as the Director of Housing Development - North Bay for MidPen Housing Corporation at the time the Roseland project was approved.
As referenced from a 2021 article in The Press Democrat:
Roseland affordable housing project advances with broad support, except in the shopping center next door…
The project secured its second favorable Santa Rosa City Council vote, but it came over the objections of nearby business owners who say the project threatens their livelihoods.
“Casa Roseland is planned with 100 market-rate housing units and, in a separate building, 75 units for families earning between 30% and 60% of the median area income. It would anchor a development called Tierra de Rosas, which elected officials have been talking about since Sonoma County bought the property in 2011.
MidPen Housing, a nonprofit regional developer, could break ground on Casa Roseland in late 2022, said Ali Gaylord, the organization’s housing development director. The Sonoma County Community Development Commission is scheduled to begin constructing the larger development’s infrastructure — which includes streets, walkways, a public plaza and an open air market structure — in the first quarter of 2022.
Not everyone celebrated the project’s advancement, however, as tenants of a shopping mall just east of the county-owned property worried the proposed project would sink the mall by robbing it of shopping.
Many tenants of the Roseland Village Shopping Center have been there for decades and are minority-owned businesses.
There is an immigration law office, a barber shop and two churches. Camacho’s Market offers Mexican and Central American food products. El Patron Fashion sells cowboy boots, hats and flashy pearl snap shirts that are snapped up for rodeo and night club outings while Chula’s Party store next door carries festive goods for Quinceañera parties. A tamale stand and Taqueria El Favorito offers a quick, inexpensive bite to eat.
A number of business owners, and their landlord, John Paulsen, say Casa Roseland, which was able to take advantage of reduced housing requirements for affordable housing developments, will choke off their businesses by gobbling up parking spaces.
“Taking our parking is taking our sales,” said Sylvia Camacho, who has owned and operated Camacho’s for decades. Camacho, who fears the planned housing development also will block the exit route big trucks use after delivering to her store’s loading dock, said the ultimate impact from the civic project, known in the whole as Tierra De Rosas, remains unknown.
But the worst-case scenario — where customers who are unable to quickly park and run an errand decide to go elsewhere — could force a move she is not sure her business and the 25 to 30 jobs it offers her Spanish-speaking employees could survive, Camacho said.
“I don’t want to think about that,” she said.
The dispute among Paulsen, Sonoma County, which purchased the site in 2011, and MidPen has been argued both in court and in the Santa Rosa City Council chamber. Paulsen has so far been unable to stop Casa Roseland’s progression.
Paulsen’s tenants have long enjoyed the use of the adjoining lot under a 1957 agreement with the county property’s previous owners. Paulsen says the agreement guaranteed parking for his shopping center and should still apply.
Paulsen has been dealt an initial court loss by a Sonoma County Judge. He has vowed to appeal the case as far as the State Supreme Court, motivated he says by a desire to protect his longtime tenants.
“I’m not just some white guy who is against affordable housing,” Paulsen said.
“I think it will force them out of business,” he said of the plan’s impact on his tenants.
MidPen considers such concerns unfounded, and along with city and county officials say the project design creates sufficient parking. The development, which has garnered $35 million in associated state funding for transportation projects, will help business by enhancing public transportation and foot traffic in the area, proponents say.
“There will be a lot more folks that are just readily available and (will) patronize these businesses than currently,” Gaylord said.
The project will include 300 parking spaces, and 108 of those will be for unrestricted public use, Gaylord said. Those spaces on the west, north and east of the housing buildings and along some of the newly planned streets into the development, Gaylord said.”
Gen H is now attending local school board, county supervisor, council meetings, etc. across Sonoma County to request the waiver of impact development fees. While they are claiming that this is to support the needs of accessible housing for low-income residents, that could not be further from the truth. They are solely representing the financial interests of those serving within their organization.
Impact fees are levied upon new development and help fund new infrastructure, such as parks, roads, and community facilities. If these fees are waived, local school districts which already have declining enrollment will lose out on additional funding within their budget.
Gen H Executive Director Jenni Klose is the former Board President for the Santa Rosa City Schools District (SRCS). Santa Rosa City Schools Trustee and Past President Stephanie Manieri and spouse Jorge Inocencio have served on the Gen H Board for the past several years. Omar Lopez, Senior Program Associate for Gen H is the former Student Board Member for Santa Rosa City Schools. Ms. Manieri, Mr. Lopez and Ms. Klose served on the SRCS Board simultaneously.
On February 28, 2024, SR Metro Chamber CEO Peter Rumble sent the following email to SRCS:
“Dear Superintendent Trunnell, Board President Medina, and SRCS School Board Members:
My apologies for the last minute email, as this item just came to my attention. Humbly, | request:
Please pull item F8 from the agenda tonight until we can speak about this issue.
As a parent of two in our district, and someone who is professionally dedicated to expanding housing opportunities for teachers and classified staff of our district, | urge you to take a broader and longer-range view then quickly moving toward a short term, limited revenue opportunity.
Declining enrollment is directly tied to the lack of affordable housing. Our housing scarcity and inaffordability crises are exacerbating your staffing shortages; housing cost burden is lowering the health, economic stability, and overall quality of life of your staff members, students, and their families. Making it more difficult and costly for safe, stable housing to be built will very likely add to these challenges and is in direct opposition to actions planned in many of our cities in Sonoma County.
I am also a board member of Generation Housing's, and our current priority policy goal is reducing our jurisdiction's impact fees for affordable housing. This is the current priority because it responds directly to the barrier that is bringing new affordable housing starts to a standstill (see attached policy brief). We are making headway with this, Petaluma has already adopted a policy, and Santa Rosa, Windsor, and the County are considering a policy following the City of Sacramento's, which resulting in a nine-fold increase in affordable housing production. A change like this from SRCS would seriously jeopardize any headway we can make on the policies that have created our housing crisis.
There are more strategic ways to manage this: for example, you can have different rates for deed restricted affordable housing and market rate housing, you can consider deferrals, or, you can do what we are imploring our jurisdictions to do: WAIVE fees for a period of 3 years while we get through these economic conditions.
I implore you to table this discussion and hope to collaborate with you on solutions that benefit the district and our community.”
Oddly, Mr. Rumble chose to utilize some of the Board Members (Ed Sheffield, Stephanie Manieri, etc.) personal email addresses rather than their SRCS email. One may presume that they conduct business affairs outside of SRCS.
Gen H Executive Director and former SRCS Board President Jen Klose sent the district the following email which echoed Mr. Rumble’s (they both spelled ‘unaffordability’ incorrectly):
Dear Superintendent Trunnell, Board President Medina, and SRCS School Board Members:
My apologies for the last minute email, as this item just came to my attention. | will make it brief and lead with the request:
Please pull item F8 from the agenda tonight until we can speak about this issue.
Let me start by saying that | know, first hand, the difficulty of your job, the difficulty of making ends meet in the school district, and how the costs greatly outweigh your assets.
And still, I ask you to take a broader and longer view.
The cause of declining enrollment: lack of affordable housing. Our housing scarcity and inaffordability crises are exacerbating your staffing shortages; housing cost burden is lowering the health, economic stability, and overall quality of life of your staff members, students, and their families.
Generation Housing's current priority policy goal is reducing our jurisdiction's impact fees for affordable housing. This is the current priority because it responds directly to the barrier that is bringing new affordable housing starts to a standstill (see attached policy brief). We are making headway with this, Petaluma has already adopted a policy, and Santa Rosa, Windsor, and the County are considering a policy following the City of Sacramento's, which resulting in a nine-fold increase in affordable housing production. A change like this from SRCS would seriously jeopardize any headway we can make on the policies that have created our housing crisis.
There are more strategic ways to manage this: for example, you can have different rates for deed restricted affordable housing and market rate housing, you can consider deferrals, or, you can do what we are imploring our jurisdictions to do: WAIVE fees for a period of 3 years while we get through these economic conditions.
This policy WILL hurt your students, their families, your staff members, our community and escalate declining enrollment.
I implore you to table this discussion and our organization stands at the ready to discuss this issue at your convenience.
Former SRCS Board Member Omar Lopez emailed SRCS Director of Fiscal Services Joel Dontos the following inquiry:
“Good afternoon Mr. Dontos,
I hope this message finds you well. My name is Omar, and I am with Generation Housing, a local nonprofit focused on housing advocacy. Additionally, I had the opportunity to serve on the SRCS Board as a Student Board member during the 2020-21 school year, so we have had the chance to work together previously.
I am reaching out to seek clarification regarding the upcoming discussion on Developer Fees. I understand that the proposed fees are as follows:
- ELEMENTARY: $2.74
- SECONDARY: $1.55
- TOTAL: $4.29
To compare these figures with existing fees, I reviewed the Developer Fees report from the meeting on January 10, 2024, and noted that it reported the fees as:
- ELEMENTARY: $2.88
- SECONDARY: $1.62
- TOTAL: $4.50
Given that the fees are partially shared with other districts within SRCS's borders, I am curious whether the Developer Fee report reflects the total fees or merely SRCS's portion. At face value, it appears that the fees are decreasing, which seems odd considering the fee cap was raised.
I hope you can provide some clarification on this matter.
Thank you for your attention to this request.”
Mr. Dontos responded as follows:
Hi Omar,
The fees are increasing, the current amount allowed by the state to be charged for residential construction is $5.17/sf, which is an increase from our current local approved rate of $3.48/sf. The current amount allowed to be charged for commercial construction is $0.84/sf, which is an increase from our current local approved amount of $0.56/sf.
With passing this, we will be able to increase our elementary district residential rate from $1.04/sf to $2.74/sf and our high district from $2.44/sf to $4.21/sf. We will be able to increase the commercial rate of the elementary from $0.39/sf to $0.59/sf and our high district from $0.17/sf to $0.25/sf.
When combining elementary and High districts, we will not be able to charge more than the total allowable rate of $5.17/sf and $0.84/sf but the fees will still be increasing from where they are currently.
It is good to hear from you and glad you are doing well.
Thank you.
As referenced from the February 28, 2024 SRCS Board Meeting Minutes, the district pulled and tabled the item as requested.
On March 4, 2024, Generation Housing Executive Director Jenni Klose arranged a meeting between herself, SRCS Trustee Omar Medina, Trustee Stephanie Manieri, Trustee Ed Sheffield and Superintendent Anna Trunnell to further discuss impact fees.
While establishing the meeting date, Superintendent Anna Trunnell sent the following message:
“Hi everyone. I want to just share that I am consulting with legal on this conversation. The Board has already agendized this
discussion. I want to make sure that we are not creating a cereal meeting.
I should have the answer today. Thank you.”
The Brown Act prohibits ‘serial’ communications that lead to a concurrence among the majority of the members of the legislative body. Any type of communication is prohibited if that communication allows the majority of the members of the body to engage in a communication that should instead occur at a public mee1ling. The term "serial communication" is often used because it describes a communication that, for practical purposes, results in a meeting of the members although the members are not present at a publicly posted and conducted Brown Act meeting. The serial communication may involve a series of communications, each communication involving less than a quorum of the board, but when taken as a whole, involve a majority of the board.
As the leading activist for Sonoma County and former Executive Assistant to the Santa Rosa City Schools Board and Superintendent, I was illegally forced out as a protected whistleblower in January 2023. I caught wind of the Board’s plans to collectively waive development fees by utilizing their stream of nepotism. Therefore, I began speaking out at local agency meetings against the requested fee waivers.
I have requested to see the financials for Gen H for years as the Tides Center Form 990’s are a black hole of what appears to be nefarious laundering of taxpayer monies. Rather than speak to my inquiries, Ms. Klose blocked me on Facebook and Instagram from her organization’s channels. She randomly emailed me on April 12, 2024 to request a ‘coffee meeting’.
I refused to meet with her and continued to elevate my voice at local meetings. On April 24, 2024, the SRCS Board unanimously approved the following motion:
“Approval of Resolution No. 2023/24-35 Elementary District and No. 2023/24-36 High District to Establish/Increase SRCS Developer Fee Rates".
Had I not been paying attention, the Board would have presumably approved of the motion to waive development fees. Developer fees cannot be ‘waived’. Essentially, fees will be “backfilled”, the direct loss with an amount that would increase for a couple of years and then be “frozen”.
‘Declining enrollment’ has nothing to do with affordable housing, but rather the Board’s incompetency and greed. The lack of safety on campus has spiraled out of control due to the Board’s decision to remove School Resource Officers. Therefore, parents are pulling their students from the district as rapidly as staff are resigning.
With just a brief glimpse of Gen H’s advocacy and conflicts of interests (there are many more), does the ‘nonprofit’ truly serve the best interest of our stakeholders?
“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless” -Ecclesiastes 5:10