A town hall meeting held by state Assemblyman Juan Alanis in Ceres last week touched on the high cost of living affecting Central Valley and California residents and what can be done to reverse the trend.
But there was also an expression of frustration that the forces that are driving up the cost of housing, food, gas and utilities are largely beyond the control of elected officials.
The event, held Tuesday evening, July 9 at the Ceres Community Center, featured Alanis along with Ceres Mayor Javier Lopez, Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra, Energy Services Manager Monique Hampton of Turlock Irrigation District and Johnny Garcia, CEO of the Stanislaus Latino Chamber of Commerce. Josh Whitfield, Alanis’ chief of staff, took the microphone to audience members who had questions or comments.
“This crisis of affordability is hitting California no matter where you are,” said Alanis. “It’s hitting everybody. As you can see, fast-food has gone up as far as minimum-wage which then trickles down to other businesses that were paying good wages close to if not better than minimum-wage and now they’re competing and they’re constantly calling us, asking what we can do for them. It’s unfortunate.”
He said the American dream of many to own their own house has evaporated.
“These houses that we used to dream of having a million dollar house – I know when I was younger you’d see these million dollar mansions and stuff like that – and now it’s now become a three bedroom, two bath and that’s not right.”
The state lawmaker said his kids are paying triple of what he paid for the house they grew up in.
He said while residents are finding ways to cut costs – such as using coupons – “it’s gone way past that point now to where people can’t afford to buy a house they deserve to live in.”
Mayor Lopez spent time noting that the city of Ceres has been working to expand job creation “that offer competitive wages.” He said local wages lag behind the state average and that the “disparity highlights a need for continued economic development and investing in our local workforce.” Ceres offers a business friendly environment, he commented.
“As a mother of four I see the struggles just with my own children and myself,” said Councilwoman Vierra. “My youngest daughter just recently moved back in because the rent nearly doubled for her in her duplex she was living in.”
She added that three of her children with college degrees are struggling to make ends meet.
Hampton addressed energy costs, saying that TID’s mission is to provide affordable electricity to its customers as well as affordable irrigation water. She said TID has some of the lowest power rates in California and provides discounts for some who qualify.
For the low income, TID offers a CARES program for discounts for those who are income eligible, saving on average of $271 per year off power bills. Approximately 4,000 customers are on the program when according to Census data, 15,000 households are eligible. Those household income limits are $40,880 per year for one to two residents; $51,640 for a three-person household; and $62,400 for a four-person household.
TID has also changed their poverty and income eligibility limits to expand participation.
For the disabled, there is a Medicare discounted rates.
“If you have a medical device that requires energy you can get a discount on your energy bill,” said Hampton, who added that the program saves about $362 per year.
Audience member Debbie Martinez commented that legislation is needed to hold schools accountable “when they fail to educate.”
“If we don’t have children that are properly educated exiting the 12th grade, go into the workforce, they crash and burn,” said Martinez. “McDonald’s won’t even pay their rent so we have to start at the ground level… let’s at least start focusing on education before we push them into workforce.”
She said of the 28 districts in three counties, Ceres Unified School District is number one.
Alanis said he has introduced bills to strengthen Career Technical Education programs in high schools to bolster the trades.
“It starts in high school where we can let them know that there are other options,” said Alanis. “Schools are pushing four-year degrees, right? And with that comes debt. The CSUs, the UCs, they cost money. They’re not cheap. Not everybody can get grants or find ways to have it paid for so they usually come out of college with a degree that hopefully they can use and regardless they have debt.
“Whereas you have some of these trades, they’re trying to get to some of these young men and women who don’t want to go to college, know that college is not for them and want to teach them their trade. By doing that they also have on-the-job training, they’re working while they’re going to school or they’re learning their trade, they’re able to afford houses, start families and have a retirement.”
Vierra, who also works at Modesto Junior College, noted how many programs are available to help locals achieve higher education, such as college courses offered at high schools for college credits.
A question posed by Caroline Brierly watching the town hall online, asked about water conservation policies that might bring down the cost of water.
Mayor Lopez said as long as it makes economic sense he said “it does need to be talked about.”
Ceres’ participation in the regional surface water plant – to ween the city from its dependency on shaky ground water supplied – significantly drove up water rates in the past decade.
Vierra reminded the audience that Ceres and other utility companies offer rebate programs for conservation efforts.
Dan Sexton, a real estate agent with Keller Williams, talked about 16 available homes at Olive Villas on Hatch Road which he called affordable at $439,900. Since the new homes were required by the state to have solar panels – which drives up the cost of all new housing – he wanted to know how the system works with TID and how it plays into affordability.
Hampton said solar does not quite cover the entire costs of a household’s electrical consumption. In the event that a household produces more power than it consumes, TID pays for the excess.
She said TID constantly struggles to balance electrical loads as solar kicks on and goes off with the evening. TID also augments its hydroelectric power by buying from solar generators.
“We’re doing just as much as the consumers are doing when it comes to solar,” said Hampton.
Alanis noted that he has solar panels on his roof but it doesn’t cover his entire bill every month. He also noted that the solar mandate also applies to anyone building an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) commonly referred to as a granny flat. That affects affordability.
“It’s a great use of space if you have it,” Alanis said of ADUs, “but those also are being required to have the solar panels built in it so for people who are thinking about that (ADUs) remember that that also adds additional costs when you do that.
“I have a cousin who tried doing that and she didn’t end up doing it because she found out how much the cost was going to be for her to add the solar to this ADU she was trying.”
He said the legislation was already “a done deal.”
Alanis mentioned several state bills that seek to make life more affordable for seniors, including AB 1813 to help fixed income seniors with subsidizing rents.
Alanis touched on the ingredients of housing that make it expense, such as the price of lumber, which shot up as a result of government shutting down life during COVID.
“There are efforts that we could be making here in California where we have the resources,” said Alanis, adding the state could better manage forests to reduce fires which are consuming valuable lumber.
“We’re not doing that right now,” said the Republican.
Mayor Lopez said Ceres has not been a “Not in My Backyard” city, noting how the council approved a 145-unit apartment complex for Mitchell Road in 2023. The complex has yet to build. Lopez stated this “will address the critical issues of housing affordability.” However, the developers stated at the time that the complex was being planned to charge market rents, not subsidized rents for low income.
The mayor noted that the city would like to see the development of mixed use projects which could reduce housing costs.
“There’s other housing projects. Even though they started in 2016, for example, Tuscany Village which is on hold at the moment, those opportunities and those houses are priced around $450,000 … back in 2008 I purchased my home for $130,000. There’s no way that these young adults nowadays have an opportunity to purchase a house at the rates the way they are now.”
Vierra said there is a difference between affordable housing and attainable housing.
“A lot of these homes, according to state numbers, are considered affordable,” she noted. “If you look at the state numbers, the average home is …almost $765,000. But when you look at Ceres, the average home is about $500,000. To the state that’s looking affordable. To us that actually live here, it’s really not attainable.”
Vierra mentioned using land trusts, community land cooperatives which the Stanislaus County Equitable Partnership is working on, high density homes, tiny homes and ADUs.
Vierra said the city of Ceres also offers a program for the utility bills of the low-income.
The affordability discussion in Ceres was the fifth town hall event for Alanis. He previously attended or hosted Town Halls in Turlock (Turlock Government Night), Modesto (fentanyl and general), and Gustine (education).
