Thank you to everyone who joined the first installment in our two-part Our Homes, Our Votes webinar series, Housing Is Built with Ballots! The first webinar, “Housing Is Built with Ballots: A Year of Ballot Measure Victories in Review,” took place on Thursday, October 12. View a recording of the webinar here and the presentation slides here.
Courtney Cooperman, housing advocacy organizer at NLIHC, shared takeaways from the Our Homes, Our Votes campaign’s report, “Voters Choose Housing: A Summary of Housing and Homelessness Ballot Measures in the November 2022 Elections,” which summarizes and analyzes nearly 100 housing-related ballot measures from the 2022 midterms. She also shared some measures that have been enacted in municipal elections in 2023 and previewed upcoming measures that NLIHC is tracking in the November 2023 elections. If you are working on a ballot measure campaign in the 2023 or 2024 election cycles, please reach out to Courtney at [email protected] to share more information.
Abram Diaz, policy director at Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California, discussed Oakland’s Measure U, an affordable housing infrastructure bond, and the campaign for ACA1 – a constitutional amendment that would lower California’s supermajority threshold for certain bond measures, which has blocked the passage of overwhelmingly popular housing investments. Abram also talked about the importance of securing elected officials’ endorsements and working in broad coalitions.
Michael Daly, founder of East End YIMBY, described the process to establish the Peconic Bay Community Housing Fund and its years-long journey from the New York state legislature to the ballot in Long Island’s five East End municipalities. He shared the campaign’s communications materials, which convey the importance of using local funds to enable local community members – including teachers, firefighters, and health care workers – to thrive.
Tiffani McCoy, advocacy director at Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project, discussed Seattle’s Initiative 135, which establishes a social housing developer that will create publicly owned, mixed-income, climate-resilient housing. She presented on the origins of the House Our Neighbors coalition that led the ballot measure campaign, the measure’s provisions to elevate resident leadership, and next steps for housing advocates in Seattle.
The second webinar in the series, “Housing Is Built with Ballots: Organizing to Win Affordable Homes at the Ballot Box,” will take place on Thursday, October 26, at 2:30 pm ET. Behind the scenes of every winning ballot measure is an organized campaign to craft a policy proposal, build a coalition, mobilize supporters, and get out the vote. The webinar will discuss best practices in ballot measure advocacy and preview some of the campaigns that are already underway for the 2024 election cycle. In celebration of Vote Early Day, which takes place on October 26, NLIHC will also share nonpartisan resources for getting out the vote in this year’s state and local elections. Click here to register for the webinar.
The upcoming webinar will feature:
Angelina Cornejo, campaign strategy coordinator, East Bay Housing Organizations
Emily Martiniuk, resident leader, Residents United Network-Los Angeles
Madeleine Hammerlund, housing campaign organizer, Our Future Starts at Home (Minnesota)
Visit the Our Homes, Our Votes website for more information about the campaign.