Anne Arundel County candidates pledged their commitment to providing more affordable housing in the county, but few offered specifics about exactly how they planned to do it.
The Baltimore Regional Initiative Developing Genuine Equality, a group of more than 100 congregations in the Baltimore region, hosted an Anne Arundel County housing summit Thursday night to call on leaders to provide inclusionary, work force housing in the county.
The summit came just days after County Executive Janet Owens announced a workforce housing initiative, which will offer up to $10,000 for home down payments to county employees who make less than 120 percent of the county?s median income level.
Activists from BRIDGE said this initiative was a good first step, but that more action is needed to fix the county?s “housing crisis.” The average cost of a home in Anne Arundel County in 2005 was $399,827, according to the Maryland Association of Realtors.
BRIDGE favors a policy of inclusionary work force housing, or legislation that would require new developers to set aside a percentage of units to be priced affordably.
Legislation to promote work force housing came before the County Council in 2004, but the measure fell short by one vote.
County Sheriff George Johnson IV, a Pasadena Democrat running for county executive, said that the lack of affordable housing in the county affects his job every day, since many people he hires can?t afford to live in the county.
“I buy into the feeling in this room tonight,” he said, “and I buy into inclusionary housing.”
Phillip Bissett, a Mayo Republican who is also running for county executive, said revitalizing older communities would be a better way to address the housing issue than requiring builders to set aside units. He also suggested offering economic incentives to builders and developers.
“It?s not just one single bullet that is going to solve the problem,” Bisset said.
Othercandidates for county executive who attended the forum were: Republicans Gregory Nourse, Del. John Leopold, Del. David Boschert and Tom Angelis.
