Three Inland Empire mayors last Friday called on voters to support a California housing bond on the November 3 ballot, which they said would help address the issue of affordable housing in the region.
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“It gives us more affordable homes, the ability to build those and gives more of our residents the opportunity to build a life in the community they love,” Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said at the October 9 press conference.
The Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026 is a statewide measure that, if approved by voters, would allow the state to issue and sell $11.25 billion in general obligation bonds to fund various types of housing programs.
A portion of the bond money, $1.25 billion, would go to fund homeownership loans for veterans. The remaining $10 billion would be used to support local development funds, first-time homebuyer programs and infrastructure projects related to housing.
Melanie Steele, executive director for regional housing advocacy nonprofit Inland SoCal Housing Collective, said Prop 1 could jumpstart housing construction projects throughout the Inland Empire, during the press conference held in front of the soon-to-be completed Mulberry Gardens affordable housing project in Riverside.
The Mulberry Gardens project, which received $44.8 million in state funding, is set to provide 150 affordable housing units for low-income families and 59 affordable housing units for low-income seniors.
Tim Baker, an associate director with the nonprofit development firm in charge of Mulberry Gardens, said at the press conference that virtually all of the organization’s projects were dependent on local, state and federal funding. Without state backing, developers would struggle to begin construction on projects like Mulberry Gardens, he added.
“We need the funding to be able to put those shovels in the ground, to be able to move these projects forward, to be able to provide those rooftops for our families, for our veterans,” Moreno Valley Mayor Ulises Cabrera said at the press conference. “This will allow us to continue those projects, to build housing for our seniors, for our students at our local universities.”
The Riverside City Council, earlier this month, formally endorsed Proposition 1. Lock Dawson requested for the resolution to be placed on the council’s agenda, according to the staff report, to affirm the city’s support for funding opportunities that could directly address homelessness.
The city’s support for Proposition 1 came as city data showed Riverside had permitted about 40% of its required market-rate housing units as required by the state, but has lagged far behind in permitting units for lower-income brackets.
Less than 6% of jurisdictions are on track to permit the required target for “very-low” income individuals, a CalMatters report released in August showed, with only five jurisdictions on pace to reach all four of their income targets.
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