Dear Councilmembers,
Im writing today, June 3, to add my voice in strong support of the proposed affordable housing in downtown Menlo Park. These homes are not just a policy win; they are a moral and economic necessity.
When an anti-housing push happened in 2022, I wrote publicly in response to Measure V (read here). As I wrote then, housing remains essential to education. I’ve worked as a public school teacher and have done original education research in the Bay Area. I’ve seen firsthand over and over how high housing costs destabilize schools: talented teachers are priced out and turnover. Schools lose out on both existing talent and the investments they make in young teachers. Our students, especially those in the most vulnerable positions, lose experienced educators, trusted adults and continuity in the classroom.
The connection to rent isnt hard to see. Our city’s rent prices have skyrocketed. Menlo Park had the highest rent increase in the entire Bay Area this past year (SF Standard, Jan 2025). The long-term trends show we’re not building nearly enough. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the Center for American Progress have put it plainly with their latest research, defining the rental housing crisis as fundamentally a supply problem. They advocate for increasing the total number of rental units, especially those affordable to low-income renters, to alleviate the burden of housing costs and reduce homelessness. What they do not recommend are more procedural blockades (NBER Working Paper 33694, CAP 2023).
We cant let a well-funded opposition weaponize the ballot process again to block progress. I urge you to move forward with the downtown affordable housing plan and make Menlo Park a place where families, educators, and workers of all kinds can afford to live.
Thank you for your leadership.
Sincerely,
Juddson Taube, PhD
Menlo Park Resident
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“We have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of lifes continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not be suited to it, but here we are.” ― Stephen Jay Gould
