South County Housing, the region’s premier low-income housing
authority, cut eight positions Tuesday amid the national housing
slow-down, according to its executive director and chief financial
officer.
South County Housing, the region’s premier low-income housing authority, cut eight positions Tuesday amid the national housing slow-down, according to its executive director and chief financial officer.
The private nonprofit company builds affordable housing for low- to moderate-income residents in the area, but Chief Executive Officer Dennis Lalor said the company is not immune to market forces despite its partial reliance on taxpayer dollars.
“I don’t think we’re different than most other companies in their response to this market,” Lalor said Wednesday, adding that he and other managers carefully thought out the three-year cost-saving plan that does not involve laying off any more of SCH’s remaining 92 employees. “We’re affected by the same factors impacting builders, Realtors and title companies all over this area.”
One of those companies is Century 21. Its branch office in Morgan Hill closed last fall, so to avoid the same fate, Lalor said SCH has laid off the eight employees and cut back on non-personnel expenses. The company has temporarily put the breaks on the third and final phase of construction at the Cannery Project downtown at Lewis and Monterey streets, but Lalor said SCH plans to keep its downtown Gilroy office open to showcase the project’s remaining single-family units and townhomes.
Since 1979, SCH has built more than 2,400 single-family, multi-family and commercial units throughout Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties. The company has another 1,500 units in development, including Gilroy’s 206-unit Cannery Project downtown, which targets low- to moderate-income families, young professionals and retirees.
In 2006, the nation’s median annual household income was $48,201, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In California, that figure was $64,563, according to the USCB. The majority of units at the Cannery are targeted to households that earn between 60 and 120 percent of the area median income, which is about $105,000 for a family of four, according to SCH’s Web site. The median house price in Gilroy is $639,080, according to Money magazine.
Stricter lending standards have also affected SCH’s ability to help low-income families finance home purchases, Lalor said. To help struggling families keep their new homes, though, SCH and its affiliates – South County Property Management and South County Community Builders – offer finance education to residents. But Lalor and SCH’s Chief Financial Officer, John Cesare, both said such instructional programs could also see cuts because nothing is off limits.
“This is a pretty standard response that any company would turn to to address change in the market,” said Cesare, who has been with SCH since May 2007. “We’re trying to insulate ourselves from market forces.”
Lalor has worked for SCH since 1986 and as its CEO since 1997. He oversaw the expansion of the agency’s California service area from Santa Clara County into San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. Now he is overseeing it in difficult times.
