On May 5, the Half Moon Bay City Council voted 3-2 to approve a 99-year lease at 555 Kelly Avenue, clearing the way for 40 deeply affordable homes for senior farmworkers. After four years of public process, planning approvals, appeals, and incredible support from community members, the duly elected officials of Half Moon Bay made the final decision. We celebrated, and we meant every word of gratitude.

But a handful of opponents are now organizing to roll back the clock, reverse the council decision, delay the project further, and put the city at risk of costly litigation. They have launched a referendum campaign to gather signatures and drag the council’s decision to the November ballot. They have a website, an organization, and a plan to overturn four years of democratic process.

We’re going to fight back. Housing Leadership Action (HLA) is a 501(c)(4) issue advocacy organization, the sister entity to the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County. As a 501(c)(4), the HLA ballot measure committee can raise the funding needed to mobilize voters, and protect affordable housing victories from being overturned by organized opposition. Together we can win! 

Why now, why this way

For four years, the supporters of 555 Kelly have played by every rule. Faith leaders, farm workers, ALAS, Mercy Housing, Faith in Action, YIMBY, and countless community members  attended every meeting, submitted comment letters. Together, we engaged in good faith with the Planning Commission, with the City Council, and with the state. We out-organized the opposition at every public hearing by margins that left no doubt where the community stood. And we won.

We were patient because we believed in the process. We were gracious because we believed in our neighbors. We are still both of those things. But we are also realists. The opposition has made clear that four years of hearings, planning approvals, and the council’s vote is not enough for them. They want another bite at the apple, and they intend to take it. Defending the council’s decision now requires a different kind of organization, with different legal capacities and a different posture.

That is what Housing Leadership Action is.

What HLA will do

Between now and November, HLA will build the infrastructure to defeat the referendum and defend 555 Kelly. That means staffing a campaign, engaging voters, mobilizing supporters, securing endorsements from organizations and elected leaders across San Mateo County, and making the case directly to Half Moon Bay voters that the council’s decision was right, that 40 senior farmworkers deserve homes in the community they helped build, and that the will of the people should not be overturned by a vocal minority.

All of that takes resources. Every dollar contributed to HLA for the months of May and June  goes directly to the November fight.

What we are asking

We are asking for your support. Whether you can contribute $25 or $25,000, every dollar matters in a campaign that begins now and runs through November. We are asking small-dollar donors and major contributors alike to step up because the opposition is organizing, and we cannot afford to be outpaced.

The seniors who have spent their lives feeding our community are counting on us to finish what we started.

Click here to donate.

Ramon Sonoqui, 70, retired after 42 years of local farm work, lives with his wife, children, and grandchildren in a three-bedroom apartment in Half Moon Bay. Candido Rosales, a 67-year-old farmworker still working, lives in a shared room, separated from his family who rent a room elsewhere. Both farmworkers’ experiences reflect the enormous need for projects like 555 Kelly, a 40-home proposal for senior farmworkers that has faced incredible delays. According to the state, a lawsuit against the city may be imminent, if the project does not move forward soon.

The project’s design review and coastal development permit were approved two years ago by the Planning Commission and City Council, but the lease and other needed documents have been stalled, prompting the Department of Housing and Community Development to send Half Moon Bay a letter on April 9 urging the support of 555 Kelly. Unlike prior communications, this letter explicitly describes the risk of a lawsuit brought by the Attorney General against the City. 

This follows a March 24 letter HCD sent the city informing them that their housing element violates state law. However, the March 24 letter focused broadly on the technical components of the city’s housing element, particularly its rezoning plans. The April 9 letter emphatically states that Half Moon Bay cannot achieve legal compliance without supporting 555 Kelly—or reopening its housing element to look at alternative sites.

After receiving its March 24 letter, Half Moon Bay claimed the City just needed to complete statutory rezoning to achieve state legal compliance, blaming regulatory barriers such as the California Coastal Commission for delays. According to the City’s narrative, they had no responsibility to move forward with projects like 555 Kelly. 

HCD’s newest letter puts that claim to rest: “The purpose of this letter is to express HCD’s support for the Project [555 Kelly] and to provide notice to the City that delaying action or denying the Affordable Housing and Property Disposition Agreement and the Ground Lease (Agreements) may result in the violation of one or more state housing laws and would delay achieving a substantially compliant housing element.”

Half Moon Bay has made meaningful progress toward its housing goals, including with the completion of Stone Pine Cove, a project which includes 47 manufactured homes, providing affordable ownership opportunities for farmworker families. 

However, 555 Kelly is the true test of whether Half Moon Bay is willing to plan for inclusive housing opportunities. Stone Pine Cove is at the outskirts of town, meaningful but out of sight. 555 Kelly would sit in the heart of the city, walkable to businesses and the local farmers’ market, more accessible for the future senior residents. 

555 Kelly would help real people in need. It would mean families like Candido’s can be reunited. It would mean children and grandchildren like Ramon’s have space to grow. It would mean more of the farm workers who have fed our communities for decades have a safe and secure place to call home.