Real cost of housing must be addressed

Dear Editor:

Steve Barwick offers us that the “… City cited total costs … did not include land, infrastructure, design, engineering and other costs.” That’s a bit like saying a Mercedes total cost is $15,000, not including the tires, engine, fuel tank, windows and seats!

To his credit, Steve does admit that the City “screwed up” ” and that they certainly did. But we need not waste time sorting out who is to blame for what. We need to move forward to address the affordable-housing cost issue comprehensively.

The issue now before us is what does the Burlingame affordable housing really cost ” with all the costs included? And how can we satisfy our critical need for affordable housing, at Burlingame and elsewhere, within reasonable cost?

Those are the questions that the city and its volunteer experts and citizens’ committees need to address, and soon. Otherwise, it seems quite unreasonable to ask us all to approve another $90 million in debt.

James DeFrancia

Aspen