Let’s be clear: the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors’ countermeasure to the Workforce Housing Solutions Act is not a genuine act of opposition, but rather an attempt to deceive and confuse voters.

In a recent Santa Cruz Lookout article, the president of the association herself admitted that the Realtors “would be fighting a losing battle” if they merely opposed the Workforce Housing Solutions Act, since it would only need a simple majority of voters to pass. Feeling that they do not represent the majority opinion of our community, they instead decided to sneakily create their own watered-down countermeasure with an almost identical name in order to confuse voters and hinder the measure that is the result of compromise with several groups, including the Realtors themselves.

With petitioners circulating both similarly named measures, both are less likely to reach the 3,500 signature threshold needed to get on the ballot, since people are likely going to believe they’ve already signed the Workforce Housing Solutions Act when they’ve actually signed the Realtors’ “Workforce Housing and Climate Change Act.” After all, if someone approached you and asked you to sign an affordable housing measure, would you stop and think that there are two almost identically named measures competing to get on the ballot? This is precisely what the Realtors want, since if neither measure gets on the ballot there will be no transfer tax at all, and they win.

But why are the Realtors so scared that the Workforce Housing Solutions Act will pass? Probably because Santa Cruz residents will get a lot of bang for their buck: most will pay little to nothing at all, and get millions of dollars for affordable housing in return. If passed, the measure will contribute over $5 million annually to the city affordable housing trust over the next 20 years. This will ensure that regular working families, children of current residents, and seniors will all have a place to live in Santa Cruz. In a rental and housing market as astronomical as Santa Cruz, affordable housing is increasingly one of the only things keeping our bohemian college and surf town from becoming another Silicon Valley suburb. Of course a measure like this one would be popular with voters.

The Realtors’ Association’s vehement opposition to this measure makes sense when considering they are some of the only ones who stand to benefit from the type of multi-million dollar real-estate transfers it aims to tax. Homeowners who don’t qualify for the long list of exemptions, including those for seniors and low-incomes, will only have to pay $8 a month for the parcel tax. Those selling their homes for under $1.8 million pay nothing for the real estate transfer tax, and those selling their homes for between $1.8 million and $2.5 million will only have to pay $5 for every thousand dollars over $1.8 million. Then, the only ones really paying for this tax are those selling properties for exorbitant amounts of money. Such high power deals, between commercial property holders, extremely wealthy homeowners, developers, or corporate landlords, are highly lucrative for Realtors, but are also the driving force making our town more expensive. That’s why the Realtors feel the need to deceive voters instead of appeal to them: they know they represent an unpopular minority.

In times like these, it is important to remember that the fight against oligarchy starts at home. If we allow a monied interest to undermine the hard work of community leaders, stakeholders, and activists through deception and confusion, we are forfeiting our power as voters and allowing a small wealthy minority to rule over our town without a single vote being cast. Now, more than ever, we cannot give them what they want.

To join our fight for affordable housing and against big money controlling our town, please visit https://www.workforcehousingnow.net/ and get involved in the campaign.

Laz Meiman is a Santa Cruz resident and UCSC student.